River Dee Media Reports 2013

[ken@fishdee]

The river is running at a decent fishing height just four days prior to the start of the 2013 River Dee salmon fishing season following a small rise in river levels over the weekend due to snow melt. There have been some big lifts in water heights through the close season and the winter has been relatively mild and open up until the last few weeks. The upshot of this situation should mean a decent distribution of early springers and winter fish running the river, where they may be well spread out in lower and middle river beats-perhaps even as high as Aboyne or Ballater. The weather has turned much colder during the last fortnight and significant snowfall has fallen on the catchment which hopefully will provide a source of water for the river during the early spring months.

Here is the current weather forecast from the Met Office for Aboyne:
Today:
Dry and bright start, but thickening cloud bringing rain across most places this afternoon. The rain will be heaviest across South Aberdeenshire, with the Banff and Buchan coasts seeing very little. Becoming windy with a fresh to strong southerly wind. Maximum Temperature 6 °C.
Tonight:
Rain soon clearing this evening to leave a mainly dry night, although chance of a few showers across the west of Aberdeenshire. Touch of frost developing inland. Minimum Temperature 2 °C.
Tuesday:
After a dry morning with some sunshine becoming cloudy with more rain during the afternoon. Becoming drier during the evening. Becoming windy later with strong southwesterly winds by evening. Maximum Temperature 8 °C.
Outlook for Wednesday to Friday:
Very windy with a few showers on Wednesday, wintry on hills. Less windy but rather cloudy on Thursday with a few showers. Colder and brighter with wintry showers on Friday.

There is a fair chance that we will have a rising river on Tuesday/Wednesday due to snow melt and warmer air temperatures. The river should hopefully have dropped back to a nice fishing height for the start of the fishing season on Friday, however you can never guarantee perfect fishing conditions, so fingers crossed for a productive start to the season on Friday. There will be an opening ceremony held on the river on Friday morning and invitations have been sent out for guests to attend this popular annual event.

The River Dee can produce some early fish to 20lbs plus so anglers will need to ensure their tackle is sound. I am delighted to see there is a very good amount of fishing available in February to book online at the FishDee website and anglers would be well advised to book some early fishing and take advantage of good values on offer from wide range of FishDee beats that have rods available. One important change to the River Dee conservation code in 2013 sees the introduction of tighter biosecurity protocols which ask all anglers fishing the river to have their wading boots and landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant on arrival at their beat. Disinfection equipment has been supplied to all fishing beats and this process, which was trialled last year on beats, will cause a very minimal disruption to anglers.

Anglers will be fishing with Intermediate or sinking lines and short leaders. On the business end tube flies are very popular and patterns such as Black/Yellow, Gold Bodied Willie Gunn, Dee Monkey, Snaelda should provide opportunities of sport from Springers where they are located. There will be Kelts (last seasons salmon which have spawned) and it is important that anglers return these fish carefully to the river as some will make it back to sea and return again to spawn. They have laid down the next generation of salmon in their redds on the river bed which will emerge from the gravels in late spring as salmon fry.

Anglers looking to source fishing tackle that needs replaced or topped up can visit Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, George Strachan in Aboyne and the Kincardine O'Neil Post Office.

There have been a number of excellent beat films produced during the summer which have now been added onto the FishDee website/ Your Videos page which will allow followers of the website to see 8-10 minute films of a number of popular fishing beats. The Ghillies have done a super job in assisting with the production of these films and they demonstrate their talents as great ambassadors for their beat and river. There will be a compilation film produced shortly of all the beats which will be distributed on-line to help draw even more visitors to Deeside.

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

The River Dee salmon fishing season commenced on Friday 1st February and saw spring salmon located between Lower Crathes and Aboyne Water. Conditions for angling were ideal with the river running at a nice height and relatively benign weather conditions for the time of year. The opening two days saw 29 salmon reported to FishDee with 3 other fish I know of landed from FishDee beats. Invery again had the best of the sport on the opening couple of days with 5 fish reported; Cairnton had 4, with Lower Blackhall and Aboyne Water reporting 3 apiece.

Cohn O’Dea fishing the fly diligently

Iain Wood had the fishing for the opening two days at Invery and again he was delighted to have his party enjoy good sport. Two of the successful anglers have written to me this weekend, Charles Jeffrey and Gareth Headland. Charles wrote advising ‘Home in the Borders again after our successful sortie again on Invery. Who says that lightening doesn’t strike twice in the same place? We were all on a high at lunchtime on Friday having had three fish and surprisingly all the same length and weight. Ian Ross and I didn’t have a problem agreeing to Gareth being presented with the lovely box of flies. He’s never had a Springer on opening day before. Can I respectfully suggest when covering this in your report, that you mention that Ian Ross and I had fish of the same weight and readily agreed that Gareth should have the prize as his fish was caught before ours? He was good company and the hospitality we had in Banchory was of the usual high standard. The Derbar looks after us well. No wonder, as each time we are up (about seven times a year) we go there each night. Jim Turnbull is a perfect gentleman and looked after us all so well and Karl appeared looking more like a gentleman than we’ve seen before with his tweed suit! It was good to see you again, Ken and hopefully we’ll catch up with you again when we’re up on Deeside. The 4th March is the next challenge with Brian at Crathes and again the following week at the same venue.’ Gareth wrote advising ‘Good to see you Ken, thanks for mediating between the 3 of us who all had very similar size fish; seemed fair actually the first one taken gets the prize, even though I may be biased if it worked against me, would say the same. I think Ian Ross and Charles Jeffrey should be mentioned in despatches! Hope to bump into you end of March I hope when I have Carlogie all last week of month. I had another fresh one Saturday too, 11lb by the way’. It’s pleasing to hear that Gareth finally got the monkey of his back with an opening day fish.

Geoff Fisher with a 10lb Springer

Upper Blackhall beat have agreed to join FishDee this season and I was pleased to hear that Simon Mitchell had two spring fish on opening day when we met on Friday afternoon. This lovely beat is opposite Cairnton and Woodend and fishes 3 rods through its one and three quarter mile length. I’m delighted to announce that there are 3 rods available each day for the next fortnight at a very attractive £50 per day. Anglers looking to fish Upper Blackhall during the next fortnight should contact Ghillie Raymond Sinclair on 01330 822183 to book fishing.

I would like to make anglers aware that there is one important change to the River Dee conservation code in 2013 sees the introduction of tighter Biosecurity protocols which ask all anglers fishing the river to have their wading boots and landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant on arrival at their beat. Disinfection equipment has been supplied to all fishing beats and this process, which was trialled last year on beats, will cause a very minimal disruption to anglers. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

SALMON & GRILSE: Park 1, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Invery 5, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 1, Cairnton 4, Lower Woodend 1, Sluie 2, Ballogie 2, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 1, Dess 1, Aboyne Water 3, Total 29
SEA TROUT: none reported

Prospects

The river is running at a decent fishing height now the 2013 River Dee salmon fishing season is underway and there is a small rise in river levels over the weekend due to snow melt. There have been some big lifts in water heights through the close season and the winter has been relatively mild and open up until the last few weeks. The upshot of this situation should mean a distribution of early springers and winter fish running the river, where they may be well spread out in lower and middle river beats. The opening couple of days saw catches up to Aboyne Water. The weather forecast is predicting air temperature maxima around 4 degrees Celsius this week with strong cold winds and wintry showers and overnight frosts. The maritime influence sees tides building this week from 3.6 metres to 4.5 metres.

Greig Thompson of Salmo Fishings fighting a fish as dusk falls on Deeside

The River Dee can produce some early fish to 20lbs plus so anglers will need to ensure their tackle is sound. I am delighted to see there is a very good amount of fishing available in February to book online at the FishDee website and anglers would be well advised to book some early fishing and take advantage of good values on offer from wide range of FishDee beats that have rods available. One important change to the River Dee conservation code in 2013 sees the introduction of tighter Biosecurity protocols which ask all anglers fishing the river to have their wading boots and landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant on arrival at their beat. Disinfection equipment has been supplied to all fishing beats and this process, which was trialled last year on beats, will cause a very minimal disruption to anglers.

Anglers will be fishing with Intermediate or sinking lines and short leaders. On the business end, tube flies are very popular and patterns such as Black/Yellow, Gold Bodied Willie Gunn, Dee Monkey, and Snaelda should provide opportunities of sport from Springers where they are located. There will be Kelts (last season’s salmon which have spawned) and it is important that anglers return these fish carefully to the river as some will make it back to sea and return again to spawn. Anglers looking to source fishing tackle that needs replaced or topped up can visit Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, George Strachan in Aboyne and the Kincardine O’Neil Post Office. Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

The first full weeks fishing on the River Dee saw anglers enjoying mixed fortunes. If you were in the right place at the right time there were some nice fresh run salmon to be caught. FishDee beats have reported 69 salmon to 20lbs last week with Park landing 11, Ballogie beats 10, Crathes and Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo had 6 each. The water is still very cold and anglers were, as is typical for the time of year, having to put in a lot of hours searching for the elusive Silver Spring run salmon, in at times tough weather conditions. There were anglers who enjoyed some good sport. I had a call from Graeme Arthur who was fishing with his friend Richard Thomas, who had a very enjoyable week at Crathes where Graeme took 5 new salmon to his own rod during his week. He was fishing a long line with a Dee Monkey fished deep and slow and had sport every day with kelts, baggots and fresh salmon. Many of the visiting anglers were toasting their success in The Stag in Banchory where the Dalmore is on at a very good price for the month. It’s pleasing to see so many of the visiting anglers getting out and about and supporting the local hotels, bars and restaurants where they are being very well looked after.

Nick Evans with a fine 17 lb Springer at Park

I met up with Sean McGarry on Saturday who had an enjoyable visit to Park where he landed 3 Springers and has sent me an e-mail with the attached images. ‘Hi Ken, it was nice to see you again today. Here are the pictures of the fish I caught over the last three days.’ I also saw Nick Evans on Saturday, who also enjoyed some sport at Park. Nick has very kindly dropped me an e-mail with images of a fine 17lb salmon landed in Castleton. ‘Hi Ken, I have attached 2 images of my fish, taken from the North Bank of Castleton pool – 17lbs of very fit fish ! It was taken on a free-swinging hook Park Shrimp variant.’ I was also delighted to receive an email from Dean Hilton who landed a lovely fresh run 20lb salmon, this biggest of the week at Dess.’ Dear Ken, Please find attached photo of 20lb Springer taken on Dess on the 6th Feb. The third year on the trot the Dess beat has rewarded us with wonderful sport under the watchful eye of Eoin Smith. My nephew Mark Swindlehurst also managed one at 10lb on the 5th.’ The lovely Dess beat is a big fish beat and has a great variety of lovely fly water to fish. Duncan Egan enjoyed some good sport at Ballogie and advised ‘Hi Ken, Just back from Ballogie thought I would send a pic of the fish I caught. I had the one in the pic plus lost another Springer plus 5 kelts - action all day. The deadly fly was a black and yellow monkey fished of a Triple D hover, sink 1, sink3 with the river at 3ft and 36f.’ The Ballogie Ghillies Sean and Ian were delighted with the start to their season where Tom and Jean Marshall have fishing for the first few weeks of the season and have some really talented anglers up to fish the river.

Dean Hilton's 20lber at Dess

Upper Blackhall beat have agreed to join FishDee this season and I was pleased to hear that Simon Mitchell had two spring fish on opening day when we met just over a week ago. This lovely beat is opposite Cairnton and Woodend and fishes 3 rods through its one and three quarter mile length. I’m delighted to announce that there are 3 rods available each day for the next week at a very attractive £50 per day. Anglers looking to fish Upper Blackhall during the next fortnight should contact Ghillie Raymond Sinclair on 01330 822183 to book fishing.

Sean McGarry one of 3 at Park on a flying visit


I would like to make anglers aware that there is one important change to the River Dee conservation code in 2013 sees the introduction of tighter Biosecurity protocols which ask all anglers fishing the river to have their wading boots and landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant on arrival at their beat. Disinfection equipment has been supplied to all fishing beats and this process, which was trialled last year on beats, will cause a very minimal disruption to anglers. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee


SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 1, Tilbouries 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 11, Lower Crathes and W Durris 9, Knappach 3, Crathes 6, Invery 2, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 6, Middle Blackhall 2, Upper Blackhall 3, Cairnton 1, Commonty 2, Sluie 1, Ballogie 7, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 1, Dess 3, Birse 1, Aboyne Water 1, Dinnet 1, Total 69

Prospects

The river is very clear and cold and running at a nice fishing height. The Sepa gauges are showing heights of 1 foot 6 inches at Woodend and 2 foot at Park and running steady. The maritime influence shows high tides in Aberdeen of 4.6 metres dropping back through the course of the week to 3.5 metres. There is enough water for new fish to come forward but the sea will be warmer than the river so fish are never in much of a hurry to come forward. There will hopefully be little runs of new fish coming forward so it pays to persevere and not spend too much time over lunch. The weather forecast is suggesting a cool start to the week with temperatures rising in the latter part of the week. It should be cool and cloudy with snow showers on Tuesday and Wednesday and brightening up from Thursday. Winds shall predominantly be light and variable with air temperature maxima around 6 degrees later in the week. There will be overnight frosts in the early part of the week.
I met some visiting anglers in the British Legion during the week and one of the gentlemen hooked and played a very big fish at Invery before it came unstuck. Spring run salmon are typically two or three sea winter fish and there can be some big fish coming forward. Anglers need to ensure that their leaders are short and strong and check that their knots are tied well. Anglers will be fishing with Intermediate or sinking lines. Another popular option at this time of year is the Skagit lines which are short shooting heads that are great at helping turnover big heavy flies. Graeme Arthur used a Skagit set up to good effect at Crathes where he was fishing a very long cast deep and slow and covering a lot of water. On the business end, tube flies are very popular and patterns such as Black/Yellow, Gold Bodied Willie Gunn, Dee Monkey, and Park Shrimp should provide opportunities of sport from Springers where they are located. There will be Kelts (last season’s salmon which have spawned) and it is important that anglers return these fish carefully to the river as some will make it back to sea and return again to spawn.

Sean McGarry 2 of 3 on a flying visit to Park

As always there is a great amount of fishing availability on the FishDee website during February. The weather looks ideal for angling this week so if anglers can manage a visit to the river then please do so. A 3 day break at this time of year can be rewarding with some of the local hotels doing special Fishermans rates for 3 days stays or more. There is good value to be found at the Tor Na Coille Hotel, Banchory Lodge, Raemoir House Hotel, Burnett Arms, British Legion and Douglas Hotel, all located in Banchory. It has been most enjoyable getting out and about in the evening meeting groups of anglers who have all commented really favourably at how well they are being looked after by Ghillies on the river and also the local bars, restaurants and hotels. It is also pleasing to hear how supportive anglers are about the tighter Biosecurity protocols put in place this year. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It’s a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse.

Sean McGarry 3 of 3 on a flying visit to Park

Anglers looking to source fishing tackle that needs replaced or topped up can visit Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, George Strachan in Aboyne and the Kincardine O'Neil Post Office. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

The second full weeks fishing on the River Dee saw anglers fishing hard for little reward from fresh run salmon. FishDee beats have reported 32 salmon to 18lbs last week with the same week last year seeing 92 salmon reported. The water levels were reasonable all week with a bit of a rise in river levels on Friday, Saturday and Sunday due to snow melt as air temperatures rose. Catches reported for the week were as follows: Park 2, Crathes 2, Invery 3, Tilquhillie 2, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Upper Blackhall 4, Cairnton 2, Woodend 1, Ballogie 3, Borrowston 4, Kincardine 3, Carlogie 1.

