[Strathearn]

Hi Ken,

Some super salmon there, but what is the trout fishing like I looked at the fishdee website and no mention of trout fishing on the main river at all? It looks a top trout habit anytime I've passed it, would love to give it a cast for the troots.

Norm

 

[Kingfisher28]

Hi Ken,

Some super salmon there, but what is the trout fishing like I looked at the fishdee website and no mention of trout fishing on the main river at all? It looks a top trout habit anytime I've passed it, would love to give it a cast for the troots.

Norm

Norm, its not really noted as a trout river per say. Of course there are trout in it, but not in huge numbers. Where as its neigbouring river the Don is noted as a trout river.

Look at this link for more info: Fishing The Fly In Aberdeenshire, Scotland

kf

 

[Strathearn]

Norm, its not really noted as a trout river per say. Of course there are trout in it, but not in huge numbers. Where as its neigbouring river the Don is noted as a trout river.

Look at this link for more info: Fishing The Fly In Aberdeenshire, Scotland

kf

Thanks KF,

I was up fishing the Don last weekend (hard going but managed a nice brown), that's when I had a look at the Dee. I know a couple of Salmon rivers that are not noted for trout (until you go fish them). Just wondered what the access situation is? Is there a PO on the water?

Norm

 

[Kingfisher28]

Thanks KF,

I was up fishing the Don last weekend (hard going but managed a nice brown), that's when I had a look at the Dee. I know a couple of Salmon rivers that are not noted for trout (until you go fish them). Just wondered what the access situation is? Is there a PO on the water?

Norm

I could be wrong Norm, but I think access for trout fishing could be very difficult, based on my own ask's. Fished it a few times for Salmon and never noticed many trout rising, although thats not to say there isn't any. I think you would be better concentrating on the Tweed, Clyde and Tay etc for easier access and better chance. Look at fishing Martins beat on the Tay - Newtyle. They caught plenty of cracking trout last year and now is the time to head there for the last of the March browns and soon to hatch olives etc. If I can be so forward and attach the link to Newtyle with Martins contact details, who will be pleased to assist you further. Gordonian Fishings or of course this one http://www.fishpal.com/Scotland/Tay/Newtyle/?dom=Tay

Good luck

kf

 

[Strathearn]

Thanks again KF,

I know Martin and have fished Newtyle a few times (twice in the last couple of weeks). Still interested to hear about access to the Dee though, some of the upper river looks really good. It's maybe not as fertile a stream as the Don, so maybe the troots are not so big, nicer scenery though I do understand that Salmon interests will take presidence but surely someone must sell trout tickets?

Norm

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

Catches rose significantly from the previous weeks catch to a reported 165 salmon and 17 sea trout at the time of writing from FishDee beats. In pole position was Park with 21 salmon reported for the week followed by Lower Crathes and Lower Dess, and Lower Blackhall just behind them. There are also Grilse being caught now and they seem to be moving swiftly through the lower beats. Salmon catches were reported from Altries to Crathie with the bulk of the catches in the lower middle beats. There were reports of many fish being hooked and lost and in some cases hook failure was a problem. It's important to ensure that the fly hooks are strong enough to do the job-if they are pliable then chances are they are too weak to use with any confidence.

I received some correspondence this week with Karl Revel from Invery advised ' Edwin and Tristan Bailey whose family has shared the ownership of Invery and Upper Crathes beat since the 1950's, were delighted that all of their guests who fished last week succeeded in landing at least one salmon. Top rod for the group was Ralph Percy, the Duke of Northumberland who was up for 2 days enjoying his first visit to the Dee. He had 2 sea liced springers of 7 and 10 lbs and a 2 lb sea trout and now cannot wait to make a return visit to Deeside.'

Gerhard Schive from Norway who represents the NASF in Norway was a recent visitor to Deeside and commented 'Finally got home on Wednesday after a few days together with Reid in Ballater. Got a nice fish out of the Garden pool at Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld but the beats above there seemed to be relatively quiet at that time due to the very cold weather. So the trip in total gave me 4 nice springers which I guess I should be satisfied with. Spring very late here in Norway. We are still waiting for the birches to turn green.' I was really delighted to catch up again with Swedish ace fisherman Mikael Frodin at Dess last week who was fishing with friends Tomas, Mats and Joachim and enjoying some relatively good sport. They had success with his small Dee Sheep pattern using floating lines with small polyleaders. They had a mixture of spanking sea liced fish and river fish over the week and did very well considering how cold the weather was with their chosen tactics. I was also pleased to catch up with another superb fisherman who is a regular visitor to Deeside Árni Baldursson, who was fishing at Lower Crathes with a party including the beat owner the Hon Charles Pearson. I met them briefly at the beginning of the week and was delighted to hear of their success during the week. Árni Baldursson is the proprietor of the global sporting agency Lax-a.is who provides fishing on the Dee as well as many other rivers throughout the world.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Scandinavia to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some Scandinavian rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'¬Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, May 2010

Prospects

We appear to have a bit of a mixed bag this week weather-wise with the forecast air temperature maxima to be unseasonably low at around 10 degrees, with the wind chill making it feel significantly cooler. There are frosts forecast overnight for the beginning of the week accompanied by persistent north winds for most of the week. There will be a change in the wind direction to the south during the week but the cool temperatures will hold sway throughout the week. This puts paid to meaningful sea trout fishing during the night. Fishing in the evening though should be productive when the sun is off the water. There will be some localised showers from time to time and some may be wintry and perhaps heavy, probably not enough to cause river levels to rise. The current river heights as shown on the Sepa gauges are between 9 inches and 1 ft 2 inches which mean fish will be lying in the pools, in lies that the Gillies know of and these will be the hot spots to encounter taking salmon. The maritime influence is indicating that there shall be rising high tides this week from 3.6 to 4.1 metres and this should encourage runs of fresh new fish into the catchment.

It is important to consult your Gillie prior to fishing and utilise their undoubted experience and expertise when fishing your beat. The Gillies of the Dee do a fine job in ensuring anglers can tackle their allocated pools with a degree of optimism about what equipment and flies to use so please heed their wise advice. If you do not have the service of a Gillie to call on then you may want to try a floating line with intermediate tip or perhaps a full floating line with flies between 6 and 10's depending on your pool. Patterns to try may include Dee fox, Tosh, Crathie, Dee sheep, Stoats tail and monkey fly. Flies that utilise long wings or tails can be effective in the streamier flows. It's also important to ensure you return smolts safely and carefully to the river as they are migrating downstream in good numbers now. These will hopefully return to the river in 2-3 years time in good numbers as mature adult salmon and spawn future generations of Dee fish.

To finish I would advise that persistence is called for whilst conditions are cold and ensure you are prepared to try different tactics including square casts with a figure of eight retrieve, slow and deep, hitched tubes and perhaps a stripped collie dog or sunray shadow where beats allow this. Please also ensure that your tackle is sound as there are reports of sub standard flies letting anglers down with hook failure. Full Spey lines and shooting heads seem to be the popular choice just now. Can you please write to me with news of your catches and pictures if you have some you want to see on FishDee to ken@riverdee.org Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, May 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Fishing Reports

Recent Catches 17 th May 2010

The best week of the season by a long way with 215 salmon and 67 sea trout reported by FishDee beats so far with fish to 24 lbs caught and returned. It was really encouraging to see 22 out of 42 FishDee beats reporting catches on Monday where 48 salmon were recorded. There seems to be a good distribution of fish throughout the lower and middle catchment with fish now running to the upper beats. There was a good number of Grilse reported last week mixed with some good catches of sea liced salmon up as far as Dinnet. Dinnet/ Dee Castle reported 21 salmon, Invery reported 18 salmon, Borrowstone reported 17 and many other beats were into double figures. This no doubt delighted both anglers and Gillies and many happy anglers will have left Deeside on Sunday with happy memories of a super fishing holiday.

As I expected I have received quite a bit of correspondence and fishing reports over the phone. Dinnet proprietor Edward Humphrey advised 'A quick note about perseverance. The Cave-Bigley family have been coming to Aboyne Castle for 40 or more years and I was particularly pleased that father David had two cracking springers by Wednesday lunch time which we all hoped would be a good sign for his son Richard coming to fish the last three days of the week. Thursday & Friday were blank to their frustration as I kept telling them how the score on Dinnet/Deecastle was rising rapidly (the Beaty party finished with 21 for the week), but the stalemate was broken on Saturday morning when I witnessed a lovely 7 pounder being taken out of the Lorne by Richard Cave-Bigley's friend, Richard Franklin. The party persevered and at 5 to 5 father David accounted for another out of plantation, but not to be left scoreless his son Richard finally landed a cracking 10 pound Springer out of Jocky Fyfe with almost his last cast at 10pm on Saturday evening. Perseverance does pay off sometimes.' and Gary Flynn from Birkhall reported 'Please find attached a photo of a nice fish (approx 11lbs) caught at the top of the Birkhall beat on Friday the 14th. Johnny Liverod visiting from Norway with fellow rods Fredrik Fredrikson, and Arve Lindberg, when he caught this on a purple and black cone head that he named "purple rain". Fellow rod Fredrik had a similar sized fish on the Tuesday from the same pool. 'Great to hear of fish in the upper beats and this will no doubt have anglers booked for the upper beats getting quietly excited about the prospects there over the next few weeks.

Karl Revel paid me a visit this morning and was really enthusiastic about the sport last week and the numbers of fish seen at Invery. He commented 'Invery fishers enjoyed another pleasing week with 18 salmon and 9 sea trout caught with all fish safely returned. Top rod was regular Dee visitor Mr Colin Harvey from Worcester with 7 salmon and 2 sea trout.(Colin also landed a 24 lb Springer at Invery in February). Mr Bob McBain, a retired Gillie from the Naver, landed 4 salmon and 2 sea trout for his 3 days. On Saturday afternoon in bright sunshine Ed McLellan from Motherwell had 1 salmon and 2 sea trout on a size 14 silver stoats tail fly. This brought Invery's total for the season to 100 salmon and 17 sea trout.' I also received an e-mail from David Jackson who wrote ' Hi Ken, thought I would get in touch before you and my mate Brooksey set off on your Russian trip. Would have loved to be going with you but early retirement means looking after the pennies! We first fished the Dee in 1991 at Altries and again in 1993.It was on the last Saturday morning that David's reel started screaming and all hell broke loose;12 lbs of mint Springer dripping sea lice. We were hooked! In 1994 I got my first Dee fish at Altries and it was also the first year I fished Woodend, although it was 1996 before I booked a fish there. We have fished on the Dee together every year since 1993. Myself mainly at Woodend, although I have taken fish from 7 other Dee beats over the years.David & Susan thought it that nice they acquired the Post Office in Kincardine. Well, I'm on 99 fish at Woodend, and determined to get the ton,wc 24th May. (might need a rain dance) Checking my records this is the story: Total fish 99, total days fished 152, blank weeks 1, weeks with 1 fish 4, most fish in a week 8, and most fish in a day 4. Some memorable days there Ken, and some disasters, without doubt, the worst was inviting Brooksey for a day at Woodend with him racking up three fish! I don't even remember seeing one all day! (Just kidding David) As always to come up to Deeside is a marvellous experience, good fishing or bad (if you can have bad fishing on the Dee) but this time anticipation & expectation are pretty high as I'm sure you will understand. Perhaps David will bring you down to Woodend, it would be nice to meet you, perhaps you might even be able to land no 100, now would that be a picture for FishDee. Keep up the great work on FishDee and have a cracking Russian week, make sure you don't lose David as I sometimes need bed & breakfast up there. Kind Regards, David Jackson. 'This just epitomises for me the sense of anticipation some anglers have on travelling to Deeside for a fishing holiday. And there are still rods available to let on FishDee !

