Whilst looking at fishing availability on the find fishing page on FishDee. I note there are a lot of new rod lets now available on the website, and I would encourage anglers hoping to catch the famed Dee Springer to venture forth to the River Dee and give it a go. Spring catches have risen steadily over the last few years with 2011 seeing over 2,800 landed during the spring months on the Dee; it is hoped this pattern of rising spring catches will continue in 2012 .The River Dee offers excellent value for the visiting angler on a variety of famous beats, which on their day can be really quite productive. The River Dee is arguably one of the top spring salmon river in the world based on rod catches and a great favourite destination for many European anglers.There are superb fishing flies collection prizes from Sean Stanton and Ross Macdonald for the first springer caught on opening day, and the biggest springer caught on opening day.
A lovely River Dee Spring Salmon
The River is cold at present with quite abit of grue coming down this morning, but this should hopefully have the river at a nice fishing height for opening day weather conditions permitting.I have been walking the river during weekend mornings and the river looks in superb order. I saw what looked like a springer heading and tailing half way down the Roe Pot at Inchmarlo.Lets hope we can see in excess of 100 springers caught and released in the opening few days of the season, with fish sure to be well distributed throughout the river following such an open winter.
The heaviest opening day fish in 2011 at 25lbs for Gary Webster
Full sinking or intermediate lines, with a perhaps sink tip attached are popular with anglers during the spring months. Fly choice sees anglers using tube flies with double hooks. The Black and Yellow or Black and Blue combinations are popular, as are the gold Willie Gunn tube fly and of course the Tungsten Monkey flies. I always use a Park shrimp or Maggies shrimp patterns in tube fly versions, with differing weights to suit the prevailing water conditions. As Crawford Little of Trout and Salmon magazine fame remarked 'The Park shrimp catches big fish' so these may account for some really good sized fish. During the opening weeks there are a lot of kelts about so please handle these with extreme care as some of these will return to spawn sometime in the future.
A fine 20 lb Spring salmon from the lower Dee
Finally for all supporters of the River Dee there is a grand fundraising auction taking place right now with full details here this link . Please take time to look in at the fabulous auction lots donated to help raise funds for the River Dee. There are extensive work programmes planned over the next few years which will put the river in good heart for years to come so your support is vital in helping us achieve our objectives. Copyright FishDee Ltd January 2012
The 2012 salmon fishing season commenced with the traditional opening ceremony held this year at the Potarch Bridge and a revamped FishDee website. The opening ceremony was very well attended with around 250 people gathered on the river bank to watch TV personality Paul Whitehouse perform the ceremonial cast and entertain the audience with his witty humour. Mr Whitehouse advised the audience that he is a regular visitor to Deeside and caught his first ever salmon at Commonty and his first ever salmon on the fly at Carlogie. River Dee Board and Trust chairman Ian Scott announced to the assembled audience that agreement had been received in principle from the Scottish Government for a permanent extension to the fishing season. This will see the river close for fishing on the 15th October for beats downstream from Aboyne Bridge, with beats above Aboyne Bridge closing on the 30th September as per the River Dee conservation code 2012.
River Dee chairman Ian Scott presents Charles Jeffrey with his prize for joint biggest salmon on opening day at 18 lbs
The first day of the fishing season saw the river at a low level with water temperature around 1 degree Celsius. There were 30 salmon reported on opening day from FishDee beats with catches from Middle Drum to Dinnet. Invery beat had a red letter day with 8 salmon recorded which delighted FishPal’s Iain Wood who had the tenancy for the first days of the season. Iain Wood, Jock Monteith, Charles Jeffrey with two, all had opening day success, Tina Cummings had her first ever salmon at Invery, and Dave Gordon had a trio of salmon in the afternoon, which rounded off a tremendous days sport for the Invery beat. The first fish of the season was landed at 9.45 am by delighted angler Graeme Scott with a nice 2lb fish at Commonty. I presented Graeme with a box of flies kindly donated by Ross Macdonald for the first fish of the season. Ghillie Ian Fraser has worked hard to get the beat in first class order for opening day and was thrilled to have two fresh salmon landed on opening day. The heaviest fish on opening day presented me with a little dilemma as there were two fish caught that measured 36 inches and only one prize up for grabs. I was really delighted when Ballogie Estates head Ghillie Sean Stanton donated two lovely boxes of flies to me to make presentations. River Dee chairman presented visiting angler Charles Jeffrey with his award at the Tor Na Coille hotel. I presented the other box of flies to Malcolm Thorne. Regular talented River Dee fisherman Jim Reid had asked me to tease Charles Jeffrey on the eve of the season that he wouldn’t catch a fish, he was naturally delighted when Charles duly went out and recorded an opening day double. There were other successes over the first few days of the season with Greig Thomson fishing at Lower Crathes making up for losing a fish at the net with another fresh fish a little later. Visiting Murthly Ghillie Tony Black had opening day success at Little Blackhall as did Mark Paterson with a fine 14 lb salmon at Ballogie. Thomas Thore from Sweden had a fish from Altries on Thursday.
Catch return from Invery on opening day
Weather conditions deteriorated due to the to the mercury falling significantly overnight to minus 9 degrees on Thursday and by Friday morning the river from top to bottom was full of grue and really unfishable. This really didn’t help the eager fishermen who had booked fishing who sat patiently waiting to see if conditions would improve to allow some fishing to take place. I was really pleased to hear this morning that Swedish visiting angler and River Dee Trust supporter Lars Terkildsen had amazingly managed to find a little pocket of water to fish at Kincardine on Saturday and winkled out 2 fresh salmon. He advised that only 1 cast in 10 would allow the fly to fish briefly. He is to be commended for his patience, guile and determination. So we had 2 days that were reasonable with 45 salmon reported to me and two days effectively lost. Top beat was Invery with 10, Park had 7 and Lower Blackhall had 6 fish. There are some reports of very small salmon being landed which Ghillies have commented as being quite unusual.
Malcolm Thorne receives his award for joint biggest fish on opening day at 18lbs from Ken Reid
To finish this week I would advise that Banchory beat Ghillie Walter Raitt was taken to hospital on the eve of the fishing season and all on Deeside will wish him a speedy recovery. There is a super fundraising auction taking place for the River Dee Trust which hopefully will see much needed funds raised for the River. Details of the auction can be found at River Dee Trust & Dee District Salmon Fishery Board: Home: Welcome so please look in and have a look at the wonderful auction lots up for grabs. As always please let me know how you get on by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences on the river.
