The Salmon fishing season is well and truly started now on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland and we have been encountering some extreme conditions over the last week with very cold temperatures and heavy snowfall making life fairly difficult but still several anglers braved the elements in pursuit of that magical spring salmon. The weather has now eased which should help but we may encounter unsettled water with snow melt over the next few days.
Currently the river is running at more reasonable level after milder weather over night (3’8 and rising on the Ballathie gauge). The milder weather is set to continue over the next few days then get colder again which should benefit the river and give a great chance of producing some sport and some early "Bars of Silver" if you are prepared to brave the elements.
The weather is to go milder over the next few days but hopefully not mild enough to get rid of all the snow and produce a massive spate. Colder conditions certainly benefit the river at this time of year slowing the spring salmon run down and giving everyone a chance to catch as they run up the river slowly. The milder weather will certainly give us more water and encourage salmon to run the river after much lower cold conditions this last week. At the end of the week colder weather is set to return which should settle the river back to good levels and ideal spring fishing conditions. The water temperature was around 36 degrees Fahrenheit or 2 degrees Celcius for a time but surprisingly rose at the end of the week to 38F or 3.5C. These are typical temperatures for this time of year. The temperature may come back further with the colder forecast at the end of the week ahead but there have been salmon running throughout the system after milder conditions prior to the opening day and resulted in fish being caught well up the system, the milder weather and increased river levels at the start of the week will help this as well but with lower temperatures the lower river will have a better chance for the coming week assuming the Isla does not go dirty from melting snow. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river. There will no doubt be quite a few kelts about on many beats and possibly some later run fish, which have yet to spawn. Should you require guidance on salmon identification at this time of year please see this link for some help.
As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method will have to be slow and deep with large lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year but be warned wrap up well or it will not be a pleasant experience.
Finally you are reminded that the Tay's policy for January - May 2013 is that all spring salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has adopted a policy of 100% catch and release for spring salmon. Spring salmon are a scarce and precious resource. Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations.
When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended.
If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.
Spring Salmon fishing on the Tay, Perthshire, Scotland.
Tight lines.
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