The Salmon fishing season is now at the end of April on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland and we are getting better water conditions apart from some unsettled weather at the end of last week giving us great spring fishing with a continued good spring salmon run in reasonable numbers which is now spreading throughout the river as temperatures rise. The weather was settled for most of last week making life better as river levels receded making the pursuit of that magical spring salmon a bit easier and good catches were achieved in reasonable numbers with some larger multi sea winter spring salmon caught as well.
Currently the river is falling back after the rise on Friday (approx 4’ on the Ballathie gauge). Lower river levels below 4 feet in the coming days should enable the river to produce more top quality spring fishing and as the river levels ease the fish will run further and the catches will continue to spread. The weather is be reasonably settled over the next few days, which should benefit the river and give a great chance of producing some more sport and some early "Bars of Silver" if you are prepared to brave the elements.
The weather is looking more settled for the coming week with only a small chance of rain and reasonable temperatures that should continue to settle the river back to a more manageable fishing height for everyone. The milder weather will certainly continue to give us more settled water levels and encourage salmon to run the river. The water temperature is creeping up to around 48 degrees Fahrenheit or 9 degrees Celsius. These are now normal temperatures for the time of year and the conditions have seen salmon running throughout the system with milder weather which has resulted in fish being caught well up the system, the milder weather and increased river levels will continue to encourage spring salmon to run. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river.
As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method will have to be slow and deep with large lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year but be warned wrap up well or it will not be a pleasant experience.
Finally you are reminded that the Tay's policy for January - May 2014 is that all spring salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has adopted a policy of 100% catch and release for spring salmon. Spring salmon are a scarce and precious resource. Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations.
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.
• 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
When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended. Guidance on good Catch and Release practice.
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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