Mark Paterson with his 14lb opening day salmon at Ballogie
Prospects
The first full week of the season will commence on Monday with the river levels running between 6 inches and 1 ft 1 inch. The water is very cold and anglers will have to be patient and stick at it. The weather forecast sees air temperature maxima around 6 degrees with night time frosts a regular occurrence. It will not be as cold as the last few days but it will feel cold with wind chill, especially on Wednesday. There will be occasional patchy rain and snow showers during the week. The maritime influence sees tides rising during the week from 3.8 metres to 4.3 metres. As the river is extremely cold I wouldn’t imagine that many new fish will venture forward from the warmer sanctuary of the sea. The web camera at Potarch Bridge is still showing a little grue coming downstream so there is a chance over the next few days that anglers will encounter a bit of grue first thing. When the river temperatures rise we shall hopefully see more salmon coming on the take as they are a bit dour unless a fly is presented right in front of them. Anglers who don’t have the services of a Ghillie to call on should present 1.5 inch tube flies deep and slow, with popular patterns like the Gold Willie Gunn, Park Shrimp, Monkey fly, Eternal Optimist and Ice maidens patterns worth a cast.
There are excellent angling opportunities for anglers looking for some fishing with FishDee beats offering rod lets for as little as £40 per day. This is very good value for anglers looking for an early season salmon. The River Dee conservation code states all fish must be returned carefully, including kelts. I noticed sadly some anglers lifting fish out of the water by their tails and suspending them above the water as they tried to extract hooks. This is not the way fish should be handled and the FishDee website explains clearly how to practice catch and release. I would urge anglers to read these guidance notes and spare fish unnecessary suffering.
The happy anglers at Invery on opening day
As always anglers should discuss tactics with their Ghillies and heed their wise advice. They really can make the difference to anglers trying for early season success. They have many years experience and are a resource visitors can ill afford to utilize. FishDee would like to welcome new Cairnton Ghillie Brian Brogan to the River Dee. He has a tough act to follow with renowned Cairnton Ghillie David Cowie retiring at the end of last season. Brian was the recipient of this year’s Redford Trophy for the largest salmon caught on opening day on the River Tay, so we hope his good fortune continues at Cairnton, and we wish Brian and the proprietors of Cairnton every success for the future.
This was a really challenging week for anglers for a number of reasons as winter tightened her grip on the river and brought angling to a virtual standstill for a number of days. There were many talented anglers on Deeside last week, keen and eager to get their season up and running with a coveted Dee Springer. The icy grue that closed the river ensured all they could do was sit and pray that the air temperature would rise and conditions would improve to allow them to fish. Thankfully towards the end of the week the weather did improve and grue disappeared from the river and new fish came forward. Some anglers decided to leave and other anglers decided to stay on Deeside and were rewarded. FishDee beats have reported 66 salmon to 24 lbs for the week with another couple I know of to be added. The super River Dee beat, Lower Crathes had a fantastic Saturday with 7 salmon and finished the week with 14 to go into the 2012 catch book. I am most grateful to Karl Revel from Invery for providing the following news from the beat. 'Another reasonable week on Invery saw 10 salmon caught by 5 anglers in 7 different pools. Top rod for the week was regular Dee visitor Colin Harvey with 5 fish weighing 7,9,12 and two at 13 lbs. All were caught using 1.5 inch black and yellow monkey flies tied green bodied plastic tubes with cone heads. The other successful anglers were Austin Todd with 2 salmon of 8 and 17lbs, Jeff Viner Invery proprietor had a 17 lb salmon, James Watts a 7lb salmon and Mrs Roni Viner had a 6lb salmon.'
Even in the early Spring you can get success at Dusk. Graeme Arthur with a nice last cast fish at Crathes.
Richard Thomas and Graeme Arthur visited Crathes Castle beat and had some good sport when they were able to fish. They did persevere though and were well rewarded on Saturday with 3 salmon of 12, 15 and 20 lbs on top of two fish taken earlier in the week of 12 and 15lbs. Graeme advised 'Well that was quite a week, ice, snow, plenty food and drink and very good company, and what a last day; over a dozen kelts and 3 fresh fish, which every angler dreams about. Both Richard and I were shaking with excitement with the prospect of having to net each other's fish, first the 20lb specimen just before lunch and then that 15 lber with my last cast, what a buzz after 50 odd years of fishing, you can't beat the feeling of the pure power of a fresh Dee Springer!' Dr Patrick Taylor also persevered and had a tough week but was well rewarded with 2 fine salmon on Saturday at Commonty of 10 and 12lbs on Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie, Sean Stanton's Willie Gunn Snaelda conehead. Neil Sneddon from Fife had a 10.5 lb salmon from Aboyne Water, the first of the season for the beat with the image on the FishDee Facebook site that Neil has submitted. I had a Kelt first cast on Friday at Birse and some other kelts but that was my lot and had a cast at Park on Saturday with little success. It was nonetheless a very enjoyable day out meeting friends old and new again. How true the saying 'There's more to fishing than catching fish.' I did hear of a 25lb salmon landed from another River Dee beat. So there have been good sized salmon being caught in the Banchory area.
Safely in the net-a fine Springer
To finish this week I would advise that the River Dee Trust are hosting an auction evening at the Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, Mayfair at 6.30 pm on Thursday 1st March. The River Dee Trust and River Office staff are looking forward to hosting this free to attend event in London and would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our visiting anglers from the south to come along and join us for what promises to be an enjoyable occasion. Guest speaker on the night is Fiona Armstrong, former BBC newsreader and journalist who is a keen salmon angler. Bernard Williams from Christies is the auctioneer for the event with 14 exciting lots going under the hammer. There will be canapés and Dee Drams provided for all guests who come along. To help us cater efficiently can anyone who intends to come along let us know the numbers they are bringing along to info@riverdee.org. Details about the auction lots can be found at River Dee Trust Auction.
Week ending 20:28 on Sun 5th Feb 2012
SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Aboyne Water 1, Ballogie 4, Birse 1, Carlogie 1, Commonty 2, Cairnton 1, Crathes 2, Dess 1, Invery 10, Knappach 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 6, Lower Crathes and W Durris 14, Lower Blackhall 6, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Middle Blackhall 3, Middle Drum 5, Park 5, Woodend 1, Total 66
Prospects
The river should fish well this week all being equal with decent river levels and a reasonable weather forecast for the week ahead. The Met Office are forecasting air temperature maxima around 8-9 degrees and possibly a little more during the first few days of the week with temperatures forecast to drop back a bit on Friday for the weekend. It will be a mostly cloudy week with occasional patchy rain showers. Winds are variable and may be blustery at times so it may feel cooler with the wind chill. River levels are currently sitting at 7 inches on the mar Lodge gauge and 1ft 4 Inches at the Park gauge. The maritime influence indicates tides are dropping back from 4.2 metres to 3.6 metres by mid week and then rising again to 3.9 metres at the weekend. River temperatures are warming up and new fish will be running the river and heading up to perhaps Aboyne. There appears to be fair amount of new salmon in the Banchory area.
