Salmon Fishing Scotland How to catch an Atlantic Salmon.

Salmon Fishing Scotland How to catch an Atlantic Salmon.

This is a piece on how to catch a salmon and thought it may be helpful to people starting out or needing some help to secure that elusive Atlantic salmon. It is my take on it as others may have a different approach. I hope it is of some benefit to you.

Prepare yourself first of all.
Before you enter the river you should have checked your tackle whether spinning or fly fishing. Your reel should be set at a reasonable tension, which should not be too tight, or too free running so that your fish will be properly hooked when it takes. If spinning, never strike a fish under any circumstances, as it will drive it crazy and make playing it even more difficult. If you strike a fish while fly fishing you will probably lose it straight away. The hook will have been pulled out of its mouth. Let the salmon turn and run. The salmon takes you and you do not take the salmon if you understand what I mean.

The appropriate breaking strain of your leader is important as well. When spinning your leader should be of a lesser strength than your main line so if you get snagged and have to break you will just lose your bait and not a great chunk of main line as well. The strength of cast may vary according to the time of year, clarity of water and size of river. Maybe 15 pounds in spring and autumn and down as low as 10 pounds in high summer.

Before you enter a pool you should understand a bit about its geography so you can be prepared in the eventuality of hooking a fish. Are there any visible snags, overhanging trees? Where are the possible landing sites? If you are fly fishing it is extremely difficult to net a fish on your own so it is important to locate a good place to hopefully beach a fish. If you have a net locate it at an appropriate place to land a fish. It is easier to have the net set up rather than struggle to take it off your back and get it organised during the fight.

Improving your chances of catching a fish as well is important. Everyone says catching one is down to luck but believe it or not you can increase your chances if you do the right things. Understanding the water and potential salmon lies is important and if there is a ghillie you should ask his or her advice. Fishing at the correct depth is also important. In low water you may have to work the bait if spinning to avoid being snagged. In summer with higher water temperatures spinning fast can be effective. To give a salmon just a glimpse of a bait will make it chase and take well. Too slow and the fish will not respond. In early and late season fishing the correct weight of bait is important, as you want it to fish throughout the whole cast right into the bank. Choose the correct line if fly fishing. This may be the appropriate sinking rate according to the pool depth and flow in spring and autumn. In warmer conditions floating lines and the correct sinking tip is vital. There are so many variations nowadays and it can be difficult and confusing for less experienced anglers. Advice from the ghillie or an experienced friend again is important. Cast within your capabilities. Don't try to overcast as all you will achieve is a tangle or your fly will not be fishing properly! It is better to cast a good short line than a long bad line to increase your chances. The luck then is covering a taking fish.

Hooking the fish.
The pull of a fish on the end of the line is ultimately what we are after so it is vitally important to do this bit correctly! If you have followed the first points the fish should hook itself as it pulls the line away. You do not strike! All you have to do is raise your rod to about 2 o’clock to make the fish start to fight the rod and your tension on the reel that sets the hook. You should not have your tension too tight at this stage and you should allow the fish to take line if it wants as you can always increase the tension if need be later especially if it is a big fish. When fly fishing people have various methods and beliefs over the years. When I first started fly fishing I was told to hold a loop and when the fish pulled you were to let the loop go but every time I did that there was nothing at the end of the line when the loop went! Someone then told me to just let then pull against the tension of the reel and after that everyone was a coconut! I hold the line against my rod and when I feel a fish pull it let it go and raise the rod slowly and the fish is on. When salmon take they turn on the bait or fly so they will hook themselves straight away. You should notice with the fly especially that if you hook a fish on the fly on the left bank the fish will have the hook on the right hand side of its mouth as it turns out into the river in the take and visa versa on the other bank.