Jenny Cooper with a fine 17lb salmon at Park

I have received some angler feedback and am grateful to those who have taken the time to write to me in order that I can share information with readers of this column. Graeme Arthur commented ‘Dear Ken, It was good to catch up and have a chat about old times over a meal and decent bottle of wine in the Tor-na-Coille last week. As you know we had 6 fish for our week. I really got off to flier with the 2 nine pounders, in the last hour of day light in that high water on the boat pool-Crathes. This really set the trend for the week, the mind set was very positive and I think this attitude worked well for us with over 40 kelts and six nice Springer’s. We managed to get a small video, playing and landing of the first salmon, selection of photos above are my third and fifth fish, Richard playing his and Emma into a kelt out in the boat.’ Graeme has been a regular tenant at Crathes for a number of years and is a very experienced and talented angler. Regular Dee fishers Jenny Cooper and Steve Wellard enjoyed good sport last week with Jenny writing to advise, ‘Hi Ken, Steve and I thought you may like to see the pictures of the beautiful sea liced Spring fish that I caught on Friday 15th Feb in the House Pool at Park North. It was caught on a yellow and black tube fly and weighed by Keith at 17lbs with sea lice. Was a wonderful end to a busy weeks fishing and my first Springer on the Dee. Regards, Jenny Cooper and Stephen Wellard.’ The images sent are really excellent and will be posted in the media and website.

Graeme Arthur with one of 5 taken for his week at Crathes

I was pleased to speak to Tam Wallace who was fishing at Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie when I popped in for a visit. Tam has very kindly written to me with images advising ‘Hi Ken, here’s a pic of the 18lb Springer I caught at lower Blackhall on 12th February. I caught her on a 1 and a half inch black and yellow Mylar tube. I fished for 3 days and had 2 fish for myself 8lb-18lb, 1 fish for Garry Cunningham, 7lb. I enjoyed the blether in the hut with you; I’m back up March and April and might catch up with you. Regards, Tam Wallace.’ I was also pleased to receive correspondence with images from Ian Shaw who commented ‘Along with 5 other mad keen salmon anglers, I fished the River Dee (Park South Beat) from 6th to 8th February expertly guided by Jim Fearn. The fishing was fantastic, and between us we landed 5 superb springers all caught on a Gunn Snaelda. I learnt so much from Jim, not just how to improve my casting, but how to fish the fly correctly, water craft and controlling the depth of the fly. I enclose a few pictures of a memorable few days. I would also make mention of the two Ghillies, Bert and Stewart who were very helpful and extremely polite. All in all, it was a fantastic trip on a superb piece of water. The evenings consisted of plenty of fly tying, and even more consumption of single malts. A fantastic time was had by all, and one I will remember for many years to come.’ It’s always nice to receive such an enthusiastic e-mail about a very enjoyable time on the River Dee.

Ian Shaw with a Springer at Park


I would like to make anglers aware that there is one important change to the River Dee conservation code in 2013 sees the introduction of tighter Biosecurity protocols which ask all anglers fishing the river to have their wading boots and landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant on arrival at their beat. Disinfection equipment has been supplied to all fishing beats and this process, which was trialled last year on beats, will cause a very minimal disruption to anglers. Angler feedback forms from FishDee include a question asking if disinfection was carried out on the beat. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

Prospects

After a quieter than hoped for week which saw river levels rising towards the end of the week then we can look forward with some hope that catches will increase during the week ahead. River levels are currently dropping back with the Sepa gauges reading 1ft 9 inches at Ballater and 3ft 4 inches at Park and falling. The maritime influence sees tides will be building during the course of the week from 3.2 metres to 4.0 metres. The river and tidal conditions are ideal for new fish to come forward, if indeed they are there to come forward. High pressure is building over the course of the week which means that winds will be light and variable and there will be little precipitation of consequence. The air temperature as I drove to Dinnet this morning was minus 5 degrees Celsius and we can expect air temperature maxima of around 5 degrees Celsius this week and overnight frosts as temperatures are expected to fall below zero all week. This looks like offering anglers pretty reasonable riverside conditions providing they wrap up well to keep warm.

Jim Fearn with a nice fresh run salmon at Park South

I met some Ghillies and anglers during the week who were fishing hard and diligently and they by and large reported there were, in some beats a good amount of kelts, but few springers. What sport anglers were having required them to fish the fly deep and slow where on the business end, tube flies were very popular and patterns such as Black/Yellow, Gold Bodied Willie Gunn, Dee Monkey, and Park Shrimp provided some sport from Springers where they were located. There were some really nice specimens caught so it pays to ensure your tackle is sound, as a prized Springer is too precious to lose because your equipment wasn’t sound enough or your knots not tied well enough.

Al smiling broadly at his success

As always there is a great amount of fishing availability on the FishDee website during February and March. The weather looks ideal for angling this week so if anglers can manage a visit to the river then please do so. A 3 day break at this time of year can be rewarding with some of the local hotels doing special Fishermans rates for 3 days stays or more. There is good value to be found at the Tor Na Coille Hotel, Banchory Lodge, Raemoir House Hotel, Burnett Arms, British Legion and Douglas Hotel, all located in Banchory. Where you can find rates of between £60 to £90 per night for B and B for single occupancy in a double room. It has been most enjoyable getting out and about in the evening meeting groups of anglers who have all commented really favourably at how well they are being looked after by Ghillies on the river and also the local bars, restaurants and hotels. It is also pleasing to hear how supportive anglers are about the tighter Biosecurity protocols put in place this year. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It’s a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse.

Anglers looking to source fishing tackle that needs replaced or topped up can visit Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, George Strachan in Aboyne and the Kincardine O'Neil Post Office. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

Sport for the many experienced salmon anglers who populated the River bank last week was slow and tough going, with very few fish coming forward into the river, perhaps due to very cold river temperatures. FishDee beats have so far reported 28 salmon for the week compared to 65 for the same week last year. Park and Crathes reported 4 apiece; Middle Drum, Lower Crathes and Little Blackhall reported 3 each, with the biggest reported at 18lbs from Middle Drum. Fishing in February is always very unpredictable as salmon will choose to run the river when they choose to and all anglers can do is turn up and hope they run through their beat whilst they are fishing. Looking back to 2010 FishDee beats reported 169 salmon for the month and the season finished with over 9,300, which was the best for over 30 years. So it’s very early in the season and we have to accept nature dictates the levels of sport on the River bank and we have to persevere and enjoy our day out and make the most of it. I’m sure the banter in the huts at lunchtime is as lively as ever as anglers share a dram and the craic with our experienced crack team of Ghillies.

Success at Ballogie

I met a number of anglers during the week and some Ghillies when I endeavoured to try and catch a February Springer to no avail. Keith Webster and Jamie Hammond had a few days at Lower Crathes where they found sport a bit slow. Keith was really pleased to catch a fresh fish of approximately 10 pounds. Alas Jamie didn’t manage on this occasion, but can console himself that during the corresponding week last year he caught a 22lb Springer and a 24 lb Springer; better luck next time Jamie. I was also delighted to receive an e-mail from Geoff Fisher who readers may recall had opening week success at Lower Crathes. Well Geoff did the business again on Saturday and dropped me an email and images of the salmon. Geoff commented’ Good morning. Please find attached a couple of photos of a cock fish taken, and safely returned, from the Mill Pool at Lower Crathes about 3.30 on Saturday afternoon. I've included 2 photos as the ‘better’ photo doesn’t show the depth of the fish. If there was ever any doubt as to why we spend hours on end up to our waists in freezing cold water at this time of year - these sorts of fish are the reason - it truly was just 16lb of pure adrenalin busting Springer. The fish, taken on a 1.5" Black & Yellow tube, was a welcome reward after 2 days of hard work in very cold conditions indeed. I don’t think I can recall such a combination of cold water & stubbornly low air temperatures, for such a long time. Either that or its just age setting in! As always I'd like to say a big thank you to Robert Harper, Chas Booth &, on this occasion, Chas’s brother Bob Booth. Bob, who was helping out on Saturday, was on hand to net my fish and assist with the photos.’ The images show a really super fish and well done Geoff for showing that talent and perseverance provides success when opportunity comes along.

Geoff Fisher with a 16lb salmon at Lower Crathes

I also was pleased to bump into Gavin Ramsay who enjoyed success at Commonty. As always it’s a pleasure catching up with Gavin who caught his fish on a small dressed double! Sean McGarry was also back on a flying visit to Park and managed his 4th of the season from Park; he of course was tremendously pleased with his success. Well done Sean and hopefully you can suggest Lotto numbers for me this week. And talking about Sean’s-the Ballogie Estates head Ghillie Sean Stanton commented on his blog ‘It's not the best of weeks, with only 3 fish caught on the Ballogie beats, just 1 off each beat! The river temperature is the biggest problem, at only 34 degrees Fahrenheit the fish are not moving up through the river at any speed, and as the water keeps dropping the fish are more likely to stay in the lower beats when they come in from the sea. We need a change in weather to stand a chance of drawing fish out from the sea, looking at the forecast we will see a slight rise in daytime temperatures which could result in some snow melt. With a full moon nearly here we should see some high spring tides and this may bring fresh fish into the river. I hope!’

Sean McGarry has his 4th Springer of the year from Park

On Friday the upper beats will be seeing anglers arriving in good numbers to fish and it will be interesting to see what numbers of fish are in the upper beats. Good water levels did bring in a run of winter fish and they may help boost the week’s totals. I would like to make all anglers & Ghillies aware that there is one important change to the River Dee conservation code in 2013, which sees the introduction of tighter Biosecurity protocols which calls on all anglers fishing the river to have their wading boots and landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant on arrival at their beat. Disinfection equipment has been supplied to all fishing beats and this process, which was trialled last year on beats, will cause a very minimal disruption to anglers. Angler feedback forms from FishDee include a question asking if disinfection was carried out on the beat. Anglers should be aware the River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory and the Tor Na Coille Hotel, with very nice prizes to be won. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

SALMON & GRILSE: Middle Drum 3, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 2, Park 4, Lower Crathes and W Durris 3, Knappach 1, Crathes 4, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Middle Blackhall 2, Woodend 1, Commonty 1, Sluie 1, Ballogie 1, Borrowston 1, Carlogie 1, Aboyne Water 1, Total 29
SEA TROUT: Kincardine 1, Total 1
TROUT: none reported

Prospects

The weather forecast is suggesting high pressure is going to continue to remain established over the country with a continuation of calm and dry conditions. There will be little precipitation of note and the week shall be mostly bright and sunny until towards the weekend when there will be an increase in cloud cover. Air temperature maxima may reach 8 or 9 degrees Celsius on Saturday and there will be overnight frosts. If temperatures do get high enough at altitude there may well be some needed snow melt. The maritime influence sees tides building from 4 metres to 4.4 metres through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before starting to drop back on Sunday. The Sepa gauges are reading 1ft 1 inch at Woodend and 1 ft 5 inches at Park so river levels are low and the water is cold. Any new fish that come forward will not travel far upriver in such cold water conditions and anglers may get some sport in the lower beats to Banchory.

Keith Webster with his first Springer of the year at Lower Crathes

Having spent a number of days trying in vain to catch a Springer it’s very important to listen to your Ghillies advice. Your beat Ghillie will encourage you to persevere in the likely taking lies given the water height on your beat and they will give good advice on presentation speed, fly choice and what depth to fish the fly. More often than not the Ghillie can make the difference and give you the advice you really need to catch the elusive silver fresh run salmon we all try so hard to catch.

As always there is a great amount of fishing availability on the FishDee website during March. The weather looks ideal for angling this week so if anglers can manage a visit to the river then please do so. A 3 day break at this time of year can yield some rewards with some of the local hotels doing special Fishermans rates for 3 days stays or more. There is good value to be found at the Tor Na Coille Hotel, Banchory Lodge, Raemoir House Hotel, Burnett Arms, British Legion and Douglas Hotel, all located in Banchory, where you will find rates of between £60 to £80 per night for B and B for single occupancy in a double room. Anglers have been commenting really favourably at how well they are being looked after by Ghillies on the river and also the local bars, restaurants and hotels. It is also pleasing to hear how supportive anglers are about the tighter Biosecurity protocols put in place this year. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse. Anglers should be aware the River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory and the Tor Na Coille Hotel, with very nice prizes to be won. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

We finished the week on a higher note than of late; following on from an increase in water temperatures, some fish decided to become a bit more cooperative. FishDee beats reported 52 salmon to 9lbs and catches were well distributed throughout the river catchment. Lower Beats such as Ardoe and Murtle and Altries and Lower Drum saw some action, more of this later. Some of the upper river beats started to fish on Friday and it was pleasing to hear of some success. Glentanar Estate unveiled their lovely new fishing hut on Friday to assembled guests at Deecastle; it was pleasing to hear that the beat opened its account for the season as did Craigendinnie, Waterside and Ferrar, and Headinch and Cambus O’May. I am sure that these beats will see some sport over the next few days if they have anglers out fishing. Now we have seen more spring like conditions arrive on Deeside I’m sure fishing will pick up somewhat and anglers will enjoy even more success.

Steve O'Neill with one of 3 salmon he landed in 2 days at Park

I was pleased to hear about 12 year old Aidan Coull hooking and landing a fine 14lb spring salmon at Altries and Lower Drum. This was Aidan’s first ever Dee salmon, who was fishing with his uncle Douglas Coull, who also landed a sea liced Springer from the Drum Run. Aidan landed his fish from the Greenbanks pool and is now very keen to come back to fish again at Altries. It’s always pleasing to hear about youngsters coming to fish and I wish to applaud Altries Beat and the Aberdeen and District Angling Association for organising a day’s fishing for 6 youngsters. The youngsters will be looked after by Guide/Instructor Jim Fearn and Ben Dixon, from Orvis in Banchory. We need to nurture the next generation of anglers where initiatives like this will do some good. The youngsters are getting to fish for £5 a head and hopefully will all become hooked on fishing.

Steve O'Neill with another of his 3 salmon landed at Park

River Dee Trust director, and main driver for the Dalmore Dee Dram fundraising whisky, Jim Coates landed his best ever catch on Saturday at Balmoral. Jim got married to Nicola Jackson, and FishDee would like to congratulate the happy couple and extend sincere best wishes. I received an e-mail from Stephen O’Neill who enjoyed some success at Park. Stephen commented ‘Hi Ken, Had a great 2 days on Park north landing 3 spring salmon, I had 2 on Thursday and 1 on Friday all on the Park shrimp conehead. I enjoyed great craic with Keith as usual and looking forward to April for my next visit. Steve O'Neill.’ I met Steve and other anglers Patrick and Ade who had enjoyed success at Commonty, whilst out in Banchory and its pleasing to report anglers having some success and enjoying good hospitality in the local hostelries in the Banchory area.

I would like to make all anglers & Ghillies aware that there is one important change to the River Dee conservation code in 2013, which sees the introduction of tighter Biosecurity protocols which calls on all anglers fishing the river to have their wading boots and landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant on arrival at their beat. Disinfection equipment has been supplied to all fishing beats and this process, which was trialled last year on beats, will cause a very minimal disruption to anglers. Angler feedback forms from FishDee include a question asking if disinfection was carried out on the beat. Anglers should be aware the River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory and the Tor Na Coille Hotel, with very nice prizes to be won. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

Beat catches reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 2, Altries and Lower Drum 2, Middle Drum 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 2, Park 7, Lower Crathes and W Durris 3, Crathes 1, Invery 4, Tilquhillie 1, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Commonty 3, Sluie 1, Ballogie 3, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 1, Carlogie 5, Dess 2, Aboyne Castle 2, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Deecastle 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1.
Total: 52 Largest: Invery 19lbs

Prospects

Spring is in the air with nature coming alive again and local wildlife is responding to the increasing daylight hours and air temperatures. The river levels rose over the weekend as temperatures increased and this lift in river levels is sure to encourage fish to run the river. The Sepa gauges are showing 1ft 1 inch at Mar Lodge and 2 ft and rising at Park. We are in for a bit of a change to the weather this week with some welcome precipitation forecast from Wednesday, continuing through the weekend. Air temperature maxima will be around 9 degrees and winds shall be light and variable. The maritime influence sees tides dropping from 3.8 metres to 3.6 metres and then rising towards the weekend to 4.2 metres. The next two periods of Spring tides should see some good multi sea winter fish coming forward into the river as there are usually some big specimens landed in March. Catches should pick up this week providing we don’t get too much fluctuation in river levels.