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Europe to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, May 2010

Prospects

After a fine weeks fishing on the River Dee last week I see no reason why the prospects should be any poorer, in fact catches could be even higher with the improving air temperatures. The weather forecast is for sunny spells throughout the week with the odd local rain shower, some may be heavy. Air temperatures could possibly reach 19 degrees Celsius with overnight lows to 4 degrees Celsius. Winds will be predominately light and from a southerly direction which will ensure anglers fishing will feel quite comfortable. The maritime influence is indicating high tides of 4.1 metres falling back to 3.6 metres by the weekend. There will be an excellent chance of good sport in the evenings and anglers should ensure they fish in the evening if at all possible as fish will be on the move around dusk. There are also what appears to be encouraging numbers of sea trout in the river which take well in the evening.

There appears to be good numbers of salmon, grilse and sea trout moving from the lower beats to the middle and upper beats and there may be some real red letter days for some lucky anglers. There is a good migration of smolts underway so please ensure you handle this precious resource carefully when returning them to the river as they are the next generation of returning adult salmon. Ensure you heed your Gillies wise counsel as they will be able to give you sound advice about what tactics to use when fishing your beat. They know all the taking lies and with river levels between 8 inches and 11 inches on the Sepa gauges fish will be occupying taking lies. If you do not have the services of a Gillie to call on then you should fish with floating lines with perhaps a 5 ft poly leader and small flies. Patterns to try with real confidence are silver stoats tail, black or red Frances, Arndilly fancy and Crathie fly with perhaps the cascade for streamier flows. Fly sizes in the range of size 10-14 will be suitable. To finish I would advise that persistence is called for whilst conditions are showery and ensure you are prepared to try different tactics including square casts with a figure of eight retrieve, slow and deep, hitched tubes and perhaps a stripped collie dog or sunray shadow where beats allow this. Please also ensure that your tackle is sound as there are reports of sub standard flies letting anglers down with hook failure. Full Spey lines and shooting heads seem to be the popular choice just now with leaders of 8- 10 feet in length, perhaps 12-15 lbs breaking strain.

For anglers visiting Deeside and fishing onto the evening I can advise that the Potarch hotel are doing late evening dining so please pay them a visit for a nice hot meal at the end of your evenings fishing. They have a fine new menu with a lot of local produce being used to produce tasty fare. As always can you please write to me with news of your catches and pictures if you have some you want to see on the FishDee website to ken@riverdee.org Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, May 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

Catches again were reasonable with 159 salmon and 82 sea trout reported so far from FishDee beats and would have been significantly higher had we not received a deluge from the Gairn on Friday following a torrential thunderstorm. Many parts of Aboyne were also submerged with significant flooding with quite a visual display of lightening interspersed with tremendous clatters of thunder. I was fishing on Friday and was almost caught out in shirt sleeves when the rain deluge arrived; thankfully I managed to seek shelter in the hut beside Dinnet Bridge. Talking about Dinnet I can advise that their catches with Dee Castle and Cambus O'May and Headinch were the highest for the week with both producing 19 fish for the week. Crathie's numbers increased strongly and they were just a few behind. It's good to hear of fish now running into the upper beats in good numbers and sport could be excellent there this week. No doubt the Gillies will be busy with their landing nets ensuring fish are landed for their guests.

I was pleased to receive correspondence from Blairs tenant Stuart Yeats who reported 'Hope you are keeping well and good to see the Dee producing good numbers of fish over the last few weeks. My Dad and I booked at Lower Woodend on Saturday and planned to have an evening session for Sea Trout and then fish the first few hours of daylight for Salmon, as the forecast was for a hot sunny day. My Dad and I turned up at the beat around midnight to be met with a murky river sitting at 2ft 6" on the beat gauge. We headed home and returned at 6am to be met with a river at 3ft 7" and the colour of a Caramac. I had another look on the website at 8pm and noticed the river had fallen to 2ft, so decided to try a third attempt to get a cast. The river was still carrying colour but fishable and within 20 minutes of starting I landed and nice bright fish around 6lb and still carrying some sea lice (photo attached).' As Stuart mentions the river was heavily coloured on Saturday and to all intents and purposes was mostly unfishable. I can report that there was some catches at Dinnet with Tony Conroy and Serena Humphrey reporting catches as well as noting there were catches at Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld as well as Crathie. The river in the upper beats was a little bit clearer than the water I observed at Banchory lodge when visiting for breakfast with Jim Coates. A word of congratulations to our Gillies who are doing a great job with our fishing guests. The feedback forms that anglers are submitting are very complimentary which is great to hear with many anglers achieving success following good advice from their Gillie.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Europe to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, May 2010

"Christopher Tregoning made an easy transition from city banker to river banker on 17th May and caught his first ever salmon within a few casts in the Mill Pool, Carlogie. Pictured here with Gillie Sean Stanton and the 20lb fish, he underwent every true Carlogie fishrman's rite of passage by falling into the Boat Pool the following afternoon."

Prospects

After the mini heat wave that lasted a few days on Deeside culminating with Thunder showers we see a return to cooler conditions which are coming from the north. The forecasters are predicting frequent rain showers throughout the week with air temperatures below normal. The air temperature maxima will be 14 degrees Celsius with minima of 0 degrees perhaps bringing a touch of ground frost in some sheltered spots and perhaps hill snow. River levels are currently at a good height with Sepa gauges showing heights from 1 ft 1 inch to 1 ft 8 inches throughout the catchment. The maritime influence shows spring tides rising from 3.9 metres to 4.1 metres which should encourage new fish to come forward on incoming tides. Taking all this into the consideration catches should continue strongly with sea trout catches increasing along with salmon and grilse.

There is a good migration of smolts underway so please ensure you handle this precious resource carefully when returning them to the river as they are the next generation of returning adult salmon. Ensure you heed your Gillies wise counsel as they will be able to give you sound advice about what tactics to use when fishing your beat. If you do not have the services of a Gillie to call on then you should fish with floating lines with perhaps a 5 ft poly leader and small flies. Patterns to try with real confidence are Smiths Shrimp, Silver Shrimp, Arndilly fancy and stoat's tail with perhaps the cascade or Park shrimp for streamier flows. Fly sizes in the range of size 10-14 will be suitable. To finish I would advise that persistence is called for whilst conditions are showery and ensure you are prepared to try different tactics including square casts with a figure of eight retrieve, slow and deep, riffled hitched tubes and perhaps a stripped collie dog or sunray shadow where beats allow this. Full Spey lines and shooting heads seem to be the popular choice just now with leaders of 8- 10 feet in length, perhaps 12-15 lbs breaking strain. Careful casters will use long leaders with a dropper and point fly.

For anglers visiting Deeside and fishing onto the evening I can advise that the Boat Inn are doing late evening dining so please pay them a visit for a nice hot meal at the end of your evenings fishing. As always can you please write to me with news of your catches and pictures if you have some you want to see on the FishDee website to ken@riverdee.org Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, May 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches 27 th May 2010

Midweek Catches Update

What an exciting start to the salmon fishing on Deeside for some of the FishDee beats this week. It's been a hectic time for anglers and Gillies landing fish where there has been a really good amount of fish movement which has led to catches exceeding 200 salmon and 88 sea trout for the first 3 days of the week. I was wondering as I wrote this week's report if we would see 250 salmon caught. I was pretty optimistic given the fish catches over the previous 10 days and a good lift in water levels at the end of last week. As I write I am now wondering if we shall see the 400 barrier breached for salmon catches this week? It is a tall order and the weather forecast is causing some concern if we do see forecast thunderstorms materialise. What I am delighted to report is that the catches for the spring have exceeded the 5 year average which looked perhaps doubtful during March when there had been so many days lost to poor weather and river conditions. Congratulations must go to our loyal group of visiting anglers who have toughed it out when it has been difficult and of course our expert team of Gillies up and down the length of the river. We are not out of the woods yet and we would all like to see Spring catches recover to a level they were once at but we can all be grateful for the efforts of great many people working to enhance the river by natural means. I would hope to see catches exceed 2000 fish for the spring period and fingers crossed we shall get there over the next few days.

It's fitting to list the top beats this week that have waited so long this spring to receive good runs of fish. Dinnet and Dee Castle have landed 37 salmon, Aboyne Castle; a 2 rod beat has landed 22 salmon, Crathie 19 salmon with Lower Invercauld and Monaltrie reporting 17 salmon and Abergeldie, Balmoral and Birkhall 17 salmon. I sincerely hope that catches continue in the same vein as the weekend totals might be quite remarkable. It is also pleasing to report that sea trout catches have been very encouraging with 88 sea trout to 7 lbs reported so far for the week with Park reporting 14, Borrowstone 7 and Sluie 6. I have been advised that sea trout are in very good condition with some plump specimens being landed. Given how low catches were during the really terrible conditions it is heartening to hear that salmon and sea trout numbers are improving with the peak season still to come for these elusive fish. I am sure night fishers due in the summer months will be looking forward to their visits with some degree of optimism.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Europe to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010

Midweek Prospects Update

The cooler weather will continue and there is potential for thundershowers to hit the catchment. If they do arrive we may see catches fall off if the rise materialises and the river colours up as it did last Friday and Saturday.

There is a good migration of smolts underway so please ensure you handle this precious resource carefully when returning them to the river as they are the next generation of returning adult salmon. Ensure you heed your Gillies wise counsel as they will be able to give you sound advice about what tactics to use when fishing your beat. If you do not have the services of a Gillie to call on then you should fish with floating lines with perhaps a 5 ft poly leader and small flies. Patterns to try with real confidence are silver stoats tail, Crathie fly, Black Frances, Tosh, Executioner and Arndilly fancy, with perhaps the cascade or Park shrimp for streamier flows. Fly sizes in the range of size 10-14 will be suitable. To finish I would advise that persistence is called for whilst conditions are showery and ensure you are prepared to try different tactics including square casts with a figure of eight retrieve, riffled hitched sunray tubes and perhaps a stripped collie dog or sunray shadow where beats allow this. Full Spey lines and shooting heads seem to be the popular choice just now with leaders of 8- 10 feet in length, perhaps 12-15 lbs breaking strain. Careful casters will use long leaders with a dropper and point fly.

For anglers visiting Deeside and fishing onto the evening I can advise that the Boat Inn are doing late evening dining so please pay them a visit for a nice hot meal at the end of your evenings fishing. As always can you please write to me with news of your catches and pictures if you have some you want to see on the FishDee website to ken@riverdee.org copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

Catches for the week started well and picked up pace during the week and finished well providing anglers with 383 salmon from FishDee beats as well as 272 sea trout. The upper beats saw good runs of fish and the bulk of the sport which the following beats indicate. Dinnet and Dee Castle reported 59 salmon, Crathie reported 39 salmon and Aboyne Castle 30 salmon. Good sea trout catches were made at Kincardine with 35, Park 32 and Borrowston 21, with a visiting angler doing well at Kincardine on Saturday with a dozen sea trout in the evening.

Derek Wright with a nice salmon

Crathie Ghillie Archie Hay reported ' What a enjoyable week on the river with plenty of fish both seen and caught, a big change from the previous weeks of the season which have been very disappointing but what I put down to the continuing cold weather and low water temperatures. I had a mixed party of fishers throughout the week some complete novices to others who have fished for many a year. Despite our best efforts we could not quite hit the 40 for the week despite trying hard on Saturday evening, fishing into the dark. Heaviest fish of the week a 20lber fell to Mr Derek Wright a Dee regular in Boat Runs to a 2" Tosh tube fished on an sinking tip. Of the 39 fish reported 12 were in double figures, 2 were grilse with the remainder in the 6-9lb bracket. Successful flies were the Crathie, Ally's Shrimp, Munro Killer, Sheila, Tosh, Silver Stoats, Stoats Tail and Collie Dog/Monkey type, flies size 12 's being the most successful. Let's hope for as good week next week there has been a rise in the river today.' I was also pleased to hear that visiting angler Pierre Chenet from France caught a nice fish at Mar Lodge and was returning there after visiting in 1978. The heaviest salmon for the week was landed by Lower Blackhall and Inchmarlo Gillie Terry Paton and was 23lbs, his heaviest fish to date, no doubt the first of many big fish during his angling career. I know his father Jim Paton at Upper Drum was delighted for him.

