Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay Foundation Salmon Eggs in the Classroom.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay Foundation Salmon Eggs in the Classroom.

The Salmon Eggs in the Classroom project presentation to the winning schools took place at the Almondbank hatchery yesterday.
It is a cross agency initiative providing some of the best hands-on learning that our children can experience. It allows them to take part in a real life conservation initiative. Participating Agencies include Scottish Natural Heritage, The Scottish Executive, Perth & Kinross Council Green Space (teachers, Countryside Rangers and supporting school staff), Atholl Countryside Rangers, Tay Ghillies Association and the Tay Foundation.

Stanley School being presented with a cheque for their project by Foundation Chairman John Wood and Green Space Ranger Susan Whyte. Tay Ghillie Chairman and secretary Mike Hay were also present who donated the transportation costs plus proud teacher form Stanley, Sandra Morton.

The programme brings fish directly into the primary class room. The hatchery provides eyed salmon eggs to each school. These are placed in fish tanks held in chiller cabinets. This enables the kids to watch daily the hatching of the eggs and development of the baby fish, which are then returned to a local river. The children not only learn about the natural history of the fish, but actually get to look after them.

Subsequently class field trips are organised to the release locations and using electrofishing equipment catch fish (hopefully including some of the ones they released). This enables pupils to identify different fish and their life stages and even to learn how to handle fish safely and properly.

The Stanley pupils show off their work.
Fish are not the only topics covered during such field trips. Kick samples of aquatic life are taken and the youngsters are invited to count and identify them using simple keys.

Joint winners St Madoes receiving a cheque from John Wood, Lindsay Imlay (Class Teacher) and Susan Whyte.

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 24th June 2017.

Spring salmon fishing on the Tay in Perthshire has seen out May with improving conditions for fishing in milder weather and settling lower water levels until recently as more water has arrived plus catches are improving after a slow start to the season. Expectation and optimism is high on the river with summer arriving as spring has disappeared to give everyone a chance of landing a “Bar of Silver”.

On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are all over the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks have broods of young, Sand Pipers are on the river banks and Kingfishers dart past. Many wild flowers are in bloom but a good few are now past their best for another year, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay.

Beat catches reported
(week ending 24th June)
SALMON & GRILSE: Almondmouth 2, Waulkmill 2, Lower Redgorton 3, Stobhall 2, Taymount 8, Ballathie 6, Cargill 1, Islamouth 16, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 4, Kercock 3, Murthly 1 1, Glendelvine 1, Newtyle 3, Dunkeld House 1, Dalmarnock 4, Dalguise 3, Upper Kinnaird 1, Farleyer Upper 2, Lochlane and Laggan 1, Portnacraig Pitlochry 1.
Total: 65 Largest: Waulkmill 24lbs
SEA TROUT: Waulkmill 5, Lower Redgorton 10, Fishponds 1, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 1, Delvine Burnbane 1, Newtyle 1, Lower Kinnaird 1, Farleyer Upper 6, Lochlane and Laggan 7.
Total: 33 Largest: Lochlane and Laggan 8lbs

May saw improvements with more salmon landed in milder weather and river conditions have improved as the weeks have gone on favouring those who braved the elements in some cases. It is early yet but considering the conditions the results so far have been disappointing as we saw out March but we are seeing an improvement with more consistent catches over the last couple of months. Settling river levels after rain recently should hopefully continue to improve catches over the next few weeks with a summer run expected. The lack of rain had dropped the river to summer levels however salmon are still running due to the Tay’s sheer size as you fish another river within it. Rain was forecast again which has helped to spice things up. It was a quieter week with only around 65 fish landed and the biggest one recorded was 24 pounds from Waulkmill. This has probably signaled the end of the spring run for 2017 with hopefully a healthy summer run to start. Some of the fish that have been caught are memorable as typical Tay specimens due to their size and depth. Hopefully there will be a lot more of them to come as the run develops further.