Steve O'Neill with his 3rd fish in 2 days at Park

As I always counsel, it’s very important to listen to your Ghillies advice. Your beat Ghillie will encourage you to persevere in the likely taking lies given the water height on your beat and they will give good advice on presentation speed, fly choice and what depth to fish the fly. More often than not the Ghillie can make the difference and give you the advice you really need to catch the elusive silver fresh run salmon. There will no doubt be many more visitors arriving in Deeside to fish the River Dee now that spring has arrived and many anglers will need to heed the wise counsel of their beat Ghillies. If you don’t have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you should make sure you have a sinking or intermediate fly line and a choice of sink tips. Short stout leaders of 20lbs breaking strain are advised as they help turnover heavy flies, and are needed in case you encounter a big salmon. Tube Fly choice may include Tosh, Dee Monkey, Park Shrimp, Calvin’s Shrimp and Francnsnaelda. Anglers may still encounter kelts which need returned carefully to the river as well as bright new spring salmon. Please try to ensure your fish is unhooked in the river and any pictures taken when you are returning your salmon to the river.

12 year old Aidan Coull with his first Dee Salmon caught and released at Altries

As always there is a great amount of fishing availability on the FishDee website during March. The weather looks ideal for angling this week so if anglers can manage a visit to the river then please do so. A 3 day break at this time of year can yield some rewards with some of the local hotels doing special Fishermans rates for 3 days stays or more. There is good value to be found at the Tor Na Coille Hotel, Banchory Lodge, Raemoir House Hotel, Burnett Arms, British Legion and Douglas Hotel, all located in Banchory, where you will find rates of between £60 to £80 per night for B and B for single occupancy in a double room. Franco’s Restaurant in Banchory has launched a fisherman’s dinner menu with 3 courses for £10 which is great value. I do hope anglers will visit this establishment in good numbers to enjoy this special offer we have negotiated with Franco. Anglers have been commenting really favourably at how well they are being looked after by Ghillies on the river and also the local bars, restaurants and hotels. It is also pleasing to hear how supportive anglers are about the tighter Biosecurity protocols put in place this year. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse. Anglers should be aware the River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory and the Tor Na Coille Hotel, with very nice prizes to be won. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb is a phrase that’s often used and there is no doubt that the Lion of winter bared its teeth last night when temperatures plummeted to minus 13 degrees Celsius in Aboyne. It was a cold week and this was reflected in the catches from FishDee beats with 41 reported so far. Park reported 8, Ballogie 7, Crathes 4 and Dess 3, with a sprinkling of catches up to Headinch and Cambus O’May. There are a few fish creeping into the river but not in any significant numbers. That should hopefully change over the next few weeks once the river temperature rises significantly as it was full of ice this morning.

I spoke to Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton this morning and he reported ‘We picked away last week and I am pleased that Peter Lonsdale and his fishing friends got rewards for their perseverance. Peter landed 3, and his two colleagues had 2 apiece. The anglers were using Skagit lines with T17 tips fishing very deep and slow and Peter observed if you were not losing a lot of flies you were not fishing deep enough. The fish were all over 10 lbs and were nice specimens; what we lacked in quantity was made up by the sheer quality of the springers landed. There are still a lot of kelts in our beats and all the fish seemed to take a liking for my Francnsnaelda fly.’ This week Lars Terkildsen and his team have arrived to fish the Ballogie beats. I spoke to Lars last week and said I didn’t foresee any likelihood of Ice being in the river. He arrived yesterday afternoon into a driving blizzard which saw 6 inches of snowfall in Deeside.

I spoke with Keith Cromar, Park Estates head Ghillie who commented ‘ Congratulations to James Seymour of Bampton who landed his first salmon on the fly at Park; in fact he landed two, one of 9lbs and one of 10lbs on a Yellow and Black Sunray variant. We were not seeing fish moving last week but did manage to pick away and land some fresh run springers. Jim Aird had one on Saturday, Ian Jardine had 2 salmon, Alastair Dunbar had one and Hans Larsson from Sweden had 2 springers.’ Keith also remarked that the beats Otters were having some success as he spotted one eating a salmon on the gravel bar at the top of the house pool. The Otter had some competition for nature’s bounty as a Red Kite decided it had a taste for salmon and repeatedly dive bombed the Otter.
Eoin Smith from Dess reported sport was slow commenting ‘We had one new fish and 2 fish that been in for a few weeks. The successful anglers were Peter Kyte, Ian Pawley and David Johnson. We are not seeing many fish and very few kelts.’ Alastair Peake the new Dinnet Ghillie sent an email commenting ‘Hi Ken here is a pic of Charlie Keyser with a 15lb slightly coloured fish from Dinnet on Tuesday the 5th taken on a guideline sink 1/2 shooting head, on a sparse yellow and black bottle tube. Best, Al.’ Regular River Dee visitor, Kent Hakansson, had a salmon at Aboyne Castle.’

Commerative Painting of River Dee Opening Celebrating the 150th Birthday of the River Dee Board

Now I would like to advise all who hold the River Dee close to their heart that there is a great opportunity to obtain a lovely artwork by Howard Butterworth. To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Dee District Salmon Fishery Board, Howard attended the River Dee opening ceremony at Ballogie, beside Potarch Bridge, and has produced a commemorative painting of the occasion. Howard has very kindly decided to produce a limited run of 100 numbered high quality Giclee images of the painting which are available to purchase for £100 excluding vat. The image can be viewed and purchased through Howard’s website link The Butterworth Gallery River Dee Opening Ceremony 2013
Every purchase will see a £25 donation to The River Dee Trust. I would urge anglers to snap up this truly fine piece of artwork, as Howard has done a fabulous job in capturing the moment Stalwart of the River Dee, Mr Alastair Hume performing the ceremonial cast to the large assembled audience. It’s an iconic image and one that will have tremendous appeal to a great many people. I am sure many supporters of the River Dee should know the River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory, the Tor Na Coille Hotel and Potarch Hotel, with some very nice prizes to be won. Raffle tickets can also be purchased online at River Dee Trust & Dee District Salmon Fishery Board: Home: Welcome Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

Beat catches reported

SALMON & GRILSE: Park 8, Knappach 1, Crathes 4, Invery 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 1, Upper Blackhall 1, Cairnton 1, Woodend 1, Commonty 1, Ballogie 7, Borrowston 3, Kincardine 1, Carlogie 1, Dess 3, Dinnet 2, Deecastle 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Total 41
SEA TROUT: Cairnton 1, Total 1

Prospects

With winter deciding it hasn’t finished with us yet we have to expect a slow weeks sport on the River Dee. With a very wintery weather forecast for the coming week, which sees air temperature maxima at best reaching 5 degrees Celsius; overnight frosts and snow fall through the week, it will be challenging. Winds will be predominately from the north and variable and will swing to the south towards the weekend when the air temperature will reach 5 degrees. The water temperature is 1 degree Celsius and hard frost has reduced the river flow with the Sepa gauges at Mar Lodge reading 4 inches and 1 ft 4 inches at Park. There is a good amount of snow in the mountains which can be seen by visiting the Ski Glenshee website. This will hopefully provide a good reservoir of snow for the river through April into May. The maritime influence shows tides building from 4.2 metres to 4.4 metres midweek before dropping back to 3. 8 metres at the weekend.

As I always counsel, it’s very important to listen to your Ghillies advice. Your beat Ghillie will encourage you to persevere in the likely taking lies given the water height on your beat and they will give good advice on presentation speed, fly choice and what depth to fish the fly. More often than not the Ghillie can make the difference and give you the advice you really need to catch the elusive silver fresh run salmon. There will no doubt be many more visitors arriving in Deeside to fish the River Dee now that spring has arrived and many anglers will need to heed the wise counsel of their beat Ghillies. If you don’t have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you should make sure you have a sinking or intermediate fly line and a choice of sink tips. Short stout leaders of 20lbs breaking strain are advised as they help turnover heavy flies, and are needed in case you encounter a big salmon. Tube Fly choice may include Tosh, Dee Monkey, Park Shrimp, Calvin’s Shrimp and Francnsnaelda. Anglers may still encounter kelts which need returned carefully to the river as well as bright new spring salmon. Please try to ensure your fish is unhooked in the river and any pictures taken when you are returning your salmon to the river.

As always there is a great amount of fishing availability on the FishDee website during March. The weather looks ideal for angling this week so if anglers can manage a visit to the river then please do so. A 3 day break at this time of year can yield some rewards with some of the local hotels doing special Fishermans rates for 3 days stays or more. There is good value to be found at the Tor Na Coille Hotel, Banchory Lodge, Raemoir House Hotel, Burnett Arms, British Legion and Douglas Hotel, all located in Banchory, where you will find rates of between £60 to £80 per night for B and B for single occupancy in a double room. Franco’s Restaurant in Banchory has launched a fisherman’s dinner menu with 3 courses for £10 which is great value. I do hope anglers will visit this establishment in good numbers to enjoy this special offer we have negotiated with Franco. Anglers have been commenting really favourably at how well they are being looked after by Ghillies on the river and also the local bars, restaurants and hotels. It is also pleasing to hear how supportive anglers are about the tighter Biosecurity protocols put in place this year. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse. Anglers should be aware the River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory and the Tor Na Coille Hotel, with very nice prizes to be won. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

The lion of winter is showing no signs of departing from Deeside with long term forecasts suggesting a continuation of harsh weather for another couple of weeks. Weather conditions are a factor in salmon fishing, as thankfully are Spring Tides, which occurred last week. As a result of these high tides we had a run of new fish into the lower river which helped lift the weekly catch from 41 the week before to 72 last week. Park reported 23 salmon, Lower Crathes reported 10 and the Invery beats reported 6 with quite a number of fish well into the teens of pounds. Dess, Invery and Park all reported 18 b salmon last week and we shall hopefully see fish over 20lbs landed in the next few weeks as we go into April. Credit must be given to anglers and Ghillies who have battled away in the very harsh winter conditions so far this season, which they have encountered on the river. In the olden days, the Devon Minnow ruled supreme in these cold wintery conditions, nowadays it’s the tube fly which is the method of choice for the vast majority of anglers.

Richard Owen with his first Springer

I have received some correspondence this week with Mick Bell, the owner of Bloke Rods writing to share news of his success at Upper Drum beat, Drumoak. Mick commented ‘Hi Ken, here is the result of my first hours fishing with Jim at Upper Drum and Lower Durris yesterday. I took the fish on a full floater when everybody else blanked on Hi-Density lines, which in my mind makes it even more special. I am increasingly convinced that this current obsession with depth is over rated!’ Well thankfully that salmon didn’t read last week’s fishing column! Richard Owen wrote to me with an image advising ‘Hi Ken, this wasn’t the biggest fish from Park on the 15th March but it was my first Springer and as you can see I was delighted with it. It took a Black and Yellow tube fished on a slow sink line with a fast tip. I fished Park South for a couple of days and lost another fish on Sat, thoroughly enjoyed myself despite the sleet (a hot stove in the hut at lunchtime was much appreciated) and will definitely be back.

Mick Bell of Bloke Rods

Jim Cowper from Aboyne Water dropped me a line commenting ‘Hi Ken, It has been 5 weeks since our last fish, but we had a beautiful 10lbr on Friday with sea lice in 1.8degrees water temp. Mr. James England was the fortunate angler using a 10ft heavy sink on a floater and a black and orange cone head.’ That fish must have been in a hurry to head upriver! It was nice to see the image of well known Deeside salmon angler Sandy Bremner, with a lovely spring salmon at Tilbouries he caught and released. Lars Terkildsen had a team of anglers over again fishing the Ballogie beats. I caught up with Lars for a chat on Saturday morning and he advised it was hard going for his team who did remarkably last autumn with 196 salmon in a week. Last week they had to make do with a meagre 5 salmon and a few kelts. He’s a very enthusiastic engaging angler and always a pleasure to meet for a chat. My good friend and fundraiser for NASF Norway, Mr Gerhard Schive was over fishing from Norway at Middle Blackhall, and whilst they didn’t have much success to report they had a terrific time at Glenbogle Lodge and great craic with David Gibbon, the beats Ghillie. I also caught up with Spencer Tolley who was at Upper Blackhall and his team reported 3 for the week as well as some kelts.

Now I would like to advise all who hold the River Dee close to their heart that there is a great opportunity to obtain a lovely artwork by Howard Butterworth. To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Dee District Salmon Fishery Board, Howard attended the River Dee opening ceremony at Ballogie, beside Potarch Bridge, and has produced a commemorative painting of the occasion. Howard has very kindly decided to produce a limited run of 100 numbered high quality Giclee images of the painting which are available to purchase for £100 excluding vat. The image can be viewed and purchased through Howard’s website link The Butterworth Gallery River Dee Opening Ceremony 2013
Every purchase will see a £25 donation to The River Dee Trust. I would urge anglers to snap up this truly fine piece of artwork, as Howard has done a fabulous job in capturing the moment Stalwart of the River Dee, Mr Alastair Hume is performing the ceremonial cast to the large assembled audience. It’s an iconic image and one that will have tremendous appeal to a great many people. I am sure many supporters of the River Dee should know the River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory, the Tor Na Coille Hotel and Potarch Hotel, with some very nice prizes to be won. Raffle tickets can also be purchased online at River Dee Trust & Dee District Salmon Fishery Board: Home: Welcome Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

Beat catches reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Middle Drum 4, Tilbouries 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 3, Park 23, Lower Crathes and W Durris 10, Crathes 3, Invery 5, Tilquhillie 1, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Upper Blackhall 3, Cairnton 1, Ballogie 3, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 2, Dess 2, Aboyne Water 1, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Deecastle 1, Total 72
SEA TROUT: Dess 1, Total 1

Prospects

The winter theme is set to continue in Deeside for the foreseeable future with long term weather forecast models I use suggesting cold wintry weather continuing for the next 10-14 days. This week sees snow falling as I write. The BBC weather man this morning was advising that snow should fall all day and through the night and into tomorrow, dumping tens of centimetres of snow on high ground. Air temperature maxima this week may see 4 degrees Celsius at best and overnight frosts are predicted. The maritime influence shows tides dropping back from 3.6 metres to 3.2 metres midweek and building to 3.8 metres on Sunday as the next spring tide phase approaches. This is the tide I optimistically suggest will see big fish coming forward into the river. It’s going to be a tough week for anglers with winds forecast from the east all week blowing snow and sleet upriver; those on moderate to strong winds at times. It’s difficult to predict sport this week but I suspect it will be slow as the water is again very cold. Hopefully enough fish will be keen to come into the river as March progresses towards April. I expect most sport will be had between Banchory and Aberdeen. In the long term we have a great amount of snow in the mountains and this augurs well for fishing through April and May.

As I always counsel, it’s very important to listen to your Ghillies advice. Your beat Ghillie will encourage you to persevere in the likely taking lies given the water height on your beat and they will give good advice on presentation speed, fly choice and what depth to fish the fly. More often than not the Ghillie can make the difference and give you the advice you really need to catch the elusive silver fresh run salmon. There will be times this week that you will need to seek warmth and shelter in the fishing huts, if only to lift spirits. Spare a kind thought for the hard working Ghillies that stand for hours on end, day after day, in these harsh winter conditions providing helpful advice and encouragement to anglers, whilst they are no doubt chilled to the bone watching the anglers fishing. There are more visitors arriving in Deeside to fish the River Dee now that spring is just around the corner and many anglers will need to heed the wise counsel of their beat Ghillies. If you don’t have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you should make sure you have a sinking or intermediate fly line and a choice of sink tips. Short stout leaders of 20lbs breaking strain are advised as they help turnover heavy flies, and are needed in case you encounter a big salmon. Tube Fly choice may include Tosh, Dee Monkey, Park Shrimp, Black or Red Frances and Francnsnaelda. Anglers may still encounter kelts migrating downstream which need returned carefully to the river as will bright new spring salmon. Please try to ensure your fish is unhooked in the river and any pictures taken quickly when you are returning your salmon to the river.