Playing the fish.
Once you have hooked the fish you do not want to loose it. If the river is at a settled height it is normal that salmon take well and you should land far more than you loose. When the river is unsettled, however, then loosing fish can happen more often as they do not take as well. I have all ready mentioned that it is important to let the fish run and not have your tension too tight. Do not panic if the fish takes a long run because it will stop and you will be able to get it back. Salmon are fairly predictable normally unless you foul hook one. They will not run out a pool unless you let them. If you are near the tail of a pool you should find they might go deep into the tail but should stop 9 times out of 10 and come back. If you are near the tail of a pool you should try to go back up stream and take them away from there when possible. If a fish goes to the tail do not start following them as they will not stop and keep going and going. I have seen people do that countless times and they have landed fish with great stress several pools down the river! Do not allow the fish to settle, in other words keep them on the move so you tire them out. You play the fish they don’t play you! In the case of very big fish they can often play you for a while until they are under control and you are at their mercy due to their size. When a fish has stopped running you need to get it back by raising the rod further up then dropping it slowly and winding in the slack. Try to do this as smoothly as possible and not jerk the line and drive the fish mad as you will make life more difficult for yourself. Early on in the fright you may find the fish will only come in a limited way then it will want to turn and run again. Be prepared for that as it can happen suddenly but do not be alarmed and let it run again before getting back and keeping it moving to tire it out. It is at this stage you may want to increase your tension if you feel the fish is taking line too easily and you are not making much headway. When fly fishing you can break runs by putting the palm of your hand on the reel rim and applying gentile pressure to increase tension. Stay out in the river until you have the fish well under control. I lower water if you come to the bank too early the line can get snagged especially if you have a lot of line out. Once the fish is on a shorter line then make your way to the bank.

Landing the fish.
Once the fish starts to tire it is nearly ready to land and you should now have the upper hand and be able to dictate to the fish what you want to do. If you are on your own then you should be taking the fish to the appropriate spot to land in a net or beach. Try not to do this too hastily as you will end up in trouble.

If you are with someone such as a ghillie you need to present the fish to the net and not have the netter trying to fish for the salmon under the water. When netting a fish the netsman should be standing downstream of the angler by a few yards. Once the fish is tired you should be able to bring the fish to the surface so the net can be put under the fish and safely raised to secure it. If you are going to release the fish do not take it out the water and touch it as little as possible.

Unhook it, take a picture if necessary in the net and release.

Tight Lines!

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Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon Fishing Report for W/E 11th July 2015.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon Fishing Report for W/E 11th July 2015.

The salmon fishing on the Tay in Perthshire has slowed down after an excellent period for some time especially in the middle river with improving conditions for fishing and reasonably settled water levels have prevailed to give the river an excellent late spring period with the river equaling last years catches so far and improving on the 5 year average. The current trend continued in June but has slowed up in the last couple of weeks with slight signs of improvement last week. The spring period has ended but steady conditions have spread fish throughout the system in the last few weeks, this may be the catalyst for even better catches which hopefully will continue over the next few weeks as we go deeper into summer. This past few weeks seemed to have confirmed the end of the 2015 spring run but the river is holding a good stock of fish especially in the middle areas. We now await a good summer run of salmon and grilse. Expectation remains high on the river for 2015 after consistent catches recently and hopefully favourable conditions may trigger off improving runs as we go into Summer to give everyone a chance of landing a Tay “Bar of Silver”.

Late spring and summer salmon were landed last week in lesser numbers in reasonably settled conditions. We recorded an improving weekly catch despite the recent prolific period. There was good cloud cover and it was warm. Fish were landed daily from all over as the river level receded and the quality of the salmon caught remained outstanding with fish caught in the late teens. Rain during last week may just spice things up for the coming week. Grilse are starting to run with odd ones caught and in excellent condition. Sea trout are making an appearance as well with some top quality fish caught. On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are all over the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Kingfishers dart past, Ducks have their second broods of young and Sand Pipers are on the riverbank. It is a magical time of year with the wild flowers coming out everywhere with Rhododendrons and Azaleas in bloom and Lupines everywhere as well as many others. It is true what they say, “ a salmon is a bonus!”

Beat catches reported (week ending 11th July)
SALMON & GRILSE: Almondmouth 3, Waulkmill 1, Lower Redgorton 1, Benchil 1, Pitlochrie 1, Stobhall 6, Taymount 4, Ballathie 4, Cargill 4, Islamouth 16, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 4, Kercock 3, Murthly 1 5, Glendelvine 2, Murthly 2 7, Newtyle 4, Dunkeld House 9, Dalmarnock 1, Lower Kinnaird 2, Upper Kinnaird 1, Findynate 1, Loch Faskally 1, Ruan Ruarie 1.
Total: 82 Largest: Murthly 1 20lbs
SEA TROUT: Waulkmill 1, Lower Redgorton 2, Stobhall 1, Murthly 2 1, Newtyle 2.
Total: 7 Largest: Newtyle 5lbs