This past week saw a few fish from the lower river scattered throughout the beats with Islamouth area continuing to be the most productive as fish hesitate at the mouth of the Isla. The beats at Stanley and below are seeing better sport and the rise in water levels in recent times may just spiced things up by encouraging summer salmon and sea trout into the river. The very lower part of the river is now producing more fish with Almondmouth, Waulkmill and lower Redgorton all catching including a superb 24 pounds fish from Waulkmill. The Greenwell party had odd fish at Stobhall meanwhile Ballathie had another reasonable week with 6.

Cargill had 1 for the week with Andy Faulkner landing it from the Pot Shot. Islamouth continues to fish well with 16 in the week.

Earlier in the week Stuart Yeats enjoyed success with a 13 pounds beauty from Donnits. Later in the week Simon Furniss enjoyed success with an 18 pounds beauty on the fly in very testing conditions with a gale blowing. Martin Deacon also caught a 14 pounder with John Furniss, Simon Bedford and Tom Deacon enjoying fishing on the beat.

Meikleour and Upper Islamouth had 4 including a 14 pounds fish for Chris Northam.

The middle river is fairing reasonably with rising river temperatures over recent weeks and more water should certainly help.

Kercock had 3 in the week which included Fish for Mark Torrance and John Banford up to 12 pounds. The Murthly and Glendelvine beats produced odd fish and Newtlye had 3 including a 9 pounds fish for Kerr Brooks. Dunkled House produced a single fish but further upstream Dalmarnock and Dalguise caught 7 between them.

Celtic and Scotland Footballer, Stephen Creany enjoyed success as did Iain Main and Robert Edmund on Dalmarnock with fish up to 10 pounds. Up at Dalguise Ross Haynes caught a 10 pounds fish from the Bridge pool on the fly and Donald Cameron caught a fish at 13 pounds. The Kinnaird beats accounted for one.

The upper river is seeing steady sport with fish recently caught however there was only odd fish reported from Farleyer last week.

The Tummel is continuing to see sport from the Port-na-Craig beat administered by Pitlochry Angling Club however with only 1 landed last week by Saul MacKay and there are now well over 3000 fish through the Dam resulting in fish being recorded in Loch Faskally.

The Isla are seeing salmon run up the river and progressing to the Ericht however nothing was reported.

The Earn has seen a run of salmon and sea trout progress up the river with Lochlane and lagan catching a single salmon and several sea trout up to 8 pounds.

The current week has got off to a cracking start maybe signaling the start of a healthy summer run. Monday saw over 30 fish caught as a run progressed up the lower river up to 16 pounds.

The Salmon fishing season has had a quiet start but has started to show signs of picking up with improving catches and some outstanding fish landed so far so let us hope the season lives up to everyone’s expectations over the coming weeks and months. Tight lines!


Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 26th June 2017.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 26th June 2017.

The Salmon fishing season is now in Mid season on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland as we enter late June and we have been encountering some heavy rain at times at long last resulting in fresh water in the river. The river has been low for quite a period but the rain has brought the river up and it is now dropping back nicely. The lower river levels have not stopped fish running and triggering off reasonable catches, however the increased flows have helped even further. We have had settled conditions over the past week which hopefully will continue to give more optimism and now there has been some rain as well at long last rising river levels considerably. The weather hopefully will remain reasonable to give a greater chance of producing some sport and some summer "Bars of Silver" if you are prepared to brave the elements.

On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows have are in the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks have their first and second broods of young and Sand Pipers are on the river banks. Wild flowers are in bloom, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay.

Currently the river is at better levels after rain recently and setting back with improving conditions (just above 1’ on the Ballathie gauge) to hopefully encourage more summer salmon to run.
The weather is to be more unsettled over the week with more rain forecast. There is a chance that this may give us more water and spice the river up encouraging even more fish to run. Milder temperatures and no rain had basically brought the river down to summer levels however the river is still big enough to encourage salmon to run by its sheer size, we are just fishing another river within it now. The milder weather has given us higher water temperatures which would have encouraged salmon to run the river including over 3000 fish through the ladder at Pitlochry. The water temperature has dropped back a bit with the fresh water after much warmer weather recently and is now hovering around 59F or 15C over the last few days but hopefully may drop back with a cooler forecast over the next few days. The temperature in recent days will encourage salmon to run throughout the system as earlier resulting in fish being caught well up the system depending on water levels. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river.
The Tay in Perthshire is a prime spring salmon fishing destination so why not give it a go?