David Winterbottom was back fishing Woodend, a beat he knew well in the 70's and 80's in March and remarked it's paradise fishing in May. He caught 3 salmon and 2 sea trout and enjoyed a great 3 days in beautiful surroundings. Fellow angler David Jackson also fishing Woodend was highly delighted to catch his 100th fish from the beat. He commented ' Wed night with half the week gone I was beginning to have my doubts especially as the other rod for the first three days (David Winterbottom from Leeds) had taken three salmon in 2 hrs that morning. Eventually on Thursday it was relief all round and I could relax a bit more. On Saturday morning I managed a superb 13 lb cock fish from the loop pool, no sea lice but the proverbial bar of silver, to end another great week on Deeside. Its thanks all round to everyone who looks after such a marvellous resource as the Dee is. Keep up the good work!'

Terry Paton with a 23 lb salmon-his biggest so far

I received an extensive report from Edward Humphrey where he commented 'What a truly amazing week in the upper river! It is almost difficult to know where to start, but perhaps we should mention the Gillies, Alec Coutts at Aboyne Castle, George Murray at Craigendinnie, Davie Goodfellow at Waterside and Ferrar, Colin Espie at Dinnet & Deecastle, Fergus Cumming at Cambus O'May and Headinch, as well as further up river, Ian Murray at Lower Invercauld and Archie Hay at Crathie, as it may be that these gentlemen perhaps thought it unlikely they would ever see a week like this to match some of those of "the good old days". All our Gillies are excellent on the Dee, but I am so pleased for those in the upper river to have such a fantastic week to put behind them the bitterly cold March and parts of April. I happened to bump into Alec Coutts on Tuesday lunchtime after his rods had landed 5 fish off the Aboyne Castle bank that morning and he was struggling to remember exactly when that had last occurred. We think it is in the region of 20 years ago, I shall certainly look up the records to check this. The party fishing Aboyne Castle, Craigendinnie and Waterside and Ferrar was led by Harvey Norman whose father John sadly died last year, but it is a fitting tribute to the Norman family and John in particular, that they have stuck with the River Dee for 40 years now after he took on the tenancy of his first week on Cambus O'May in 1970 and has gradually built up a tenancy of beats in the upper river over a 5 week period in May and June each year. Harvey thought that the best total in any one week before had been around 30 fish so their total of at least 103 (72 salmon and 31 sea trout) is a very welcome reward for the loyalty that family have shown the Dee over the years. Harvey said to me on Friday evening that his father would have been absolutely thrilled to have had such a catch of classic Dee spring fish. Of course, there are many families who have supported the Dee through thick and thin over the years, but in the upper river at least there are few that can match the Norman family.

At Dinnet/Deecastle, the total of 59 salmon and 5 sea trout is certainly the best for at least 22 years and here again I will have to go and search the records as my current weekly chart only goes back to 1988. Congratulations to the 5 rods in Julian Strutt's party and to Bernard Lunel, a passionate French angler! Top rod in the party was Ron Irvine with 13 fish who, if he will forgive me, is not in the first flush of youth, but used all his experience to continue to add to his tally throughout the week. Finally it is interesting to note that the beats Aboyne Castle, Craigendinnie, Waterside and Ferrar, Dinnet & Cambus O'May have all at least doubled their average May catch solely as a result of last week's efforts. I am not sure why so many fish seem to speed through to the upper river after last weekend's storms, but I just wonder if the huge sediment load coming down the Tarland burn into the main stem at Aboyne pushed so many fish through to (into cleaner water) above Aboyne bridge? Many congratulations again to all anglers and Gillies who contributed to such a fantastic week, only time will tell whether this is a one off or not!'

I am grateful to the correspondents who have written and am pleased for the successes many have enjoyed. It has been a super week but it's important to not get too carried away. Let's just hope that fish runs continue strongly this year and many anglers enjoy success but salmon fishing can be incredibly fickle at times. There's more to fishing than catching fish and as my good friend Morten Agnar commented wisely" If I want lots of fish I go to Iceland, If I want big fish I stay in Norway but if I want the best fishing holiday in the world I come to Deeside in Scotland". I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010

Prospects for the coming week

The start of the week finds the River Dee running at a good height and a bit peaty following rain overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning. The Sepa gauges are showing heights between 8 inches and 1 ft 10 inches on the river levels page of FishDee. This will hopefully keep fish on the move and perhaps motivated enough to come to the fly. The weather forecasts I monitor are indicating a pleasant week on Deeside where air temperatures will rise during the week to 20 degrees Celsius with air temperature minima around 7 degrees Celsius. There is a potential for rain showers, perhaps some may be heavy and thundery and there may be prolonged rainfall on Friday, sites are showing different opinions on this matter. The maritime influence is indicating tides dropping back from 4.0 metres to 3.4 metres during the week but with good river levels fish should come forward. There should be some good evenings sport this week with running fish in the evenings with an encouraging good stock of fresh salmon and sea trout in the river.

Anglers will find many Gillies in a very buoyant mood following the encouraging catches last week and they will be able to provide you with the best advice about what tactics to use and flies to put onto the business end of your leader. The Gillies I have spoken to, or have written to me are suggesting that size 12's to 14's are the sizes that are attracting offers from fish, with some mentioning the collie dog flies on beats that allow these to be used. As always its sporting to use the small fly before resorting to stripped lures and it's such a pleasure to see the surface boil and feel your line tightening as the fish seizes the small fly and turns to go back to its lie. Full floating lines with or without small polyleaders will be the most popular set up with long leaders, and some anglers use a dropper fly to good effect. At this time of year a lightly dressed fly such as the stoats tail, Crathie, Arndilly Fancy, Tosh, hairy Mary and blue charm are the likely flies of choice as well as small Park, Ally's and Cascade shrimps. At this time of the year the fishing day is usually extended by choice as anglers choose to fish late on into the evening and this means angling effort is now carried out in 3 sessions during the day. It's not without the realms of possibility for anglers to use a muddler type wake lure and encounter sport in the dusk as fish may come to investigate the wake and either snatch the muddler or seize the tail fly if a 2 fly combination is used. I am sure many rods will be travelling to Deeside with a certain level of optimism based on the decent runs of fish in May.

Lars Terkildsen with a fine springer from 2 years ago which I just received

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Europe to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

Another steady weeks sport was encountered on the river by anglers with the enigmatic sea trout providing some anglers with terrific sport. That's not to suggest salmon fishing was dour, far from it as this snap shot of catches will indicate. Salmon catches reported from FishDee beats so far are 246 for the week with Dinnet and Deecastle landing 40, Crathie reported 25, Waterside and Ferrar reported 23 and Lower Crathes reported 19. Heaviest fish was reported at Ballogie at 25lbs of which I don't have details as yet. Sea Trout catches reported from FishDee beats so far were 288 with the honours going to Davie Goodfellow's beat Waterside and Ferrar landing 74, Dinnet and Deecastle reported 31 and Headinch and Invery reported 22 each. The quality of sea trout reported is of excellent plump specimens to 5lbs and some anglers really did tremendously well with small silver stoats tail flies with jungle cock cheeks. What tremendous sport these feisty fish provide on single handed rods at dusk. Anglers who are able to fish at night will encounter salmon as well as sea trout as it doesn't get really too dark for salmon to take through the night. The party hosted by Mr Wardle did very well at Waterside and Ferrar.

I have received some communication from Dinnet proprietor Edward Humphrey who is always enthusiastic about the river and keen to visit his visiting anglers when time permits. Edward commented 'Another great week's sport on the river last week, particularly in the upper river. Dinnet/Deecastle produced 40 fish and 31 sea trout to give the beat its best spring since 1993 which was the last year that spinning was allowed on the beat prior to the introduction of catch and release. One notable anecdote involved Simon Jones, who hooked what turned out to be a 5lb sea trout, but in doing so his reel fell off his rod. Being a completely unflappable Welshman, Simon merely bent down, picked up the reel, put it in his top pocket and proceeded to hand line the sea trout into his net. Realising this was a sea trout of significant size, he managed to take some pictures with his camera, but sadly the next day he left his camera on the roof of his car and it was later found on the South Deeside road in more than one piece! Also worth mentioning in relation to Aboyne Castle is the 10lb fish caught on 10 June by the ever youthful Arthur Harwood from Aboyne. I am sure he won't mind me saying that he doesn't throw the longest of lines, but the quality is significant, not how far you throw it.' I also received a communication from Guy Hemsley who commented 'I recently had three days fishing on Headinch & Cambus O'May , 27th -29th May as part of the Beaty party. I was lucky enough to be on the river during the 'big week' and caught the fresh 11lb fish in the attached photograph from the Clarach Pool. The photo looks as though I am offering up a prayer of thanks which I was!, one of our party asked me to look up from the top of the bank which I did at exactly the same time as another member of the party took a photograph at river level. The captions could be fun?! The other photo shows how this all evolved, but it may worth putting on the website with a caption suggestion. I have been fishing the Dee for 15 years, this week was the best.'

I am grateful to the correspondents who have written and am really delighted for the successes many have enjoyed. It has been a good week but it's important we don't get too carried away and imply that anglers are all going to encounter terrific sport. Let's just hope that fish catches continue strongly this year and many anglers enjoy success but salmon fishing can be incredibly fickle at times. As my old friend and renowned angler and writer, the late Hugh Falkus remarked 'there's more to fishing than catching fish'. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please do write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. And finally I have been advised that there is a fundraising auction for the breast cancer charity Casting For Recovery and auction lots are on line now including River Dee fishing at kerri-martin items - Get great deals on Sporting Goods, Holidays Travel items on eBay UK!
Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, June 2010

Guy Hemsley looking thoughtfully to the heavens perhaps having his prayers answered

Prospects

For anglers arriving on Deeside they will find the river in good order with the river running at a good fishing height with levels between 7 inches and 1 foot 2 inches on the Sepa gauges and water temperatures around 12 degrees Celsius in the middle stretches, perhaps marginally cooler above and higher below. The weather forecast models are suggesting pleasant fishing conditions, with generally light breezes from northerly directions at the start of the week swinging around to the south for the middle of the week and reverting back again to the north towards the weekend. Air temperatures will be around 12 degrees Celsius at the start of the week rising to 19 degrees and falling back again to 12 degrees at the weekend. The maritime influence is showing high tides in Aberdeen at 4.2 metres at the start of the week falling back to 3.6 metres on Saturday. Some rainfall yesterday with some snow melt is keeping the river at a nice height so we hope to see steady sport throughout the catchment.

Having just returned from a much cooler northern Russia I have not been able to catch up with river Gillies but expect they will be reasonably optimistic about prospects given the steady sport enjoyed in Deeside over the last few weeks and decent water levels. Anglers should ensure they heed the advice offered by our Gillies who will advice on fly choice and where the best chances of sport on their allotted beats may be encountered. Feedback from anglers about the advice from Gillies has been full of praise which is great to hear as many anglers are getting some sport during their visit. There appears to be a decent head of salmon and sea trout in the river and salmon catches around the 2,500 mark and sea trout over the 1000 mark from FishDee beats this season. For anglers fishing without the services of a Gillie to call on then tactics to employ will see full floating lines with perhaps five foot polyleaders, leaders of around 10 feet and fly sizes in the range of size 8 to size 14. Patterns to try would be the ever reliable silver stoats tail, black Frances, Tosh, Crathie fly and for streamier flows the Park, Calvins, Allys and Cascade. Small bottle tubes may be used in deeper pots and sunrays or monkey flies.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Europe to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, June 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

The FishDee beats reported 171 salmon and 231 sea trout for last week which is down a bit on recent weeks, but not by any means disappointing. There was good angling effort and we cannot blame the footballing extravaganza in South Africa for putting the fish catches down, rather a rise in river temperatures and a drop in river levels ensured catches fell during the latter part of the week, after a strong start to it. When this happens fish become harder to catch during daylight hours when more stealth and guile are required to winkle a fish or two out. Right continuing with the topical footballing theme, onto the scores, Waterside reported 17 salmon, Park 16,Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 15 with Crathie and Aboyne Castle reporting 14 each. The biggest fish at 24lbs was reported at Borrowstone, a well known big fish beat and a favourite of mine. Sea trout catches continued strongly with 231 reported to 5lbs. I have also just received confirmation of an amazing 11lb sea trout being landed at Altries a couple of weeks ago, of which more later. Dinnet and Deecastle reported 24 sea trout, which could have been more as many fish were lost, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld reported 19, which would have delighted Ian and David Murray, Aboyne water performed strongly with 18 and Waterside another good return with 15 reported. Park incidentally was lightly with fresh fish coming forward in good numbers. The running total for the season from FishDee beats is standing at 2656 salmon and 1280 sea trout and June's catches already above the 5 year average, so congratulations are due to our successful teams of anglers and Gillies, who are doing a great job in finding taking fish for their guests.