As always there is fishing availability on the FishDee website during the last days of March. The weather looks challenging for angling this week but if dedicated salmon anglers can manage a visit to the river then please do so. A 3 day break at this time of year can yield some rewards with some of the local hotels doing some fantastic Fishermans rates for 3 days stays or more for groups of 3 or more anglers. There is great value to be found at the Tor Na Coille Hotel, Banchory Lodge, Raemoir House Hotel, Burnett Arms, British Legion and Douglas Hotel, all located in Banchory and the Learney Arms, Commercial Hotel and Loch Kinord Hotel further up the valley. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse. Anglers should be aware the River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory and the Tor Na Coille Hotel, with very nice prizes to be won. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Wrap up well this week as its going to be cold-Tight Lines! Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

Fishing last week on Deeside reminded me of the Battle of the Bulge-not weight loss, but the heroic efforts of dedicated people fighting the good cause in terribly cold winter weather. FishDee beats have reported 42 salmon and 2 sea trout for the week with Lower Crathes seeing a superb return of 14 salmon for the anglers fishing there, more of this later. There were a number of good sized fish reported in the catch with the biggest reported at 20lbs from Park. Catches were distributed between Middle Drum and Deecastle.

I received an e-mail from Dr Tom Charles with news of their recent visit to Lower Crathes advising ‘Dear Ken, Myself, and friends John Heaton, John Bull and Christian Dealer fished LC&WDurris for the first 3 days of the week of March 18th. We were met by somewhat different conditions to those this time last year! We were fantastically well looked after by the wondrous Charlie Booth; and in Roberts’s absence Malcolm Tocher. We managed 6 fish (1, pending verification with scales going to the scientists) over the 3 days. John Heaton took the best of them at 14lb adding a 10lb fish on a size 6 double tied by his kids! Christian Dealer took a 10lb fish on a Kelt-Slayer tube in lower Bridge pool to allay the concerns of his earlier 'Frankenfish' who's scales are presently under scrutiny. On Wednesday I myself took a 10lb fish followed 45mins later by a 32" fish in Greenbank on a bottle tube monkey tied by my own fair hand and fished slow on a sink2 shooting head. This was masterfully landed by Charlie on both occasions. Sadly the final member of our Party Mr Bull was unable to join in with a fish, although he did teach us about the finer art of Scotch consumption. Many thanks to Robert Harper in his absence for keeping such a fine beat, and his 2 able accomplices for their tireless attendance. My best wishes and thanks for your excellent river reports, Tom Charles.

Keith Webster with a fabulous 18lb salmon from Lower Crathes-they dont get much better than this !

Lower Crathes is a fabulous fishing beat which is well loved by its loyal band of anglers who return year on year. For those who are relatively new to the beat and eager to learn how to maximise their opportunities for sport. The beat Ghillies do a superb job of teaching them about the nuances of the pools. One newish angler is Keith Webster, originally from Wick, who fishes annually in Russia and throughout Scotland. Keith turned up at my house on Friday beaming from ear to ear and eager to show me images of a superbly conditioned 18lb salmon he had landed on the beat. Robert Harper had taken Keith to a bit of water that hadn’t been fished for a few days. Keith informed me he hooked 4 fish for his day and only managed to land one; what a prized specimen it was! He assured me that he would not have enjoyed this success without the helpful advice from Robert Harper. I would encourage anglers to visit the beat as it’s a truly wonderful beat to fish with a great team of Ghillies.

More success for Dr Tom Charles Party at Lower Crathes.

Neil Mitchell enjoyed success at Park with his first ever spring salmon and has sent me an image of his capture. Neil advised ‘Just started fishing for salmon on the fly at the end of last year and only been out twice on the Tay and once on the tweed, and was always fishing on the right bank. I fished at Park on the left bank today, and with some help from Keith Cromar, the estates Head Ghillie I managed to start putting out a nice line which resulted in my first Springer and two kelts. Sadly I also lost two fish, however I had an amazing day and can't wait to get back up to Park. Congratulations to you Neil and tight lines for the rest of the season. I fished on Saturday at Invery and have never experienced colder and more brutal conditions for fly fishing anywhere in the world. Ice crystals formed on your finger tips as you stripped line in prior to casting and the fly line froze to the rod rings throughout the day. The old trick of sticking the rod into the water to unfreeze the rod rings didn’t work as the water temp was only 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Ghillie Karl Revel worked heroically throughout the day keeping all anglers spirits up. Beat owner Lawrence Ross, a perfect gentleman, came to meet all the visiting anglers at lunchtime and made the lunch break very enjoyable.

The River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory, the Tor Na Coille Hotel and Potarch Hotel, with some very nice prizes to be won. Raffle tickets can also be purchased through the River Office, Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, tel 013398 80411. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

Beat catches reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Middle Drum 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 4, Lower Crathes and W Durris 14, Crathes 3, Invery 1, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 3, Middle Blackhall 1, Sluie 1, Ballogie 1, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 3, Dess 1, Birse 1, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Dinnet 1, Deecastle 3, Total 42
SEA TROUT: Invery 1, Cairnton 1, Total 2

Prospects

Weather conditions are a factor that affects sport. Last year river levels dropped dramatically due to unseasonable high temperatures. This year river levels have dropped significantly due to unseasonably cold weather conditions. The BBC’S popular weather reporter Carol Kirkwood informed the nation this morning that the big blocking area of high pressure centred over northern Europe is responsible for drawing in cold air from the continent in a clockwise direction. This high pressure system shows no sign of shifting and this week will see a continuation of cold wintery weather. Air temperature maxima will perhaps reach 4 degrees Celsius with overnight frosts throughout the week ahead. There will be some precipitation, but not of any serious consequence. Winds will be predominately light and from a north or easterly direction. River levels should not fluctuate much during the week, perhaps dropping slightly day by day throughout the week. The maritime influence sees spring tides building from 3.9 metres to 4.4 metres before dropping back to 4.1 metres on Sunday. This should see new fish come forward into the river and hopefully the arrival of a decent run of multi sea winter fish to over 20lbs. Whether there are enough anglers prepared to fish the lower beats ad stick at it is another matter. There are some superb spring salmon entering the river and they are worth pitting your wits against them. Success is never guaranteed and long spells of inactivity may occur but if and when a Springer arrives on your beat then you may just get a very welcome surprise as you battle it out with a supremely strong salmon.

A first ever spring salmon for Neil Mitchell fishing at Park

As I always counsel, it’s very important to listen to your Ghillies advice. Your beat Ghillie will encourage you to persevere in the likely taking lies given the water height on your beat and they will give good advice on presentation speed, fly choice and what depth to fish the fly. More often than not the Ghillie can make the difference and give you the advice you really need to catch the elusive silver fresh run salmon. There will be times this week that you will need to seek warmth and shelter in the fishing huts, if only to lift spirits. Remember your team mate during your stay, the hard working Ghillie that stands for hours on end, day after day, in these harsh winter conditions providing helpful advice and encouragement to anglers, whilst they are no doubt chilled to the bone watching the anglers fishing. If you don’t have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you should make sure you have a sinking or intermediate fly line and a choice of sink tips. Short stout leaders of 20lbs breaking strain are advised as they help turnover heavy flies, and are needed in case you encounter a big salmon. Tube Fly choice may include Posh Tosh, Dee Monkey, Park Shrimp, Gold Willie Gunn, Intruder and Francnsnaelda. Anglers may still encounter kelts migrating downstream which need returned carefully to the river as will bright new spring salmon. Please try to ensure your fish is unhooked in the river and any pictures taken quickly when you are returning your salmon to the river.

As always there is fishing availability on the FishDee website during the last days of March. The weather looks slightly better for angling this week and if dedicated salmon anglers can manage a visit to the river then please do so. A 3 day Easter break at this time of year can yield some rewards with some of the local hotels doing some fantastic Fishermans rates for 3 days stays or more for groups of 3 or more anglers. There is great value to be found at local hotels and remember to ask what their fisherman’s rates are when you make your booking. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Wrap up well this week as its going to continue to be cold. As I was informed last week there’s no such thing as bad weather, rather it’s the wrong choice of clothing-Tight Lines! Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

Salmon fishing improved last week with the Spring tides encouraging new fish to come forward into the river. FishDee beats have reported 80 salmon to 25lbs and 3 sea trout to 4lbs. Lower Crathes continued to lead the way with 14, Park reported 9 and Altries and Upper Blackhall beats reporting 6 apiece. The biggest fish reported was 25 lbs from Middle Blackhall, more of this later. There were reports this morning of a good run of cuckoo wrasse into Aberdeen harbour which sadly were not co-operating with city anglers enjoying their annual Easter Fishathon; better luck next year.

I received some images from Robert Harper, Head Ghillie for Lower Crathes who commented in his e-mail ‘Ken, Mr Mark Bird and Mr Karl Simmons, caught five fish each for three days fishing last week.’ The beat has been fishing well for the last few weeks. Lawrence Ross sent me an e-mail with news from Tilquhillie advising ‘Young local lad Lewis Buchan (not long turned 17) caught his first salmon on Friday - 10lb fish on Tilquhillie. Lewis has had sea trout but this was his first salmon. As you know, Friday was a bitterly cold day but Lewis stuck at it and got the fish in the middle of his 'last three casts for the day'. Goes to show that perseverance pays.’ Congratulations Lewis on your success and I hope this is the first of many.

Mark Bird with a lovely salmon at Lower Crathes

I visited Middle Blackhall last Thursday and enjoyed a good chat with beat Ghillie Davie Gibbon who is always entertaining company. Davie has put himself through a level 2 coaching course and proudly announced his is the oldest level 2 angling coach in Scotland. He was looking after the Timothy Bone party who were staying at Glenbogle Lodge. David phoned me this morning to pass on the news about a big fish seen entering the Rockheads Pool on the beat. Mrs Bone was fishing the pool. She retired for lunch however David encouraged Timothy to go back to the pool to see if he could tempt the big fish. Timothy did manage to hook the big salmon that had been observed and had a real battle with the fish before managing to land it with the help of David Gibbon. Timothy has just this moment written to me as I draft this report advising ‘Sorry I missed you on Thursday, I came back from lunch, before the rest of the party, had a quick chat with David, to discuss where everyone would be fishing. I asked him to quickly check my fly was ok (a black bodied Willie Gunn), as I had a pull up at Cairnton in the morning, that had amounted to nothing more than a sharp tug. My mother had seen a large fish come into the pool before lunch. I began fishing Rockheads, and at about 3.15pm the line went very solid and started moving about enough for me to realise a fish was on the end. A while later following some support from Matthias on the Cairnton side, David the Ghillie and my mother turned up in time to help land a splendid Dee Springer of 25lbs, 40.5 inches long. After recovering the fish swam away strongly, before any photos could be taken.’ This is the biggest reported salmon caught this season.

The River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory, the Tor Na Coille Hotel and Potarch Hotel, with some very nice prizes to be won. Raffle tickets can also be purchased through the River Office, Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, tel 013398 80411.
The Dee District Salmon Fishery Board would like to advise that details about the bursary scheme to encourage young people to become ghillies are now on their website River Dee Trust & Dee District Salmon Fishery Board: Home: Welcome Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

Beat catches reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 1, Altries and Lower Drum 6, Middle Drum 1, Tilbouries 3, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 5, Park 9, Lower Crathes and W Durris 14, Knappach 1, Crathes 5, Invery 4, Tilquhillie 1, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Middle Blackhall 2, Upper Blackhall 6, Cairnton 1, Commonty 4, Sluie 1, Ballogie 2, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 1, Dess 4, Craigendinnie 1, Waterside and Ferrar 2.
Total: 80 Largest: Middle Blackhall 25lbs
SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 2, Kincardine 1.
Total: 3 Largest: Ardoe and Murtle 4lbs

Prospects

The spring tides have brought new fish into the river and are now dropping back from 4.0 metres to 3.5 metres midweek before rising at the weekend to 3.9 metres. River levels are low for the time of year due to the long spell of relatively dry and cold weather conditions. The Sepa gauges are showing 3 inches at Mar Lodge and 1ft 1 inch at Park. Weather forecasters are advising the high pressure system over northern Scotland will continue to hold firm and prevent warm, moist Atlantic weather systems crossing the country. Air temperature maxima will perhaps reach 6 degrees Celsius this week with continuing night time frosts. Winds will be light, and from a north easterly direction through the week with little precipitation of consequence. The river would benefit from a rise in river levels and water temperature. It appears that the jet stream which influences our weather is going to remain straddled across southern France and northern Spain for the next few weeks. When it decides to move north then we should see weather systems from the Atlantic cross the country bringing warmer and wetter weather.

Karl Simmons with a super Spring salmon from Lower Crathes

As the river is low and very cold salmon are not in any hurry to run the river, with the bulk of recent sport from Banchory down towards Aberdeen. I expect this pattern to continue with new fish creeping slowly upstream. As the river level is low anglers will be using floating lines with perhaps intermediate poly leaders and tube flies or larger dressed doubles. As always heed the wise counsel of your beat Ghillie who will advise where the taking lies are on the beat given the water conditions you encounter there. River Dee Ghillies are very knowledgeable and experienced and you can rely on their counsel. As always remember you work as a team together with the Ghillie often as not enduring very cold weather doing his utmost best to encourage you to persevere and cover the water effectively. Fly choice will include Black and Yellow patterns such as Posh Tosh and Maggie’s Shrimp, Gold Bodied Willie Gunn, Ally’s Shrimp, Dee Monkey and Sunray Shadow. With the clocks moving forward yesterday anglers will perhaps want to fish on in the evening.

As always there is fishing availability on the FishDee website during April. The weather looks slightly warmer for angling this week and if dedicated salmon anglers can manage a visit to the river then please do so. A 3 day break at this time of year can yield some rewards with some of the local hotels doing some fantastic Fishermans rates for 3 days stays or more for groups of 3 or more anglers. There is great value to be found at local hotels and remember to ask what their fisherman’s rates are when you make your booking. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Tight Lines! Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

LAST WEEK

Salmon catches continued to build with widespread catches reported from Altries to Lower Invercauld. It was heartening to hear reports of a reasonable run of new fish towards the weekend coming into the river. As air and water temperatures climbed during the week salmon became more active and co-operative with anglers. FishDee beats have reported 92 salmon to 28 lbs and 5 sea trout for the week with some other beats not yet reporting catches, so perhaps we will have seen more than 100 salmon landed last week. I haven't received any correspondence from anglers this week but have received some news from Ghillies.

The exciting news that broke on Friday that a 28lb salmon was landed at Lower Crathes was made even better when images of angler Roald Mayer with this big fish surfaced online at Facebook. Mr Mayer was fishing the Bridge Pool when he hooked the big fish on I understand, a Franc n snaelda fly tied by Sean Stanton. It's a long fish and very fresh which has ensured the image of Mr Mayer with the salmon is quite dramatic. Interestingly I was chatting with Brian Sim, Ghillie at Crathes Castle this morning who informed me that an even bigger fish has been seen in the River. Perhaps we shall hear of another huge fish being caught by a fortunate angler this week. Brian Sim reported that he had a group of visiting anglers from Scandinavia at Crathes Castle beat who were part of a group fishing a number of beats. He was delighted that nine salmon to 17 lbs were landed by the party hosted by Mattias Helde and Jonas Runnberg. Brian advised that the water temperature had risen to 39 degrees Fahrenheit and fish were running. Most of the fish were taking Monkeys and Sunray shadows. He said prospects for the week ahead were looking quite good.