Popular hotels to stay in the area are the Tayside Hotel in Stanley, Ballathie House, The Meikleour Arms, Murrayshall Hotel, Scone and the Royal Dunkeld Hotel.
As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method should be slow and deep with large lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. Harling is also a favoured method in early season but be warned wrap up well or it will not be a pleasant experience.
Tackle recommendations for fishing the Tay throughout the season.

Fly Rods.
The Tay is a large river especially when running at a normal level and even in lower levels you are fishing another river within the mighty one so therefore a 15 foot fly rod for a 10 weight line is certainly minimum requirement for much of the season. Do not come under gunned. In some parts of the river where it is especially wide even longer rods are used. It should be noted however that it is better to cast a shorter controlled line than try to cast out with your capabilities and have the lines end up in a mess and decrease your chances.

Fly Lines.
In early season when the water is cold you need to cast larger flies and get them deeper in the water to fish them slowly. There is a tremendous choice on the market nowadays which can be quite confusing to many anglers. Any type of Skagit line that can easily cast a 15 foot sinking leader of various depths is a good choice especially to the less experienced. Iflights and a tip of choice attached are another good bet as these lines enable you to cast a longer line than normal with ease. For more experienced anglers, there are a vast array of shooting heads of different sinking abilities available as well. These tactics can be used in late season as well when the water starts to cool down.
Once the water temperature starts to climb by April then tactics change to mainly floating lines and sink tips with much smaller conventional flies. Again, the choice of lines is incredible from longer belly Spey lines to shooting heads. If you go to shooting heads, then it is important to choose a good shooting backing as line management can be a big issue casting longer lines on a river such as the Tay.

Spinning Rods.
Rods.
You should have a minimum of a 10 foot rod for casting baits of 20gm to 60gms.
Line.
A main line of 20 pounds in nylon or 30 pounds in braid. You should use a lesser poundage far a cast such as 15 pounds so if you get caught up on the bottom you do not lose a large part of your main line.
Baits.
Tobies from 18gm upwards. Toby Salmos are very popular in 30gms. Conventional weighted Devon’s are good especially in the Spring. Rapalas and Vision 110’s are very effective and of course Kynochs are popular for harling.

What flies should I take?
In early season bigger flies such as Tube Flies, Temple Dogs and Monkey type flies up to 2 inches in body length and larger conventional patterns in 4’s and 6’s in lower water are required. A point of note is that a lighter Tube such as an aluminium or plastic body is far easier to cast than brass. Current line technology enables you to get these lighter flies to the correct depths. Ask your ghillie for tip advice on the day.
As river temperatures rise to a more conventional approach then a size range in your box should be from 6 in higher water to 12 in lower water and even smaller on exceptionally low conditions. Cascade type patterns seem to be the most popular and recently feeler flies have come to the fore. It is always worth a go with a Sun Ray type fly with a long wing whether casting normally in colder conditions to stripping it fast in warmer water.

Finally, you are reminded that the Tay's policy from June to the end of 2017 Season is that
• All hen fish of any size and all cock fish over 10 pounds should be released.
• All coloured and gravid fish to be released.
• No more than one clean fish weighing, where possible, less than 10 pounds should be retained per angler per day.
• Anglers should not use worms in September or October in any part of the district.
Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations. It is vital the river system follows these guides to ensure the draconian rules do not get extended in seasons to come.

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. Further information on the policy and good release practice.

The Tay Ghillies Association are continuing their popular FISH OF THE MONTH AWARD to encourage good catch and release practice on the Tay. Each month the winner will receive 2 personalised crystal Whisky glasses engraved with details of the catch and they will automatically be entered into the fish of the year competition for a Stylish Crystal Engraved Decanter. Full details of this initiative.

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.

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 17th June 2017.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 17th June 2017.

