Salmon Fishing Scotland River Tay Salmon Fishing Report for the Week ending 5th May 2012.

Salmon Fishing Scotland River Tay Salmon Fishing Report for the Week ending 5th May 2012.

The catches were reasonable last week due to settled water levels however colder weather and the river dropping back to summer levels curtailed activity at the end of the week. The quality of spring salmon remained high and the appearance of a few much bigger salmon up to 32 pounds in weight was very encouraging.

Settled conditions prevailed for the week with river levels falling away which is more typical weather for the time of year. By the end of the week the water levels had dropped back. Success was reasonable throughout the week but dropped off at the end of the week with colder weather and lower water. The quality was again exceptional with more multi sea winter salmon landed. The river temperature was around 48F or 9C due to the colder weather but this did not stop salmon running and spreading the catches. Salmon continue to be caught from top to bottom in the river with others caught and not registered meaning fish are running through rapidly and progressing upstream which encourages everyone.

There were 80 salmon reported with the largest salmon an impressive 32 pounds caught on the

Ballathie beat by 12 years old James Meakin. There was also salmon of 25 pounds caught at Lower Kinnaird and 24 pounds on Loch Faskally. Spring salmon were landed throughout the system from the Lower River to the Upper River.

On the Lower River 29 were landed. The boats are now off the lower river from Stanley downwards and summer fishing has started. Most of the beats do summer permits at this time of year until the boats go back on in July. A few sea trout have started to appear this past week, which is encouraging. Further upstream sport has been slow with odd fish caught. The lower water suits the Ballathie and Cargill beats as their catches improved this past week. There was great excitement on Friday when Ballathie caught the first 30 pounds salmon of the season for the river. Everyone has been expecting larger salmon to appear as last year but they have been in short supply until this week. Strangely the other rivers in Scotland have seen larger salmon this week as well. Islamouth has again been the top beat on the river this week landing 16 salmon all caught fly fishing. On Thursday 7 salmon were caught with Perth angler Neil Tong landing 4 for the day up to 17 pounds from bank and boat.

On Saturday Ian Mitchell caught a 21 pounds salmon from the tail of the Long Head.

The Middle River 21. Kercock have had a better week with several salmon landed on fly and spinner. Successful anglers included David Crosbie and Norman Wood landing 2 salmon in 2 days up to 12 pounds on the fly and Dougie McLean and

Dennis Robb catching fresh salmon on Thursday. Jim McEwan also had a 7 pounds fish on a Salmo. At Newtyle the Bowmans were successful on Tuesday and Dunkeld House beat had a better week with Simon Furniss catching 3 himself on Tuesday. The middle river is seeing better sport now but a bit more water would help things further.

The Upper River produced 28. The upper river continues to produce but must be struggling with low water now. Despite low water fish have been caught in reasonable numbers and there is now over 300 salmon through the fish ladder at Pitlochry. Loch Faskally are benefitting from this and on Thursday Shaun Camburn landed a 24 pounds salmon trolling a pink Kynoch, which has brought their tally up to 8 for the season. Below the Dam the Portnacraig beat had a reasonable week landing salmon up to 20 pounds on fly and spinner. Successful anglers included Gordon Hanslip, Davie Stewart, Stephane Bovy and visiting father and son Tony and Anthony Churchill.

Graeme Lightbody and John Bryce both landed a salmon fly fishing on Saturday despite the very low water. The upper beats on the Tay have been working away as well with Dalguise, Kinnaird, Farleyer and Findynate all contributing. A notable salmon of 25 pounds was caught off the Lower Kinnaird beat on Wednesday.

The Isla registered 2 from Keithick Mains and Islabank.

The Earn registered 0.

The Tay Conservation Dinner will be held at the Dunkeld Hilton Hotel on Saturday 20th October 2012.

Celebrate a Tay spring salmon with a Dalmore Tay Dram and contribute to the future of this mighty river. Dalmore distillery have created a unique expression of their single malt whisky and a generous donation from each bottle sold will be gifted to the Tay Foundation to support their work to protect and improve the river.