Salmon have been caught throughout the system this past week but in disappointing numbers, despite superb conditions at times making it ideal as fish run harder due to the warmer water temperatures and fish are spreading throughout the river. Bigger water in the previous weeks may have encouraged more to run. The mandatory government catch and release restrictions have ended however the river would ask everyone to observe the TDSB recommendations to preserve what we have for future years. Return rates are at an all time low and wild salmon are a precious resource to the Tay and all rivers in Scotland. Handling of fresh salmon in particular is a big issue now if we are serious about successful release to enable as many salmon as possible to survive to spawn. 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 and is bad practice. Further information on the policy and good release practice. If an area of the river starts to kill salmon to excess the mandatory policy will ultimately increase beyond the spring and maybe for the whole season that would not be a popular concept for our fragile rural economy. Thank you for all who preserve the recommendations and shame on the few who cannot, their shortsighted outlook will bring everyone down and cost jobs throughout Scotland’s river systems.

This week saw the Tay Ghillies Association hold a double presentation to celebrate the capture of a monster salmon and to help protect the river's stocks. This year's recipient of the Redford Cup was Scots angler Willie Cumming of Larbert, who landed a cracking 19 pounder on the Dunkeld House beat of the river.

The TGA also gifted £4,300 worth of sophisticated monitoring equipment to help Tay Board bailiffs catch poachers from the sale of calendars, badges and car stickers, a raffle and a donkey derby night. Thank you to all who took part and anglers who generously contributed.

The Lower Tay below Stanley has seen odd fish recorded this past week and Sea Trout are about but the beats just above the Stanley area were showing signs of improvement in warm water temperatures as fish race up the system. The boats are back on the beats at Stanley and below for summer fishing. Almondmouth continued to see odd fish caught with 3 on Saturday and fish have been caught on the Stormont Angling club water. Waulkmill and Lower Redgorton also recorded a fish apiece. The Jennings party enjoyed success on the Stanley beats catching a couple of fish and loosing another two. Francis landed a 6 pounds beauty on the fly in Kirkie on the Pitlochrie beat while

Tom caught a 7 pounds fish on Benchil from the Todd Holes. Stobhall and Taymount faired better this past week with 10 fish between them. Stobhall managed 6 for the day on Friday as soon better runs come through the river. Ballathie and Cargill faired better at the end of the week with 8 fish.

Islamouth had a sporadic week with some outstanding days along with some quiet ones confirming that runs are not consistent yet.

Amongst the successful rods was Philip Miller with an 8 pounds fish from Donnits. On Upper Islamouth and Meikleour the fly worked well during the week despite not many rods out fishing. Paul Chisholm caught an 8 pounds fish from the Pump House Croy on the fly from the bank.

The Middle river is fishing reasonably well with consistent catches but experienced a quieter week mirroring the rest of the river. Kercock had a quieter week with 2 fish. Murthly and Glendelvine had a disappointing week recording 12 fish for the week. Newtyle had 4 during the week.

John McNeil from Penicuik landed his first Tay salmon on the fly from the boil on the fly weighing 11 pounds earlier in the week. Dunkeld House have now passed 200 fish for the season and had another good week with 9 fish landed. Earlier in the week Jim Ferrie and Gordon Pollock had fish up to 16 pounds then Saturday saw a good day with 5 fish landed.

Ross Robert Jones caught a 10 pounds fish from the Cutty with his father catching 2 fresh fish from the Rock pool up to 8 pounds. On Dalmarnock Andy McAlwee caught a 3 pounds grilse and reported seeing several others. Kinnaird recorded 3 fish from their beats on Saturday.

The Tummel is continuing to produce fish but was much quieter as fish make their way up to Pitlochry dam and through it with the counter is now showing in excess of 3000 with rising temperatures, which is ahead of last years total at the same time. All the beats below the dam including East and West Haugh have been producing fish over the last week or so, which has been good news. It was a much quieter week on the Pitlochry Angling club stretch as fish escape through the dam in numbers. Albert Crowther and Ally Gowans had fish from the Sawmill Stream and Dave Wilson had more success up at Ruan Ruarie as fish fly up the Garry catching an 8 pounds beauty on a spinner.

