River Dee Reports for 2010

[torrie]

cracker ,defo looks dead.

[kingfisher]

What a cracking fish. Hope I get one as big as that on Monday

[Stevie]

dis it matter if its deed? looks awrite tae me

[greenbanks]

Its a fine fish for sure and one that will have been given every opportunity to survive. Let the other places get on with the stooshies they hae and keep this place for fishermen and nae dramas.

[hagar]

Mar 27, 2010 0:10:36 GMT @greenbanks said:

one that will have been given every opportunity to survive.

Ever thought about a career in politics , Ken ? ;D

[keirstream]

Let the other places get on with the stooshies they hae and keep this place for fishermen and nae dramas.[/quote]

Fit like loon.
Theres nae need tae blether in the vernacular tae justify anither loon guttin a haddie.

[fishdee]

Recent Catches

It’s nice to start a report by advising that catches last week were considerably the highest by far this season with 131 salmon reported. The weather improved with daytime temperatures encouraging new fish to run the river in reasonable numbers and sport was enjoyed from Altries to Cambus O’May. There seems to be a reasonable number of fish around the Banchory area which perhaps have been held back by cold water and high river levels. This is seen by the reported catches with Park reporting 14, Invery 13, Lower Blackhall with 12 Little Blackhall reporting 10-other notable catches were Kincardine with 11 and Ballogie/Carlogie with 10. So well done to the Ghillies and anglers for doing well with persistent high water levels and tricky winds to contend with.

Fish of the week was reported by Keith Cromar at Park who wrote “Hi Ken, please find photos of a beautiful Dee Springer caught this morning at Park. The angler is local man Mr Ken Rothwell from Peterculter, it was his third cast of the day when the fish took his fly, it was "The Dee Fox" invented and tied by local fly tyer Phil Glendenning. It was caught on the Jetties at the top of beat 5. The fish measured 38" long with a 21" girth weighed in at 26lb.Having seen some big fish this week it was nice for someone to hook into a big fella. Regards Keith” Earlier in the week Jim Coates had a fish on for twenty minutes that he and Keith had estimated to be over 30 lbs. The fish after a lengthy struggle took off down river and came off 500 yards downstream from where it was hooked.

Keith Rothwells fine springer


I was grateful to receive pictures from John Milne and Charlie Robertson of fine Dee Springers which will hopefully be on the FishDee website over the next few days. I received further correspondence from Colin Hewitt who I met during the week with regular Dee angler Steve Hogg, Colin commented about his e-mail entitled Cole Porter “No doubt you are confused by the title of this e-mail, but I thought it quite apt, as he wrote "It's Dee-lightful, It's Dee-licious, it's Dee-lovely" - which pretty much sums up how good a time I had fishing the river for the first time. Lovely fly water - runs, glides, shallows, deeps, features. Two fish in two days, despite a rise in water, a few beers and some good chat, what more could a reasonable guy ask for. I definitely plan to visit again and many thanks for the DVD of the Varzuga - I had a quick swatch and it does look good fun. I have attached a "happy camper" photo - this after it got out the net in the water, jumped out the net and got back into the water whilst on the back, with me holding it by the nylon to get it back. Keith needs a bigger net! Thanks again Colin Hewitt”

Colin Hewitt


I was delighted to receive correspondence from John Carmichael who is a long term regular Dee angler who advised “Dear Ken, We have just completed our 30th annual spring week on the Upper Dee where we had far more snow melt water than usual. Our proprietor (Edward Humphrey) generously presented a bottle of the ‘Dee Dram’ to be opened only after the first fish of the season was caught. To our surprise and delight this was achieved by 10.30am with a 7lb. winter fish, so the delights of the Dee Dram were soon thoroughly tested by all! The fish we caught had all been in a while, under the ice no doubt, and were the pinkish hue we associate with these ‘Christmas’ fish. Scale reading of one 6 year old 3+3 fish confirmed this. On Friday while watching the 6 foot plus flood go by I saw a splash grabbed my rod and covered the spot with a large fly and was rewarded with a ‘take’ and though it was a bright sea trout kelt, see photo, it was a surprise in the conditions! Though catches have changed over the 30 years we always enjoy Deeside, the company of our ghillies and the quality and variety of these Dee pools. Regards, John Carmichael”

