Goods catches again but when the weather allows it.
The river Tay in Perthshire Scotland continued to catch spring salmon last week despite continued unsettled weather. The catches were good at the start of the week with better conditions but fell away with yet more mild weather and heavy rain. A run of spring salmon continued on the lower river as the water cleared and eased a bit but interestingly the bulk of the catch still came from Linn pool down with only a few other fish from the system. These beats are still at the mercy of the weather as on a couple of days muddy water came from the Isla curtailing sport. The Linn pool on Stobhall and Taymount, Burnmouth, Catholes and Pitlochrie all have good high water spring pools and they all produced salmon. The catches were especially heartening after the prolonged bad weather but were also better than last year for the time so hopefully it is a sign of another great spring for the river if the weather relents.
This past week saw a repeat of the previous week as conditions improved for a few days encouraging everyone on the river. The high cold water has given the lower river around Stanley ideal conditions and the bulk of the catch came from 5 beats that have good high water pools. The salmon seemed have run up the river and as they hit the increase in gradient causing the rapids around Stanley they slowed down and were caught in reasonable numbers for the time of year. The Linn Pool, Burnmouth, Catholes, Pitlochrie Pool, Wash House, Aitkenhead, Ship Linn and White Craigs were all notorious spring pools on the lower Tay and this was proved this past week. Out of 33 salmon registered 27 came from these spots and others were caught as well but not registered. Other salmon were caught in the system as some fish continue to run and salmon are being caught in Loch Tay but not being registered.
Beat catches reported
(week ending 22nd February)
SALMON & GRILSE: Lower Redgorton 2, Luncarty 1, Upper Redgorton 1, Fishponds 1, Catholes Stanley 3, Upper Scone 1, Pitlochrie 3, Catholes Campsie 4, Stobhall 7, Taymount 4, Murthly 2 2, Dalmarnock 2, Upper Kinnaird 1, Coupar Grange 1.
Total: 33 Largest: Catholes Campsie 24lbs
The lower river around Stanley fished very well last week on the 4 days the water was clear. Stobhall and Taymount have been enjoying good sport from the Linn pool throughout the week. Stobhall had some good days in the Linn with
Andrew Wright, Martin Lydan and Raymond Doonan catching superb spring fish up to 19 pounds in weight. Taymount also had their share from the pool with Colin Mathison and Glenny catching good fish then
Chris Davidson caught his first spring salmon on Friday weighing 10 pounds on a Copper Salmo. Earlier in the week the water level on the lower Tay went under 6 feet for a couple of days which helped produce great sport on the Catholes under the Weir with 7 springers landed up to 24 pounds.
Wilson Comrie caught his largest ever springer out in the Little Head under the weir from the boat weighing 24 pounds after a tremendous fight. Charles Martin also caught a good fish from the Woodside on a Devon. One of the only fish caught on the fly came from the famous Slap for P Ingram weighing an estimated 20 pounds. He was still shaking hours later! The following day Martin Lydan from London caught fish from the Woodside and Little head, Alistair Middlemas caught a superb 18 pounds fish from the boat again under the Weir, which at this time of year can be a bit of a temperature barrier. Pitlochrie pool also continued to fish well with Freddie Sutherland and John Morrison catching fish up to 12 pounds.
There was a notable fish salmon caught by young Scott Davie on Saturday under the guidance of Davie Seaton on Upper Scone. Andrew Wright followed his success on the Linn with another spring salmon from the Wash House casting from the boat.
Some of the lower beats started to gain success last week with
Tom Black catching a superb 21 pounds fish on Fishponds caught on a green Salmo. On the opposite bank John Lessels caught a fish firstly on Luncarty on Monday then landed a 9 pounds springer on Upper Redgorton on Thursday from Lodge End in a rising river. Further down stream Lower Redgorton caught their first fish of the season with Dave Cameron landing a 12 pounds fish on a harled fly from the Hummel Hole.
Further up river the Murthly 2 beat continued their start with a further 2 salmon proving fish were running hard despite the big water. Ghillie Gordon Pollock accounted for 2 spring salmon from Dalmarnock from the Bank pool with the larger of the 2 fish weighing 19 pounds.
Upper Kinnaird also caught a spring salmon weighing 12 pounds. Coupar Grange also got off the mark with a first as fish gently spread in the system with all the water.
At the start of this week the river was suffering from a massive spate from snow melt caused by milder weather over the weekend and heavy rain. Once this settles the sport should continue in earnest.
The Tay Ghillies Association has launched a FISH OF THE MONTH AWARD to encourage good catch and release practice on the Tay. Each month the winner will receive 2 personalised crystal Whisky glasses engraved with details of the catch and they will automatically be entered into the fish of the year competition for a Stylish Crystal Engraved Decanter.
Fish of the month for January was given to Callum McRoberts for his 17 pounds Opening day fish.
• Catch a good Tay Salmon
• Weigh it carefully and photograph it with as little handling as possible.
• Verify with Ghillie
• Safely return the fish with a minimum of handling
• TGA Committee decision is final
Send entries with a photo and verification details to:-
Mike Hay, Sec of Tay Ghillies Assoc.
Mobile: 07762 464407
Email: tayhayurg@gmail.com
The Spring Salmon fishing has well and truly kicked off with renewed optimism and some notable catches, let us hope this is a taste of what is to come and the weather settles down further to maintain it all.
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.
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