The Upper areas are seeing fish on their beats. One salmon was reported from the Findynate beat during the week as they run up to Loch Tay.

On Loch Tay fish are running and must be staring to go up the Dochart but nothing was reported last week.

The Isla is starting to see salmon run the river with no fish registered.

The Ericht is also seeing fish run up the river but unfortunately nothing was reported.

The Earn were also seeing a late spring salmon and Sea Trout run however no fish were reported last week possibly due to the water levels dropping.

The Spring Salmon fishing season is now over as we now go into summer and expectation remains high after great catches recently and poor overall catches last year. Late spring catches have been tremendous and June has continued to encourage everyone after fish were caught in the system in continuing better numbers. Let us hope with improving conditions and the upturn in catches will continue. Tight lines!

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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Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for the Tay, Perthshire, Scotland week commencing 13th July 2015.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for the Tay, Perthshire, Scotland week commencing 13th July 2015.

The Salmon fishing season has now entered July on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland and we have had reasonably settled summer weather with a dropping river for the pursuit of that magical salmon with some warmer conditions. The weather is to be fairly settled over the coming week with a chance of rain and continue warmer, but hopefully this will not deter the chances of producing good sport and some "Bars of Silver" if you are prepared to have a go. Catches improved slightly lat week in good conditions and the quality of the salmon caught remains outstanding and as we go into Summer hopefully conditions will remain favourable and there will be a further improvement in the run to give even more success.

Currently the river is slightly unsettled with recent rain but falling back day by day generally with excellent conditions (around 2’6 on the Ballathie gauge) after a settled week. This hopefully may encourage more salmon to run.

The weather is to continue reasonably settled with warmer weather all week and occasional rain. In other words sunshine and showers to cover all the boxes! We are seeing summer conditions prevail. The tremendous spring run is over but warmer conditions have enabled spring salmon to run hard up the river and spread rapidly with hopefully the arrival of some summer fish to follow and maintain sport. The milder weather forecast at times and recent bigger water triggered off salmon to run the river in improving numbers. Expectation remains very high. The general forecast should continue to drop river levels and hopefully maintain the current excellent conditions and make ideal summer fishing conditions.

The water temperature has risen dramatically with the hot weather and is around 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15.5 degrees Celsius but may rise with warmer weather during the week. These are typical temperatures for this time of year. The colder weather has benefited the lower beats early in the season but is now holding fish in the middle river as the fish spread so there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river after slowly rising temperatures prevailed last week.

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method should enable you to catch the elusive Tay Salmon. The water temperature has warmed up slowly enabling floating lines to come out with the addition of a sink tip being a favoured tactic and using normal dressed flies. It is still worth a go with sinking lines as well depending on water heights and stripping a Sun Ray Shadow is always worth a go. When spinning, Tay favourites include Toby Salmos, weighted and floating devons, flying C’s and Visons or Rapalas. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year on many beats.

Finally you are reminded that the Tay's policy from June to the end of 2015 Season is that
• 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 help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations. It is vital the river system follows these guide lines to ensure the draconian new Scottish Government Statutory Conservation Regulation rules do not get extended in seasons to come.
The Tay Ghillies Association are continuing their popular 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. Full details of this initiative.

Return rates are at an all time low and wild salmon are a precious resource to the Tay and all rivers in Scotland. Handling of fresh salmon in particular is a big issue now if we are serious about successful release to enable as many salmon as possible to survive to spawn.

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 and is bad practice. Further information on the policy and good release practice. If an area of the river starts to kill salmon to excess the mandatory policy will ultimately increase beyond the spring and maybe for the whole season that would not be a popular concept for our fragile rural economy. Thank you for all who preserve the recommendations and shame on the few who cannot, their shortsighted outlook will bring everyone down and cost jobs throughout Scotland’s river systems.

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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Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay Ghillies Presentations July 2015.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay Ghillies Presentations July 2015.

This is an article written by Arnot McWhinnie to appear in local press about recent Tay Ghillies activities.
The Tay Ghillies Association has held a double presentation to celebrate the capture of a monster salmon and to help protect the river's stocks. PRESENTATION NO 1 was the handing over of the coveted Redford Cup awarded annually to the angler who catches the heaviest salmon from the river on its famous Opening Day, January 15.
PRESENTATION NO 2 was the gift of £4,300 worth of sophisticated monitoring equipment to help Tay Board bailiffs catch poachers.