Richard Thomas with a February salmon at Crathes
Anglers who don't have the services of a Ghillie to call on should present 1.5 inch tube monkey flies well down, with popular patterns like the Gold Willie Gunn conehead, Park Shrimp, Phatakorva, Maggie's Shrimp and Snaelda patterns worth a cast. There are some really excellent angling opportunities for anglers looking for some fishing with FishDee beats offering rod lets for as little as £40 per day. This is very good value for anglers looking for an early season salmon. The River Dee conservation code states all fish must be returned carefully, including kelts. I would urge anglers to read these guidance notes and spare fish unnecessary suffering. Remember to sign your Gyrodactylus declaration when arriving at your chosen fishing beat.
As always anglers should discuss tactics with their Ghillies and heed their advice. They really can make the difference to anglers trying for early season success. They have many years experience and are a resource visitors can ill afford not to utilize. I receive feedback reports from anglers using the FishDee booking engine, where time after time anglers comment how helpful our River Dee Ghillies are. Comments like 'He picked the right fly, put me on the right spot and told me what line to use' indicate only too readily to me how valuable our Ghillies are to our visiting anglers.
Last week saw an increase in catches with FishDee beats reporting 92 salmon and 1 sea trout which was well up on the previous week's total of 66 salmon. The best return for the week was reported again by Lower Crathes with 16 salmon and 1 sea trout, Invery had another good week with 9 salmon, Lower Blackhall had 8 including a 22 lb salmon, Little Blackhall and Park reported 7 each, with another 22 lb fish reported from Little Blackhall. There were a lot of good anglers out fishing last week I believe and conditions were by and large pretty favourable through the week until a blizzard hit the river on Saturday afternoon. It is pleasing to hear that fish are now being caught in the Aboyne area which will provide encouragement for anglers fishing the Upper Dee beats that will be fished in March. Many thanks to the anglers who have sent in images of their recent catches.
Angler Geordie Doull carefull returns a lovely salmon to the river
For anglers looking for some great fishing there are some great fishing opportunities I would like to inform you about. I would advise that the River Dee Trust is hosting an auction evening at the Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, Mayfair at 6.30 pm on Thursday 1st March. The auction has some great fishing opportunities for anglers loyal to the River Dee who would like to support the planned programme of River Dee habitat restoration works. There is fishing in exciting global destinations such as the Rio Grande in Patagonia, The Yokanga in Russia, The Ranga in Iceland and The Mörrum in Sweden. Not only that, but we have two fabulous fishing opportunities in Norway. Well known fishing personality Matt Hayes has provided fishing on the Gaula River in June at his lodge Wisnes, with Matt acting as your guide for a few days. FishNorway have also offered a fabulous fishing opportunity at the Reisa River, which is a big fish river like its sister river the Alta. The River Dee Trust and River Office staff are looking forward to hosting this free to attend event in London and would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our visiting anglers from the south to come along and join us for what promises to be an enjoyable occasion. Guest speaker on the night is Fiona Armstrong, former BBC newsreader and journalist who is a keen salmon angler. Bernard Williams from Christies is the auctioneer for the event with 14 exciting lots going under the hammer. There will be canapés and Dee Drams provided for all guests who come along. To help us cater efficiently can anyone who intends to come along let us know the numbers they are bringing along to info@riverdee.org. Details about the auction lots can be found at this link River Dee Trust & Dee District Salmon Fishery Board: Home: Welcome
Beat catches reported
(week ending 18th February)
SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 2, Park 7, Lower Crathes and W Durris 16, Knappach 6, Crathes 8, Invery 9, Lower Blackhall 8, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 7, Middle Blackhall 3, Cairnton 4, Woodend 1, Commonty 4, Ballogie 5, Kincardine 1, Carlogie 3, Dess 3, Birse 2, Aboyne Water 2.
Total: 92 Largest: Lower Blackhall & Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 22lbs
SEA TROUT: Lower Crathes and W Durris 1.
Total: 1 Largest: Lower Crathes and W Durris 2lbs
TROUT: None reported
Prospects
The conditions look ideal for anglers fishing the River Dee this week with a very favourable weather forecast allied to high spring tides which should bring new fish forward. The BBC weather forecast for Banchory is showing air temperature maxima around 11 degrees Celsius with no overnight frosts predicted. It may be a bit breezy on Wednesday with some rainfall which may see the river levels rise with rain and snowmelt from the mountains. The maritime influence sees tides rising this week from 4.0 metres to 4.4 metres and then dropping back to 4.1 metres at the weekend. As long as we don't get a big rise in river levels then sport should be reasonable for anglers during the week.
Talented lady angler Mrs Jean Marshall with a nice salmon at Ballogie-Jean won the Moriston trophy for the largest salmon of the Deveron last year at 29lbs
Visiting anglers would be wise to consult their beat Ghillie if they have one to discuss tactics on their chosen beat. The River Dee Ghillies know their beats well and can give you much needed advice that may help make your trip to the River a successful one. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie to call on you will be well advised to use an intermediate line and fish with tube flies. Patterns that are popular can be found on the flies for the Dee page on the FishDee website. You may wish to fish with patterns such as the Gold Willie Gunn, German Snaelda, Maggie's Shrimp, Posh Tosh, Blue Monkey and Cascade.
This was a big fish week for some anglers on Deeside this week with my nomination for an Oscar going to Jamie Hammond for his tremendous effort in catching two salmon in excess of 20lbs, more of this later. FishDee beats reported 65 Salmon for the week with Lower Crathes once again finishing the week with the highest return of 13 salmon to 24 lbs; Invery had 10 salmon with the Blackhall beats between them reporting 13. Water levels were good during the week and water temperatures were as high as 8 degrees Celsius that saw fish get on the move to the upper reaches of the river. This saw normally productive lower beats finding things very quiet. I had Crawford Little, David Pool, Jim Coates and Stuart Buchan fishing with me for a few days on a lower beat and we hardly saw a fin flicker in 3 days. Jim did catch a 15lb fish when he visited Park on Saturday on a black and blue monkey.