Many thanks for all the pictures everyone has sent me of spring salmon and thanks to all who have sent me their individual fishing experiences over the last season on the river. I would be most grateful if you to do the same this season by emailing robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in this report.

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Salmon Fishing Scotland River Tay Salmon Fishing Prospects for week commencing 7th May 2012.

Salmon Fishing Scotland River Tay Salmon Fishing Prospects for week commencing 7th May 2012.

The river has been settled last week and dropped to summer level however there is rain forecast for the coming week with more unsettled weather, which will hopefully freshen the river and give us a bit more water. The fresh water should encourage salmon and sea trout to run and should still give the river a great chance of producing more good sport.

The weather will be more unsettled this week with a chance of rain. The water temperature is currently around 48 degrees Fahrenheit or 9 degrees Celsius due to the colder snap but this should not hamper fishing as the catches again demonstrated last week. There might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river and hopefully the run will strengthen after fresh water to give us even more success.
Multi sea winter spring salmon continue to be caught as well which is very encouraging and the prospect of a large springer is a real possibility after a few bigger fish appeared last week.

Islamouth on the lower Tay.

As to methods, in settled conditions and rising river temperatures fishing by any method will be varied to catch the elusive Tay Springer. Fly fishing now will be with intermediates or floating line with a sinking tip and smaller tubes or a dressed fly. It is always worth a go with a Sun Ray as well. Spinning from the bank with Devons and Tobies are a good bet. It is even worth a go with a flying C as the fish become more active in warmer water. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year but be warned if cold conditions persist, wrap up well or it will not be a pleasant experience.

Dunkeld House beat on the Middle Tay.
Finally you are reminded that the Tay's policy for January - May 2012 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.

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.
“Whatever the method, care combined with speed, will give the fish the best chance of survival.”
Lee Wulff, Atlantic Salmon Journal Winter 1964/65

• Use barbless or pinched hooks
• Retrieve your fish quickly; release it immediately
• Keep the fish in the water
• Use rubber or knotless cotton net, if one must be used
• Cut the leader if necessary
• Remove the hook carefully
• Hold the fish gently in natural swimming position, facing upstream until it revives
• Don’t pump the fish. That is, don’t move the fish back and forth in the water.

How should hooks be removed?
Very Carefully
In quiet water, bring the wild salmon quickly within reach. Leaving the salmon in water and without squeezing it, remove the hook carefully with pliers or thumb and forefinger. If a net must be used, it should be rubber or knotless cotton. If necessary, cut the leader near the fly and spare the fish.

Stephen Paterson about to release a spring salmon at Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland.
The Science of Live Release
“Peer-reviewed science supports live release as a proven and effective conservation tool.”
Dr. Fred Whoriskey,
ASF Vice-President, Research & Environment

Studies in North America and Europe have shown live release works, and in some instances Atlantic salmon have been angled 2 and 3 times.
Science has shown that virtually all Atlantic salmon will survive when released, as long as the angler uses the proper techniques, refrains from angling in overly warm water, and does not overplay the Atlantic salmon.
Like athletes sprinting on a track, Atlantic salmon build up lactic acid in their muscle tissues when they are being played.
The Key is Oxygen – The fish need oxygen in order to recover and continue their journey.
To recover, Atlantic salmon need:
• careful handling by the angler to reduce stress
• to remain in the water where they can breathe and reduce the oxygen deficit in their tissues
• to be held in an upstream position for water to flow more easily across their gills

Photographing Your Spectacular Live Release Salmon.

Use a photo partner:

* Digital camera: make settings on the camera before you begin fishing or use a point and shoot film camera. Give it to your partner before the angling session.

* Whether a digital camera or a film camera, tell your partner to fill the frame, and take several images.

* If it is a film camera, be sure there is film in the camera. This may seem to be a simple matter, but mistakes do happen...

Let your Partner get into Position:

* Tell him/her what you are going to do. Alert your partner before you take the fish out of the water.