11 lb Sea Trout from Altries

Now onto correspondence and I have had a few e-mails today which I am always delighted to receive news to share with our readers through the mixed media who provide a platform for our news. Firstly I was pleased to receive a note from River Dee Board and Trust Chairman Mr Ian Scott, who advised 'Mike Wrightson's party were delighted with their week at Carlogie with 12 Salmon and 9 Sea trout. Mike, (79) has fished the Dee for 32 years, and this week caught the 100th fish of the season on the beat. Alan Lankshear (86), a member of Mike's party, caught the largest at 16Lbs. This Year 2010, is Alan's 49th consecutive year fishing Ballogie Estate water' .What a fantastic supporter of our River Alan Lankshear is and hopefully he will celebrate his golden anniversary of visits to Deeside in some style next year. I am sure he has many fine stories to tell spanning almost half a century. I was really pleased to receive an e-mail from Kevin Fleming the super Gillie at Altries who reported the capture of a really big Sea Trout by Dee standards. Kevin reported 'Just thought I would forward this picture to you of a sea trout caught by David Wakefield on Altries and lower Drum in the Hotel Pool on the evening of the 05/06/2010. The fish is estimated to be around 11lb and was 30 1/2 inches in length. It was caught on a home tied 1 inch and a half tube. The fish gave a fantastic fight and was returned safely to the river.' What a fantastic experience it must have been for David to land this fish on a single handed rod. I was delighted to receive this report from Mark Farnsworth who commented ' We had 3 days at Crathie with Gillie Archie Hay the week before last and I'm happy to report a first fish for my brother in law, Chris Stafford. He had 3 fish in 3 days on his first trip to Deeside. His first fish was a lovely 14lb fish in Garlum, taken at 10pm, he then had a second fish 12 hours later in exactly the same spot, and finished with a third fish in the Brig of Dee pool on Saturday afternoon. He's now hooked and will be back next year! I attach 3 photos, 2 of Chris with his first and second fish and then a third photo of one of the two fish I had which was a 6lb fish from Polmonier. We had a total of 5 fish for our three days.' It's great to hear of good sport at Crathie which must be helping Gillie Archie convalesce following his serious prolonged illness through the winter months. Finally I received a report from David Main who reported 'My friend and I were on Middle Dee on Saturday, we had a great day hooking up to 9 fish! But only managed to land 3 of them. Everyone of them was in pristine condition, with sea lice and one of them the biggest 9lb had long tailed sea lice. Sadly we both left our cameras at home so have no images.' This can happen when fresh fish are running and not taking the fly properly but what a great days sport they enjoyed with all these taking fish.

Chris Stafford 10 pm Salmon at Crathie

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, June 2010

Chris Stafford second fish at Crathie

Prospects

Well the weather forecast models I look at are suggesting different outlooks so I will make recommendations on the one I rely on UK Weather Forecasts - Radar, Alerts, News and More - Netweather.tv who are usually reliable. The Met Office suggests 25 degrees tomorrow for Grampian region and I am dubious about this. The suggested forecast is for temperatures between 14 and 19 degrees Celsius with the highs on Tuesday and Saturday. Winds will be light with cloud cover variable with Monday, Wednesday and Thursday being suggested as offering the cloudier conditions which are desirable to anglers. In terms of precipitation we may see some rain showers and these are suggested for the latter part of the week but with no real volume of rainfall forecast. Winds will be predominately light and from southerly directions, also pleasantly warm providing some rippling of the water surface to provide cover for anglers. For anglers fishing late and early sunrise this week will occur around 4.20 am with sunset around 22.10 pm. This means for some a very long day of angling effort so please ensure you cover the water as well as resting it occasionally as levels are low. The maritime influence is indicating rising tides through the week peaking at 4.1 metres with 7 high tides during the night this week which will allow fish to enter the river under the cover of darkness.

Mark Farnsworth fish at Crathie

As we go into the summer months with a good head of fish in the river and good water levels caused by snow melt, I am delighted to report that there is a lot of availability for last minute bookings on the FishDee website. I would recommend anglers to come and fish if they can possibly manage as they have a good chance of encountering some exciting sport with both salmon and sea trout. Please look at the find fishing page on the FishDee website to book your fishing on line. Given that sport has been really good for many beats, especially in the upper reaches, it is perhaps worthwhile exploring some of the upper beats with Mar Lodge, Abergeldie, Birkhall, Balmoral, and Morven all having rods available now and with good stocks in all these beats. They have fantastic streamy fly water that's just a pleasure to fish and enjoy with good company. There are also plenty of rods available in middle and lower beats where new runs of fresh sea liced fish are coming forward from the sea. For those who have booked fishing then as always heed the wise counsel of your Gillie if you have one to advise you. Our Gillies know their beat intimately and will know the best tactics to employ and advise where the taking lies are. If you do not have the services of a Gillie to call on and are unsure what tactics to employ then you may consider the following suggestion; a 13 foot rod with an 8/9 weight floating shooting head, short poly leader with a long leader of over 10 feet and small flies. As the water level continues to fall and the water temperature rises, the best chances of sport are early mornings and evenings where beats allow this. As to fly choice, well feedback indicates small and very lightly dressed flies are doing well. Black Brahan, Stoats Tail, Executioner, Crathie, Black Frances as well as tiny cascades, Frances flies and silver bodied Ally's shrimp. The Sunray can be successful fished square and stripped fast with many takes both visible and bordering on violent at times. This is a tactic that can be utilised to good effect at dusk as fish move from the deeps into shallower flows and the streamy necks of pools. Fish will find more dissolved oxygen in the streamier flows so they are well worth fishing diligently as fish seek lies in this type of water. A worked fly in low water can succeed when a conventionally down and across presentation is ignored and a figure of eight retrieve can be utilised to keep the fly on the move.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, June 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

FishDee beats have reported 90 salmon to 22lbs and 257 sea trout to 5lbs which given the water heights is a really good result. With the river running low and warm at 16 degrees Celsius it has been under the cover of night that the bulk of the catches have been made. The Dess beats produced 14 salmon, Ballogie reported 7 salmon to 22lbs, with Cambus O'May and Woodend reporting 6 salmon. Sea trout sport has been first class with Birse reporting 52, of which more later, Dess beats reported 33 and Aboyne water 23.I should also offer congratulations to Alec Coutts who has just reported the 100th salmon of the season for Aboyne Castle. This is the first time in 22 years under his stewardship that this figure has been achieved before the end of June.

Fabian Sweeney with a fine salmon at Ballogie

I have not received any correspondence this week from anglers so can only provide a report about some days sport at Birse. I had some fishing there on the later part of the week with Jim Coates and John Beard CEO from Whyte and Mackay and John Finneran. As the river was low we decided that the best tactic was to fish lightly during the day and concentrate fishing effort through the night focussing on sea trout. This was a tactic that paid off well and all the anglers did well, especially on Thursday night when we had 19 sea trout to 4lbs.It was the first time night fishing for Mr Beard who did very well fishing with a single handed rod and small flies and it was a pleasure to assist him with his captures through the night. Jim Coates had an alarming encounter with what he described as a 'flatulent' roe deer making a real noise which he found quite disconcerting. He was assured that given there was a full moon there was nothing to really worry about-apart from the impending football match on Sunday afternoon. Mr Finneran scored well with sea trout and lost salmon when he fished through the dawn. How nice it was to be able to fish through the short midsummer night's where the sea trout were so active. It was a pleasure getting so many tugs and plucks from sea trout coming to a well presented fly. Alas Saturday evening sport finished at midnight and we all had pleasant memories to discuss with the ever youthful and entertaining Ghillie Doug Murray who arrived back at midnight to shut shop. What a pity another angler fishing the beat had failed to notify anyone that he was on the beat and found himself locked in for the night until released at 3 am by one of our river bailiffs.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, June 2010

Prospects

It could be tricky to predict how the week will go, but in keeping with the footballing theme thats catching the headlines, it looks like a week of 2 halfs. We will have pleasant dry conditions during the first half with perhaps the scores being made in the early mornings and late evenings, anglers may score heavily with sea trout. If as some weather forecast models are indicating we get rainfall, then the second half of the week could see the catchment get a 'hammering' and the river will rise. How heavy the rainfall will transpire to be is difficult to gauge but Thursday and Friday will see heavy rain. If the river rises, which it hopefully will, we will surely see salmon sport picking up and new runs of summer salmon and grilse arriving into the system, with the lower and middle beats perhaps doing well. Forecast temperatures are to be between 14 degrees Celsius and 24 degrees Celsius with Thursday likely to be cool and windy. The maritime influence is indicating high tides of 4.1 metres falling back to 3.6 metres on Sunday.

As the river is currently running at 4 to 6 inches on the Sepa gauges then stealth will be required, and our super beat Ghillies will advise on what tactics to use, perhaps some may wryly suggest using a German snaelda with a smile. For the first half of the week the night fishing potential should be excellent where beats allow this. Feedback suggests that between 1 am and 5 am are the hours that many fish are reported to be taking well. Night fishing with single handed rods and small flies is not everyone's favourite fishing method, but it can be tremendously productive as we found out last week. If the river rises and colours during the second half of the week and fish get on the move then Ally's, Park shrimps and of course the small German snaelda could score heavily. For sea trout fishing a stoat's tail, dark mackerel or black Fritz may be productive.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, June 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches
Last updated: Monday 5th July

Forgive the mendacity of my predictions last week as I predicted we could see good sport in the lower beats if we saw increased river levels, alas the river levels rose too late in the week to provide the hoped for increase in sport in the lower beats. That's not to suggest it was a disappointing week for visiting anglers as FishDee beats reported 59 salmon and 269 sea trout. The FishDee beats have reported season to date 2831 salmon and 1821 sea trout which is quite satisfactory with an expected and hoped for good run of summer and early autumn fish still to arrive. Dess reported 8 salmon with Park and Invery reporting 8 and 7 salmon respectively. The Dess beats reported 35 sea trout, Aboyne Castle 31 sea trout and Waterside recorded 30 sea trout. This is another really good week for sea trout catches, and perhaps for some a quieter than hoped for week for salmon.