As always I am grateful for feedback and I would like to share correspondence received from Jamie Hammond who commented 'Robert Harper asked me to drop you a line along with a couple of pics of 2 springers I had this week at Lower Crathes. I have been fishing LCWD in the spring for the last 15 years and it was a pleasure to be there this week with good water conditions. Although the wind made fishing tough on a couple of days, I was fortunate to land 5 springers over my 3 days. Both rods and ghillies commented that many larger than usual spring fish had been seen running through the beat so I was delighted to land a 22lb long tailed sea liced cock fish at 5.30pm on Friday evening and a 24lb hen fish at 10.30am on Saturday morning. Both fish were witnessed, expertly netted, measured and photographed by head gillie Robert Harper and both were caught on a Guideline Triple D shooting head Inti/2/4 and a 1.5" GBWG copper tube. Keep up the good work - it's great to see the river with a healthy stock of MSW fish.'
Jamie Hammond with a fine 22lb Springer landed at Lower Crathes on Friday evening 5.30 PM
There was good sport for anglers at Invery with the effusive Rae Borras teasing me at the Tor Na Coille Hotel about a fish he had landed when it was very bright. He mentioned 'It would have taken a genius to catch a fish' and I agreed, then he smiled broadly and said again 'It would take a genius.' and I laughed and asked 'How big?'. Rae chuckled with pleasure as he had a lovely fish of 15lbs; he did very well to catch that fish given the conditions at the precise time of capture. Invery Ghillie Karl Revel very kindly submitted the following report yesterday when he called in to see me. 'Another satisfying week on Invery saw 10 fish caught. Successful anglers included Craig Corbett from Portlethan (25lbs), Willie Roy, Aberlour 20lbs and 11lbs, and Callum Highett with his first Springer of 15lbs. A blank Saturday was saved at the last knockings by young Martin White from Renfrew, who ventured into the Kirk Pot with neither wading staff nor net. He succeeded after a somewhat nerve wracking fight to land a lovely 8lbs salmon which was skilfully netted by his Dad Bill.' Sandy Scott had success with 2 fish and commented he had exceptional service from Karl at Invery.
Jamie Hammond with a 24 lb salmon landed at 10.30 am on Saturday at Lower Crathes-2 20lb plus salmon in a couple of hourse fishing time-a tremendous result for him
Beat Catches Reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Ballogie 6, Birse 4, Borrowston 3, Cairnton 2, Crathes 5, Dess 1, Invery 10, Kincardine 1, Knappach 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 7, Lower Crathes and W Durris 13, Lower Blackhall 4, Middle Blackhall 2, Park 4, Sluie 1, Total 65
Prospects
I called Sean Stanton this morning, Head Ghillie at Ballogie and asked for his thoughts. He said 'We are fishing the summer pools now, and will be trying summer tactics with the water being low and very warm for the time of year.' Well his observations are always worth listening to and I had been thinking about anglers fishing with floating line combinations and smaller flies in the middle reaches of the river. The weather forecasters are suggesting the temperatures tomorrow could go to 18 degrees Celsius which would of course break records for February on Deeside. It will start mild and may get a little cooler by the end of the week. They are suggesting night time temperatures of 6-8 degrees Celsius which is really unseasonable. What little snow reservoirs there were up on the hills will in all likelihood have gone and we will have to rely on rainfall to keep the river going through the spring. Winds will be Sou'westers with occasional strong winds, but around 15 mph during the week. There will be patchy drizzle and perhaps some rainfall, suggested for Thursday. The maritime influence sees tides dropping from 3.9 metres to 3.3 metres and rising towards the weekend to 3.5 metres. There may be some new fish coming forward so fingers crossed fish decide to come forward into the warmer waters of the river, which should be above sea temperature.
The upper river sees angling starting in earnest for some beats later this week and I am sure that these beats could do very well. Ghillies will be keeping their fingers crossed that the running salmon will stop in their beats and give anglers a chance for sport. With the unseasonable conditions, Deeside Ghillies will be providing real encouragement and advice to anglers so please heed their wise counsel. If you don’t have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you may try fishing with a full floater with sink tip or intermediate line with dressed doubles, perhaps 6-8 or small tubes or conehead of perhaps 1 to 1.5 inches. The monkey or Sunray fished high in the water may produce some sport for those wishing to experiment with a stripped lure. Patterns to try are Black and Yellow, Black and Blue, Park shrimp, Snaelda and Frances flies and don’t worry if the flies are lightly dressed, that may be advantageous.
If you arrive with the wrong flies expecting big cold water then don't panic. You can call into George Strachan's store in Aboyne or the Kincardine Post office and get a great selection of Dee flies there tied by Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very reasonable prices. These venues also provide great sandwiches for visiting anglers etc and of course the highly popular Dalmore Dee Dram. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a great selection of flies to choose from.
To finish this week I would advise that the River Dee Trust auction takes place this week in London and there is still time for people to submit sealed bids for the 14 fabulous auction lots on offer. There are some real once in a lifetime opportunities for bidders so please look at the website for details and get bidding. River Dee Trust Auction.
Fluctuating air temperatures seemed to really unsettle the fish during the week as Monday saw FishDee beats report 20 plus fish and then the weather changed and cooled significantly and catches fell away during the week when Friday and Saturday saw only 3 and 2 Springers reported caught for these days. The water temperatures, which were unseasonably high, plummeted quite significantly and that seemed to make the fish very dour and unresponsive. The week's total reported by FishDee beats was 59 salmon to 22lbs with Invery reporting 9 for the week, Ballogie and Lower Crathes reported 7 each for the week. Lower Crathes was top beat for the month in terms of rod catches with 48 salmon reported with Invery just one behind on 47. These were great results for these beats where fish were reported to be responding well to the hard working anglers in these beats. Other beats however found it tough going in February with fish flying through normally very reliable lower beats.
As always I am really grateful for correspondence and Anne Rodger reported nothing was forthcoming to her Hairy Mary. Dr Patrick Taylor was again back on Deeside with the intrepid Dr Ade Warburton, along with some talented Tay fishermen at Commonty, and they did have some success with Dr Taylor reporting 'Commonty fished well for the first three days of the week, even with low water, and we managed 6 fish to our 3 rods. There are plenty of kelts still in the system, but fresh fish are moving through. For the back-end of the week, fish were moving, but not that much action. Dr Ade Warburton lost a cracking fish in the Garden Pool on Friday morning, the fish straightened his hook! For our week, we were joined by some Tay-side fishers who'd not fished Commonty and they all agreed that it's a great beat. Plenty of banter and a good laugh - so even if the fish weren't interested, we had a great time. All fish were on your typical Spring Dee patterns Black/Yellow/Silver/Blue - albeit a Green Highlander derivative also worked - so you never know - back-end of the week just need to try something different. Thanks go to Ghillie Ian Fraser for looking after our party and providing advice and tuition where needed (mostly me!).'