John Milne with a Dee Springer just ready to be released



I am delighted to receive your correspondence to share with our readers so can you please write to me with news of your catches to [e-mail] There are rods available over the next few weeks on the river due to the cold winter so please take advantage of the many rods available and come and fish the River Dee I am hopeful sport will really start to take off and would like to hear of your angling successes. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, March 2010

Prospects

Just when we thought we had seen the back of this winter the forecasters are predicting winter will have one final kiss to deliver to Deeside. And a smacker it is forecast to be with heavy snowfalls predicted for higher ground with as much of a foot of new spring snow. How this will impact on the fishing remains to be seen as it coincides with really high spring tides. To get into the detail sees the forecast for the Banchory area suggesting air temperatures forecast to reach a maximum of 5 degrees Celsius on Monday and then to fall overnight and stay for the rest of the fishing week in the 1-3 degree Celsius range. Accompanying these cold air temperatures will be frequent sleet and snow showers, with some heavy and prolonged. Another feature of the week will be frequent strong and blustery winds which will come from northerly and westerly directions. This is more like early February weather than late March however it is safe to predict that Easter Sunday will not be a barbecue one.

Charlie Robertson with a nice fish at Lower Blackhall


River levels are currently running at 1 ft 2 inches to 2 ft 10 inches on the Sepa gauges, which is a good level for fishing. Perhaps this cold weather will ensure we don’t get a huge amount of snowmelt and ensure steady river levels throughout the week but it depends on how wet the land is during the week. We may see some rises during the week but the good news is we have Spring tides peaking at 4.4 metres on Wednesday dropping back to 3.8 metres at the weekend. This may encourage a further run of fresh fish with hopefully some more big fish. Some Ghillies have reported seeing some really big fish last week so we may have some exciting news to report next week. River temperatures are around 3 degrees Celsius and if they end up warmer than air temperatures we may see sport slow down- I do hope this is not the case.

Now to get the best out of the river you need to have the best advice available and our crack Ghillies up and down the valley are the men to provide this to you. It’s important to heed their wise counsel as they know the moods of the river and where the salmon are likely to be lying on their beat. If you do not have the services of a Ghillie to call on then please use normal spring tactics of sunken lines, short sturdy leaders and a tube fly on the business end. Patterns to fish with confidence are Gold Willie Gunn, Posh Tosh, Park Shrimp and the ever popular Tungsten Monkey fly. I heard of an angler losing a fish recently by trying to rush a fish to the bank to meet a flight schedule. Spring fish are dogged scrappers and will try their hardest to elude capture and release so patience is vital in playing a fish. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, March 2010

[fishdee]

Recent Catches

Last week saw winter tenaciously closing its grip on Scotland again, with combinations of rain, wind and snow. For those who battled through atrocious road conditions and the physical demands of the weather conditions the River saw improving rod catches through the week. An example of this would be the two brothers, Henrik and Benjamin Fredriksen, who chose the Dee as the destination for their first visit to Scotland in search of the elusive spring salmon. After enduring terrible weather conditions on Middle Drum they were both rewarded with salmon, the best Henrik's 12lbs sea-liced fish.

Park topped the catches reported on FishDee, with a total of 19 fish to 20lbs. The catches on Park were aided and abetted by none other than Ken Reid, who managed to get his Dee tally off the mark. Ken's party also included Lawrie Hickman, Matt Hayes and Jim Coates who contributed to the beat's reported catch of 10 for Friday, up to 20lb.

Just as noticeable on the recent catches were the five fish caught at Headinch and Cambus O'May on Saturday from the party led by Paul Angel. With beats from above Aboyne reporting catches every day last week the high water levels and slow but steady increase in water temperatures are encouraging fish to disperse throughout the catchment.

