Salmon Fishing Scotland Stanley beats, Tay, Perthshire Report and Prospects for W/C 27th July 2020.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Stanley beats, Tay, Perthshire Report and Prospects for W/C 27th July 2020. 

It was a much better salmon fishing week at Stanley especially on the Pitlochrie and Benchil beats with several salmon caught. Fish were caught off both beats and there was a good fish landed on the fly from the Catholes as well.

The week started off brilliantly with two Gleneagles clients landing their first ever salmon on the Pitlochrie beat. Michael and Olena Lukyanova from the Ukraine caught a 5 pounds and 11 pounds fish on toby having lost a few prior to the captures. I don't think they quite understood what they had achieved but very happy faces.

Michael with a 5 pounds Grilse.

Olena with an 11 pounds beauty.
On Tuesday we had a Hardy rod testing day and vastly experienced Andy Murray obliged with a superb 16 pounds fish from the Long Shot on the fly.

Thursday belonged to Jim McLanaghan with 2 salmon landed on Benchil. He caught a grilse on the fly from the Long Shot and a lovely 12 pounds fish from the Plain water on a Toby in the afternoon.

 On Friday Geordie Falls caught a Grilse in the Corner pool on a flying C, meanwhile Gleneagles ghillie Gerry Rattray caught a lovely fish on the fly in the Black Stones on the Catholes.

Saturday belonged to Belgium Anne Emsens with 2 superb fish from the Long Shot at Benchil late in the day at around 12 pounds. It was a great end to the week

Conditions are superb for our beats at the moment and there is a good run of summer salmon and grilse in progress. There will be some great opportunities over the weeks to follow.

Tackle advice on Stanley beats. 

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method the elusive Tay Salmon.

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 summer when the water is warmer you will be using smaller flies and conventional floating lines with tips to give you the best possible chance. There is a tremendous choice on the market nowadays which can be quite confusing to many anglers. Rio Game Changers or Scandi lines plus a tip of choice attached are currently a great 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. I use a Rio long Spey at this time of year plus a tip as I hate pulling all that shooting line back in each cast. A Mid Spey may be an option as well. 

Spinning 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. 

The Stanley beats are steeped in history and this year we have reduced the available rods to 4 giving you far more opportunity and value for money. We are fly fishing friendly as well. Look forward to seeing you on the beats. Feel free to contact us direct on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com or 07979528134/01738827416. 

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Stanley beats, Tay, Perthshire Report and Prospects for W/C 20th July 2020.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Stanley beats, Tay, Perthshire Report and Prospects for W/C 20th July 2020. 

Last week was a difficult period with little success due to a largely unsettled river conditions due to daily Hydro rises. The run seemed to be on hold but a good few fish were pulling the fly but not hanging on. Was this the quiet before the storm! It was certainly frustrating with only a fish caught on Luncarty and a grilse falling on Benchil on Saturday to James MacKay on Saturday. There was also a single fish recorded on Benchil on Friday for Upper Scone.

Monday in the current week has seen a big change with more fish running and a settled river at last. We had our first Gleneagles Clients at last. They had travelled from Ukraine and after a frustrating morning loosing a couple Michael Lukyanova landed his first salmon on a Toby salmo in Horsey.

Not long after Michael's success his mother Olena caught a superb 11 pounds summer salmon casting from the boat on the same lure. It was certainly a memorable day for them both.

It looks like there is an improvement in the run as the Upper Scone rods had a great day with 5 fish up to 14 pounds from Benchil.
Conditions are great for the beats with the water levels now well under 2 feet and hopefully a good run in progress.

Tackle advice on Stanley beats. 

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method the elusive Tay Salmon.

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 summer when the water is warmer you will be using smaller flies and conventional floating lines with tips to give you the best possible chance. There is a tremendous choice on the market nowadays which can be quite confusing to many anglers. Rio Game Changers or Scandi lines plus a tip of choice attached are currently a great 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. I use a Rio long Spey at this time of year plus a tip as I hate pulling all that shooting line back in each cast. A Mid Spey may be an option as well. 

Spinning 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. 

The Stanley beats are steeped in history and this year we have reduced the available rods to 4 giving you far more opportunity and value for money. We are fly fishing friendly as well. Look forward to seeing you on the beats. Feel free to contact us direct on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com or 07979528134/01738827416. 

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Stanley beats, Tay, Perthshire Report and Prospects for W/C 13th July 2020.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Stanley beats, Tay, Perthshire Report and Prospects for W/C 13th July 2020. 