This year's recipient of the Redford Cup is Scots angler Willie Cumming of Larbert, who landed a cracking 19 pounder on the Dunkeld House beat of the river.
The fish was carefully unhooked, photographed in the net, and as the new catch and release law for spring, dictates, was carefully returned to the water.
Legendary Ballathie ghillie George McInnes, one of the founders of the Redford Cup, made the presentation along with Robert Jamieson, of the Blairgowrie tackle shop, James Crockart and Son, who every year donates a £250 tackle voucher to the winning angler.
The Redford Trophy, which was first won in 1986, is named after the late Ian Redford, former co-owner of the river's Newtyle beat, who was much respected throughout the whole river.
The Tay Ghillies are the new custdodians of the Cup, and Crockarts will continue to record anglers' entries for opening day salmon and to donate their £250 gift voucher.

The picture shows (from left to right) – David Barwick (ghillie), Garry McErlain (ghillie), Bill Jack (chairman Tay Board), Ross Pirie (bailiff), Willie Cumming (Redford Cup winner), Simon Furniss (ghillie), Ronnie Whittock (bailfiff), Dave Seaton (ghillie), Gordon Pollock (ghillie), Robert Jamieson (James Crockart & Son). George McInnes (ghillie).

At the same time as the Cup was presented members of the Tay Ghillies Association led by their president, Garry McErlain who is also a ghillie at Ballathie, handed over state of the art surveillance equipment to the Tay bailiffs.
Thanks to the ghillies' fundraising efforts they will now be working with three sophisticated night sights which can spot poachers operating in total darkness, three tripod mounted scopes so powerful that they can detect what kind of baits or hooks poachers are using, and three trail cameras which can secreted at poaching hotspots and film no-gooders in action.

Bill Jack, chairman of the Tay Board who was present at the handover said: “This is a magnificent gesture by the Tay's ghillies. The aim of the Board is to protect and enhance salmon and sea trout stocks and this wonderful equipment will certainly not only protect our river, but help to gain convictions and deter poachers from using illegal methods of taking fish and illegally killing them in the spring.”

The Tay Ghillies raised cash to buy the equipment through the sale of calendars, badges and car stickers, a raffle and a donkey derby night.

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Salmon Fishing Scotland Summer Fly Fishing on the Tay, Perthshire July 2015.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Summer Fly Fishing on the Tay, Perthshire July 2015.

The summer salmon fishing has entered July now on the Tay in Perthshire and catches have been hard to achieve so far. The boats are now back on the lower Tay at Stanley and below with high expectation after last years disappointing summer and autumn period.

Francis Jennings did not take long on his first day on the Pitlochrie beat to hook a summer salmon on the fly in Kirkie.

Nervous times prior to the fish being netted.

Success! A lovely fresh summer salmon landed carrying sea lice and pictured prior to release. Well done, hopefully one of many to come into the Tay and all the Scottish rivers over the next few weeks.

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Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon Fishing Report for W/E 4th July 2015.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon Fishing Report for W/E 4th July 2015.

The salmon fishing on the Tay in Perthshire has been excellent for some time now with improving conditions for fishing and reasonably settled water levels have prevailed to give the river an excellent late spring period with the river equaling last years catches so far and improving on the 5 year average. The current trend has continued in June for June but has slowed up in the last couple of weeks. The spring period has ended but steady conditions have spread fish throughout the system in the last few weeks, this may be the catalyst for even better catches which hopefully will continue over the next few weeks as we go deeper into summer. This past week seems to have confirmed the end of the 2015 spring run but the river is holding a good stock of fish especially in the middle areas. We now await a good summer run of salmon and grilse. Expectation remains high on the river for 2015 after consistent catches recently and hopefully favourable conditions may trigger off improving runs as we go into Summer to give everyone a chance of landing a Tay “Bar of Silver”.