Gareth Headland fishing at Carlogie must also be congratulated for landing a fine example of a Dee Springer, with an estimated weight of 22lb. The fish was caught on a home tied fly, Frede’s Nightmare, which also accounted for most of the fish caught on that beat for the week.

Finally all on Deeside wish Lars Terkildsen, and his party of 25 enthusiastic and capable anglers from Sweden and Denmark, a safe journey home and we look forward to seeing them all again soon.

Ken will be back next week, no doubt regaling us all with tales of fish caught and lost from his few days on Carlogie. As ever all contributions to this column are greatly welcomed and please email Ken at [e-mail] or telephone him at the River Office on 01339 880411.

© Copyright FishDee Ltd, April 2010.



Beat catches reported
(week ending 3rd April)
SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Middle Drum 3, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 4, Tilbouries 4, Park 19, Lower Crathes and W Durris 6, Knappach 1, Crathes 3, Invery 5, Lower Blackhall 6, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 1, Cairnton 2, Woodend 1, Commonty 1, Ballogie 2, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 4, Carlogie 5, Lower Dess 2, Upper Dess 2, Birse 2, Aboyne Water 3, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 4, Waterside and Ferrar 4, Dinnet 4, Deecastle 3, Headinch and Cambus O'May 5, Birkhall 1.
Total: 102 Largest: Carlogie 22lbs
SEA TROUT: Altries and Lower Drum 2, Park 2, Invery 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Kincardine 2.
Total: 9 Largest: Altries and Lower Drum 4lbs
TROUT: None reported

Prospects

The first full week of April looks like being milder than of late, but this also brings along a forecast for the start of the week of heavy rain, wind and a likely thaw of some snow. This means that we are likely to get sudden increases in river heights and anglers should take care when wading and only do so when sure of their footing.

From Wednesday onwards the weather is due to calm down with forecast for reasonable spring days for Aberdeenshire, which means a combination of fair weather with the odd shower. With such changeable conditions it pays to heed the advice of the ghillie, as they can often make the difference between catching a fish or not.

The upside to the high water conditions and improving water temperatures means that fish should now becoming well dispersed throughout the catchment. Tight lines for the coming week, and if you would like to share stories or anecdotes on tactics then please contact Ken Reid at [e-mail].

[fishdee]

Recent Catches


The river fished well when fishing was possible, however a couple of days were effectively lost due to a large flood at the early part of the week. There were 118 salmon and 6 sea trout reported with salmon to 21 lbs recorded.The distribution of fish cathes was pleasing as fish were reported from Middle Drum in the lower river right up to Crathie near Braemar at the top of the valley. Again the bulk of the sport was reported in the lower beats with Park and Lower Crathes taking pole position, Invery and Little Blackahll were close runners up and Commonty and Birse came in joint third place for the week.There was a crack team of anglers from Scandinavia fishing with Mattias Helde at Birse, Commonty and a non-FishDee beat, and they had good catches from all the beats they fished.It is very pleasing to hear of the visiting anglers to Deeside having good sport and it makes for an enjoyable evening when they gather to celebrate their excellent days sport.No doubt their Ghillies provided them with sound advice as always.

I was delighted to receive an e-mail from a fishing friend Donnie Whiteford who managed to visit Invery for a few days and he did very well catching 3 fish, he commented.'Hi Ken. I have attached a photo of a fish I had on Friday while fishing Invery. I go by the Sturdy scale when estimating the weight of springers and this one would be around 21lbs.It was caught on a floating line with a tip and an orange monkey-type fly which served me well on the Tummel last spring. I had 2 on Thursday at 7 and 11 lbs.Hope your season is going well'. Donnie is an excellent experienced angler who works extremely hard to get his fish, and often succeeds when others give up. Another acquaintance Ross Macdoanld got in touch with me following an invitation to fish for a day at Carlogie. Ross commented 'Ken, thanks for the invitation to fish at the beautiful Carlogie beat this week as your guest. Despite the high water I managed to winkle one out of the Boat Pool- exactly where Head Ghillie Sean Stanton said I would get one. Sean's enthusiasm and knowledge made for another great day out on the Dee. He also ties a mean fly!! tight lines'.