I have received some correspondence this week I am pleased to report. It was nice to receive a report of good sport from the FishTay franchise's reporter, respected Cargill Ghillie David Godfrey, who reported 'Just a short note to congratulate Ian and David Murray and the Dee Board for supplying myself and fishing companion Malcolm Anderson (Highland Flies) with a fantastic days sport on the Dee. We hooked well into double figures of salmon, and actually had a double hook up 100 yards apart. Keep up the good work.' I also received an e-mail from Crathie Ghillie Archie Hay who advised 'Just a short note about last week's fishing, sorry it is so late, but this was due to internet problems at home and a group of brand new fishers arriving today which prohibited me from visiting the office to use their computer. I had a very varied group of fishers last week most of whom were only fishing for a day by kind invitation of Proctor's of Blairgowrie. The week started well with a salmon and a grilse caught on Monday morning, this was to prove a very rare event with only 1 salmon, 1 grilse and 1 sea trout caught during the day for the rest of the week. All 22 sea trout were caught on the Crathie fly size 12/14/16 or 10mm Eumer micro crayfish tube. Of the 17 salmon and grilse, the same flies accounted for 14, with a size 12 silver stoat catching the remaining 3. Most of the salmon were caught between 10 and 11 pm with the sea trout caught in the hours of darkness. Biggest salmon was a fine 19lber caught on Saturday evening at 10.45pm with a superb 5lb sea trout caught at 12pm on Wednesday.' I would like to take this opportunity to advise anglers that there is plenty of rod availability on the River Dee at the moment and anglers who are thinking about coming to fish should take the plunge and book fishing. There are prime Dee beats offering fishing at really good value over the next 3 months. Given the stocks in the system and the hoped for summer and autumn runs that should be arriving then anglers could see really good sport through the summer and autumn months provided we have reasonable water levels. Given the prolonged dry spell I hope we will see reasonable steady rainfall through the summer months to facilitate healthy runs of fish.

Malcolm Anderson with a nice summer salmon

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010

Beat catches reported
(week ending 3rd July)
SALMON & GRILSE: Park 7, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Invery 8, Sluie 1, Ballogie 1, Carlogie 2, Lower Dess 6, Upper Dess 2, Birse 4, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 7, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Deecastle 3, Headinch and Cambus O'May 3, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 3, Crathie 5, Mar Lodge 1.
Total: 59 Largest: Upper Dess 16lbs
SEA TROUT: Park 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Cairnton 3, Woodend 2, Commonty 1, Ballogie 9, Borrowston 21, Kincardine 9, Carlogie 12, Lower Dess 10, Upper Dess 25, Birse 2, Aboyne Water 25, Aboyne Castle 31, Craigendinnie 10, Waterside and Ferrar 30, Dinnet 18, Deecastle 24, Headinch and Cambus O'May 7, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 18, Birkhall 1, Crathie 6.
Total: 270 Largest: Ballogie & Borrowston & Carlogie & Upper Dess & Deecastle & Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 5lbs

Prospects

It's always a bit of a gamble making a prediction on how the weather forecast is going to affect our anglers prospects and one could question the veracity of the forecasts provided by some websites. As we are affected by a maritime influence we can forgive our forecasters for having their forecasts going askew from time to time. One common theme this week from analysing the weather forecast models is rainfall, and this is likely to be a regular feature for the week, in what volume? Well that's a question that's difficult to answer accurately. Hopefully enough to maintain river levels at a nice height for salmon fishers who have seen sport quieten down due to low and warm water conditions. It looks like a breezy start to the week with winds quietening down through the week, but a series of fronts will sweep across the country and hopefully will reduce water temperatures. The maritime influence this week shows high tides rising from 3.5 metres to 4.1 metres with some good high tides occurring through the hours of darkness from Thursday to Sunday. This should encourage fresh bright summer salmon and grilse to make an appearance in the lower and middle beats. River levels have seen a welcome rise on both Friday and Sunday with river heights currently running between 9 inches and 1 foot 11 inches on the SEPA gauges on the main stem of the river. When water temperatures rise to over 16 degrees Celsius, as they have done, salmon become quite dour and less inclined to take the anglers fly. It is also a time of the season when salmon that do take the fly really need to be quietly and quickly returned to the river forgoing the trophy picture shot, and held facing upstream to allow a good flow of oxygen across their gill plates to help them recover from being captured. If they are kept out of the water for even a short time this is seriously detrimental to their chances of surviving so they must handled with real care and consideration. I urge anglers to ensure salmon are returned in water that has a good flow.

David Godfrey returning a summer fish

All things considered prospects for this week look better than last week given the current conditions with a good head of fish in the river. Sea trout sport has been really first class over the last few weeks which has really added another dimension for visiting anglers who are coming to fish the Dee. There should be better sport with salmon and grilse, and hopefully a continuation of lively, and at times frantic action with sea trout. As to tactics to employ to good effect then as always heed the advice of your beat Ghillie if you have the services of one to call on. They will provide an opinion and views on what tactics that should be utilised, and where the fish are likely to be on your chosen beat. If you don't have a Ghillie to assist you on your chosen beat then you may find a full floating line with a small polyleader useful with a leader of approx 10 feet length. Flies to utilise to good effect could be the Smith's shrimp, Cascade, Park shrimp and silver bodied Ally's shrimp for salmon and as a good all round option the silver stoat, Crathie, Editor and silver shrimp. At dusk on beats that allow it a collie dog fished square and fast or a riffled hitch mini tube may produce spectacular sport if fish are in the mood to respond to these surface lures. Anglers fishing through the wee small hours may find sea trout take a teal blue and silver, dark mackerel, silver march brown and perhaps a jambo wake lure or sunk needle fly. The most important bit to remember is to fish hard and diligently, and persevere as fish are in the pools from the top of the river to the bottom. The stocks of fish cannot be active 24 hours a day but when they are on, it may be short and fast sport. A word of caution though; as it is high summer there are now a lot of visitors to the valley, and some may be opportunists looking for a cast on your beat. If you see anything suspicious please contact the river board emergency hotline on 013398 80411 which is managed 24 hours a day, where river bailiffs will respond to any reports of unauthorised angling .Can we remind restaurant owners and hotel owners that it is illegal to buy rod caught salmon and sea trout in Scotland, so please refuse any that are offered to you. This helps the rivers security and fish stocks which are recovering slowly after years of declining numbers. Deeside is a marvellous destination for visiting anglers where there are a wealth of activities for visitors to enjoy. Some anglers are bringing their golf clubs with their fishing rods, and they will find the local courses in Banchory, Aboyne and Ballater in reported super condition. Please access the FishDee website for day time activities, in the local websites section, if you are bringing the family to Deeside with you. They can find a wide range of facilities and activities to enjoy through the length of the River Dee valley.

Fish On

Fish Being Returned

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Last Week's Catches

Salmon catches rose considerably last week from the week before with good new fish coming forward leading to a productive Friday and Saturday with 103 salmon and 123 sea trout being reported by FishDee beats. There are also reports of new fish being hooked and lost, especially in the lower beats. Lower Crathes reported 9 salmon with Park reporting 8 salmon, however the top reporting salmon beat for the week was Crathie who reported 15 salmon. Crathie was also top sea trout beat recording 12 with Craigendinnie reporting 10 sea trout and Birse and neighbour Aboyne Water reporting 8 each. I have received quite a few pieces of correspondence with some witty contributions which I hope will entertain you as much as I was. Firstly David Gordon reported some success and commented ' My host Alan Maughan encouraged me to have a wee cast in the Roe Pot, a famous pool I have wanted to fish for some time. The rain was pouring down but after coming out from the city, I thought a cast would be very pleasant. The river was low but the colour of the Dee Dram. I took a size 12 cascade out of the box (well you would) and threw a floating line with an intermediate tip down my bank to get the line out. Then cast it out off the top jetty to just above the boil at the top of the pool. As usual I immediately hooked the rock, and lifted to pull the fly free, however the rock was having none of it and took off downstream! A fine tussle ensued, with the fish taking line off upstream and then doggedly fighting in among the rocks. I phoned Alan, telling him I had a fish on and thanking him for the cast, he was just finished his meal so was on his way! I decided the best course of action now was to knock my net off the jetty into the river, and then immediately decided this was a bad idea. However the fish, feeling pity on me allowed me to lead it into the shallows, to be carefully hand tailed. I unhooked it in the water and, so Alan would believe me took a quick picture on the bank. Unfortunately, as I did this, just after clicking the button, the fish jumped, knocking said camera / Blackberry into the water as well. Nothing would dampen my delight however. I cradled the fish under water, carefully taking it back into the stream to be released. Just as I reached the end of the jetty a toot behind me alerted me to Alan and a car load of anglers, eager to share my enjoyment as I returned the 12 lb fish to much hilarity, leaving my cheeks feeling rosier than a glow worm.'

Dave Gordon with his fine catch

I also received a humorous anecdote from Jamie Sampson who very much tongue in cheek observed 'Who would give up hospitality at The LTA for Women's Semi and Women's Final at Wimbledon last week - we did! My wife Ingrid and I are just back from a week fishing on Craigendinnie. Having fished all the Dinnet & Glentanar beats over the last 30 odd years it was the first return to Craigendinnie for 17 years. Last fished with Colin Espie the Spring before he returned to Deecastle, then I watched him land a 19lb Springer. We met George Murray our Ghillie for the week on Monday morning where he had been fully briefed on us by Colin! Imagine the thrill by 11am of having 2 salmon on the bank 7lb & 9lb out of Tanarmouth. The week progressed and at its end I returned to Ayrshire a happy man with a tally of 8 salmon-largest 17lbs and 12 sea trout. This sport is a great leveller - on Wednesday I lost 3 salmon and had my first ducking for 11 years. I feel that George should be inducted into 'The Guards Division' of Glentanar Ghillies along with Colin, Fergus & Davie at the rank of Full Colonel. The week was immense. We saw Eoin Smith - with honey, stayed at The Cambus O'May, well fed by The McKechnie girls, met the late Jimmy Oswald's cousin Mr Syme, and last but not least met 4 charming fishers at the hotel from Lancashire - they fished Cambus. One of their number Garry McDonald was so thrilled to catch a 8lb grilse he booked a day through the FishDee site on Mar Lodge successfully landing a 9lb salmon-not bad for a 40 mile round trip. Finally having spent the last few years fishing in the cold of March/April with little to see, this week was like the fishing's were 20 years ago. Thank you Eoin Smith for teaching me to respect the fish, thank you Colin & Fergus, but a big thank you to George for last week. . Also there was a party of retired officers from the 7th Lancers, lead rod Peter Horseburgh. They were fishing exclusively for sea trout across Dinnet/Deecastle, Waterside & Craigendinnie/Aboyne Castle. Deployed at 00.00hrs till 05.00.Up to noon on Saturday, they had 92 sea trout! All troops deployed 22.00hrs Sat evening to break 100 you might like to check with Edward if the made it? Also many thanks to Edward and Michael for allowing The Bandit to fish their lovely water fish, or no fish. Special request Michael can we have a lovely hut like the ones your sister put up on Cambus - suggest Pol Bar or Red Brae South side.'

Philippe Koehler with Crathie Ghillie Archie Hay

Crathie Ghillie Archie Hay provided this report this morning 'Another good week on Crathie, with Mr Tom Saville's party enjoying good sport. The week started well with our gauge reading 1'6" after Sunday's heavy rain, Mr Peter Skelton a complete novice caught his first ever salmon on the Monday morning a fine 10lb fish from MacLaren. On the Tuesday Mrs Pat Saville caught the first of her fish in Garland, Wednesday saw four fish caught two by Mr Mark Skelton another novice starting his account with an 11lber from Maclaren, Mrs Saville again adding to her tally. By Thursday the river was almost back to her previous low level and had cleared nicely, three salmon and five sea trout were landed all on a size 12 Crathie in the evening/dusk. Friday saw Mark complete his hat trick with an 8lb fish, not bad for your first week (he will learn), Pat again had success with sea trout of 3 and 4 pounds from Ploughboy, the water then rose a foot and it was not until dusk/daybreak the remaining fish were caught. Saturday daytime produced nothing and it was not until 9.30pm fish again began to take with fish of 8lbs, 7lbs and 4lbs being caught and more 3 sea trout were added before 12 when we had to stop fishing.' Regular visiting tackle dealer from Strasbourg in France Philippe Koehler was back on Deeside and again was successful on his visit and commented 'Hello Ken ,it was a pleasure to meet you, my wife and I appreciated the Dee dram we had together with you , your friends and of course Doug Murray. I had a nice week fishing, a lot of pulls ,1 sea trout ,4 grilse,(thank you Keith) the biggest was at Crathie (thank you Archie) and I lost 3 salmon , 2 at Park and 1 at Lower Crathes where we meet again a lot of very interesting and nice people .I come again the 19/20/21 July with 3 friends at Park and hope it's going to rain there. It was a real pleasure to have Ghillie Doug Murray entertain us when we met you with the Whyte and Mackay executive team.' And finally I received an e-mail from Iain Wilson a regular visitor from the Borders Gunroom who wrote ' Hi Ken, just a wee note to tell you of our success over the last two weeks on Upper and Lower Dess, the first week was fished by the Chan party, and they had 13 salmon And 31 sea trout, mostly taken late evening on small micro tubes and size 10 Peter Ross, a well known Dee pattern (NOT). All the salmon were fresh and some sea-liced, sea trout were fresh also but not liced. The second week was fished by The Wallace party, as the river levels were now down to 3",we fished late evening, and into the night finishing about 2.30 am, again using small flies and micro tubes, and the BIG FLEE in the dark ,we finished the week with 8 Salmon and 33 Sea Trout, losing Friday to a 6" rise in water, which seemed to switch the fish off, until the Saturday, but what a great two weeks they were, Total 20 Salmon and 64 Sea Trout. Many thanks, and keep up the good work, we'll be back on Dess on Oct 4th for a few days, so will keep you informed of our success/failure.'