Dr Patrick Taylor with a fresh salmon which was safely released
Invery Ghillie Karl Revel very kindly provided some more news; I am really most grateful when Ghillies provide news to share with our angling fraternity who love to hear how the river is doing. Karl advised 'Hi Ken, I look forward to hearing about your London trip. Top rod on Invery this week was Dougie Miller from Kinross with three fish. All were caught using a one inch Red Frances tied by his fishing buddy and expert flytyer Ken McEwan. His third fish, a 10 pounder from the S-Pool, brought the beat's total for February to 47! Tight lines! Karl.'
Dr Patrick Taylor with another of his salmon for the week
Well talking about London, it seems appropriate to report that the River Dee Trust hosted the fundraising auction at the Savile club last Thursday which was attended by around 80 people. The auction was a great success and virtually all of the lots attracted a successful bid on the night, either just below or well above guide price. It is hoped around £40,000 will have been raised once all the lots have been allocated to the winning bidders and income received. Thanks to all involved and the wonderful hosts at the Savile Club who really ensured the night was memorable. The speakers, including Ian Scott and Fiona Armstrong were very entertaining, and the auctioneer Bernard Williams from Christies showed once again he is the best in the business and has a really tremendous sense of humour. Finally I would like to thank all the very kind friends of the Dee who donated the fabulous auction lots to help with the ongoing restoration work on the River Dee.
Beat Catches Reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Culter 1, Tilbouries 1, Park 4, Lower Crathes and W Durris 7, Invery 9, Lower Blackhall 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 3, Commonty 6, Ballogie 7, Borrowston 3, Kincardine 1, Carlogie 3, Dess 3, Birse 1, Aboyne Water 2, Craigendinnie 3, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 2.
Total: 59 Largest: Carlogie 22lbs
SEA TROUT: None reported
Prospects
Now that virtually all the River Dee beats have anglers coming in droves to fish, we hope that the salmon inhabiting the pools co-operate and provide great sport. The weather forecast for the next few days shows high pressure dominating ensuring reasonably calm weather. Air temperature maxima will be around 10 degrees Celsius with overnight lows dipping below zero. There will be generally light variable winds and some light precipitation, perhaps the odd snow shower on the hill tops; a spate is not expected during the week. River levels are quite low for the time of year so anglers will have to use a bit of stealth. The maritime influence shows tides building during the week from 3.7 metres to 4.6 metres.
Some celebrities attended last Thursdays auction
Ghillies will be keeping their fingers crossed that salmon will be more co-operative in their beats and give anglers a chance for sport. Deeside Ghillies will be providing real encouragement and advice to anglers so please heed their wise counsel. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you may try fishing with a full floater with sink tip or intermediate line with dressed doubles, perhaps 6-8 or small tubes or conehead of perhaps 1 to 1.5 inches. The monkey or Sunray fished high in the water may produce some sport for those wishing to experiment with a stripped lure. Patterns to try are Black and Yellow, Black and Blue, Park shrimp, Snaelda and Frances flies and don't worry if the flies are lightly dressed, that may be advantageous. Be patient as always and persevere.
If you arrive with the wrong flies expecting big cold water then don't panic. You can call into George Strachan's store in Aboyne or the Kincardine O'Neil Post office and get a great selection of Dee flies tied by the enterprising Ballogie estates Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices. These venues also provide great sandwiches for visiting angler's luncheon etc and of course the highly popular Dalmore Dee Dram. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a great selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. Please ensure visiting anglers sign the Gyrodactylus salaris declaration forms. These are vitally important to the Dee District Salmon Fisheries Board, ensuring all visitors are vigilant in ensuring we take necessary precautions and don't see this devastating parasite wiping out our stocks of salmon. If you are not offered one to sign then I would urge you to please ask for one to be provided to you prior to commencing fishing.
Salmon anglers worked hard for rewards last week on Deeside with FishDee beats reporting 50 salmon to 26lbs for the week. Fish were creeping up through low water with Ballogie reporting 7, Invery 5, Little Blackhall & Inchmarlo and Borrowston reporting 4 for the week. Pockets of new fish are creeping through with some nice specimens being seen moving through the beats. There are numbers of kelts dropping back downstream as the water has warmed up with water temperatures reported to be around 7 degrees Celsius. I visited new Dess beat owner Jeremy Clayton last week who had some fine fishermen fishing his beat last week, including Lawrie Hickman, Paul Devlin, Matt Hayes and Ed Brown. I was delighted to meet up with the party for a fine dinner at the Tor Na Coille hotel where a beaming Lawrie Hickman, from Guideline, told me of his success with a fine Springer estimated at 26lbs. Lawrie had landed an earlier fish of around 14lbs in the morning and he decided to go back to the top of the pool and fish down again when the big fish took his fly. He had a great scrap with the fish and was delighted to see it swim off safely.
Lawrie Hickman with a fine salmon estimated by Dess beat Ghillie Eoin Smith to be 26lbs
I was delighted to receive correspondence from Karl Revel, Invery beat Ghillie who advised 'Hi Ken, very little to report but on Thursday I enjoyed sharing the excitement of Simon Neighbour from Fareham in Surrey when he caught his first ever salmon in the Kirk Pot, a 12 pounder which took his Helmsdale Tackle 1" Red Frances. This fish took our total for the season to 50. Later the same day using the same fly, he landed a 13 pounder in the Killing Hatch. On Friday a Sean Stanton tied 1/2" Purple Frances proved successful for G Loomis rep/casting instructor David Burgess attracting a 9 pound fish from Birkwood. Simon rounded off a memorable week for himself on Saturday with a 6lb salmon from Pantoch.' Visiting angler Charles Jeffrey, who some may recall had the joint biggest salmon on opening day, was back on Deeside for a few days fishing with Brian Sim and Cleeve Cowie at Crathes and was again successful. Charles advised 'Home after 3 good days with Brian and Cleve at Crathes. Muggins managed a 15/16lb fish on Tuesday and my colleague John Laurie scored yesterday. Both fish caught on a Black Frances. Charles.' I was also pleased to hear that David Ramsay had a lovely Springer at Craigendinnie when I popped down to thank him for supporting the River Dee Trust. David is a great supporter of the work of the Trust and he has been very generous in supporting some of the important projects on the river that are ongoing. River Dee Trust and Dee District Salmon Fisheries Board chairman Ian Scott was also successful last week with a fish from Aboyne Castle.
Many thanks on behalf of the FishDee team to anglers who have been booking fishing through the FishDee website. Bookings are 25% up on the same time last year and it is very heartening to see many anglers in Deeside supporting the local economy. There are good numbers of rods available over the next few months when we hope to see numbers of spring salmon arriving in ever increasing numbers to fill the pools of the river.