Spring salmon fishing on the Tay in Perthshire has seen out May with improving conditions for fishing in milder weather and settling lower water levels until recently as more water has arrived plus catches are improving after a slow start to the season. Expectation is high on the river for 2017 after 4 successful springs and hopefully settled weather will continue with an improving run in late May and June to give everyone a chance of landing a spring “Bar of Silver”.
On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are all over the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks have broods of young, Sand Pipers are on the river banks and Kingfishers dart past. Many wild flowers are in bloom but a good few are now past their best for another year, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay.

Beat catches reported
(week ending 17th June)
SALMON & GRILSE: Almondmouth 3, Waulkmill 2, Upper Redgorton 1, Upper Scone 2, Stobhall 4, Taymount 9, Ballathie 7, Cargill 5, Islamouth 20, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 8, Kercock 5, Delvine Burnbane 4, Murthly 1 8, Glendelvine 7, Murthly 2 12, Newtyle 1, Dunkeld House 2, Dalmarnock 3, Dalguise 3, Lower Kinnaird 3, Upper Kinnaird 2, Edradynate AA 2, Findynate 1, Farleyer Upper 1, Portnacraig Pitlochry 5, Loch Faskally 1.
Total: 121 Largest: Murthly 2 21lbs
SEA TROUT: Waulkmill 5, Lower Redgorton 1, Upper Redgorton 1, Benchil 1, Upper Scone 3, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 1, Murthly 2 3, Dalmarnock 1, Lochlane and Laggan 1.
Total: 17 Largest: Upper Scone 6lbs

May saw improvements with more salmon landed in milder weather and river conditions have improved as the weeks have gone on favouring those who braved the elements in some cases. It is early yet but considering the conditions the results so far have been disappointing as we saw out March but we are seeing an improvement with more consistent catches over the last couple of months and settling river levels after rain last week should hopefully continue to improve catches over the next few weeks. The lack of rain had dropped the river to summer levels however salmon are still running due to the Tay’s sheer size as you fish another river within it. Rain was forecast at long last which has helped to spice things up. It was a better week with around 120 fish landed and the biggest one recorded was 21 pounds from Murthly. Some of the fish that have been caught are memorable as typical Tay specimens due to their size and depth. Hopefully there will be a lot more of them to come as the run develops further.

This past week saw a few fish from the lower river scattered throughout the beats with Islamouth area again proving the best beat as fish hesitate at the mouth of the Isla. The beats at Stanley and below are seeing limited sport but the rise in water levels last weekend may just spiced things up by encouraging Sea Trout into the river. The very lower part of the river is now producing more fish with Almondmouth, Waulkmill, Upper Redgorton and Upper Scone all catching. John Tait caught a lovely fresh fish on the fly from Berhaugh on the lower part of Upper Redgorton. On Upper Scone David Mitchell was amongst the fish mainly from Horsey at the lower end of Stanley. Sea trout also featured in the catches with fish up to 6 pounds reported. Further upstream Stobhall accounted for 4 in the week and the Ballathie and Cargill beats had 12 between them.

On Ballathie Roger Birnam’s party enjoyed a good week with fish landed up 15 pounds which included success for Stewart Wilkinson, Kevin Gardner and Roger himself.

On Cargill 5 nice fish up to 19 ½ pounds were landed. John Wilson had his first Tay fish on Friday as did Gordon Robinson who landed a personal best of just under 20 pounds. 91-year-old Tom Kenyon had a grilse on the fly from Clocksden to cap a good week. Islamouth had another consistent week with John McElroy’s party enjoying success earlier in the week.

Neil Tong, John Campbell, Gordon Fleetwood and Philip Black all caught fish up to 13 pounds including the odd grilse. Upper Islamouth and Meikleour had another good week with water levels suiting them. Good fish were caught up to 15 pounds with John Cameron landing 2 on the fly and Bill Barnett catching also on the fly a superb fish weighing 14 pounds. Chris Staniford also had success with a spinner later in the week.

Meikleour also hosted with their AFYD group (Angling for Youth Development) their first "HENS & BAIRNS" fishing event. They invited local mums, grannies, aunties to come with their young ones for a fun morning of casting and fly tying. Younger ones were using single handed rods while the mums and the older youngsters had a go with salmon rods. They all made their own fly - a simple but effective trout pattern- and had a great bonding experience on the river. Everybody left with the same question: when are we coming back? We can't wait to see these hens & bairns with a fish on.