Roald Mayer with his super 28 lb salmon at Lower Crathes

Keith Cromar at Park was delighted to have a good compliment of rods last week where 30 salmon were caught. He said he is sure that Park would have been the best beat for sport anywhere in Scotland last week. Again in line with comments made by Brian Sim, anglers saw sport as the water temperature climbed to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Keith advised that regular visitor Nick Evans had been successful with 3 salmon weighing 13, 17 and 18 lbs-good spring salmon. His colleague Bob Hogg had salmon weighing 8 and 17lbs. As always the enigmatic salmon doesn't read the rule books and Keith regaled me with the story of how Bill Gracie, a fine angler, had tempted salmon to a hitched sunray fished on the surface. He said they had seen salmon rising at the wake created by the lure when one eager salmon leapt 3 feet into the air and took the lure as it hit the water on the way back down! The beat had 9 fish on Friday with 7 taking the Sunray. On Saturday the fish would not come to the surface for a lure. Jim Coates, another talented angler caught his first for the season at Park with a nice fresh salmon that took an Elver fly that he had tied for the trip. There is a splendid image of the fish which was forwarded to me by his wife Nicola.

The River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory, the Tor Na Coille Hotel and Potarch Hotel, with some very nice prizes to be won. Raffle tickets can also be purchased through the River Office, Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, tel 013398 80411. The Dee District Salmon Fishery Board would like to advise that details about the bursary scheme to encourage young people to become ghillies are now on their website River Dee Trust & Dee District Salmon Fishery Board: Home: Welcome Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

Beat Catches Reported

SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 3, Tilbouries 2, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 4, Park 30, Lower Crathes and W Durris 8, Knappach 1, Crathes 9, Invery 1, Tilquhillie 4, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Middle Blackhall 1, Upper Blackhall 3, Woodend 4, Commonty 1, Sluie 3, Ballogie 4, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 2, Dess 1, Aboyne Water 2, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 1, Total 92
SEA TROUT: Tilquhillie 2, Sluie 1, Aboyne Water 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 1, Total 5
TROUT: none reported





PROSPECTS

Well winter has forgotten that the calendar has moved on and Deeside awoke this morning to new snowfall overnight and air temperatures sitting at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather forecast models I use are suggesting a continuation of coolish, quiet weather for the week ahead. We may see air temperatures reaching the low 40 degrees Fahrenheit with light variable winds and occasional sleet or rain mid week. One weather forecast is suggesting air temperatures may reach perhaps 55 degrees Fahrenheit next week! If this materialises then we shall have a decent movement of fish going from the lower beats to the middle and upper beats-we shall watch how things develop over the week ahead. River heights are ideal for anglers with the Sepa gauges sitting at 5 inches at Mar Lodge and 1 foot 5 inches at Park. The maritime influence shows tides building during the week so any salmon that wish to come forward should have reasonable water conditions for making their appearance.

Jim Coates with a fine spring salmon at Park

As the river level is at a nice fishing height and warming up, anglers will be using floating lines with perhaps sinking poly leaders and tube flies or larger dressed doubles. As always heed the wise counsel of your beat Ghillie who will advise where the taking lies are on the beat given the water conditions you encounter there. River Dee Ghillies are very knowledgeable and experienced and you can rely on their counsel. As always remember you work as a team together, with the Ghillie often as not enduring very cold weather, doing his utmost best to encourage you to persevere and cover the water effectively. Fly choice will include Black and Yellow patterns such as Posh Tosh and Maggie's Shrimp, Gold Bodied Willie Gunn, Ally's Shrimp, Dee Monkey and Sunray Shadow. Flies can be purchased locally at Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, George Strachan's store in Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater.

As always there is fishing availability on the FishDee website during April. The weather looks pretty reasonable for angling this week, especially when the sun makes an appearance. If dedicated salmon anglers can manage a visit to the river then please do so as fresh fish are running the river now in increasing numbers. A 3 day break at this time of year can yield some rewards with some of the local hotels doing some fantastic Fishermans rates for 3 days stays or more for groups of 3 or more anglers. There is great value to be found at local hotels and remember to ask what their fisherman's rates are when you make your booking. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Wrap up well this week as its going to continue to be cold. Tight Lines! Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

LAST WEEK

Anglers fished hard in low water conditions to make the best of it with FishDee beats reporting 109 salmon and 4 sea trout for last week. Brian Sim must have been delighted with his team of anglers who had a very decent 23 for their week. He had mentioned last Monday that things were looking promising so it was pleasing to see them do so well. Park reported 14, with 5 from the north bank and 9 from the south bank. Lower Crathes has picked away all season and they had 11 for their week. The Invery beats had 9 salmon for the week with Borrowston reporting 8 salmon. Crathie had their first fish of the season with 3 being landed which will have pleased Ghillie Archie Hay.

I spoke to some of the Ghillies this morning following the large rise in river levels following yesterday morning's heavy rain, mild wind and warm temperatures. I asked Keith Cromar at Park what he thought the water temperature was today and he replied somewhat wryly ‘Do you want the water temperature taken inside my hut or outside? The river level inside my fishing hut is 10 inches and falling!' I had a super function to attend last night at the Glen Lui Hotel where I spoke to a large group of visiting anglers from Scandinavia. As I drove to the office this morning after staying overnight in Ballater I noticed the river has burst its banks below Ballater and was into a number of fields. It will hopefully bring a good run of new fish into the middle and upper beats where anglers and ghillies have been waiting patiently for a change in fishing conditions.

Stewart Lang with a salmon at Inchmarlo



Phillipe Koehler from France was back on Deeside recently and advised ‘Hi Ken, Hope you are well. My friend Bernard and I were on the Dee last week where we both catch our first Springer on the Dee! They were 9 and 12 lbs and in very good condition, 1 was sea liced. We want to thank Kevin (Altries), Bert (Park) and Willie (Tilbouries).' I spoke to Sean Stanton at Ballogie who advised that Peter Lonsdale had 4 fish at Carlogie last week between 8 to 12 lbs. I was delighted to meet up with Alan Morrison, Dr Phil Fairchild and Dr Paul Brown who had a few days fishing at Borrowston and Kincardine. They were enjoying their trip and reported some nice salmon and a fine sea trout.
The River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory, the Tor Na Coille Hotel and Potarch Hotel, with some very nice prizes to be won. Raffle tickets can also be purchased through the River Office, Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, tel 013398 80411. The Dee District Salmon Fishery Board would like to advise that details about the bursary scheme to encourage young people to become ghillies are now on their website River Dee Trust & Dee District Salmon Fishery Board: Home: Welcome Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

Beat Catches Reported
MON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Middle Drum 2, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 4, Park 14, Lower Crathes and W Durris 11, Knappach 3, Crathes 23, Invery 5, Tilquhillie 4, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 5, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Upper Blackhall 1, Woodend 1, Lower Woodend 1, Commonty 1, Sluie 4, Ballogie 1, Borrowston 8, Kincardine 3, Carlogie 5, Dess 2, Birse 1, Dinnet 1, Deecastle 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Crathie 3, Total 109
SEA TROUT: Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Invery 1, Kincardine 1, Carlogie 1, Total 4

PROSPECTS

The weather has taken a dramatic turn for the better with current air temperatures at 15 degrees Celsius with the river getting a good flush of rain and snow melt. The Sepa river height gauges are sitting at 4 ft 5 inches at Mar Lodge and 9 ft 3 inches at Park. This welcome lift in river levels will hopefully encourage a good migration of new fish into the river, and see more fish running from the lower beats to the middle and upper beats. We could do with river levels dropping back now however there is another weather system due to arrive mid week so chances are we will have high river levels for at least the part of the week. Air temperature maxima are forecast to be around 14 degrees with variable winds which will be strong at times. The maritime influence shows tides dropping back from 3.8 metres to 3.2 metres. The river temperature will currently be around 5 or 6 degrees and should rise during the week to perhaps 8 degrees Celsius.



Stewart Lang with a nice springer at Inchmarlo

Fishing prospects today are really out of the question for safety reasons as the river is in a high spate condition. Providing we don't get a lot more snow melt today perhaps the river will be fishable from tomorrow. When the river drops significantly and the water clears then sport could be excellent, but it all depends on what size of run of new fish come into the system. There are a lot of anglers today who will be doing a whole host of other activities to keep themselves amused.

The Ghillies will be as eager as anglers to see what comes on the back of this high water and they will be keen to fish the high water lies on their beats. Heed the advice they give you as they know from experience what tactics to utilise given the prevailing river conditions. If you don't have a Ghillie to help you, then ensure you fish with big flies, and fish deep. Fly choice will include Gold Bodied Willie Gunn, Ally's Shrimp, Dee Monkey and bright Pot bellied pigs will also do well. Flies can be purchased locally at Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, George Strachan's store in Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater.

I would encourage anglers who are thinking about fishing to book availability now through FishDee because sport should really pick up now. The hotels in Deeside provide excellent value and there are Fishermans rates for groups of anglers. All anglers are being asked to have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the watercourse. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It could be a great week-Tight Lines! Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Last week

There was a very large flood at the beginning of the week which in reality made the river pretty much unfishable for the first three days of the week. The reported catch of 60 salmon and 9 sea trout from FishDee beats is reasonable however we would hope to see a catch in excess of 100 salmon this coming week. In a sport which is dependent on conditions, the flood that came last week lasted for quite a considerable period. Park's river level gauge was 9.25 feet above summer level on Monday, 6ft above summer level on Tuesday and 6.58 feet above summer level on Wednesday, predominately driven by snow melt from the hills. Park reported 13 salmon; Lower Crathes reported 12 salmon for their week as did the Invery beats. It was hoped there would have been a decent run of fish from the lower beats to the middle and upper beats; alas this never materialised. Perhaps a lot of fish dropped back downstream during the flood and only started running to the beats in the Banchory area once the levels subsided significantly. Swallows, Martins and Sand Pipers have arrived back from their winter haunts.

I spoke with Invery Beats Ghillie Karl Revel who informed me that angler John Cosh had just landed a lovely 9lb salmon just before I called him. He advised they had a team of Scandinavian anglers last week who were very accomplished anglers. He was delighted they managed to catch 4 fish with the river running at 5ft on their gauge. Two fish were caught whilst the anglers were fishing walking along the Platties walkway, casting over the fence just below the Kirk Pot! There was a nice fish taken from the Floating Bank on a size 9 Flamethrower, fished off a sunken line and short leader. Dess proprietor Jeremy Clayton had a fish on Saturday.



Edward Fifield with a salmon at Crathes

Keith Cromar at Park advised that the water temperature was 5 degrees Celsius this morning outside his hut! He then advised they had a group of house guests last week led by Philip Bellamy who all caught fish. They lost a number of days fishing due to the high coloured water with the latter part of the week giving anglers some sport as levels dropped. He commented that the fish were good sized with an average weight of 12-14 lbs. They had one fish under ten pounds and good fish of 16, 17 and 18lbs. He is hopeful new fish will come into their pools and give anglers good sport this week. Fish are being taken in the slower stretches and not the streamier water.
The River Dee Trust has launched a spring raffle where tickets are on sale in fishing huts, Orvis in Banchory, the Tor Na Coille Hotel and Potarch Hotel, with some very nice prizes to be won. Raffle tickets can also be purchased through the River Office, Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, tel 013398 80411. The Dee District Salmon Fishery Board would like to advise that details about the bursary scheme to encourage young people to become ghillies are now on their website River Dee Trust & Dee District Salmon Fishery Board: Home: Welcome Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. Copyright FishDee

Beat catches reported
(week ending 20th April)
SALMON & GRILSE: Park 13, Lower Crathes and W Durris 12, Crathes 4, Invery 6, Tilquhillie 6, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 7, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Upper Blackhall 2, Cairnton 4, Dess 1, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 1, Deecastle 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1.
Total: 60 Largest: Park 18lbs
SEA TROUT: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Park 5, Crathes 1, Aboyne Water 1, Dinnet 1.
Total: 9 Largest: Aboyne Water 3lbs
TROUT: None reported

Prospects

It could be the best fishing week of the season with a much needed flood giving the river a good clean out last week with river levels now ideal for anglers looking forward to their fishing this week on the River Dee. Spring tides will build during the week from 3.6 metres to 4.4 metres, hopefully bringing new fish forward into the river. The Sepa river level gauges are currently 1ft 5 inches above summer level at Mar Lodge and 3 ft 2 inches at Park. Weather conditions for the first part of the week look ideal with air temperatures perhaps reaching 14 degrees Celsius. There will be a change in weather conditions later in the week with air temperatures due to drop to single digits, with the possibility for hill snow and overnight frosts. Winds will be variable during the week and at times quite blustery. There will perhaps be slight lifts in river levels daily due to some snow melt, but no major rises in river levels are envisaged.

With sea gulls, swallows and sand martins taking advantages of hatches of flies during the afternoon hours it's clear that water temperatures are rising during the day sufficiently now for fish to come to the fly. It's a case of persevering this week and if and when a run of fish comes into your chosen beat, you may perhaps see some action. It's important to work with your ghillie and heed his wise advice. The Ghillies will be eager to see salmon landed where you can exploit any opportunities for sport. They will advise what flies to use and tactics to employ. At this time of year fish may take a well sunk tube fly and later in the day perhaps a much smaller fly fished off a floating or intermediate line. Vary your tactics of fly presentation and be alert to slight changes in air and water temperature. If you don't have a Ghillie to help you, perhaps you will fish with big flies first, and fish deep; later on in the day perhaps use a plastic or aluminium bodied Sunray shadow fished very square with a figure of eight retrieve, especially if you see fish splashing about. Fly choice will include Gold Bodied Willie Gunn, Ally's Shrimp, Dee Monkey and Pot bellied pigs; later in the day you may perhaps get fish to come to a size 8 or 10 dressed double. Flies can be purchased locally at Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, George Strachan's store in Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater.

I really would encourage anglers who are thinking about fishing to book availability now through FishDee because sport should really pick up now given the significant improvement in fishing conditions. The hotels in Deeside provide excellent value and there are Fishermans rates for groups of anglers. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure all anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different beats during their week on the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It could be great week-Tight Lines! Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

LAST WEEK

FishDee beats reported the best catches for the season so far with 185 salmon reported. A few of the beats around Banchory are doing very well and upper river beats are having a bit of a lean time; their time will come when the river warms up and salmon move upstream. Lower Crathes saw an excellent weeks sport with 45 salmon, Invery & Tilquhillie reported 21 salmon, Crathes Castle beat had 20 and Lower Blackhall & Kinneskie reported 18. There were some fish eager to move upstream beyond Banchory as Ballogie and Carlogie beats reported 29 salmon for their week. The biggest reported fish was a 22lb salmon landed at Ballogie; more of this later. River levels were in good order following the large flood from the previous week with temperatures around the mid 40’s Fahrenheit throughout the week.
I am grateful to Invery beats Ghillie Karl Revel who provided the following report this morning. ‘Dear Ken, We enjoyed a very satisfactory week on Invery/Tilquhillie with 21 salmon being caught and several more hooked and lost. Top rod was Jim Fisher from Pitlochry with 6 salmon. He provided the highlight of the week when he hooked, caught and released a salmon in Greenbank before an audience of very well behaved, interested and excited primary 5C pupils from Hill of Banchory Primary School. They were enjoying their river visit with River Dee Biologist Adrian Hudson and River Dee Trust manager Dr Lorraine Hawkins. Their visit forms part of their curriculum for excellence syllabus supported by the River Dee Trust IntroDee programme. Mr Fisher received a rousing ovation for his success from his young onlookers and from me.’ Well done Jim and delighted to hear of your continued success for your visits to the River Dee.