Beat Catches Reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Aboyne Water 1, Ballogie 7, Birse 1, Borrowston 4, Craigendinnie 2, Carlogie 1, Commonty 1, Cairnton 2, Crathes 2, Deecastle 2, Dess 3, Dinnet 2, Invery 5, Kincardine 1, Knappach 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 4, Lower Crathes and W Durris 2, Lower Blackhall 2, Middle Blackhall 1, Middle Drum 1, Park 2, Tilbouries 2, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Total 50
Prospects
With the river at summer low at present we all hope to see a good amount of rainfall to encourage a good run of spring salmon in from the sea. The weather forecasters are not providing too much optimism on that front, however there is a chance of a bit of rainfall later in the week. I was advised that temperatures rose to 18 degrees Celsius on Deeside yesterday and the Met Office are suggesting another reasonable mild week with the chance of a touch of frost overnight. Winds are predominately from a westerly direction however as the temps rise during the day it is common for an upstream breeze to spring up in the afternoons. The maritime influence indicates tide are dropping back this week from 4.4 metres to 3.5 metres and rising on Sunday to 3.7 metres. There may be some fish that decide to move forward into the river and they will move swiftly upstream.
A fine spring salmon landed at Craigendinnie by David Ramsay of Aboyne
With low water Ghillies will be working very hard to keep anglers fishing hard and provide good sound advice. Patience and stealth will be the order of the day and with the river running low anglers will need to fish lighter lines to help minimise disturbance when casting their flies. Heed the wise counsel of your beat Ghillie and be prepared to fish in the areas they suggest. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie to call on you may find fishing a floating line advantageous with a small tube or dressed double. Salmon will also take Frances tube flies fished deep but you may have to accept you may snag some on the river bed. Fish will perhaps make an appearance in your beat some point during your day and you will have to persevere. When you have a break it is also nice to sit awhile and appreciate the beauty of your surroundings and flora and fauna becoming more active.
If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne or the Kincardine O'Neil Post office have a great selection of Dee flies tied by the enterprising Ballogie estates Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices. These venues also provide great sandwiches for visiting angler's luncheon etc and of course the highly popular Dalmore Dee Dram. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a great selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. Please ensure visiting anglers sign the Gyrodactylus salaris declaration forms. These are vitally important to the Dee District Salmon Fisheries Board, ensuring all visitors are vigilant in ensuring we take necessary precautions and don't see this devastating parasite wiping out our stocks of salmon. If you are not offered one to sign then I would urge you to please ask for one to be provided to you prior to commencing fishing.
Finally for anglers looking for a nice accommodation in the middle Dee I can advise that Ballogie House is available for rental to anglers. This lovely detached property nestles in beautiful surroundings on the magnificent 6000-acre Ballogie Estate, in the heart of Royal Deeside. Extensively refurbished throughout, the accommodation is finished to a high standard and is a wonderful property for larger groups or family gatherings, for special occasions or a memorable holiday. Bookings this year can be made through The finest holiday cottages in Scotland | Scottish Country Cottages (a member of the Hoseasons Group)
Last edited by ken@fishdee; 12th March 2012 at 12:51.
A very trying week for anglers and Ghillies alike with very poor river conditions limiting catches from FishDee beats to 39 salmon for the week, which by normal spring standards would be classed as very poor. This spring is unlike recent springs though, where there had been good river levels to allow new fish to come forwards in reasonable numbers. There is no snow reservoir on the hilltops and corries to speak off, and a prolonged dry and relatively warm period has seen river levels shrink to high summer lows, with water temperatures well above the norm for the time of year at 7.5 degrees Celsius. Fishing conditions are very poor at the moment and may remain so until we get a good lift in river levels to bring new fish forward in decent numbers.
I met a group of talented visiting Dee anglers from all around Europe, who are regular visitors with party leader Lars Terkildsen from Sweden. The group had the Ballogie beats for the week and I stopped by for a chat prior to dinner on Saturday night at Ballogie House to discuss their weeks sport. They had fished extremely hard until night fall every night during their stay and reported most of the action was in the last hour of daylight. They reported 19 fish for their week and they were caught on a variety of flies from long winged monkey flies to small dressed doubles. Mawill Lüdenbach had the misfortune of playing a huge fish on Saturday for nearly half an hour only to lose it when his hooks straightened. He had the fish close in and estimated that it was perhaps 1.1 metre long and suggested comfortably over 30lbs; he did have the satisfaction of catching a lovely 18lb salmon earlier in the week. Ghillie Sean Stanton commented in his Ballogie Beats blog ‘At the end of this week the Ballogie beats had caught over half the fish caught on the whole of the river Dee! We finished up with 19 salmon for the week which was fantastic considering the conditions we had. I hope to see some rain soon or the fishing will become almost impossible due to the height of the pools, I can only hope that over the weekend more fish have moved quickly through the lower river and will rest at the Ballogie beats, this was happening last week as we caught numerous fish with sea lice and 1 with long tailed lice!!’
Mawill with his 18lb Springer at Carlogie
Dinnet Ghillie Euan Reid dropped me an e-mail commenting ‘The low water and often bright sun meant we had difficult conditions, but we managed a fish on Monday morning and a couple on Thursday. We are seeing fish in almost all of our pools now, some of them very fresh, but they are a bit unwilling to take a fly. Maybe a change in the weather this week things will fix themselves. The fish we had on Monday morning was caught by John Little in Cobbles and only when I netted did I realise it was a fresh one- I thought it was a kelt primarily down to the fact it was lucky if it was 4lb! I collected scales and dropped them into the river office and the details of which you can get from Adrian. (This was confirmed as a 2 sea winter Springer that came in early) John Little caught a 6lb fish from Trochie later in the week and John Carmichael had an 8lb Springer from the Haugh on the Deecastle side’. Ghillie Mads Pederson from Culter called this morning to advise that Clive Williamson, a regular Dee fisherman landed a 7.5 lbs Springer on Saturday on a size 14 Ally’s shrimp fished off a long leader. I spoke with Robert Harper the head Ghillie at Lower Crathes this morning who advised that he had some fish to go onto the website following a problem with the FishPal server on Saturday. His experienced team of anglers fished hard for only a few salmon and an early sea trout.