The event would have not been possible without the hard work of all our volunteer AFYD instructors, Tom Brown who once again kindly offered his help and shared his casting knowledge and the Ghillies Calum and John for preparing the event and assisting on the day. A big thank you went out to Ian Gordon for providing AFYD with easy salmon rod outfits. A superb event, well done all concerned.

The middle river is fairing much better with rising river temperatures over recent weeks and more water should certainly help. Kercock had a better week with 5 as did Delvine Burnbane with 4.

Jim Redmond, James Redmond and Dougie McLean were all on the score sheet with fish up to 11 pounds at Kercock. Fish up to 14 pounds came from Burnbane including a good one for Willie Cumming on a Salmo. The Murthly beats did well with 20 between them including a 21 pounder.

Glendelvine had a good week as well with 7 which included a beauty for John Dewar. Newtyle had one and Dunkeld House two in the week. Ian Willis contributed a couple of fish the Dalmarnock tally with fish up to 15 pounds on Saturday. Dalguise had 3 for the week and the Kinnaird beats had 5 between them.

The upper river is seeing steady sport with fish recently caught however there was only odd fish reported from Edradynate, Findynate and Farleyer last week.

The Tummel is continuing to see sport from the Port-na-Craig beat administered by Pitlochry Angling Club with 5 landed last week and there are now well over 3000 fish through the Dam resulting in fish being recorded in Loch Faskally. William Smith got the week off to flyer with an 18 pounds cracker on the fly,

Brian Joseph caught on fly as did Bertie Warren who is a new member but he celebrated with a 3 pounds grilse. Other fish were caught in the week by John Love and Hugh Robertson up to 16 pounds. Loch Faskally caught as well with 1 fish reported.

The Isla are seeing salmon run up the river and progressing to the Ericht however nothing was reported.

The Spring Salmon fishing season has had a quiet start but has started to show signs of picking up with improving catches and some outstanding fish landed so far so let us hope the season lives up to everyone’s expectations over the coming weeks and months. Tight lines!

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 19th June 2017.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 19th June 2017.

The Salmon fishing season is now in Mid season on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland as we enter mid June and we have been encountering some heavy rain at times at long last resulting in fresh water in the river. The river has been low for quite a period but the rain has brought the river up and it is now dropping back nicely. The lower river levels have not stopped fish running and triggering off reasonable catches, however the increased flows have helped even further. We have had unsettled conditions over the past week which hopefully will continue to give more optimism and now there has been some rain as well at long last rising river levels considerably. The weather hopefully will remain reasonable to give a greater chance of producing some sport and some early "Bars of Silver" if you are prepared to brave the elements.

On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows have are in the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks have their first and second broods of young and Sand Pipers are on the river banks. Wild flowers are in bloom, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay.

Currently the river is at better levels after rain recently and setting back with improving conditions (below 2’ on the Ballathie gauge) to hopefully encourage more late spring salmon to run.

The weather is to be more settled over the week with some rain forecast. There is a chance that this may give us more water and spice the river up encouraging even more fish to run. Milder temperatures and no rain had basically brought the river down to summer levels however the river is still big enough to encourage salmon to run by its sheer size, we are just fishing another river within it now. The milder weather has given us higher water temperatures which would have encouraged salmon to run the river including over 3000 fish through the ladder at Pitlochry. The water temperature has dropped back a bit with the fresh water after much warmer weather recently and is now hovering around 59F or 15C over the last few days but hopefully may drop back with a cooler forecast over the next few days. The temperature in recent days will encourage salmon to run throughout the system as earlier resulting in fish being caught well up the system depending on water levels. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river.

The Tay in Perthshire is a prime spring salmon fishing destination so why not give it a go?

Popular hotels to stay in the area are the Tayside Hotel in Stanley, Ballathie House, The Meikleour Arms, Murrayshall Hotel, Scone and the Royal Dunkeld Hotel.

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method should be slow and deep with large lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. Harling is also a favoured method in early season but be warned wrap up well or it will not be a pleasant experience.