Philippe Koehler, Ken Reid and Birse Ghillie, the ever youthful Doug Murray

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010

Prospects

I am optimistic that we shall see good catches of salmon this week from the River Dee as there seemed to be a run of new fish coming into the River on Friday and Saturday, which coincided with some small rises in river levels and cooler air and water temperatures. The weather forecast is indicating a cooler and fresher week ahead with frequent rain showers and blustery winds, with perhaps Wednesday seeing heavy rainfall. Air temperature maxima will be in the region of 15 degrees with overnight temperatures falling back to 10 degrees Celsius which will keep the river temperatures ideal for salmon fishing. The maritime influence is indicating high tides rising from 4.2 metres today to 4.5 metres in mid week and falling back to 4.1 metres on Sunday which will encourage new fish to come forward into the River. With the SEPA gauges running between 9 inches and 1 foot 6 inches and dropping back from a rise on Sunday we should hopefully have enough rainfall through the week to keep the river at a nice fishing height, so fingers crossed we don't receive a deluge which could lead to a flood that would slow sport down dramatically.

Summer Beauty on Deeside

If you are fortunate to be fishing the River Dee this week then it's important to listen to the advice of your Ghillie if you have one on the beat. With fresh fish coming into the system and river fish also getting on the move then we should see fish running throughout the catchment. This means your Ghillie could be the key to your sport this week as they will know every nook and cranny on their beat and where a taking salmon may be found. Your Ghillie will advise on what tactics to utilise and what flies to try to intercept running fish. When the river is clear black, silver and blue seem to be the preferred colour for flies and if there is a hint of colour in the water flies with orange, yellow and red can be utilised with confidence. I spoke to an angler who was successful on the Dee this week who advised me that Dess beats Ghillie Eoin Smith predicted exactly where a taking fish would be and the angler duly hooked and landed a fish precisely where Eoin predicted. Some of the Ghillies are busy doing maintenance on the river banks at this time of year so make sure you speak to your Ghillie when you can. A word of caution though; as it is high summer there are now a lot of visitors to the valley, and some may be opportunists looking for a cast on your beat. If you see anything suspicious please contact the river board emergency hotline on 013398 80411 which is managed 24 hours a day, where river bailiffs will respond to any reports of unauthorised angling. Can we remind restaurant owners and hotel owners that it is illegal to buy rod caught salmon and sea trout in Scotland, so please refuse any that are offered to you. This helps the rivers security and fish stocks which are recovering slowly after years of declining numbers.

Brig O'Dee in high summer

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

Fishing on Deeside last week was steady and would perhaps have been quite spectacular if anglers had managed to land the fish that were hooked. I have received reports of many anglers losing fish up and down the valley which is tremendously frustrating for anglers and Ghillies alike. As it was though FishDee beats reported 132 salmon and 89 sea trout for the week with a number of beats reporting 20lb salmon including one to my own rod at Ballogie. The salmon catches for the season have broken through the 3000 barrier last week and 2000 barrier for sea trout from FishDee beats which is quite encouraging. Lets hope we have good water levels and see a good summer run of fish that hang about in the lower and middle river beats and give them an opportunity for some good sport. Fish seem to have been in a hurry to move upriver with Ghillies seeing fish running hard through their beats. Ballogie reported 10 salmon for the week with Park, Crathes and Aboyne Water reporting 9 salmon, however top beat again this week was Crathie with Archie Hay delighted to see 12 salmon landed and 16 nice sea trout.

As I hadn't received any correspondence this morning I took the opportunity to phone a few Ghillies this morning. Sean Stanton reports that the Watson Party enjoyed good sport at Ballogie and Carlogie with all anglers catching fish. Mrs Watson was delighted to catch a fine fresh 18 lber from the Top Gannets on Saturday. Keith Cromar at Park reported a good run of grilse went through his pools on Saturday when 8 were landed by anglers. Regular Park fisherman Andy Forbes did well landing 3 fresh Grilse. Some of the Grilse were small with red vent syndrome which is caused by a parasitic nematode worm. I also was pleased to see Phillip Wood drop in to the office and he provided me with a report about his party's sport on GlenTanar beats last week. He was as always quite effusive about his parties sport enthusing about all his fishermens successes. John McGrath had his first ever salmon a fine 13lber, Kevin Wood had 2 salmon, Wayne Stirling had a salmon and a sea trout, and last but not least Phillip had 1 salmon, 1 grilse and 7 sea trout. He endured a largely unproductive season last year so it was pleasing to see him bang on form and enjoying his sport. Edward Humphrey from Dinnet popped into the office to give me a heads up on his beats for last week. He advised that Mike Stevenson's party did well with Mike landing a feisty 20 lber from Red Brae on the Dee Castle side. The party had 6 salmon and 17 sea trout for their week but lost many more fish. Let's hope he sees more fish landed this week when he continues his tenancy on the Lovely Dinnet and Dee Castle beats.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010

Beat catches reported
(week ending 17th July)
SALMON & GRILSE: Blairs 1, Altries and Lower Drum 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 2, Tilbouries 3, Park 9, Lower Crathes and W Durris 6, Knappach 2, Crathes 9, Invery 1, Lower Blackhall 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 6, Cairnton 3, Commonty 2, Sluie 2, Ballogie 9, Borrowston 4, Carlogie 7, Lower Dess 1, Upper Dess 2, Birse 4, Aboyne Water 9, Aboyne Castle 7, Craigendinnie 6, Waterside and Ferrar 5, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 3, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 5, Birkhall 1, Crathie 12, Mar Lodge 2.
Total: 132 Largest: Ballogie & Birse & Deecastle 20lbs
SEA TROUT: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Tilbouries 2, Park 2, Invery 1, Middle Blackhall 3, Cairnton 1, Sluie 1, Borrowston 2, Lower Dess 2, Upper Dess 4, Birse 14, Aboyne Water 2, Aboyne Castle 5, Craigendinnie 3, Waterside and Ferrar 7, Dinnet 5, Deecastle 12, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 4, Crathie 16.
Total: 89 Largest: Borrowston & Birse & Aboyne Castle & Deecastle & Headinch and Cambus O'May & Crathie 4lbs

Prospects

There should be a continuation of rising salmon catches this week providing the river levels don't fluctuate too much. The weather forecast models I look at are suggesting regular rainfall throughout the week with heavy showers over the mountains a common theme. The week should start off reasonably mild with temperatures perhaps reaching 21 degrees Celsius and continue like this until Thursday when the wind changes to a northerly airflow and temperatures fall back and heavy rainfall reaches the catchment. Things should improve on Friday and Saturday with temperatures and barometric pressure rising. The maritime influence is indicating tides falling back from 3.8 metres to 3.6 metres on Thursday and then rising again to 3.8 metres on Sunday. Taking the good current river levels into account,with Sepa gauges running between 6 inches to 1 foot, then there is every likelihood that grilse runs will continue to build, with perhaps some good multi sea winter coming into the river. With a lot of fish reportedly hooked and lost last week then it's clear that grilse are running hard through the lower beats.

If you are fortunate enough to be fishing this week on Deeside then ensure you speak to your Ghillie for advice. We have a team of extremely talented Ghillies who are very knowledgeable and know the tricks likely to work to deliver the elusive silver prize we all seek. Your Ghillie can advise you about what rods, lines and flies to use, as well as where taking fish are likely to be located on your chosen beat. If you dont have the services of a Ghillie to call on you will be best advised to use a floating line with perhaps an intermediate tip or poly leader. I used this outfit on Saturday with a size 11 Park shrimp and was highly delighted to be rewarded with a sea liced 20 lb salmon on the third cast of the day. As there are grilse running then you can expect to have your flies tweaked and pulled, which can be quite frustrating when they are not taking properly, so perseverance is the key word here-keep at it and eventually you will get your reward. There are still reasonable numbers of sea trout being caught so an evening cast could be profitable if you fish on until dusk. A word of caution, at this time of year there are a lot of visitors to Deeside, and some are opportunists looking to take some fishing without booking. If you see anything suspicious please contact the river board emergency hotline on 013398 80411 which is managed 24 hours a day, where river bailiffs will respond to any reports of unauthorised angling. Can we remind restaurant owners and hotel owners that it is illegal to buy rod caught salmon and sea trout in Scotland, so please refuse any that are offered to you. This helps the rivers security and fish stocks which are recovering slowly after years of declining numbers. Looking at availability over the next few weeks it is clear that there are a good number of rods on prime Dee beats and I would encourage anglers to book fishing now as opportunities to fish on the best beats don't come up very often.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Last Week's Catches

Another week of steady sport on Deeside with FishDee beats that have reported so far notifying catches of 210 salmon and 27 sea trout. There appeared to be reasonable runs of fresh grilse and small summer salmon last week which is borne out with the bulk of catches coming from lower and middle beats. Park reported 25 for the week; Lower Crathes reported 20 fish, with Ballogie and Birse reporting 12 salmon each. It is pleasing to see lower beats such as Blairs, Tilbouries, and Upper Drum picking up new fish, hopefully this will kick off the start of a period of sustained good sport for the lower beats right through until the end of the season. I was pleased to hear that it was well known talented Deeside angler Malcolm Tocher who had the fishing at Lower Crathes. I met him briefly on Friday evening where he seemed very pleased with the weeks sport and was looking forward to his Saturday on the beat. I met Ian Scott, Gordon Anderson and visitor Steve Barnes at Park on Monday lunchtime where they had enjoyed some steady sport with new Grilse. Regular Blairs fisherman Rory Campbell has also being rewarded for his efforts at Blairs.

I was pleased to receive an invitation to spend a day at Park on Friday with some of the Park estates staff who are novice anglers. I was really pleased to see Rosalind Chrisp, who handles all the Park bookings finally catch her very first fish after a number of years trying. It wasn't the biggest fish for the week, but Ghillie Charlie Yates carefully returned a fine sea liced Grilse that really made the day for Rosalind. Another newcomer to do well was Jacob Rhodes who landed his very first salmon, a sea liced hen of 32 inches from the Durris stream on a small Park shrimp fly. Jenny and Morag fished hard but were unsuccessful and Alison hooked a fish on her first cast only to sadly lose it. Ross Macdonald was visiting and had 2 nice fish of 11 and 9 lbs, and I was very lucky to catch 6 salmon and grilse to 9lbs on a size 13 Park shrimp fly for the day. It is very good to see Park operating an initiative during July for novices and youngsters to come and fish to see if they like the sport, and perhaps become regular anglers. We need to do all we can to encourage another generation of anglers to enjoy our wonderful river. I understand Stuart Fleming from Aberdeen Angling Association was successful during his day at Park. The biggest fish of the week at 20lbs was one that was landed at Kincardine by David Brooks, who many will know as his wife Susan runs the Post Office and general store in the village of Kincardine. It is a super shop offering first class lunches for visiting anglers. David will be delighted with his catch as he has been troubled by a sore foot following surgery a few months ago, which has taken a long time to heal. I know he had some real discomfort when he visited Russia this year with a group of anglers from Deeside, so it is fitting that he gets rewarded for his perseverance with his biggest fish for many years.

