Salmon Fishing Scotland River Tay Salmon Fishing Prospects for week commencing 15th October 2012.

Salmon Fishing Scotland River Tay Salmon Fishing Prospects for week commencing 15th October 2012.

The river is settling back down after a big 14 foot autumn spate at the end of the week caused by torrential rain.

Catches remained at a good level prior to this making it an excellent week by and large on most beats however everyone had to work hard to gain results. Most of the river has been looking for a spate for some time to hopefully freshen the river up and draw more fresh salmon in. Assuming this is the case prospects for this coming week are excellent with the river settling and a reasonable weather forecast for the time of year. The salmon run is steady but hopefully will improve, also hopefully we will see a good autumn run over the last couple of weeks as we go into October extension period and this should give the river a great chance of producing more good sport if we get settled conditions.

The river at Stanley last week in superb autumnal sunshine.

The weather is reasonably settled currently with higher pressure but rain showers are forecast but hopefully not to unsettle the river over the coming week, this should give us excellent prospects for sport on the river. Let us also hope the hydro stop sending rises down the river on a daily basis making life even more difficult this coming week. There might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river and hopefully the run will strengthen as we go into the week to give us even more success. Grilse and Multi sea winter salmon continue to be caught, which is very encouraging and with the settled conditions it should be a good week for the river. The prospect of a large salmon is a real possibility with big fish continuing to be caught every week.

Autumn colours on the river.

As to methods, in settled conditions and river temperatures cooling fishing by any method will be varied to catch the elusive Tay salmon. Currently the river temperature is around 48 degrees Fahrenheit or 9 Celsius. Fly fishing with a floating line and a sink tip or it is now worth a go with a sunk line and smallish tubes with resident fish now in the pools and varied tactics can produce results. Spinning from the bank with Devons and Tobies are a good bet. An all red devon is a good bet at this time of year.

The sun goes down on another autumn day on the river.

Finally you are reminded that the Tay's catch and release policy for 2012.
From 1 June to end of Season:
• 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 adhere to these recommendations and help preserve the long term future of the river and your sport.

To help you follow our guidelines I have included these helpful pointers

How to SAFELY Release a Salmon

“The best method of releasing a salmon is to leave it in the water
and touch nothing but the hook with fingers or pliers. When taking a picture, lift the fish from the water with wet hands, quickly take the picture and return it immediately back to the water.
“Whatever the method, care combined with speed, will give the fish the best chance of survival.”

A fish being carefully unhooked in the net and in the river.

All salmon are to be released during the Extension period from Tuesday 16th until Wednesday 31st October.

Currently salmon are taking longer to recover so please give them time before releasing. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended. Keep the fish in the water as much as possible and reduce handling to give them every chance to recover prior to release.

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 this report.

Tight lines.

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