Late spring and summer salmon were landed last week in lesser numbers in reasonably settled conditions. We recorded a poor weekly catch despite the recent prolific period. There was good cloud cover and it was warm. Fish were landed daily from all over as the river level receded and the quality of the salmon caught remained outstanding with fish caught in the late teens. Rain on Saturday may just spice things up for the coming week. Grilse are starting to run with odd ones caught and in excellent condition. Sea trout are making an appearance as well with some top quality fish caught. On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are all over the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Kingfishers dart past, Ducks have their second broods of young and Sand Pipers are on the riverbank. It is a magical time of year with the wild flowers coming out everywhere with Rhododendrons and Azaleas in bloom and Lupines everywhere as well as many others. It is true what they say, “ a salmon is a bonus!”

Beat catches reported (week ending 4th July)
SALMON & GRILSE: Almondmouth 2, Stobhall 4, Taymount 1, Ballathie 4, Cargill 3, Islamouth 4, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 1, Kercock 6, Murthly 1 5, Glendelvine 3, Newtyle 7, Dunkeld House 7, Dalmarnock 2, Lower Kinnaird 1, Upper Kinnaird 1, Farleyer Upper 2, Portnacraig Pitlochry 2, Ruan Ruarie 1.
Total: 56 Largest: Stobhall 19lbs
SEA TROUT: Lower Redgorton 7, Stobhall 1, Taymount 1, Ballathie 1, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 1.
Total: 11 Largest: Lower Redgorton 3lbs

Salmon have been caught throughout the system this past week but in disappointing numbers, despite superb conditions at times making it ideal as fish run harder due to the warmer water temperatures and fish are spreading throughout the river. Bigger water in the previous weeks may have encouraged more to run. The mandatory government catch and release restrictions have ended however the river would ask everyone to observe the TDSB recommendations to preserve what we have for future years. Return rates are at an all time low and wild salmon are a precious resource to the Tay and all rivers in Scotland. Handling of fresh salmon in particular is a big issue now if we are serious about successful release to enable as many salmon as possible to survive to spawn. 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 and is bad practice. Further information on the policy and good release practice. If an area of the river starts to kill salmon to excess the mandatory policy will ultimately increase beyond the spring and maybe for the whole season that would not be a popular concept for our fragile rural economy. Thank you for all who preserve the recommendations and shame on the few who cannot, their shortsighted outlook will bring everyone down and cost jobs throughout Scotland’s river systems.

The Lower Tay below Stanley has seen odd fish recorded this past week and Sea Trout are about and the beats just above the Stanley area were disappointing possibly due to warm water temperatures as fish race up the system. The boats are back on the beats at Stanley and below for summer fishing. Almondmouth continued to see odd fish caught with 2 in the week and fish have been caught on the Stormont Angling club water. Stobhall and Taymount caught odd fish most days and Ballathie and Cargill performed in a similar way despite conditions improving for them with lower water.

Cargill accounted for 3 fish in the week with Crawford Robertson landing a 13 pounds fish and Andrew Crawford landing a fresh grilse from the Pot Shot. More grilse are now starting the run the river which is encouraging. Islamouth had a quiet week with only 4 fish.

Upper Islamouth and Meikleour had a single fish caught by Calum McRoberts in the Bridge pool weighing 7 pounds.

The Middle river is fishing well with consistent catches but experienced a much quieter week mirroring the rest of the river.

Kercock had 6 fish in the week. Murthly and Glendelvine had a disappointing week recording 7 fish for the week. Newtyle did better with 7 fish during the week.

Their week started off well with Alistair Bell landing a 14 pounds fish on his very first salmon fishing outing. A stripped Sunray accounted for another fish as it attacked the fly like an Exocet missile when it leapt out the water to take the fly. Jon Amos and Murdo Crosbie caught fish up to 13 pounds.

Tom Mitchell, Jon Wood, Mark Little caught further fish and Mark Halliday landed a first ever at 13 pounds from the Trap. The beat is fast approaching 150 for the season.

Dunkeld House continued their outstanding period with 7 fish and they closed in on 200 fish for the season so far. John Young was amongst the successful anglers with a 14 pounds fish from the Cathedral stream on the fly.

Dalmarnock saw a couple of fish caught at the start of the week with Johnny Ross catching an 8 pounds fish on a Salmo from Sowerby and David Gardiner caught a 5 pounds grilse from the Stepps pool. The Kinnaird beats recorded a couple of fish form both beats.

