Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 2nd June 2018.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 2nd June 2018.

The Tay, Perthshire has now seen out May and entered June for salmon fishing with disappointing results in recent weeks and now with a far warmer forecast. Expectation is still optimistic on the river for 2018 after a string of better weeks in April, fish are starting to be caught in better numbers although this month has been disappointing so far however the fantastic news continues with multi sea winter fish being landed on the river week in week out which has put the Tay again at the centre of everyone’s attention. Hopefully the weather will remain reasonably settled over the coming weeks and give everyone a chance of landing a “Bar of Silver” and even possibly a fish of a lifetime.

Beat catches reported

(week ending 2nd June)
SALMON & GRILSE: Upper Redgorton 1, Benchil 1, Ballathie 2, Cargill 3, Islamouth 16, Kercock 1, Murthly 2 2, Newtyle 2, Dalmarnock 1, Farleyer Upper 1, Lochlane and Laggan 1, Portnacraig Pitlochry 2, Loch Faskally 2.
Total: 35 Largest: Portnacraig Pitlochry 15lbs
SEA TROUT: Lower Redgorton 3.
Total: 3 Largest: Lower Redgorton 2lbs

Spring salmon were landed last week in warmer weather and river conditions were generally excellent although a few may have complained about the bright sun at times. The river has been settled and at lower levels now due to the lack of rain however some very heavy thunder showers at the weekend has given the river some fresh water which can only help matters. The numbers were again disappointing for May with just under 40 fresh salmon recorded last week making it a poor week for the time of year. The spring season is in its later stages now and frustratingly only small runs are coming into the river but fluctuating weather can make fishing difficult however as the fish travel slowly upriver most beats are catching. Some of the fish that have been caught remain truly memorable as typical Tay specimens due to their size and depth. Hopefully there will be a lot more of them to come. 

The Lower river saw its share of catches last week especially at Islamouth where the influence of the Isla has an undoubted benefit with now lower river levels and contributing 50% of the rivers catch for the week. A fish came off Upper Redgorton on Tuesday evening to a member of the Perth and District angling club on the fly. On Benchil Danny Fulton caught a 10 pounds fish on the fly from the Long Shot. Ballathie and Cargill shared 5 fish between them which must be very frustrating in great low water conditions for the beats. 

On Ballathie Mark Johnson and Fred Harrison were both successful with fish of 10 pounds. On Cargill 3 fish were caught in the week with Mark Gooch landing a 10 pounds fish on the fly from the Bridge Stream and 

Gerry Kelly landing another 10 pounds fish from the Lower Beat. Islamouth caught 16 in the week on fly with 2 or 3 fish landed each day up to 14 pounds. At the start of the week John Horlocks’s party landed 8 fish up to Wednesday then Mike Cuthbert’s party had a similar result for the last three days.  

The Middle river enjoyed excellent water conditions despite some bright days throughout the week and fish continued to appear in modest numbers as they moved steadily up stream. 

On Kercock a single fish fell to James Redmond. It was quiet in the Murthly area however the number 2 beat had a couple. 

Newtyle also accounted for a couple with Ken O’ Donnell landing a lovely 14 pounds liced fish from the Steps pool on the fly. Dalmarnock had a single fish for the week. Sadly, there were no others reported on the middle stretches. 

The Upper area has featured last week as fish moved up the system giving everyone hope of landing one of these memorable fish, 1 fish was recorded from the Upper Farleyer beat. 

The Lyon has been seeing a run of spring salmon recently, however there was no news form the area.  

Loch Tay is also seeing sport but nothing was reported last week. 

The Tummel was also seeing sport with 2 reported last week form the Pitlochry Angling Club stretch at Portnacraig up to 15 pounds and now around 750 plus fish have ascended the ladder with temperatures rising. Roy Longair caught a 15 pounds fish on the fly and Howard Rankin caught a 14 pounds fish on a spinner. The first fish were reported from Loch Faskally with 2 caught on Friday up to 14 pounds for Rod Lumsden and Gary Bruce. Further downstream Dunfallandy and West Haugh also had fish last week. East Haugh and the Lower Tummel must be getting some action as well with fish making their way up to the dam. 

The spring salmon are now going up the Isla with fish caught recently and on the lower Ericht the Blairgowrie Angling Club water has been reporting fish however the lower water levels will be curtailing sport especially on the Ericht. 

The Earn is starting to see salmon and sea trout arrive in the last few weeks with Lochlane and Laggan reporting a single salmon. 

The Tay is certainly the place to come to for the chance of a fish of a lifetime. The sheer size of the river produces very powerful large salmon and the possibility of a 40 pounds fish must be on the cards now. The food source for Atlantic salmon is moving further away from our shores with sea temperatures rising and salmon are spending longer away in the ocean before they are returning making the possibility of much bigger fish finding its way back. The fish that are being caught now is further evidence of that phenomenon. 

These are encouraging signs in the past week or so however the sheer class of the fish caught continues to be outstanding and with hopefully a settled river in the coming weeks should see improved catches with a settled forecast as well.  

The Spring Salmon fishing was slow as we saw out May. It has been a quiet start but let us hope the season lives up to every one’s expectations over the coming weeks and months and when you visit the Tay you catch a fish of a lifetime. Tight lines!

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