Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 23rd September 2017.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 23rd September 2017.

Salmon fishing on the Tay in Perthshire is in late September with changeable autumnal conditions for fishing in now slightly colder weather and reasonable water levels from rain at times plus catches are steady with autumn arriving. The temperatures have started to drop making the resident salmon more aggressive, expectation and optimism are still high on the river with summer slowly disappearing and autumn arriving to give everyone a chance of landing a good Tay salmon.

On the nature front as autumn arrives the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are now departing quickly, the Ospreys have already gone for warmer climes, Ducks have their broods of young growing up steadily and Kingfishers dart past on the river banks. Recent days have seen the first Geese arriving. Odd wild flowers are still in bloom, the autumn colours are now showing, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay where a salmon is now a bonus.

Beat catches reported
(week ending 23rd September)
SALMON & GRILSE: Almondmouth 15, Waulkmill 12, Lower Redgorton 4, Luncarty 1, Upper Redgorton 7, Fishponds 7, Benchil 7, Upper Scone 12, Pitlochrie 1, Stobhall 14, Taymount 21, Ballathie 7, Cargill 16, Islamouth 11, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 6, Kercock 2, Delvine Burnbane 2, Murthly 1 1, Glendelvine 2, Newtyle 2, Dunkeld House 2, Dalmarnock 3, Dalguise 4, Lower Kinnaird 1, Upper Kinnaird 1, Farleyer Lower 2, Upper Aberuthven 1, Lochlane and Laggan 4, Keithick Mains 5, Ruan Ruarie 1.
Total: 174 Largest: Upper Scone 26lbs
SEA TROUT: Upper Scone 1, Stobhall 1, Lochlane and Laggan 3, Keithick Mains 1.
Total: 6 Largest: Lochlane and Laggan 3lbs

July was the rivers best month so far and August was steady with more salmon landed in warmer weather and river conditions have improved as the weeks have gone with plenty of fresh water. Settling river levels after rain recently and water temperatures dropping should hopefully continue to improve catches over the next few weeks with autumn now underway. 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. Recent rain has helped to spice things up. It was another far better week with just over 170 fish landed and the biggest one recorded was 26 pounds from the Pitlochrie beat on Upper Scone. Spring is now a distant memory for 2017 and Summer has disappeared as we move into Autumn. Some of the fish that have been caught are memorable as typical Tay specimens due to their size and depth with only a few grilse caught so far. Hopefully there will be a lot more of them to come in the few weeks of the season.

This past week again saw more fish from the lower river scattered throughout the beats with a spread in catches mainly due to water temperatures dropping and resident fish becoming more aggressive. The beats at Stanley and below are seeing sport and the rise in water levels in recent times may just have spiced things up by encouraging salmon into the river. The very lower part of the river is producing consistent catches with Almondmouth, Waulkmill and Lower Redgorton all catching in the week but in disappointing numbers for the time of year. The beats further up are not fairing any better but improved slightly last week as everyone hopes for some form of autumn run. Upper Scone had a better week with 12 which included a 26 pounds fish from Horsey on the Pitlochrie beat.

At Stanley the Benchil beat had a good opening day for the week with 5 fish up to 21 pounds.

Alistair Sheach and Billy Hendry both landed good fish on the fly casting from the boats.

Later in the week Simon Furniss had a 15 pounds fish from Horsey on the Pitlochrie beat on the fly. Stobhall and Taymount shared 35 fish between them and further upstream Ballathie and Cargill had 23.

16 fish came from Cargill with Neil French and Ian Jardine being the top rods catching fish up to 18 pounds.

Islamouth finished with 11 and further up Upper Islamouth and Meikleour accounted for 6 with Jen and Josh Goudge from Seattle catching their first ever salmon, this feat was also achieved by Jeremy Cahill later in the week. Norwegian visitors Finn Solberg and Harold Stromme had success at the end of the week along with Jim Eddie.

The middle river continues to be extremely disappointing despite dropping river temperatures and more water not producing good sport however there have been odd exceptions. Fish came from Kercock, Delvine, Murthly, Glendelvine, Newtyle, Dunkeld House, Dalmarnock, Dalguise and the Kinnaird beats but in small numbers for the time of year.

The ladies were at it on Delvine with French visiting anglers Anne Pillon and Anouck Vallon sharing an 8 pounds salmon from the boat.

Patrick Burling caught his first ever fish as well from the beat.

On Dalmarnock Mike Sutton landed fish up to 15 pounds.

The upper river was seeing steady sport with fish recently caught and reported last week at Farleyer.

The Tummel was continuing to see sport from the Port-na-Craig beat administered by Pitlochry Angling Club and there are now over 4000 fish through the Dam resulting in fish being recorded in Loch Faskally and a fish reported from Ruan Ruarie.

The Isla are seeing salmon run up the river and progressing to the Ericht with fish reported from Keithick Mains.

The Earn has seen a run of salmon and sea trout progress up the river with a good few fish caught in the system over recent weeks and reported fish from Upper Aberuthven and Lochlane and Laggan.

The current week has got off to a quiet start because of a large spate but hopefully that will stir things up for better success as the week goes on.

The Salmon fishing season is in its last few weeks now with Autumn here. It had been a difficult season but there have still been quite a few memorable fish caught. Let us hope the last few weeks go out with a bang. Tight lines!

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White