Tackle recommendations for fishing the Tay throughout the season.
Fly Rods.
The Tay is a large river especially when running at a normal level and even in lower levels you are fishing another river within the mighty one so therefore a 15 foot fly rod for a 10 weight line is certainly minimum requirement for much of the season. Do not come under gunned. In some parts of the river where it is especially wide even longer rods are used. It should be noted however that it is better to cast a shorter controlled line than try to cast out with your capabilities and have the lines end up in a mess and decrease your chances.

Fly Lines.
In early season when the water is cold you need to cast larger flies and get them deeper in the water to fish them slowly. There is a tremendous choice on the market nowadays which can be quite confusing to many anglers. Any type of Skagit line that can easily cast a 15 foot sinking leader of various depths is a good choice especially to the less experienced. Iflights and a tip of choice attached are another good bet as these lines enable you to cast a longer line than normal with ease. For more experienced anglers, there are a vast array of shooting heads of different sinking abilities available as well. These tactics can be used in late season as well when the water starts to cool down.
Once the water temperature starts to climb by April then tactics change to mainly floating lines and sink tips with much smaller conventional flies. Again, the choice of lines is incredible from longer belly Spey lines to shooting heads. If you go to shooting heads, then it is important to choose a good shooting backing as line management can be a big issue casting longer lines on a river such as the Tay.

Spinning Rods.
Rods.
You should have a minimum of a 10 foot rod for casting baits of 20gm to 60gms.
Line.
A main line of 20 pounds in nylon or 30 pounds in braid. You should use a lesser poundage far a cast such as 15 pounds so if you get caught up on the bottom you do not lose a large part of your main line.
Baits.
Tobies from 18gm upwards. Toby Salmos are very popular in 30gms. Conventional weighted Devon’s are good especially in the Spring. Rapalas and Vision 110’s are very effective and of course Kynochs are popular for harling.

What flies should I take?

In early season bigger flies such as Tube Flies, Temple Dogs and Monkey type flies up to 2 inches in body length and larger conventional patterns in 4’s and 6’s in lower water are required. A point of note is that a lighter Tube such as an aluminium or plastic body is far easier to cast than brass. Current line technology enables you to get these lighter flies to the correct depths. Ask your ghillie for tip advice on the day.

As river temperatures rise to a more conventional approach then a size range in your box should be from 6 in higher water to 12 in lower water and even smaller on exceptionally low conditions. Cascade type patterns seem to be the most popular and recently feeler flies have come to the fore. It is always worth a go with a Sun Ray type fly with a long wing whether casting normally in colder conditions to stripping it fast in warmer water.

Finally, you are reminded that the Tay's policy from June to the end of 2017 Season is that
• All hen fish of any size and all cock fish over 10 pounds should be released.
• All coloured and gravid fish to be released.
• No more than one clean fish weighing, where possible, less than 10 pounds should be retained per angler per day.
• Anglers should not use worms in September or October in any part of the district.

Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations. It is vital the river system follows these guides to ensure the draconian rules do not get extended in seasons to come.
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. Further information on the policy and good release practice.

The Tay Ghillies Association are continuing their popular FISH OF THE MONTH AWARD to encourage good catch and release practice on the Tay. Each month the winner will receive 2 personalised crystal Whisky glasses engraved with details of the catch and they will automatically be entered into the fish of the year competition for a Stylish Crystal Engraved Decanter. Full details of this initiative.

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.
Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 10th June 2017.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 10th June 2017.

Spring salmon fishing on the Tay in Perthshire has seen out May with improving conditions for fishing in milder weather and settling lower water levels until recently as more water has arrived plus catches are improving after a slow start to the season. Expectation is high on the river for 2017 after 4 successful springs and hopefully settled weather will continue with an improving run in late May and June to give everyone a chance of landing a spring “Bar of Silver”.
On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are all over the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks have their first broods of young and Sand Pipers are on the river banks. Lupins are blooming as well as all the other wild flowers, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay.

