Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 30th September 2017.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 30th September 2017.

Salmon fishing on the Tay in Perthshire has seen out 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, a few more fresh fish are being seen, expectation and optimism are still high on the river with summer fast disappearing and autumn arriving to give everyone a chance of landing a good Tay salmon before the season ends.

On the nature front, as autumn arrives the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows have departed 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 wildflowers 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.

On Saturday the Tay Ghillies Association held a race night in the Tayside Hotel in Stanley. There was an excellent turnout and £3325 was raised which will go back into the river for the Hatch and Release project. A big thanks go out to all who attended, George McInnes’s family members for the administration and Gary McErlain.

Beat catches reported
(week ending 30th September)
SALMON & GRILSE: Almondmouth 9, Waulkmill 11, Lower Redgorton 21, Luncarty 1, Fishponds 3, Benchil 2, Upper Scone 4, Pitlochrie 1, Stobhall 7, Taymount 7, Ballathie 2, Cargill 10, Islamouth 8, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 7, Kercock 4, Murthly 2 2, Newtyle 2, Dunkeld House 1, Dalmarnock 1, Lower Kinnaird 1, Farleyer Lower 1, Lochlane and Laggan 2.
Total: 107 Largest: Lower Redgorton 29lbs
SEA TROUT: Waulkmill 3, Lower Redgorton 2, Fishponds 1, Upper Scone 2, Stobhall 1, Taymount 3, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 1, Lochlane and Laggan 6.
Total: 19 Largest: Lochlane and Laggan 5lbs

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 and a few more fresh fish being seen. Recent rain has helped to spice things up. It was another reasonable week despite fairly unsettled conditions with just over 100 fish landed and the biggest one recorded was 29 pounds from Lower Redgorton. 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 last 2 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 an autumn run. Lower Redgorton had a good week with over 20 fish landed including a 29 pounds fish for Martin Gilbert’s party. Will Bright from Ireland enjoyed success on Luncarty with a small fresh fish on Saturday falling to a spinner.

A client from Scotia Fishing had a good 16 pounds fish from Fishponds on a flying C. Upper Scone and Stanley had odd fish in the week with Mark Wyllie landing 2 fish on Benchil and Chris Cuthbert landing his first fish from the Wash House on the Pitlochrie beat despite adverse conditions. Donald Normans party enjoyed a hard week on Stobhall with fish landed most days. Ballathie had an odd fish and Cargill did a bit better with 10 fish up to 21 pounds.

Successful rods included Graham and George Raffan, Don Bell, David Sands and Carl Durrant. Islamouth had 8 in the week and further upstream upper Islamouth and Meikleour finished with 7 which included Michael Schoder from Alaska and John Moses catching on the fly.

Further fish were caught by Findlay Boyd and Adrian Howell caught a sea liced 8 pounder proving odd fresh salmon are still running the river.

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, Murthly, Newtyle, Dunkeld House and the Kinnaird beats but in small numbers for the time of year.

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

The Tummel has been quiet from the Port-na-Craig beat administered by Pitlochry Angling Club but there are now well over 4000 fish through the Dam resulting in fish being recorded in Loch Faskally and a fish caught further up the system.

The Isla is seeing salmon run up the river and progressing to the Ericht.

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 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