Mr Chema Moscardó with one of his 7 fish capture for 3 days on the Dee


Brian Sim reported that Lee Philpott had a great weeks sport at Crathes Castle with over 10 salmon for his week. Lee was fishing as part of the Dill Day party. They were getting salmon on Snaelda’s and Monkey flies, with 4 taken on a stripped Sunray Shadow. Robert Harper reported that he was very happy that Lower Crathes had their best spring week for quite a number of years with 45 salmon caught and released. Italian angler Orazio Gatti, a regular visitor to the beat had 15 salmon for his week; Paulo Cesni had 12 with Mr Moscardó landing 7 in three days and Mr Cochis having some sport. Day guest Malcolm Tocher had 3 salmon including fish of 17 and 18 lbs. Robert advised that half of the weekly catch were sea liced salmon and most were caught on black and yellow tube flies fished of intermediate tips as the water temperature was over 44 degrees Fahrenheit. I received an e-mail from Orazio commenting ‘Dear Ken, Yes, finally a good week in April! I will send you some pictures tomorrow. See you in July! I will fish Banchory and Culter. My Best, Orazio’



Chema with another salmon at Lower Crathes

I received a phone call on Saturday from Jerk Sönnichsen, President of the Danish Fly Fishers Federation who was fishing at Ballogie last week. He tells me he had his 100th River Dee Springer this week and his 107th was a 22lber on Friday. He was interviewed by BBC Landward crew for a broadcast this Friday evening about the River Dee and catch and release. Well done Jerk and I hope readers of this column will tune into the BBC Landward programme on Friday evening.

Some other items of news this week .The directors of River Dee Board & Trust and FishDee respectfully announce the bereavement of Gordon Dawson, Chairman and Factor of the Aboyne Water Fishings Club. His funeral took place on Friday in Melrose. There is a tribute to Mr Dawson which has been provided by Mr Tristan Sillars, which can be accessed at this web link Gordon Dawson-Aboyne Water Fishings Club | FishDee

Orvis of Banchory have details of their free beginners fly fishing courses, which will be held between May and September. For further details contact Orvis of Banchory by visiting their store at 2-8 Bridge St, Banchory AB31 5SX or call telephone number 01330 824319. Copyright FishDee

Beat Catches Reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 4, Park 3, Lower Crathes and W Durris 45, Knappach 1, Crathes 20, Invery 9, Tilquhillie 12, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 18, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 12, Middle Blackhall 4, Upper Blackhall 1, Cairnton 3, Woodend 5, Commonty 1, Ballogie 17, Borrowston 3, Kincardine 3, Carlogie 11, Dess 1, Birse 1, Aboyne Water 1, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 2, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Total 185
SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 3, Commonty 1, Ballogie 2, Dinnet 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 4, Total 12

PROSPECTS

Following on from last week’s much improved sport, prospects for the week ahead look pretty reasonable. The River Dee is running at an ideal fishing height with excellent clarity and a water temperature around 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The Sepa gauges are showing river levels at 11 inches at Mar Lodge and 2 foot at Park. The maritime influence sees high tides falling back this week from 4.3 metres in Aberdeen to 3.7 metres. The jet stream is currently lying across the bottom half of the British Isles which sees a northerly airstream influencing our weather just now, but this looks likely that it will change over the next few weeks bringing warmer air temperatures and nice warm southerly breezes. In the meantime we shall see blustery winds at times this week with the odd risk of frost at night in the highland glens. Winds may swing around to a variable south or westerly air stream later in the week. Air temperature maxima are around 12 degrees this week, but it will feel colder due to the strength of the wind. When the wind drops it should feel quite pleasant during sunny spells. There is not any significant rainfall forecast this week but there will be some rain at times and perhaps hill snow at the start of the week. Snow melt will continue to keep the river at a nice fishing height.



A group of visiting anglers fishing the upper Dee beats entertained by Ian Murray of Lower Invercauld & Monaltrie

With lengthening daylight hours anglers may well be starting to fish on into the evenings and perhaps rest the pools for a prolonged lunch hour. Hopefully we shall see fish start to run into the upper beats where Ghillies have been waiting patiently to see runs of new salmon arrive in their beats. Recently the best sport has been around the Banchory area of the River Dee; however the cold water temperatures have to a certain extent held fish back from running to the upper beats I’m told, much to the frustration of Ghillies and anglers alike. Some recent years, have shown when the water is warmer the fish have rocketed through the lower river to the upper river; but not this year. They will run some time and hopefully this week shall see the good numbers of fish in the Banchory area move upstream.

It’s a case of persevering this week and if and when a run of fish comes into your chosen beat, you may perhaps see some action. It’s important to work with your ghillie and heed his wise advice. The Ghillies will be eager to see salmon landed where you can exploit any opportunities for sport. They will advise what flies to use and tactics to employ. At this time of year fish may take a large tube fly and later in the day perhaps a much smaller fly fished off a floating or intermediate line. Vary your tactics of fly presentation and be alert to slight changes in air and water temperature. If you don't have a Ghillie to help you, perhaps you will fish with big flies first, and fish down a bit; later on in the day perhaps use a plastic or aluminium bodied Sunray shadow fished very square with a figure of eight retrieve, especially if you see fish splashing about. Fly choice will include Black and Yellow variant tube flies, Ally's Shrimp, Dee Monkey and Pot bellied pigs; later in the day you may perhaps get fish to come to a size 8 or 10 dressed double. Flies can be purchased locally at Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, George Strachan's store in Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater.

I really would encourage anglers who are thinking about fishing to book availability now through FishDee because sport should really pick up now given the significant improvement in fishing conditions. The hotels in Deeside provide excellent value and there are Fishermans rates for groups of anglers. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure all anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different beats during their week on the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. Finally the Scottish Hotel Hospitality awards were held last night in Glasgow and FishDee are delighted to report that a number of Deeside’s Hotels won quite an impressive haul of awards. Congratulations go to the hard working teams of staff, who look after many of our visiting anglers at Loch Kinord Hotel, Raemoir House Hotel and Tor Na Coille Hotel for their success. We have a great range of accommodation providers so please visit the relevant pages on the FishDee website to find out more. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It could be another good week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Last Week

It was a trying week for anglers and Ghillies alike last week due to conditions they had to face. There was a fierce wind at the beginning of the week and a big rise in river levels on Saturday which made fishing difficult. It's also clear that the spring run so far this year has not been good for many anglers and Ghillies, especially in the upper beats. This is fishing and not catching, and there are never any guarantees of sport when you are trying to outwit a fish which does not feed in fresh water. FishDee beats have reported 108 salmon for the week and 16 sea trout, with perhaps some late additions to add to this total. Lower Crathes continued to fish well, with the anglers catching 26 salmon for their week. I visited Arni Baldursson on Thursday at the beat who advised that sport was good; he advised he had 8 for the week so far and hoped to land a few more by the end of the week. Park reported 15 salmon, Ballogie beats 14 and the Blackhall beats were also in double figures.



Alan Lankshear who celebrates his 90th birthday this month fighting a hard salmon at Carlogie

Mr Coghill from Argyll had 3 days at Crathes fishing with Ghillie Brian Sim and advised ‘No fish but a most interesting and informative three days. Brian knows his beat intimately, understanding exactly how to fish each pool in the prevailing water conditions. His knowledge of the latest fishing methods is outstanding and his scientific approach to matching tackle to conditions is exactly what an angler who is new to the beat wants to hear. So often a Ghillie will side step the question of what tackle to use and how to fish, not Brian, ask the question and you will get a straight answer. Following my visit to Crathes I have bought a Skagit and am tying up a range of Sunrays, Brian's favourite fly. They may not catch me more fish but it will be fun trying and learning a new technique. Looking forward to next year.'

Sean Stanton from Ballogie comments on his blog ‘At last the fish have arrived! We managed to get some sea liced salmon this week, after the big flood last week I was pretty sure they would run up the river after it had cleared. I did expect to see more fish in the pools but due to the water temperature falling, the fish seemed reluctant to move fast through the pools, the water temperature dropped from 48f to 42f due to the snow we had towards the end of the week. With the weather forecast indicating no cold nights we may see some increase in the water temperature and some snow melt into the river.' And with tides building this week hopefully a good run of new fish. Simon Bragg dropped me an e-mail with an image of his very first salmon from Borrowston. I am sure we all wish him continued success on his visits to the River Dee.

Orvis of Banchory have details of their free beginners fly fishing courses, which will be held between May and September. For further details contact Orvis of Banchory by visiting their store at 2-8 Bridge St, Banchory AB31 5SX or call telephone number 01330 824319. Copyright FishDee

Beat Catches Reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 15, Lower Crathes and W Durris 26, Knappach 2, Crathes 3, Invery 5, Tilquhillie 5, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 5, Middle Blackhall 2, Upper Blackhall 2, Cairnton 3, Woodend 2, Commonty 4, Sluie 3, Ballogie 6, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 6, Carlogie 4, Dess 3, Birse 1, Craigendinnie 1, Dinnet 3, Headinch and Cambus O'May 2, Total 108
SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 2, Tilbouries 1, Park 5, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Tilquhillie 2, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 1, Commonty 1, Carlogie 1, Dess 1, Crathie 1, Total 16

PROSPECTS

The river is running high and clear following the rise in river levels on Saturday following Friday's snowfall in the mountains and heavy rain at lower levels. The Sepa gauges are reading 1ft 11 inches at Mar Lodge and 2ft 9 inches at Park. The Ballogie weather station reported a temperature of over 17 degrees Celsius yesterday making it the hottest day of the season so far; this has led to snow melt and a good water level for anglers. The river temperature was in the mid forties Fahrenheit last week however it dropped back to just over 40 degrees on Saturday. It would make a difference if we could get temperatures in excess of 50 degrees Fahrenheit to really get salmon on the move to the upper beats. The weather forecast is looking reasonable this week but there may be a bit of rain midweek and strong winds, with air temps reaching perhaps 18 degrees Celsius. This suggests we will have fluctuating river levels to contend with however the maritime influence sees tides building from 3 .8 metres to 4.1 metres. Hopefully a good run of new fish will come forward given the ideal river conditions that prevail at present. All things being equal we should get better sport during the forthcoming week.



Simon Bragg with his first ever salmon at Borrowston

With lengthening daylight hours anglers may well be starting to fish on into the evenings and look for sea trout. Sea Trout fishing is a nice way to unwind in the evening after pursuing salmon all day. There are quite a number of anglers who come to the River Dee to fish for salmon and sea trout and will have two rods set up to use. If a good hatch of flies is observed anglers may find a bit of sport from sea trout.

It's a case of persevering this week and if and when a run of fish comes into your chosen beat, you may perhaps see some action. It's important to work with your Ghillie and heed his wise advice. The Ghillies will be eager to see salmon landed where you can exploit any opportunities for sport. They will advise what flies to use and tactics to employ. At this time of year fish may take a 1.5 inch tube fly fished off an intermediate line and later in the day perhaps a much smaller fly fished off a floating line. Vary your tactics of fly presentation and be alert to slight changes in air and water temperature. If you don't have a Ghillie to help you, perhaps you will fish with big flies first, and fish down a little bit; later on in the day perhaps use a plastic or aluminium bodied Sunray shadow fished very square with a figure of eight retrieve, especially if you see fish splashing about. Fly choice will include Black and Yellow variant tube flies, Ally's Shrimp, Dee Monkey and Pot bellied pigs; later in the day you may perhaps get fish to come to a size 8 or 10 dressed double. Flies can be purchased locally at Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, George Strachan's store in Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater.

I really would encourage anglers who are thinking about fishing to book availability now through FishDee because sport should really pick up now given the significant improvement in fishing conditions-its getting warmer. The hotels in Deeside provide excellent value and there are Fisherman's rates for groups of anglers. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure all anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different beats during their week on the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. Irene Ross who has the Old Toll House in Kincardine advises she has availability into June. We have a great range of accommodation providers so please visit the relevant pages on the FishDee website to find out more. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It should be a better week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

The River Dee saw a lot of anglers fishing the length of the catchment looking for the elusive salmon with catches reported from Ardoe to Abergeldie. If you were in the right place at the right time there were some fish to be caught. FishDee beats reported 74 salmon to 22 lbs and 8 sea trout. It’s been a slow cold spring this year so far with night time frosts still occurring. Lower Crathes continues to provide sport weekly with 16 reported last week and the Invery beats reported 12 with Graham Ritchie, a very talented angler catching 3 in a day. Conditions at times have been difficult for anglers and this week was no exception. The weather has been quite cold and the river levels have fluctuated a bit with quite unsettled water coming down the valley which seems to put fish off the take. Anglers though are a resilient bunch and the people I met on the river last week seemed to be having a very enjoyable time in the valley, enjoying good Scottish hospitality. I caught up with Lars Terkildsen from Sweden fishing with Hans from Germany at Commonty. Sport had been slow but they managed some fresh fish and persevered to get their rewards. Lars has had some superb days on the Dee with up to 18 salmon; this year sport has been challenging but the rewards have been worth the efforts.



Jan Tryk with a 22lb salmon at Lower Crathes

Tristan Sillars dropped me an e-mail commenting ‘I am just back from the annual May Aboyne trip with Andrew Dennis and Bill and Mark Currie. It was a challenging week, seeing hardly any fish entering the pools despite the water temperature remaining around 50 all week and of course decent water heights. Clearly the majority of fish have either remained in the lower half of the river or we are encountering a particularly poor spring run. I would imagine it is a combination of these factors, according to my own spring catch records for the river; we are heading for the lowest spring catch on the river since 2002. In terms of the fishing, we managed 3 fish, and lost another. I have attached a picture of one of my fish, a 14lber from the Lummels. This fish had almost half of its tail fin missing, if you zoom in you can see it, although my hand is half covering it annoyingly! Despite this unfortunate damage, this fish put up a super 15 minute fight, quite incredible and testament to the admirable survival instinct of these fabulous creatures.’

I received an e-mail from Jan Tryk, a visiting angler from Denmark who was fishing at Lower Crathes advising ‘Hi Ken, Here is a picture of my beautiful salmon (22 lbs) from Lower Crathes caught May 7th which was caught on a Cascade size 10 and fished close to the surface.’ It’s a lovely fish and I’m delighted to receive this image from Jan. I am also delighted that Ian Murray rang me this morning with some news from Lower Invercauld and Monaltrie. He advised Mr JH Stephenson landed two fish yesterday from his beats which were very newsworthy; one of 25 lbs and one of 28lbs. The fish were bars of silver. I hope to get more information about these captures for next weeks column.



Tristan Sillars with a damaged salmon at Aboyne Water

Orvis of Banchory have details of their free beginners fly fishing courses, which will be held between May and September. For further details contact Orvis of Banchory by visiting their store at 2-8 Bridge St, Banchory AB31 5SX or call telephone number 01330 824319. Copyright FishDee

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. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

Beat catches reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 3, Altries and Lower Drum 1, Park 3, Lower Crathes and W Durris 16, Crathes 3, Invery 5, Tilquhillie 7, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 2, Upper Blackhall 1, Cairnton 1, Woodend 1, Commonty 2, Ballogie 1, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 5, Dess 3, Aboyne Water 3, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 2, Deecastle 2, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 2, Abergeldie 1.
Total: 74 Largest: Lower Crathes and W Durris & Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 22lbs
SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 1, Park 2, Tilquhillie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Woodend 2.
Total: 8 Largest: Woodend 4lbs

Prospects

The prevailing cool weather conditions look set to continue with the Met Office suggesting grass frosts this week. They suggest this week will see air temperature maxima peak around 12 degrees Celsius and get perhaps a little warmer during the latter part of the week. Winds will be light and variable. River levels are pretty decent with the Sepa gauges are showing 1ft 2 inches at Mar Lodge, 1 ft 9 inches at Park. The maritime influence shows tides dropping through the week from 4.0 metres to 3.4 metres which may bring some new fish forward. We may be a bit early for Grilse just now but we hope that they start to run the river in the next few weeks to augment numbers of salmon in the river. A good summer run would be a blessing for the river.