Received this e-mail from angler Charles Jeffrey 'Just returned from a further three days at Crathes, where the levels fell from 3" to 2" over that period. The river was stuffed with fish, the majority of which were kelts. My colleague, John Laurie scored again on Monday with a 6lb fish out of the Auld Kiln, but that was the final score come Wednesday night. We will not be deterred tho' and will be back mid May for more punishment. Best to you all on the Dee'
Beat Catches Reported
Week ending 12:00 on Mon 19th Mar 2012
SALMON & GRILSE: Culter 1, Altries and Lower Drum 1, Park 3, Lower Crathes and W Durris 2, Crathes 1, Invery 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Cairnton 1, Commonty 2, Ballogie 10, Borrowston 2, Carlogie 6, Dess 1, Birse 2, Aboyne Castle 1, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Dinnet 2, Deecastle 1, Total 40
SEA TROUT: none reported
TROUT: none reported
Prospects
It will be very difficult week for visiting anglers arriving to fish the Dee, with river levels desperately low for the time of the year allowing very few new fish to come forward. Water temperatures have dropped back overnight and the river temps are around 5 degrees Celsius as I write but I expect them to rise quite a bit during the week. We need a good lift in river levels following a prolonged dry spell to encourage new fish to come forward and I see nothing in the weather forecast to indicate this will happen this week. Weather forecasters are predicting a continuation of the current high pressure dominance which is pushing weather systems, and much needed rainfall to the North West of the British Isles. Air temperature maxima may reach 17 degrees Celsius this week with a chance of overnight frost. Later in the week we may see coastal Haar, which may come up the valley and chill the air quite a bit if it appears. The early part of the week may see the edges of a weather system brush the Grampian Mountains providing some blustery conditions on Tuesday or Wednesday. There is no precipitation of note forecast for the week which will ensure river levels continue to stay unseasonably low. The maritime influence sees tides building in Aberdeen from 3.8 metres to 4.2 metres. Whether this new water brings new fish forward in any meaningful numbers is doubtful. There may be the odd one which will come forward, with fish now reported to be building up in the Lower River at Aberdeen. This may provide some early season sport for Aberdeen Angling Association anglers.
The Franc N Snaelda fly that has done well at Ballogie this season
Anglers will be tackling the river more in hope than expectation and Ghillies will be doing their best to provide useful advice to anglers. Sean Stanton at Ballogie is encouraging his anglers to fish the faster streamy water and the known taking lies. Fish that have been lying in pools and occasionally leaping about will have seen many different patterns of flies passing overhead and anglers will need the patience of a saint to get their rewards this week. As has been commented the best times to catch fish off guard will be the last hour of daylight and fishing into the dark. If you don’t have a Ghillie to advise you on what flies to fish then you will probably be wise to start with a float / sink tip combination with a small lightly dressed fly or perhaps a small monkey on a ½ inch tungsten tube in faster flows. I think perseverance is the key to trying to get a fish to respond, but it won’t be easy.
If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne or the Kincardine O'Neil Post office have a great selection of Dee flies tied by the enterprising Ballogie estates Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices. These venues also provide great sandwiches for visiting angler's luncheon etc and of course the highly popular Dalmore Dee Dram. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a great selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. Please ensure visiting anglers sign the Gyrodactylus salaris declaration forms. These are vitally important to the Dee District Salmon Fisheries Board, ensuring all visitors are vigilant in ensuring we take necessary precautions and don't see this devastating parasite wiping out our stocks of salmon. If you are not offered one to sign then I would urge you to please ask for one to be provided to you prior to commencing fishing.
A continuation of drought conditions on Deeside coupled with unseasonable and remarkable daytime temperatures has made fishing extremely difficult for anglers and Ghillies. With the mercury rising to over 22 degrees yesterday on Deeside, I looked at the river from my balcony and haven’t seen the water as low for the time of year. Anglers fished extremely well last week to produce 57 salmon and a sea trout from FishDee beats, trying every trick in the book to get a fish. Well done to the anglers and Ghillies for producing these catch returns given the conditions. Invery reported 8 for their week, Ballogie 6 and Birse 5 with other beats from Park to Dinnet reporting the odd few.
I phoned around a number of our Ghillies this morning to get their thoughts which are extremely helpful. Alex Coutts, the experienced Ghillie at Aboyne Castle beat cannot remember a March like this and whilst seeing fresh fish in the beat pools, he was only able to report kelts being caught and released. I spoke to Brain Brogan, Ghillie at Cairnton, which did produce 4 salmon for the week. Brian advised that they had 4 fish for the week with a sea liced 8lb salmon from the Grey Mare on a size 14 executioner on Saturday. Another angler during the week had fished through another pool a couple of times and then decided to fish a large Sunray Shadow through it. He was really pleased to hook and land a 12lb salmon after seeing fish move. They had another couple of fish around 7 and 8 lbs during the week. Fish were being hooked during very bright conditions proving perseverance can pay off. Robert Harper advised that they have the odd new fish coming forward and kelts dropping back downstream. Anglers are fishing with all sizes of flies and working away but it is tough, and will remain so until we get a rise of river to bring new fish forward in decent numbers. Some fish will perhaps have dropped back downstream due to the low water conditions waiting to run upstream again. I have heard of an angler catching a fish down in Aberdeen, where fish are starting to hold up. Sean Stanton, Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie, has an excellent blog which is updated regularly. You can view this at The Ballogie Beats and see local reports and images of fish being landed from their beats. Sean comments there ‘Conditions have now become very hard! Bright sunshine combined with very low water has meant that fishing the pools is becoming hard work, with all the fish now lying in the streamy necks and tails of the pools, we have very limited areas to fish.
Beat Catches Reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Park 1, Lower Crathes and W Durris 4, Knappach 1, Crathes 3, Invery 8, Lower Blackhall 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 2, Cairnton 4, Commonty 1, Sluie 1, Ballogie 6, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 5, Carlogie 2, Dess 3, Birse 5, Aboyne Water 1, Craigendinnie 1, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 2, Total 57
SEA TROUT: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Total 1
Prospects
Prospects are not looking encouraging on the fishing front but are great if you want to go home with a suntan! The Met Office is suggesting that yesterdays record high of 22.8 degrees may be exceeded today. The forecast is suggesting it will remain very bright and warm for the next few days with perhaps over night frosts and coastal Haar which may come up the valley during the late afternoon and evenings. It is unseasonably warm and the river is extremely low, and fishing is really quite dour and challenging for anglers and Ghillies alike. There is light at the end of the tunnel though with the Met Office suggesting that it will turn cooler towards the weekend with freshening north westerly winds and perhaps light rain. In the longer term they are suggesting that the weather will cool down and we shall see more seasonable weather with perhaps some hill snow next week! If we do get rain and cooler temperatures then anglers and Ghillies will be more optimistic. Will the forecast materialise into reality? Well only time will tell, but all anglers need a bit of optimism. The maritime influence sees tides dropping back now from 4.0 metres to 3.2 metres at the weekend so I don’t expect to hear of good runs making their way upstream. I expect salmon will remain at sea until conditions improve significantly and allow them to run upstream.