It has been a better week on the Stanley beats with double the catch from the previous week all be it only 6 fish however it could have been a few more with a some lost. It was a frustrating week with fluctuating river levels due to rain and hydro impromptu releases unsettling the river making fishing much more difficult.
The beats got off to a good start on Monday with Gleneagles ghillie Gerry Rattray catching a lovely fish and loosing another in the day. Later in the week he had a go on the Catholes and lost a good fish after playing it for over 5 minutes.

On Tuesday with no one on the beats I caught a couple on the fly from the long Shot on Benchil up to 10 pounds. I also had a fish on Wednesday from Horsey fly fishing.

Thursday was the only blank in the week but there were 2 lost including a breakage on the fly which was extremely frustrating and unlucky for the rod.
On Friday in an unsettled river Jim Ferrie caught a grilse and lost another similar fish in Horsey on the Pitlochrie beat.

A further grilse was landed on Benchil on Saturday.
It was a good week but with more settled weather in the coming week we should so an improvement in sport over the next few days. Water levels have dropped back to just over 2 feet so should benefit Benchil more in the coming week.

Tackle advice on Stanley beats. 

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method the elusive Tay Salmon.

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 summer when the water is warmer you will be using smaller flies and conventional floating lines with tips to give you the best possible chance. There is a tremendous choice on the market nowadays which can be quite confusing to many anglers. Rio Game Changers or Scandi lines plus a tip of choice attached are currently a great 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. I use a Rio long Spey at this time of year plus a tip as I hate pulling all that shooting line back in each cast. A Mid Spey may be an option as well. 

Spinning 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. 

The Stanley beats are steeped in history and this year we have reduced the available rods to 4 giving you far more opportunity and value for money. We are fly fishing friendly as well. Look forward to seeing you on the beats. Feel free to contact us direct on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com or 07979528134/01738827416. 

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Stanley beats, Tay, Perthshire Report and Prospects for W/C 6th July 2020.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Stanley beats, Tay, Perthshire Report and Prospects for W/C 6th July 2020. 

The weather in the last week has made fishing difficult with daily fluctuations in river heights however we had 3 lovely summer salmon from the Horsey Pool on the Pitlochrie beat at Stanley and there was certainly evidence of salmon running. Hopefully the weather will settle down in the coming week and enable some better sport.
This video is a compilation of the catches.

There was a little window on Wednesday between river rises enabling me to land a 14 pounds fish at the tail of Horsey having had 3 other offers as well on the fly.

Friday saw much better conditions with Alistair Sheach landing a cracking 12 pounds fish again from the tail of Horsey. I also had an older fish at about 10 pounds on the fly.

I have since learned of 2 fish up to 15 pounds landed on Benchil caught by a Perth and District Angler member on a flying C. A Sea Trout came off Luncarty earlier in the week for Ed Slaven.

Hopefully the weather will ease up this week to give better opportunities. There has been more water on Sunday to hopefully drop and settle for Monday. The river is running at around 4' with water temperatures at 60F/15C and salmon are running. Sport could be terrific over the coming weeks.

Tackle advice on Stanley beats. 

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method the elusive Tay Salmon.

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 summer when the water is warmer you will be using smaller flies and conventional floating lines with tips to give you the best possible chance. There is a tremendous choice on the market nowadays which can be quite confusing to many anglers. Rio Game Changers or Scandi lines plus a tip of choice attached are currently a great 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. I use a Rio long Spey at this time of year plus a tip as I hate pulling all that shooting line back in each cast. A Mid Spey may be an option as well. 

Spinning 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. 

The Stanley beats are steeped in history and this year we have reduced the available rods to 4 giving you far more opportunity and value for money. We are fly fishing friendly as well. Look forward to seeing you on the beats. Feel free to contact us direct on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com or 07979528134/01738827416. 

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White

Salmon Fishing Scotland Summer Salmon Fly Fishing on the Tay at Stanley, Perthshire July 2020.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Summer Salmon Fly Fishing on the Tay at Stanley, Perthshire July 2020.

When the river is up around 4' on the lower Tay the Horsey pool on the Pitlochrie beat is absolutely perfect for fly fishing and it is a dream pool full of expectation. The river this week has been very unsettled and today was no exception after yet more rain early this morning. I decided to take a gamble in the early afternoon for a cast thinking it would settle for a couple of hours. I had a frustrating time pulling 3 fish including a grilse taking line for 20 seconds then coming to the top and off! It wasn't going to happen then after another half a dozen casts or so the line tightened again.

This was the result! An absolute summer beauty around 14 pounds. It fought very hard but thankfully i managed to land it to get the picture. If we can just get some settled conditions the sport could be amazing. There seems to be more fish about this year so let us hope it improves and produces some great memories.

Salmon Fishing Scotland - By Robert White