Support the Atlantic salmon:

* Carefully take the barbless hook out of the fish’s mouth. With rod tucked under your arm, move one hand to the base of the tail. With your other hand, support the fish under the forward part of its body. Keep it in the water, with the fish pointed upstream to help its recovery.

* If a third person is present, give him or her the rod to hold, so you can concentrate on the wild salmon.

Take the Picture Quickly:

* With your photo partner warned, raise the wild Atlantic salmon partially out of the water for less than five seconds - or consider leaving it semi-submerged for the photo instead!

Return the Fish to Continue its Spawning Run:

* Support the salmon underwater in a natural position facing the current, handling it as little as possible. Give it time to recover. The goal is for the wild salmon to swim away on its own.

* Digital cameras offer the opportunity to adjust the film speed to suit conditions. In low light, such as evening, morning, heavy cloud, or deep shadow, consider setting the speed to 400, to take care of both movement and the low light. Experiment beforehand on speeds above 400, as many digital images become heavily pixilated at greater sensitivity.

* Remember to adjust the white balance for deep shadow, to warm the image.

* Today’s print films even at 400 speeds are superb. Use 400-speed film at dawn, dusk or in shadow.

* Don’t forget to smile! Your photo is a valuable memory.

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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Salmon Fishing Scotland Large Salmon on the Tay 2012.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Large Salmon on the Tay 2012.

The really big salmon have been absent in Scotland this year so far until this week. There have been good multi sea winter salmon caught in the lower twenties but this week has seen the arrival of some bigger fish including some 30 pounds salmon. The Dee, Tweed and Tay have all seen this on the same week strangely but it is great news for salmon fishing in Scotland. Hopefully this will be the start of a run of leviathan Salmon throughout all the rivers.

The mighty Tay is famous for large salmon and there was no surprise that this week the Tay produced the largest fish in Scotland. Even more exciting was that it was a 12 year old who caught this truly magnificent fish. James Meakin landed this 32 pounds leviathan on the famous Ballathie beat under the eye of ghillie Gary McErlain (pictured holding the salmon). The fish was caught in the boat on a small Tay lure. What a cracking salmon and well done James.


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Salmon Fishing Scotland Monkey Salmon Fly.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Monkey Salmon Fly.

The Monkey Salmon fly has become one of the most popular salmon flies in recent years. The fly originates from the Aberdeenshire Dee and this is my twist on the extremely successful pattern.

This fly is available from the Salmon fly shop on Aluminium tubes for ease of casting.

A truly effective fly throughout the season. Fish it slow in colder water and strip fast in warm water, the results can be amazing!

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Salmon Fishing Scotland May Salmon Fly Fishing on the Tay 2012.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May Salmon Fly Fishing on the Tay 2012.

Islamouth proves again that it is the top beat on the river at present time but there was another story coming from the beat today.

Neil Tong was back on the river after a terrible accident a couple of months ago. What a day he had to help erase the problems he has had recently. This was him with a superb 17 pounds salmon caught fly fishing from the boat in Sandyford. The party landed 7 salmon for their day and Neil accounted for 4 of them which is great by anyone's standards. Well done Neil, you can not keep a good man down.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May Fly Fishing on the Tay.

Salmon Fishing Scotland May Fly Fishing on the Tay.

The middle area of the Tay continues to fish well at the start of May.

This was a cracking 15 pounds sea liced beauty from the Newtyle beat just below Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland caught fly fishing by Jake Bowman. Even more impressive was that it was his first ever Salmon. Fantastic and well done.

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Salmon Fishing Scotland Spring Salmon on the Middle Tay May 2012.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Spring Salmon on the Middle Tay May 2012.

This week has got off to a flyer on the Tay with several salmon caught and the first signs of sea trout.

Simon Furniss had a good May day on the river at Dunkeld House landing 3 salmon during the day. The salmon pictured was a 16 pounds beauty from the Cutty caught on a Vision 110. He landed another 2 fish weighing 12 and 11 pounds. The 11 pounds salmon was caught fly fishing in the Cathedral stream just above the iconic Dunkeld Bridge.

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