As we are now into British summertime and experiencing conditions like it then anglers and Ghillies will be adopting tactics to suit summer conditions, with some anglers fishing mornings and evenings. Fish may become a bit more responsive at first light and late in the evening and stealth will be required to try and winkle a fish out of the pool necks. Heed the wise advice of your Ghillie and remember they will know where on their beat the likely taking fish might be encountered. There will be little point in fishing heavy Skagit fly lines under the current conditions with small double handed rods and trout rods perhaps coming to the fore with lighter lines and longer leaders. As to fly choice then the smaller and lighter dressed flies may be more productive but ring the changes and be prepared to experiment. I would imagine a size 14 Crathie fly would be more productive than a size 8 cascade!
Another week of drought conditions on Deeside saw anglers resorting to high summer conditions by fishing in the early mornings and evenings with the clocks now having gone forward. Anglers were seeing numbers of kelts in middle and lower beats and some newer salmon. The thing about salmon as all anglers know is that just because they are there doesn't mean you will catch them, as they do not by and large feed in fresh water; there is no need for them to take the anglers flies in earnest. People speculate to this day as to why salmon take a fly and many theories abound. It's perhaps for the best that anglers don't know all the answers or they perhaps wouldn't bother going fishing. As it was, FishDee beats reported 58 salmon for the week and 4 sea trout, with salmon ranging from 2 lbs to 24 lbs. The 2lb salmon was caught on a dry fly, a size 14 Greenwell's Glory at Lower Blackhall by angler Andy Smith. Colin Simpson the beat Ghillie had initially thought it was a sea trout Kelt but on inspection he saw it was a small fresh salmon, which was landed at Sandy Haven. House of Hardy product development manager Howard Croston also had a nice 6lb fish from the Bridge Pool.
The 24 lb Salmon reported by angler Roald Meyer
I phoned around a number of our Ghillies this morning to get their thoughts which are extremely helpful. I spoke to Archie Hay, Crathie Ghillie who was delighted to report the first two fish for the season for the beat. Archie had a 10lbs salmon from McLarens on Thursday and Mr Martin had a 9lb Salmon on Saturday. There were 2 salmon lost on Tuesday. Archie's fish was caught on a Crathie tube fly. There are fish in the pools of the beat and the beat is virtually fully booked now for the entire season. Brian Sim at Crathes Castle reported 4 salmon for the week between 5 and 8lbs which were caught on small Frances flies in hard fishing conditions. Mr Phil Taylor had 3 and Mr Nigel Wooley had 1, with the fish reported to being pretty fresh. A regular visitor from Norway, Mr Roald Meyer dropped me an e-mail advising 'Hi Ken. I attach some pictures from our recent fishing trip to Lower Crathes. The fish weighed 24 pounds and was 40 Inches long, and took a Red Frances (size 10) In the Bridge Pool. My first trip to the River Dee was with Global in 2006. I have since then been fishing Lower Crathes every year during week 13. We already look forward to next year. All the best from Norway, Roald.'
Low water at Lower Crathes
Lars Terkildsen sent an e-mail from Sweden advising, ‘Just a short note about from Allan Bloch's week on Waterside & Ferrar and Birse with a group of customers. Allan, who hosted the week, is my associate in the shop for information. A strange March week at the Dee, this extreme low water level is something we have never seen during our years at the Dee, and wish we will never see again. Despite the low level, Birse produced a fantastic number of springers, a lot of thanks goes to Doug Murray for his fantastic spirit and great help - as always, Lummels was the top-top pool of the week with 7 springers, out of the 10 we got at Birse. Mr Rafael Kaminsky did not get as many as he usual does, but a cracking 20 pounder out of Lummels ( pict. attached )was caught on our proto type of the G.Loomis NRX 12 FT 6 Inches # 9-10. Waterside & Ferrar was hard to crack but in the end, with great help from Davie Goodfellow, we got one of these small springers (68 cm), Dee has had this year, and one early sea trout. To inspire others; we used the treble density shooting heads from Guideline in the density Floating / Intermediate / Sink2 with fluorocarbon leader, and best fly in our week was Black and Orange Monkey with a 5 cm wing. The conclusion; Fishing deep was the answer, and for once the Orange Monkey out fished the usual Yellow Monkey. Another fly that worked was the Silver Blue Monkey in same size.'
Beat Catches Reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Park 5, Lower Crathes and W Durris 7, Crathes 4, Invery 4, Lower Blackhall 2, Cairnton 1, Woodend 1, Ballogie 4, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 5, Carlogie 4, Dess 2, Birse 10, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 2, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Crathie 2, Total 58
Prospects
The River Dee is currently sitting at very low levels, which are more akin to high summer than the month of April. That situation is about to change though, as the blocking area of high pressure which has been entrenched over the British Isles for weeks is moving away, and a series of weather fronts are due to sweep across the country bringing a real change to the weather. Last Monday saw the mercury siting at 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and this morning it was sitting at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and snow is falling on the hills. This is welcome news for anglers and Ghillies alike who must be exhausted after all the rain dancing that will have been going on around the valley for weeks. The Met Office is suggesting there will be snow for much of the afternoon and evening with wintry showers following along on Tuesday. There should be more rain showers during the week and perhaps the promise of heavier rain on Friday in time for the high tides. The long range forecast is for much more precipitation and normal spring temperatures. The fortunes of anglers should change for the better over the next few weeks.
A big springer landed at Birse by Rafael Kaminsky
As weather conditions are due to change then anglers should heed the advice offered by their Ghillies. Whilst you may start the week fishing with very small flies, you may be fishing with much bigger flies by the end of the week. The River Dee Ghillies are respected worldwide for their expertise and knowledge and it is worth while asking for their views when you get time with them on a one to one basis. If you don't have a Ghillie to call on for advice then perhaps you will start the week with small flies, perhaps size 10-12 dressed doubles. Patterns to try as always are the Park Shrimp, Crathie Fly, Frances Fly, and Calvin's Shrimp, Monkey, Tosh and Ally's shrimp.
If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne or the Kincardine O'Neil Post office have a great selection of Dee flies tied by the enterprising Ballogie estates Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices. These venues also provide great sandwiches for visiting angler's luncheon etc and of course the highly popular Dalmore Dee Dram. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a great selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. Please ensure visiting anglers sign the Gyrodactylus salaris declaration forms. These are vitally important to the river, ensuring all visitors are vigilant in ensuring we take necessary precautions and don't see this devastating parasite wiping out our stocks of salmon. If you are not offered one to sign then I would urge you to please ask for one to be provided to you prior to commencing fishing.
River Dee Fishing Reports 2012
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