Jacob Rhodes with his first salmon

I have received some correspondence from visitors to Deeside. I received a telephone call a few weeks ago from Steve Barnes looking for advice and was delighted he booked fishing and came to Deeside last week. He wrote to me yesterday and commented ' Thanks for your advice, the visit was really enjoyable. Luckily I managed to get 3 grilse on Park on Monday which was the day we met. The following two days saw me on Cairnton, the Tuesday yielding a supercharged 10lber, and the Wednesday a small grilse. All the fish were chromed and dripping with sea lice. I saw lots of fish and the two ghillies were absolutely fantastic. I cannot praise the river enough. Once again many thanks, I hope to be back in late August.' I was delighted to hear of his good fortune at Cairnton, which had over 30 salmon and Grilse during July. Let's hope the catches keep rising there and keep expert Ghillie David Cowie smiling. It's a very pretty beat that has a great tradition of being the home of greased line fly fishing pioneered by AHE Wood many decades ago. For those interested in the history of Cairnton and AHE Wood I can recommend the informative website of Cairnton The Cairnton salmon fishing beat on the river Dee. I also received correspondence from Gareth Headland who is a well known face in the angling retail business. He is UK sales manager for Loop products who manufacture top quality salmon rods, reels and lines .I have known Gareth for a number of years and he is a regular visitor to Deeside with many big fish to his own rod over the years. Gareth advised 'regarding the pictures I have sent, my picture was a sea liced 12lb'er at Ballogie's Top Gannet Pool-one of 3 fish I hooked there in a short time. I landed 2 and lost 1, with both captured fish being sea liced .I was using a s1/s2 line with a Frede's Nightmare mini bottle tube fly at business end! The other picture is of Ed Foster who owns 2 well known trout fisheries down here in Northant's- Elinor and Ringstead. Ed is also a co-England International Stillwater team member of mine too. It was his first ever salmon, and while only 3lb was sea liced all over and made Ed as happy as a 20lb'er! Ed and my other friend Paul Haskey (who is not pictured as lost all 3 fish he hooked) are now "hooked" on the Dee, and will be back. Thanks Ken'. What a pleasure to hear of so many newcomers first fish of the Dee this week.

Ros Chrisp with her first fish

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010

Prospects for the coming week

The same again would do nicely and if we have more fish then that would be a bonus. Given the number of novices who have been catching their first fish last week it is encouraging that a lot of fresh fish are coming forward and entering the catchment. The weather forecast is similar to last week's which will probably suit anglers as it should be changeable throughout the week. Air temperature maxima will be in the region of 18 degrees with rain showers a regular occurrence throughout the week, perhaps some localised heavy thundershowers. Wind will generally be from the south swinging round to the north later in the week before reverting back. Barometric pressure will start high and drop a little before rising again towards the end of the week. Just in time for the Aboyne Highland Games where a crowd of around 9000 visitors may attend this highly popular annual event. The maritime influence is indicating tides of 3.8 metres dropping to 3.4 metres and rising again to 3.8 metres by the end of the week. The river levels are quite good at present with the Sepa gauges showing levels between 7inches at Mar Lodge and 10 inches at Park. There should be enough water if levels hold up to encourage new fish to come forward if they choose to. I expect Grilse numbers to build and these fish should move quickly through the lower beats to the middle and upper beats. We may also see a few big multi sea winter salmon arriving and hopefully we will be notified of some big fish captures for the Fish of the month prize. I have not received any submissions for some months now so hopefully people may wish to submit entries that are verified captures.

Ross Macdonald with a fresh sea liced salmon

Water temperatures are around 16 degrees Celsius, which is really quite cold for the local school children going for a dip as they while away their summer holidays, but the temperatures are good for anglers, and of course the salmon and sea trout which are cold blooded animals. Anglers fishing the river should heed the wise words offered to them by their Ghillies as they know their beats intimately and know where the fish lie, what tactics to use and what flies to utilise. Floating lines with a small poly leader seem to be popular at this time of year. I prefer just now to use a 13 foot rod with an 8/9 weight Rio AFS shooting head system. Depending on where you are fishing in the valley the advice offered by Ghillies may be different. I know some suggest very small lightly dressed flies and the further down the catchment there is a advice to use shrimp type patterns like the Park Shrimp, Smiths Shrimp, Cascade and Calvin's Shrimp. Some anglers hedge their bets by using a small silver stoat's tail as a dropper and use a shrimp fly on the point. Whatever fly you do use its important to persevere as running fish can appear one minute and seem to be gone the next.

As its high summer, a word of caution, at this time of year there are a lot of visitors to Deeside, and some are opportunists looking to take some fishing without booking. If you see anything suspicious please contact the river board emergency hotline on 013398 80411 which is managed 24 hours a day, where river bailiffs will respond to any reports of unauthorised angling. Can we remind restaurant owners and hotel owners that it is illegal to buy rod caught salmon and sea trout in Scotland, so please refuse any that are offered to you. This helps the rivers security and fish stocks which are recovering slowly after years of declining numbers. Looking at availability over the next few weeks it is clear that there are a good number of rods on the river and I would encourage anglers to book fishing now as opportunities to fish on the well stocked beats don't come up very often.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

I commented last week and suggested same again would be ideal and if we have more, that would be a bonus. Well the salmon rod catch did increase over the week with FishDee beats reporting over 50 fish on Monday and again on Saturday. This helped boost the weekly catches to 238 salmon and 36 sea trout. There were some super results last week reported by FishDee beats. Park, which was lightly fished reported 59 salmon and grilse. Lower Crathes, which is a 2 rod beat at this time of year reported 20 fish between Italian visitor Paulo Cesana and a guest. Beats in the Aboyne area produced good catches with Jim Cowper's Aboyne Water reporting 14 salmon, just ahead of Alec Coutts 13 salmon at Aboyne Castle. Willie Banks at Tilbouries and Brian Sim at Crathes would be pleased with their anglers landing 11 salmon/grilse. Cairnton again produced double figures and their website reports 'another successful week' which will have pleased Ghillie David Cowie and his anglers. As I am writing this I have received a message from Rory Campbell who's been having a cast before work this morning at Blairs, and he reports the capture of 2 new sea liced fish before 7. 00 am. Fish are running in from the tide and anglers in the right place at the right time are doing well.

Donnie Whiteford with one of his 6 fish catch at Aboyne Castle

I have received some correspondence from visitors to Deeside. I was delighted to receive an e-mail this morning from Donnie Whiteford. Donnie was the fishing consultant for the Thuras a Bhadrain TV series broadcast on STV and BBC Alba. Donnie visited Deeside last week with his partner and TV programme presenter Neen Mackay. He was visiting some beats including Morven which he described as delightful, and a productive Aboyne Castle with Alan Green on Saturday. He wrote ' Hi Ken. I've just returned from my first day fishing on Aboyne Castle and will take a week to recover! Every cast was covering fish and I ended up landing 6 salmon/grilse from 3 to 18lbs plus 2 sea trout at 2 and 3lbs. The pools are stunning and I had to drag myself away at the end of the day. Ghillie Alec Coutts was outstanding and added greatly to one of the most enjoyable days salmon fishing I can remember.' I also received a message from Jim Coates from Whyte and Mackay who advised 'Hi Ken, had a great day on Saturday catching 5 bonny fresh Grilse covered in long tailed sea lice. It's great to see them running in good numbers this year.' I have also received an e-mail from Iain Gray this morning who Keith Cromar had advised me about his productive visit to a lightly fished Park. Iain commented 'I thought I'd give you a report on a few days's fishing that myself and a few mates had on the Dee at Park. I was lucky enough to secure the winning bid for 2 days for 2 rods on Park via the Dee Trust Auction. I was given my choice of dates and picked last Friday and Saturday (6 and 7 August).I fished with Ewen Steele on Friday and 2 other friends - Campbell Pitt and Phil Lowe - fished the Saturday. We were all Dee virgins. Conditions looked good on the Friday; the hardest part was finding the correct entrance for the fishing. It's always the last mile! Keith Cromar made us very welcome when we arrived and we were allocated our pools. To cut a long story short, I landed 4 by lunchtime and 7 for the day. Ewen blanked in the morning, but landed 3 in the afternoon (this is only his second year of fishing).Keith spent a lot of time helping Ewen which was brilliant. On the Saturday, Campbell had landed 3 by 11:00 but things then went a bit quieter for him; Phil had blanked in the morning, but again with some advice from Keith, landed 2 in the afternoon. 15 fish landed for 2 days, with plenty more hooked; all in all a great couple of days. We will certainly be back. Finally, I think I may have met you quite a number of years ago on the Brora. I was part of John Grant's party at the time and I remember you and your brother fishing around the same time. I'm back on the Dee at Banchory on the 30th August, and while a repeat of Friday would be too much to hope for, some sport would be good. Keep up the good work.'

Park Shrimp Flies that worked tremendously well last week on Deeside

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010

Prospects

If we have a another good week and the prospects look likely, then catches from FishDee beats will accelerate quickly through the 4000 barrier this week for salmon catches, which will be pleasing for all the anglers fishing on Deeside this week. Weather-wise we have a mixed bag forecast but in local parlance, at times it will be gie dreich-great for the angler but not for the holiday makers visiting Deeside. There is a chance overnight this evening we could have some significant rainfall as a weather warning has been issued by the met office. Air temperature maxima will be in the region of 18 degrees Celsius this week with winds forecast to be gusty at times, but as they are from the south it shouldn't feel too cold. It is highly probable we could see rising and falling river levels this week and provided they are not too great then fishing will be productive all week. The maritime influence sees high tides peaking in Aberdeen at 4.1 metres on Monday rising to 4.7 metres on Thursday and Friday before falling back to 4.4 metres. This will bring new fish forward and these should consist of grilse and salmon. We may hear of some big fish being encountered too, as was suggested last week, when we saw Birse report a 25 lb salmon. For those who take an interest in barometric pressure we shall see the air pressure just over 1000 mb's at the beginning of the week which will rise over the week to 1025 mb's. Many novice anglers are catching their first fish and experienced anglers are catching good numbers of fish. This could be the best week of the season so far if all goes well and fingers crossed it will be.

Angler Ken Reid fishing the Lorne Pool, Aboyne Castle where stealth is required

I have been speaking to Robert Harper from Lower Crathes and Keith Cromar at Park, who are both optimistic for the week ahead. Keith's advice was to stick with small flies from size 12-14's rather than size 8's which anglers are reaching for from their fly boxes. The River Dee Ghillies are very knowledgeable and helpful to visiting anglers and anglers should heed their wise words of advice about catching salmon and grilse from their beats. They know the salmon lies at all heights of water and can make your visit highly productive and rewarding. If you don't have a Ghillie service to call on then perhaps you will use a floating line and poly leader with a leader perhaps of 6-10 feet and a small shrimp type fly on the point. I know an angler had 5 on Saturday to his rod on a size 13 Park Shrimp and another angler had 6 to his rod on a similarly sized Calvin's shrimp and a collie dog. (See flies for the Dee page) As fish are running hard through some of the beats it's important to stick at it and make the most of your opportunities when a new run of fish enter your pool. Spending too much time in the hut over lunch could deny you the opportunity of a bumper days catch. As an alternative to fishing with dressed flies, anglers could try a collie dog tube fly or perhaps a riffled hitch tube fly in the faster water where fish are located in the heads and tails of pools. The Grilse are fighting very hard and many anglers land a 5 lb Grilse and think it's a much heavier fish given the fight from them. There are many Grilse that are hooked and lost, and that is quite often the case with running fish nipping at the fly and not taking a good hold to ensure a good hook up.