As always please heed the advice of your beat Ghillie who can make suggestions about where to fish on your chosen beat and what flies and tactics to utilise. Time and time again I hear from anglers who let me know how helpful their Ghillie has been in putting them onto taking fish. Their knowledge is second to none and they can at times make a difference in helping you achieve success on their beat. If you don’t have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you will probably want to fish with a full floating line or perhaps with a 5 foot sink tip just to take the fly a few inches below the surface. Your fly choice might include a Black or Red Frances, Snaelda, Ally’s shrimp, Cascade or Maggie’s Shrimp. The Monkey or Sunray can also be used at times to good effect. Perseverance is the key though as you won’t catch a fish unless you have a fly in the water.

If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip or run out, then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne have increased their selection of fishing equipment and River Dee flies tied by the Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices too. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a vast selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. The Countrywear shop in Ballater is a favourite destination for visiting anglers, where Norman Clements is always delighted to meet visiting anglers. They have a good selection of fishing equipment available and provide good service and value. I would like to add Kincardine O'Neil Post Office supplies nice sandwiches and a great selection of River Dee flies too.

I really would encourage anglers who are thinking about fishing to book availability now through FishDee because sport should really pick up now given the significant improvement in fishing conditions-its getting warmer. The hotels in Deeside provide excellent value and there are Fisherman's rates for groups of anglers. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure all anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different beats during their week on the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. We have a great range of accommodation providers so please visit the relevant pages on the FishDee website to find out more. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It should be a better week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

 

[ken@fishdee]

LAST WEEK

A better week for FishDee with FishDee beats reporting 160 salmon and 5 sea trout. Some sea liced small fish were running to the upper beats but not in the volumes anglers hope for in the spring. In the last few years the upper beats have had good sport with the lower beats having to wait patiently as fish rocketed through their beats unseen. This year the reverse has happened with fish having a distinct preference for staying in the beats around Banchory. That is where I have received reports from for this week's report. Invery and Tilquhillie had 24 salmon between both beats and Lower Crathes 15, the Blackhall beats reported 17, Ballogie beats 16 and Crathes Castle 11. It's not all gloom and doom in the upper river though. An angler is reported to have had two fish of 28 and 25lbs at Lower Invercauld and Monaltrie last Monday; no further details are available.

Here is the report for the week at Invery & Tilquhillie as reported by Ghillies Karl Revel and Jim Turnbull. 'On Saturday 11th May Graham Ritchie from Fraserburgh was rewarded for purchasing the two rods donated by Invery/Tilquhillie to the Atlantic Salmon Trust Auction where he caught the beats one hundredth salmon of the season. This was one of three fish he caught on the day one a one inch self tied Willie Gunn. This week has continued well with 24 salmon (Invery 12 and Tilquhillie 12) and two sea trout added to our total. Top rod has been Colin Harvey from Worcestershire, a frequent visitor to the Dee over many years. Colin caught 12 salmon to 14 lbs and 2 sea trout. On our best day six salmon were caught from six different pools, the highlight being a first ever salmon, a lovely sea liced six pounder for Mike Salter from Banchory. The others were caught by Colin (2) and by renowned Naver Ghillie Bob McBain. Invery and Tilquhillie beats have produced 125 salmon for the season to date.



Mr Farr with a nice fish at Lower Crathes


Comments received from Simon Bragg who caught his first fish recently at Borrowston who advised 'I was a guest of Bert and Gail Wiegman at Fernybank on Millden Estate. The fly was a Cascade Tube lovingly made by Bill Palmer. I caught the fish at Top Slip. To get the bite was a real surprise and so exciting as I was near mid stream. I had to gradually and slowly walk out of the river whilst letting the fish run and then reel in. Hearing the 'Zzzzzzzzzz' as the line pulls out is a great noise. Bill gave me some excellent 'orders' so that I didn't lose the fish. It took a little while after getting on the bank to reel her in, but once landed I had great sense of pleasure and achievement at having caught my first salmon. The River Dee is a super river and one that I look forward to coming back again soon.

Robert Harper wrote with news from Lower Crathes 'Morning Ken, The first e-mail was of Mr George Farr with a 24lbs fish, later in the day he caught a 20lbs fish, photo attached, also photo of Mrs Farr (aunt) with 12lbs fish on Saturday, Mrs Farr also caught a 20lbs fish sorry no photo. We had some other good fish.' Another good week at Lower Crathes should see them land their 200th fish for the season. Dinnet and Deecastle saw 7 salmon landed with Marcus Humphrey grabbing the headlines with a lovely sea liced fish, ably netted by son Edward Humphrey. The anglers, who I enjoyed the day with on Saturday at Dinnet / Deecastle, had a lovely holiday and were in high spirits despite the heavy rain on Saturday.

Orvis of Banchory have details of their free beginners fly fishing courses, which will be held between May and September. For further details contact Orvis of Banchory by visiting their store at 2-8 Bridge St, Banchory AB31 5SX or call telephone number 01330 824319. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It should be another better week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.



Marcus Humphrey with a nice sea liced salmon at Dinnet

SALMON & GRILSE: Kingcausie 3, Tilbouries 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 5, Lower Crathes and W Durris 15, Knappach 1, Crathes 11, Invery 12, Tilquhillie 12, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 6, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 6, Upper Blackhall 4, Cairnton 6, Woodend 3, Lower Woodend 6, Commonty 5, Sluie 2, Ballogie 4, Borrowston 3, Kincardine 5, Carlogie 7, Dess 8, Birse 5, Aboyne Water 2, Aboyne Castle 3, Craigendinnie 7, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 4, Headinch and Cambus O'May 3, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 2, Crathie 2, Total 160
SEA TROUT: Crathes 1, Invery 1, Tilquhillie 1, Cairnton 2, Total 5



PROSPECTS

The weather forecast shows a mild start to the week with a return to cooler weather for the second half of the week. There will be some precipitation but hopefully not enough to affect water levels. The Sepa gauges are all falling after heavy rain on Saturday with Ballater showing 2 feet and falling and Park reading 2ft 10 inches and falling. The water temps are approaching 50 degrees Fahrenheit and will be around this temperature all week. Winds are going to be breezy at times and will be predominately from the North West all week. The Jet stream is moving south during the latter part of the week and it looks likely that the cooler weather will continue for some time. Reasonably good salmon fishing weather but not great for sea trout fishing in the evening. The maritime influence sees tides building this week so hopefully we shall see a good run of new fish entering the river.

Your beat Ghillies will advise you on the tactics you should utilise but perseverance will be necessary. Anglers are still catching fish on tube flies fished well down but other fish are coming to small flies fished on floating lines. One was taken on a size 12 double last week at Dinnet from the Ministers Pool. As always heed the Ghillies wise counsel as they will give you the advice you need of where taking fish may be encountered on their beats given the water levels you encounter on your visit. If you don't have a Ghillie to obtain advice from then you may wish to consider the following flies as worth a go with. The Park Shrimp, Silver Stoats tail, Black Frances, Ally's Shrimp, Tosh and of course the Sunray Shadow is always a good option if fish are seen and suspected to be running through your pool.



Mrs Farr with a salmon on a nice bright day at Lower Crathes

If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip or run out, then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne have increased their selection of fishing equipment and River Dee flies tied by the Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices too. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a vast selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. The Countrywear shop in Ballater is a favourite destination for visiting anglers, where Norman Clements is always delighted to meet visiting anglers. They have a good selection of fishing equipment available and provide good service and value. I would like to add Kincardine O'Neil Post Office supplies nice sandwiches and a great selection of River Dee flies too.

Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It's a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It should be a better week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

The River Dee produced the best catches of the season so far with FishDee beats reporting 230 salmon to 25lbs and 17 sea trout. With the inaugural Banchory River Festival taking place this week it was pleasing to hear that the fish seemed to be catching the bug and giving anglers and Ghillies much enjoyment. Water temperatures rose to over 50 degrees Fahrenheit and action was to heat up dramatically compared to the previous week with Invery & Tilquhillie reporting 20 salmon, Carlogie 18, Dess 14; Birse & Ballogie beats reported 13 apiece with Headinch & Cambus O’May, Little Blackhall and Lower Invercauld & Monaltrie reporting 11 each. Little Blackhall also reported 6 sea trout which all in all is encouraging news as sea trout add an extra dimension to the anglers visit to the river. The spring period is now over as of the first of June, and we now look forward to a better summer of sport on the river with the encouraging news that grilse runs have arrived of the west coats of Ireland; they should start arriving in the next fortnight all going well. There are a number of beats that have had over 100 salmon for the season so far with Lower Crathes & West Durris reporting 209, Ballogie/Carlogie 169, Park 165, Invery & Tilquhillie 149 and Crathes 120. Fish last week were running from the lower beats to the middle and upper beats with some good sized fish in the high teens of pounds landed regularly. There are reports of damaged fish being caught and it would be helpful if anglers and Ghillies can send any images of damaged fish to ken@riverdee.org

[/URL][/IMG]

Peter Jones with a salmon at Upper Blackhall

It was pleasing to hear of the continued success at Invery and Tilquhillie where 20 salmon were landed which will have delighted Ghillies Jim Turnbull and Karl Revel, who have provided a report for their week. I received a note through my door on Saturday evening advising ‘The 6 fish landed at Invery included fish of 18lbs to David Craik of Somers Fishing Tackle, 17lbs to Chris Struth and 10lbs to Mike Forbes of Kingennie, who was fishing a day rod purchased through the GWCT Grampian Sporting Auction, held at Lochter on 25th April which raised over £40,000 on the night. Tilquhillie’s 14 fish were caught by John Fyfe, with Gordon Mutch and Steven Moir catching fish of 18lbs. Highlight of the week was a lovely sea liced 6lb fish caught in Floating Bank. This was a first ever salmon for Miro Seifert, a delighted seventy year old angler from Salzburg, Austria. His reaction after his heart rate had returned to near normal? He was to exclaim ‘I’ll be back!’ Well done Miro.

I was thrilled to receive an e-mail from Jonathon Graves with news about Alan Lankshear commenting ‘Alan Lankshear, a regular visitor to Deeside for over 50 years celebrated his 90th birthday on Wednesday last week. On Thursday he proved that age is no barrier by catching a 10lbs fish from Commonty. A truly remarkable man, Alan still manages a full days fishing albeit at a slightly slower pace than in his earlier years.’ It’s fair to say Alan will have a vast amount of angling tales to regale fellow anglers with in the lunch huts however this Commonty fish will have given him a lot of pleasure. Well done Alan and belated happy birthday wishes from FishDee!

[/URL][/IMG]

Davie Gibbon, Middle Blackhall Ghillie with Raymond Sinclair, Upper Blackhall Ghillie discussing the mornings sport

I was delighted to be invited to fish on Little Blackhall & Inchmarlo by proprietor David Trembath, a real gentleman. David has very kindly provided some notes for this week’s column advising ‘Great to have you fishing with us and delighted you were successful. I fished the New Fawn last evening and at last I connected with a cracking 10 pounder on a Sunray about 9.30 pm - my first fish by this method - at last I have managed to make it work. Just to confirm my guest, Alistair Ross, had a great day on Tuesday when we had some high coloured water - he had two salmon in the morning and one in the afternoon and a sea trout in the evening. All the salmon were on a Silver Monkey, whatever that is. He was quite pleased with himself! All in all we had a good week with eleven fish plus half a dozen or so sea trout.’ The anglers I met were truly delightful company and all seemed to be enjoying their visit to the river.

Finally as part of the Inaugural Banchory River Festival there will be an opportunity for people who have always wanted to try fishing to come and spend a few hours learning to fish at the Raemoir Trout Fishery, Raemoir Road, Banchory on Saturday 8th June. This is a free to attend IntroDee session for parents with children commencing from 10.30 am. People who would like to attend just need to send an e-mail to info@riverdee.org to advise how many are attending or call the River Office on 013398 80411 to register. Visiting anglers may appreciate the opportunity to visit Deeside Drinks Emporium in Banchory for a subsidised beer tasting evening this Saturday at 8pm and whisky tasting afternoon on Sunday at 6pm. With respective costs for attending of only £5 and £7.50 this is terrific value for events of this type. Please advise Sandy if you are attending either or both events by calling 01330 822650. This will ensure he can provide sufficient stocks to meet demand for what promises to be great fun River Festival Event. There is a full list of activities taking place through the River Festival weekend at Visit Banchory - Accommodation Food and Things to Do . I hope to see many people out and about in Banchory enjoying the festival. News of catches, with or without images are always welcome, so please drop a line to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It could be an exciting week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some more good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Tilbouries 2, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 9, Lower Crathes and W Durris 11, Crathes 9, Invery 6, Tilquhillie 14, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 8, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 11, Middle Blackhall 1, Upper Blackhall 4, Cairnton 4, Woodend 4, Lower Woodend 1, Commonty 5, Sluie 2, Ballogie 13, Borrowston 9, Kincardine 6, Carlogie 18, Dess 14, Birse 13, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 3, Craigendinnie 6, Waterside and Ferrar 7, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 8, Headinch and Cambus O'May 11, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 11, Birkhall 4, Abergeldie 3, Crathie 7, Total 230
SEA TROUT: Park 5, Crathes 2, Tilquhillie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 6, Ballogie 1, Carlogie 1, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Total 17

Prospects

The weather forecast from the Met Office advises Sunny spells, warm or very warm in sunshine-That’s pleasing news to read. Today: A bright but perhaps rather cloudy start, although sunny spells will develop. Feeling warm or very warm with light winds, especially towards Aboyne, but cooler near coasts with sea breezes. Mainly dry but isolated sharp showers developing late afternoon. Maximum Temperature 20 °C. Tonight: Any showers dying away with sunny spells into the evening then some clear spells overnight, but patchy mist and fog developing and low cloud will spread into coastal areas. Minimum Temperature 8 °C. Tuesday: Mainly dry and bright, some sunny spells developing with most mist and fog soon clearing, but rather murky around the coast. Feeling warm in sunshine, but isolated heavy afternoon showers. Maximum Temperature 17 °C. Outlook for Wednesday to Friday: Mainly dry and bright with sunny spells developing as most low cloud and mist eases back to coasts in mornings. Some showers but a spell of rain on Thursday morning. The Sepa gauges are showing 9 inches at Mar Lodge and steady and Park is reading 1ft 5 inches and steady; ideal river heights for fishing. The water temps are above 50 degrees Fahrenheit and will be for the forthcoming week. Winds are going to be light and variable which will make angling a real pleasure. The maritime influence sees Tides starting the week at 3.6 metres before rising mid week to 4.0 metres. It appears to be reasonably good fishing weather for sea trout fishing into the evening if you have some on your beat.

[/URL][/IMG]

Salmon are on the move

Your beat Ghillies will advise you on the tactics you should utilise but beware of burning the candle at both ends as daylight hours are very long now and the temptation to fish during all day and night may well occur for some anglers. The migration of fish from the Lower Beats to the middle beats seems to be gathering momentum and fish are running to the upper beats too. As always heed the Ghillies wise counsel as they will give you the advice you need of where taking fish may be encountered on their beats given the water levels you encounter on your visit. If you don’t have a Ghillie to obtain advice from then you may wish to consider the following flies as worth a go with. The Park Shrimp, Silver Stoats tail, Black Flamethrower or Orange Flamethrower, Ally’s Shrimp, Tosh in sizes10-12 and of course the Sunray Shadow is always a good option if fish are seen and suspected to be running through your pool. The Sunray shadow fished high and fast is very exciting when fish are in the mood where action can be quite explosive from both salmon and sea trout. Full floaters are the order of the day now with a sink tip utilised in afternoons of bright sunlight. Make sure your leader is stout as there are some really good fish running the river.