Beat catches reported
(week ending 10th June)
SALMON & GRILSE: Lower Redgorton 1, Upper Redgorton 1, Fishponds 1, Benchil 2, Stobhall 3, Taymount 8, Ballathie 6, Cargill 1, Islamouth 16, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 5, Kercock 3, Murthly 1 2, Glendelvine 2, Murthly 2 5, Newtyle 1, Dunkeld House 1, Dalmarnock 3, Lower Kinnaird 8, Upper Kinnaird 1, Farleyer Lower 1, Portnacraig Pitlochry 3, Loch Faskally 3.
Total: 77 Largest: Ballathie 17lbs
SEA TROUT: Lower Redgorton 8, Benchil 3, Stobhall 1, Taymount 4, Ballathie 1, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 6, Delvine Burnbane 1, Dunkeld House 1, Lower Kinnaird 3, Upper Kinnaird 2.
Total: 30 Largest: Lower Redgorton & Benchil & Dunkeld House 4lbs

May saw improvements with more salmon landed in milder weather and river conditions have improved as the weeks have gone on favouring those who braved the elements in some cases. It is early yet but considering the conditions the results so far have been disappointing as we saw out March but we are seeing an improvement with more consistent catches over the last couple of months and settling river levels after rain last week should hopefully continue better catches over the next few weeks. The lack of rain had dropped the river to summer levels however salmon are still running due to the Tay’s sheer size as you fish another river within it. Rain was forecast at long last which can only help and spice things up. It was a better week with around 80 fish landed and the biggest one recorded was 17 pounds from Ballathie. Some of the fish that have been caught are memorable as typical Tay specimens due to their size and depth. Hopefully there will be a lot more of them to come as the run develops further.

This past week saw a few fish from the lower river scattered throughout the beats with Islamouth area again proving the best beat as fish hesitate at the mouth of the Isla. The beats at Stanley and below are seeing limited sport but the rise in water levels last weekend may just spiced things up by encouraging Sea Trout into the river. The very lower part of the river had odd fish with Fishponds and the Redgorton beats all catching single fish as well as sea trout. Benchil had a couple in the week with Alan Robertson landing a 13 pounds fish from the Long Shot on the fly. Latter in the week Danny Fulton caught a small salmon and 3 sea trout up to 4 pounds again in the Long Shot and on the fly. Stobhall had 3 in the week meanwhile Ballathie fared better with 6 up to 17 pounds for the Chris Loftus and Ian Bowler parties.

Cargill had frustrating week losing several fish however Angus Johnstone did secure the beats first grilse. Islamouth continued to do well until the river unsettled.

It was a frustrating early part of the week for Ian Muir’s party as they started with a superb day of 10 on Monday. The extra water in the week certainly benefited Upper Islamouth and Meikleour with a good few salmon and sea trout landed in the week.

Successful rods included Dr Garratt catching on the fly and Chris Barbour landing 3 fish up to 14 pounds in an evening.

The middle river is fairing much better with rising river temperatures over recent weeks and more water should certainly help. Kercock had 3 in the week and the Murthly and Glendelvine beats caught as well. Newtyle and Dunkeld House had a fish each while Dalmarnock and the Kinnaird beats did better.

This included a lovely fish caught by Andrew Armitage on the fly.

The upper river is seeing steady sport with fish recently caught however there was only 1 fish reported from Farleyer last week.

The Tummel is continuing to see sport from the Port-na-Craig beat administered by Pitlochry Angling Club with 3 landed last week and there are now over 3000 fish through the Dam resulting in fish being recorded in Loch Faskally.

It was a slow week at the Dam with fish caught by Martin Wilson, Laurent Memeteau and Gavin Hutchison up to 14 pounds. Further up country at the clubs Ruan Ruarie beat Kennylee Murray enjoyed success with 2 fish the previous Saturday up to 9 pounds. Loch Faskally caught as well with 2 fish reported. Gary Bell and Simon Cooper caught on fish up to 9 pounds trolling.

The Isla are seeing salmon run up the river and progressing to the Ericht however nothing was reported.

The Spring Salmon fishing season has had a quiet start but has started to show signs of picking up with improving catches and some outstanding fish landed so far so let us hope the season lives up to everyone’s expectations over the coming weeks and months. Tight lines!

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White