Ross Macdonald's Calvins shrimp fly
Info at Salmon Flies

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

I had high hopes that catches for the week may have been the best weeks catch for the whole season, alas high water midweek damped catches down a little, and nevertheless it was still a great week for anglers on Deeside with FishDee beats reporting so far 311 salmon for the week and 35 sea trout. There were some impressive tallies for some of the beats with Park reporting 54 salmon, Lower Crathes , a 2 rod beat reported 32 salmon, Crathes did well with 19, Upper Drum 18, with 11 on Saturday, Kincardine and Carlogie reported 17 apiece and Cairnton reported a solid 14 for their guests. There was an impressive run of new fish coming in on the high water and big tides at the end of last week and we should see a continuation of great sport for anglers fishing the river this week. There is a mixture of Grilse and decent 2 sea winter fish coming forward now and this should hopefully continue now until the end of the season.

I have received some correspondence from visitors to Deeside. Firstly Mr Davie Adams wrote to me advising ' I had a day on Park (north bank) on Saturday 14th august. This was a first wedding anniversary present from my wife Nicola. After a blank morning, I was allocated to fish in front of the main hut. Mid afternoon, I hooked a fish, and played it, finally losing it at the net! Most of the other rods packed up by 5pm, and I fished on. Again, I hooked and lost a fish in front of the hut! Well, by around 7 15pm, my wife came to pick me up, and having one last cast; I hooked another, and landed it. A fish of around 5 lbs, on a size 11 park shrimp, the fish being returned. I had a great day, on this wonderful river. I have enclosed a photo.' That's good to hear that Mr Adams endeavour and persistence finally paid off with the capture of a handsome fish.

Davie Adams with his hard earned Grilse

I was also pleased to receive an e-mail from regular Dee visitor Dr Patrick Taylor who was fishing with his friend Dr Ade Warburton. Patrick commented ' We fished Commonty this week and conditions were fantastic. Monday we lost fish, Tuesday we had 2 fish (Ian Fraser accounting for a Grilse). Wednesday saw the river on great form, the day started well with a 7lb fish from Dr Ade Warburton and a 15lb fish from myself (my biggest fish to date at that point). In the afternoon, Ade went to do family duties and I had the beat to myself. Wednesday for those that were fishing saw a torrential downpour. The water stopped showing any disturbance from the sub-surface structure and looked like it was being hit by a hail of bullets,however, the fishing was brilliant. I was soaked to the skin but had a 5lb grilse from the Garden pool and shortly after, a 13lb fish from the Loop. Ten casts later I tied into another big fish (16lb Cock fish). It took me 20 minutes to land it, being well into the backing. Thursday the river rose quickly but Ian got a nice an 8lb fish from the Garden pool. The river stayed high on Friday, Ade having 4 fish take in quick succession and finally getting a beauty of 14lb. To top off the week, I had a 5lb grilse on Saturday, pretty much last cast. The majority of the fish Ade and I caught were on a Gledswood Shrimp derivative Ade had tied for the Salmon Fishing Forum 'Tie of the Month' in April. Anyway, a fantastic week and can't wait to be there in Feb' It sounds like they had a really enjoyable week at this pretty beat which is really doing well since Ian Fraser joined as Ghillie on the beat. I was very fortunate to be given an opportunity to fish on Saturday at Dinnet and visited the beat with my friend Ross Macdonald. We both caught Grilse, and I had a sea trout. The hillsides at Dinnet are magnificent just now with the purple heather blooming profusely providing excellent opportunities for taking photographs. I was also fortunate when I was out during the week to see the Osprey flying above Raemoir trout fishery. It's an ideal venue for anglers to take up fishing and proprietor Ron Low advised that there has been good numbers of youngsters fishing the bait pond this summer. Children have been thoroughly enjoying themselves, so well done to Mum's and Dad's for taking their children to the fishery for a good fun day outdoors.

I should mention a few events taking place on Deeside in a few weeks time. Firstly Dr Richard Shelton is presenting 'To the sea and back' at the Victory Hall in Aboyne on Wednesday 15th September at 7 pm. Richard combines memoirs and deep scientific knowledge to reveal the remarkable life cycle of the salmon in both sea water and fresh water which it inhabits. He will also discuss the history of ocean exploration for salmonids and demonstrate the importance of salmon as an indicator of the health of our rivers and oceans. Admittance to this event is £4.00.At 5pm on Sunday 19th September at Finzean Hall, Andrew Greig presents ' At the Loch of the Green Corrie' where he uses a fishing trip to explore the themes of love, loss, friendship, and what it means to be Scottish. This honours a dying mans wish, which becomes a meditation on life, a literary biography and a celebration of the natural beauty of the Scottish Highlands .Admittance to this event is also £4.00. On Sunday 12th September the Salmon Hunt event leaves from the Boat Inn, Aboyne at 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm , cost £5.00, where you can join staff from the River Dee Trust for this walk along a section of the River Dee around Aboyne, looking at the habitat in the river and on the banks, and discovering which species depend on that habitat. Discover the environmental and land use management practises that have an impact on our salmon. How does fishery management impact on the ecology of the river? You will see a demonstration of electric fishing (a technique which is only legally allowed for research and not for catching a salmon) and identification of the fish species present. The River Dee is so important that it has been given a designation as a Special Area of Conservation - recognising the social and economic value of the river Dee as a fishery in local and international terms. For further details and how to book look into Active Aboyne Outdoor Activities Festival 2010

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I am away next week to Iceland so am unable to write the report however River Director Mark Bilsby will write the report and I would be really most grateful if you would forward any stories or anecdotes to him at mark@riverdee.org and remember to log onto River Dee Trust: Home to access our latest newsletter Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010


Prospects

Angling prospects for Deeside look most promising this week with good numbers of new salmon flooding in from the sea and running the lower and middle beats. We have had a recent substantial lift of water levels which has given the river a good clean out and salmon are taking the opportunity to get on the move. When this happens anglers can expect to see good sport when they encounter running salmon and anglers who plan to come and fish should book now as rods are becoming very scarce. There were no rods available on Saturday through the FishDee website. With excellent catches last week from many of the lower beats, it's probable that the biggest catches will again be in the lower beats, however sport should be steady for the middle and upper beats as well. River levels are excellent for this time of year with the Sepa gauges showing heights between 7 inches at Mar Lodge and 1 foot at Park. The maritime influence has high tides of 4.1 metres dropping back to 3.5 metres and then rising by the end of the week to 3.8 metres. The weather forecast is predicting a mixed bag with rain at times through the week and cloudy overcast skies a regular feature. Air temperature maxima are predicted between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius. Barometric pressure is likely to rise and fall over the week starting at 1021 mb's and falling to 1001 mb's and rising again to 1014 mb's. Winds are forecast to be variable but generally light. I hope to see catches approaching the 350 mark for the week and am pleased to say that salmon catches last week did in fact accelerate quickly through the 4000 mark for the season. I am also pleased to hear that Kincardine have had their best ever sea trout catch for the season. This productive beat has some great holding pools and sea trout have provided some excellent sport for their visiting anglers which will have delighted top Ghillie John McGinley.

Now finding yourself on the riverbank this week with fish in your pools requires you to decide what tackle to use, fly selection and what bit of your designated beat to concentrate your efforts on. To make this a less arduous proposition I would urge you all to seek the opinions and advice of your Ghillie on your chosen beat. The River Dee Ghillies are an extremely knowledgeable and talented team who know how to maximise the opportunities for success on your beat. They will advise what tackle to use, what flies to tie onto your leader and where you should concentrate your efforts. If you are fortunate they may even be on hand to net your capture and help you take a quick photograph as a memento of your successful encounter with a salmon, grilse or sea trout. If you do not have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you may consider using a 13 or 14 ft double handed rod with a floating Spey line or Shooting head and small fly. I had success last week with a size 13 Calvin's shrimp tied for me by Park Shrimp designer Ross Macdonald. A Silver stoat's tail, Thunder and Lightning, and perhaps a Jeannie may be worth trying, not forgetting the ever popular shrimp patterns like the Park Shrimp, Ally's shrimp or cascade. The Sunray or Collie dog can be very productive at this time of year with running fish so make sure you give this a try.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I am away next week to Iceland so am unable to write the report however River Director Mark Bilsby will write the report and I would be really most grateful if you would forward any stories or anecdotes to him at mark@riverdee.org and remember to log onto River Dee Trust: Home to access our latest newsletter Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010 Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010

 

[ken@fishdee]

Last Week's Catches

Having just returned from a busman's holiday to Iceland I was delighted to see anglers enjoy another steady weeks sport reported from FishDee beats, with 271 Salmon and Grilse to 24 lbs reported as well as 24 sea trout. Park reported 41 Salmon and Grilse, Tilbouries reported 24 Salmon and Grilse, Both Upper Drum and Lower Crathes reported 22 each which indicates that new salmon took advantage of the good water levels to come into the river and run upstream. I was really most pleased to hear that Park Estates proprietor John Foster and his wife Clarinda had caught 3 fish each whilst fishing for a day last week and they enjoyed the pleasure of simultaneously catching fish at the same time which must have given them tremendous fun.

Willie Banks at Tilbouries reported ' We had steady sport through the week from reasonable river levels for our syndicate rods with good runs of salmon and grilse observed'. Ian Murray was delighted to report 'We had some nice fish last week at Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld with an 18 lb salmon landed and a hefty 24 lb cock fish also landed. The big fish was landed by Mrs Catherine Dennis on a size 10 silver stoats tail, which was her first fish on her new rod. This was netted expertly by Martin Thompson with images to follow.' Mr John Pelly also reported to River Director Mark Bilsby 'Two young anglers both caught their first salmon last night (Thursday 26) on Drumnagesk. Brothers Nicholas and Jonathon Astor on their first attempts of fishing landed fish within 15 and 30 mins of their first casts. Both were delighted. Visitor John Gordon-Smith commented 'I had a great week fishing Park (south) in Graham Watson's party with my best ever 5 in the week. Keep up the good work and hope to see you next year. Best wishes'

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would be really most grateful if you would forward any stories or anecdotes and pictures to me at ken@riverdee.org and remember to log onto River Dee Trust: Home to access our latest newsletter Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010

Prospects

The prospects for the next weeks fishing on Deeside look very encouraging following recent rises in river levels keeping fish on the move. The weather forecasters are predicting a spell of mild, calm days with high pressure building during the week which will suit anglers for the next few days. Air temperature Maxima will be around 18 degrees Celsius with overnight lows to around 3 degrees in the upper valley producing some overnight frosts. Winds are forecast to be reasonably light with sunny spells interspersed with light clouds. Air pressure will be between 1016 and 1025 mb's. The maritime influence is indicating tides of 4.0 metres falling to 3.5 metres on Thursday rising to 3.9 metres at the weekend. Current river levels are running between 1ft 1 inch at Mar Lodge to 2ft 3 inches at Park and falling slowly. There is a slight peaty tinge to the water which will clear over the next 24 hours or so. There will be a continuation of fresh Grilse and Summer salmon entering the river providing good sport with the earlier running large cock fish hopefully coming on the take again.

With the river running at a good level it is important to listen to your Ghillies advice as to what flies to use and where on your allocated beat to fish hard. In all likelihood the conditions suggest that mornings and evenings could be the most productive times this week. If you do not have the services of a Ghillie to call on the perhaps you may wish to fish with a floating line with sink tip and fish with a variety of flies. You may choose a Park Shrimp or Ally's shrimp, Flamethrower, Red Frances or silver stoat's tail. The Sunray or Willie Gunn tube fished square and fast may deliver some aggressive takes too if given a go. There is some availability on the FishDee website so please look in and book fishing if you can manage to visit the river.

Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would be really most grateful if you would forward any stories or anecdotes and pictures to me at ken@riverdee.org and remember to log onto River Dee Trust: Home to access our latest newsletter Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010