If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip or run out, then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne have increased their selection of fishing equipment and River Dee flies tied by the Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices too. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a vast selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. The Countrywear shop in Ballater is a favourite destination for visiting anglers, where Norman Clements is always delighted to meet visiting anglers. They have a good selection of fishing equipment available and provide good service and value. I would like to add Kincardine O'Neil Post Office supplies nice sandwiches and a great selection of River Dee flies too.

Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It’s a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

 

[ken@fishdee]

LAST WEEK

The River Dee produced steady sport for anglers all week with FishDee beats reporting 182 salmon to 24 lbs with 10 sea trout. Catches were well distributed from Ardoe to Crathie with a number of beats into double figures; Lower Crathes 17 salmon, Dinnet 15, Crathie12, Headinch & Cambus O'May 11 with Cairnton and Dess 10 apiece. I have heard reports of quite a lot of fish hooked and lost including a big specimen at Birse which was hooked in the March Pool and made a run of 200 yards before the leader broke at the knot. There was a nice 24 lb salmon reported from Lower Crathes; this beat has been consistently good all season. The 150th salmon of the season for Invery & Tilquhillie was caught by Gordon Mutch from Aberdeen-Congratulations Gordon. The run of salmon upstream has been late this year and good numbers of fish are running upriver now with plenty of good availability on the FishDee website. Sea trout sport has been slow this year but should get going over the next few weeks.

Now to correspondence which has been a bit light of late, however I am pleased to hear news that I can share with readers of the FishDee column. Firstly Jonathon Graves provided a nice report about his group's recent trip advising ‘our weeks (weeks 18 and 19 at Carlogie) this year were a bit thin fish wise but as usual we enjoyed our time on the Ballogie estate. My father enjoyed his 50th consecutive year fishing Carlogie and on the Friday of week 19, he fished with Alan Lankshear (52 years on Dee), Barrie Welham (50+ years on Dee) and Gerald Beers (40+ years on Dee). This gave our rods for the morning a combined age of 324 years. (With nearly a combined 200 years of Dee experience.)At lunchtime Randall and Malcolm Nichol kindly gave my father a flask acknowledging his 50th year, and for an hour or so the old fishing tales were regaled at the Calm Pool hut. A great day for all.I have attached a picture of my father, Richard Graves, fishing the tail of the Boat pool in high water with Sean Stanton in attendance. You can see the clamp with universal joint that my father attaches his false limb to the top of the rod handle and he strips line with his right hand and teeth! He has never tried changing hands as Carlogie suits a left hander but I see no reason why a one handed fisher could not clamp their false limb to the lower end of the butt; and thereby fish off either shoulder. We have a plastic insert let into the cork of the rod handle to allow the clamp to be tightened firmly. Best wishes for the rest of the season.' What an experience that would be to spend time chatting with all those elder statesmen of the Dee. They must have a wealth of stories and anecdotes. Edward Humphrey called to say he caught a classic Dee salmon of 8lbs , a bar of silver, at Abergeldie on a size 14 blue charm.



Richard Graves at Carlogie

Jim Coates was fishing up in the Ballater area with Ian Murray and advised ‘Hi Ken, Just arrived home after 3 days of prime tanning on Deeside! Despite the fantastic weather I managed 4 lovely fresh salmon using light tackle and small flies. The weather was a wonderful bonus for the family who all had a great time. Here is a pic of one of the fish. Best, Jim!' It's a lovely fresh run fish. Jim first came to Deeside many years ago with his father Geoff to fish and phoned Ian to make a booking with Ian. When Ian provided the price for fishing Jim protested that it was too expensive for him as he was a student. Ian very graciously provided a student discount which Jim accepted and Jim asked ‘can my dad come too?' It was the start of Jim's life long passion for the Dee and where better to start than under the watchful eye of the esteemed Ian Murray!

Another bit of exciting news is a new award for young anglers; The Callum Mackenzie Cup. The Cup has been provided by Ballogie Estate with the support of the Mackenzie Family. The award for the most notable capture will be to the youngster whose angling success has been selected as the most notable fish by the Callum Mackenzie Award Committee and will be made annually at the River Dee opening ceremony. Rules-Fisher must be under 18 years of age at time of catch for any species of fish within the Dee catchment, including Rivers Cowie and Carron or one of the many trout fisheries in the district. Entries should include a short story about the capture of the fish, Picture, date and location of capture. Witness details to confirm catch. Submissions will receive publicity through the local press and FishDee website. All entries to the Callum Mackenzie Committee should be sent by e‐mail to info@riverdee.org or by mail to River Dee Office, Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, AB34 5LA

News of catches, with or without images are always welcome, so please drop a line to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It could be another exciting week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some more good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee.

SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 5, Altries and Lower Drum 2, Park 6, Lower Crathes and W Durris 17, Knappach 1, Invery 1, Tilquhillie 3, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 3, Upper Blackhall 2, Cairnton 10, Woodend 2, Lower Woodend 1, Commonty 9, Ballogie 3, Borrowston 7, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 4, Dess 10, Birse 5, Aboyne Water 4, Aboyne Castle 9, Craigendinnie 6, Waterside and Ferrar 8, Dinnet 15, Deecastle 8, Headinch and Cambus O'May 13, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 7, Birkhall 1, Abergeldie 2, Balmoral 1, Crathie 12, Total 183
SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 2, Park 4, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Tilquhillie 1, Birse 1, Crathie 1, Total 10


PROSPECTS

The weather forecast from the Met Office advises that the week shall start warm and bright with increasing cloud cover during the course of week and air temperature maxima of 22 degrees Celsius. There will be outbreaks of rain from time to time and winds will be light and variable. The maritime influence sees high tides starting the week at 4.0 metres before falling from mid week to 3.6 metres at the weekend. It appears to be reasonably good fishing weather for sea trout fishing into the evening if you have some on your beat. River levels are getting down towards summer levels with the Sepa gauges showing 6inches at Mar Lodge and 1ft at Park. Now it is time to fish with longer leaders with levels getting a bit thin.

Some beats are very busy with their annual tenants coming through the summer months however there is a good amount to availability on the FishDee website and there appear to be decent numbers of fish running the river. If you can manage a visit to the Dee then please make the effort to come as the river is fishing reasonable well just now. Always heed the advice offered from your beat Ghillie as they know best about what tactics and flies to use to give you a chance of some sport. If you don't have a Ghillie to obtain advice from then you may wish to consider the following flies as worth a go with. The Park Shrimp, Silver Stoats tail, Black or Red Frances, Crathie fly, Thunder and Lightning in sizes 12-14 and of course the Sunray Shadow is always a good fall back option if fish are seen and suspected to be running through your pool. The Sunray shadow fished high and fast is very exciting when fish are in the mood where action can be quite explosive from both salmon and sea trout, especially at dusk. Full floaters are the order of the day now with a poly leader utilised in afternoons of bright sunlight.

If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip or run out, then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne have increased their selection of fishing equipment and River Dee flies tied by the Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices too. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a vast selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. The Countrywear shop in Ballater is a favourite destination for visiting anglers, where Norman Clements is always delighted to meet visiting anglers. They have a good selection of fishing equipment available and provide good service and value. I would like to add Kincardine O'Neil Post Office supplies nice sandwiches and a great selection of River Dee flies too.

Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It's a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

 

[ken@fishdee]

Recent Catches

River levels have dropped away and it’s time for anglers to use stealth and guile during the long daylight hours of midsummer. FishDee beats have reported 136 salmon and 44 sea trout for the week with perhaps more late additions to be added. The Upper Beats shone this week with Deecastle reporting a dozen salmon, Dinnet and Lower Invercauld & Monaltrie had 10 apiece, Aboyne Water reported 9 with Ballogie & Birse both reporting 8 salmon. I heard Morven beat owner Dr Ewen had a lovely 20lb salmon from Carlogie which was biggest fish for the week. At last Sea Trout fishing picked up with 44 landed from Ardoe to Crathie; Carlogie reported 7 and Lower Invercauld & Monaltrie reported 5. The wily sea trout can be taken by anglers fishing for salmon on big salmon rods however at this time of year anglers using single handed rods and tiny sea trout flies were catching both sea trout and salmon, by day and night.



13 year old Meriel Fisher hooks her first salmon

It has been Ladies Week on the Dee with a number of e-mails and messages relayed informing me of success for lady anglers. I am delighted to hear of all the success and I must start with a wonderful e-mail from proud dad Geoff Fisher who advised, ‘I'm just off the phone to Robert Harper & he suggested I send you a mail re a "Pre- Father's Day" evenings fishing my daughter took me on last night, courtesy of Mr Hampson, at Lower Crathes & Wester Durris. My daughter, Meriel (13), wife & I travelled over to the Beat, arriving about 8 & having fished the Kelpie moved up to the Mill Pool where, despite Mum taking the net with her (not normally considered good luck!) & much laughter & giggling about stealth wading & being quiet to avoid scaring the fish Meriel successfully caught, landed & safely returned the 8lb hen fish in the pictures. The fish gave a very good account for itself but after much squealing, bashed knuckles & instructions of "keep the rod up" & "keep winding” proud Dad managed to net the fish after its various runs up, down & across the pool. Mum was on hand (just as well she brought the net!!) to take the photo's & remove the midgy that took a fancy to Meriel's right ear during the fight! The Fisher "Pre-Father's Day Evening's Fishing Party" then moved on to the Bridge Pool, strongly considered the "Hot spot" for the evening & where just below the Hut Meriel managed to hook another fish! This fish, however after screaming downstream, did a very clever thing; it swam straight back at Meriel! Despite all efforts to wind in as fast as her little arms would let her, the fish managed to get some slack in the line & was gone! A truly memorable family evening, in a very special place. A huge thank you to Mr Hampson & my good friend Robert Harper, who is always very keen to encourage the next generation of salmon anglers onto the River’. What a great story and the images are brilliant! Hopefully we can persuade Mr Fisher to enter this for the Callum Mackenzie cup! Beat head Ghillie Robert Harper sent some super images advising ‘Evening Ken, Attached photo's of Mrs Hampson first ever salmon caught on Tuesday 9lbs and Mr Holford's first salmon on Saturday 12lbs.’ Another successful lady angler with a super salmon. Congratulations to both for their first fish.



Meriel with her first salmon with proud father Geoff Fisher

Invery & Tilquhillie Ghillie Karl Revel popped in for a coffee and chat yesterday with news from Invery & Tilquhillie commenting ‘ In a week where taking fish were very hard to come by I was delighted on Friday to net a lovely 10lb sea liced salmon for visiting angler Janet Clarke from Bath. She caught her fish in the Killing Hatch using a size 14 green bodied stoat’s tail.’ The pictures supplied are superb. Another successful lady angler was Laura Spaven who was fishing at Aboyne Castle with Ghillie Alex Coutts. Jonathon Spaven wrote advising ‘Ken, Attached is photo of Laura Spaven (23) with an eight pound salmon caught in Tanar Mouth on the Aboyne Castle water last Tuesday 11th June. With her is ghillie Alex Coutts who has helped three generations of the family to catch fish over the last 25 years.’ Hopefully Laura is hooked on fishing.

The Lets Tackle Cancer Charity visited Crathes last week where hosts Greig Thomson and TV celebrity Paul Young entertained successful bidders Jim Twaddle and Mike Dench. LTCC’S Munro Reid advised ‘The event went very well with the two winners coming from as far as Manchester and Glasgow to fish the Dee. Conditions were tough with the low water this week and the bright sunshine was not helping any. One fish around 8lbs was caught by myself on a black and orange Sunray skated across the surface. Even though the conditions were tough the days fishing was a great success due to the good company and of course the lovely river Dee. If you would like to know more about the charity please visit the Lets tackle cancer website or email the charity organiser Munro Reid at munro@riverclydefishing.com.’ Finally I want to report that my brother David Reid, who was salmon fishing, at Ballogie, for the first time in a number of years landed a spanking 18lb salmon on a size 12 lightly dressed Tosh. Following a heart attack last year he was determined to catch a salmon prior to going on his first ever overseas fishing trip in a few weeks time. He was as thrilled as any angler I’ve ever seen following the capture of a lovely salmon. Well done David and thanks to Ghillie Sean Stanton for giving him some tuition and great advice.



Mrs Hampson with a first salmon

Another bit of exciting news is a new award for young anglers; The Callum Mackenzie Cup. The Cup has been provided by Ballogie Estate with the support of the Mackenzie Family. The award for the most notable capture will be to the youngster whose angling success has been selected as the most notable fish by the Callum Mackenzie Award Committee and will be made annually at the River Dee opening ceremony. Rules-Fisher must be under 18 years of age at time of catch for any species of fish within the Dee catchment, including Rivers Cowie and Carron or one of the many trout fisheries in the district. Entries should include a short story about the capture of the fish, Picture, date and location of capture. Witness details to confirm catch. Submissions will receive publicity through the local press and FishDee website. All entries to the Callum Mackenzie Committee should be sent by e‐mail to info@riverdee.org or by mail to River Dee Office, Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, AB34 5LA

News of catches, with or without images are always welcome, so please drop a line to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It could be another exciting week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some more good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

Beat catches reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 2, Tilbouries 1, Park 3, Lower Crathes and W Durris 4, Crathes 2, Invery 1, Tilquhillie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 2, Upper Blackhall 3, Cairnton 1, Commonty 1, Sluie 2, Ballogie 8, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 6, Carlogie 4, Dess 7, Birse 8, Aboyne Water 9, Aboyne Castle 4, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 6, Dinnet 10, Deecastle 12, Headinch and Cambus O'May 6, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 10, Birkhall 1, Abergeldie 2, Balmoral 3, Crathie 12.
Total: 136 Largest: Park & Carlogie 20lbs
SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 1, Park 3, Lower Crathes and W Durris 5, Invery 1, Tilquhillie 3, Middle Blackhall 1, Upper Blackhall 2, Cairnton 3, Sluie 1, Ballogie 1, Carlogie 7, Birse 3, Aboyne Water 2, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 1, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Dinnet 1, Deecastle 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 5, Crathie 1.
Total: 44 Largest: Ardoe and Murtle & Lower Crathes and W Durris & Middle Blackhall & Upper Blackhall & Cairnton & Waterside and Ferrar & Crathie 3lbs

Prospects

The weather forecast from the Met Office advises that weather shall continue to be warm and bright with increasing cloud cover during the course of week and air temperature maxima of 20 degrees Celsius. There will be the odd shower of rain from time to time and winds will be light and variable. The maritime influence sees high tides starting the week at 3.6 metres before building from mid week to 4.3 metres at the weekend. It appears to be reasonably good fishing weather for sea trout fishing into the evening if you have some on your beat. River levels are down at summer levels with the Sepa gauges showing 6inches at Mar Lodge and 11 inches at Park. Now it is time to fish with longer leaders and light fly lines.



Janet Clarke with a salmon at Invery

Some beats are very busy with their annual tenants coming through the summer months however there is a good amount to availability on the FishDee website and there appear to be decent numbers of fish running the river. If you can manage a visit to the Dee then please make the effort to come as prospects for sport are reasonable just now. Always heed the advice offered from your beat Ghillie as they know best about what tactics and flies to use to give you a chance of some sport. If you don’t have a Ghillie to obtain advice from then you may wish to consider the following flies as worth a go with. Tosh, Silver Stoats tail, Black or Red Frances, Crathie fly, Dark Mackerel in sizes 12-16 and of course the Sunray Shadow is always a good fall back for salmon and sea trout. Full floaters are the order of the day now with a 12-13 foot double handed rods or single handed rods, and 8-9 weight lines are more than sufficient with leaders of 10-12 ft in length.



Mr Holford with a first ever salmon

At this time of year with warmer air temperatures day and night please report any suspicious activity you find on your beat. Opportunist rod and line poachers can turn up at this time of the year so it’s important you contact the River Office, 013398 80411 any time of the day if you see anyone acting suspiciously on your chosen beat.

Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It’s a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.