The Tummel is continuing to produce fish but was much quieter as fish make their way up to Pitlochry dam and through it with the counter is now showing in excess of 2650 with rising temperatures, which is ahead of last years total at the same time. All the beats below the dam including East and West Haugh have been producing fish over the last week or so, which has been good news. It was a much quieter week on the Pitlochry Angling club stretch as fish escape through the dam in numbers. John Batley caught a 6 pounds fish on a spinner at the dam and Dave Wilson had more success up at Ruan Ruarie as fish fly up the Garry catching a 7 pounds beauty on a spinner.

The Upper areas are seeing fish on their beats. Two salmon was reported from the Farleyer beats during the week as they run up to Loch Tay.

On Loch Tay fish are running but nothing was reported last week.

The Isla is starting to see salmon run the river with odd fish registered.

The Ericht is also seeing fish run up the river but unfortunately nothing was reported.

The Earn were also seeing a late spring salmon and Sea Trout run however no fish were reported last week possibly due to the water levels dropping.

The Spring Salmon fishing season is now over as we now go into summer and expectation remains high after great catches recently and poor overall catches last year. Late spring catches have been tremendous and June has continued to encourage everyone after fish were caught in the system in continuing better numbers. Let us hope with improving conditions and the upturn in catches will continue. Tight lines!
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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Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for the Tay, Perthshire, Scotland week commencing 6th July 2015.

Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for the Tay, Perthshire, Scotland week commencing 6th July 2015.

The Salmon fishing season has now entered July on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland and we have had reasonably settled summer weather with a dropping river for the pursuit of that magical salmon with some warmer conditions. The weather is to be fairly settled over the coming week with a chance of rain and continue warmer, but hopefully this will not deter the chances of producing good sport and some "Bars of Silver" if you are prepared to have a go. Catches last week dropped off considerably in good conditions but catches were still attained especially in the middle river and the quality of the salmon caught remains outstanding and as we go into Summer hopefully conditions will remain favourable and there will be a further improvement in the run to give even more success.

Currently the river is slightly unsettled with recent rain but falling back day by day generally with excellent conditions (around 3’ on the Ballathie gauge) after a settled week. This hopefully may encourage more salmon to run.

The weather is to continue reasonably settled with warmer weather all week and occasional rain. In other words sunshine and showers to cover all the boxes! We are seeing summer conditions prevail. The tremendous spring run is over but warmer conditions have enabled spring salmon to run hard up the river and spread rapidly with hopefully the arrival of some summer fish to follow and maintain sport. The milder weather forecast at times and recent bigger water triggered off salmon to run the river in improving numbers. Expectation remains very high.

The general forecast should continue to drop river levels and hopefully maintain the current excellent conditions and make ideal summer fishing conditions. The water temperature has risen dramatically with the hot weather and is around 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15.5 degrees Celsius but may rise with warmer weather during the week. These are typical temperatures for this time of year. The colder weather has benefited the lower beats early in the season but is now holding fish in the middle river as the fish spread so there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river after slowly rising temperatures prevailed last week.

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method should enable you to catch the elusive Tay Salmon. The water temperature has warmed up slowly enabling floating lines to come out with the addition of a sink tip being a favoured tactic and using normal dressed flies. It is still worth a go with sinking lines as well depending on water heights and stripping a Sun Ray Shadow is always worth a go. When spinning, Tay favourites include Toby Salmos, weighted and floating devons, flying C’s and Visons or Rapalas. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year on many beats.

Finally you are reminded that the Tay's policy from June to the end of 2015 Season is that
• 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 help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations. It is vital the river system follows these guide lines to ensure the draconian new Scottish Government Statutory Conservation Regulation rules do not get extended in seasons to come.
The Tay Ghillies Association are continuing their popular 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. Full details of this initiative.

Return rates are at an all time low and wild salmon are a precious resource to the Tay and all rivers in Scotland. Handling of fresh salmon in particular is a big issue now if we are serious about successful release to enable as many salmon as possible to survive to spawn.

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 and is bad practice. Further information on the policy and good release practice. If an area of the river starts to kill salmon to excess the mandatory policy will ultimately increase beyond the spring and maybe for the whole season that would not be a popular concept for our fragile rural economy. Thank you for all who preserve the recommendations and shame on the few who cannot, their shortsighted outlook will bring everyone down and cost jobs throughout Scotland’s river systems.

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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