I was grateful to receive news from Edward Humphrey who adivsed that reglar visitor Julia O'Hagen caught her first Dee springer at 8 lbs while fishing with Colin Espie at the Dee Castle beat, part of Glen Tanar fishings.I also received an e-mal from an excited Colin Mathieson who remarked 'At last I can finally relax now as I eventually achieved my goal by completing the set target of catching salmon from all the big four rivers Tay,Spey,Tweed and Dee. I got off the mark by booking my 3rd ever visit to Park South where I managed to connect with my first Dee salmon, a beautiful 6lb sea-liced springer from the Durris Stream on a Park Shrimp cone head witnessed by gillie Charlie Yates, fished on a Rio AFS outbound 7 i.p.s around 10.45am, just before the river started to rise. I also managed to connect with a very well mended kelt around 8lbs and lost a double figured spring fish to a black and yellow monkey that same evening when the water decided to some what settle a little. My fellow angler Matthew Brownisky had several offers but never managed to intercept with any his offers not due to lack of fresh fish been seen on the beat . I would also like to take the time to thank yourself and Ian Scott for making us very welcoming at lunch time and by offering a dram or two on catching my fish, and more importantly the great job the River Dee team are doing in enhancement of the River Dee, what a great job use are doing keep up the good work ! p.s cant wait to come back.Many thanks Colin Mathieson'

I am delighted to receive your correspondence to share with our readers so can you please write to me with news of your catches to [e-mail] There are rods available over the next few weeks on the river due to the cold winter so please take advantage of the many rods available and come and fish the River Dee I am hopeful sport will really start to take off and would like to hear of your angling successes. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, March 2010



Beat catches reported
(week ending 10th April)
SALMON & GRILSE: Middle Drum 3, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 4, Tilbouries 2, Park 12, Lower Crathes and W Durris 12, Knappach 1, Crathes 1, Invery 10, Lower Blackhall 7, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 10, Middle Blackhall 2, Cairnton 5, Commonty 9, Sluie 3, Ballogie 1, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 7, Carlogie 2, Lower Dess 2, Upper Dess 1, Birse 9, Aboyne Water 5, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Deecastle 4, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 3, Crathie 1.
Total: 122 Largest: Invery 21lbs
SEA TROUT: Middle Drum 2, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Lower Crathes and W Durris 2, Lower Blackhall 1.
Total: 6 Largest: Middle Drum 4lbs
TROUT: None reported



Prospects



With a kind looking weather forecast and rising water temperatures this week, we should see some cracking sport reported providing the fish get on the move.I have just received a phone call from a very excited Reid Hagelin who's arrived with more anglers. He has been fishing for an hour and a half has had 3 fish to 25 lbs and lost 2 others.In line with other observations reported to me when fish arrive in beats they get hooked, and some landed and then they move on.The sport is dependent on fish arriving in beats whilst running. Now to the weather forecast in a bit more detail, winds are forcast to be light and variable with the predominant influence seeing them come from the north or east.Air temperature Maxima is in the region of 15 degrees celsius with minima in the region of 4 degrees. There will be variable amonts of cloud cover as the high pressure establishes and this will be useful if its present in the afternoon sessions preventing the sun shining directly downstream. What rainfall there is shall be very localised and minimal, so we should not see any dramatic spate conditions like last week. There should be a continuance of snow melt from the Cairngorms providing a top up of river levels daily but not adversely.And to finish this section I can advise that water temperatures in the banchory area are in the region of 6 degrees celsius and may rise to 8-10 degrees this week.

Now to get the best out of the river you need to have the best advice available and our crack Ghillies up and down the valley are the men to provide this to you. It's important to heed their wise counsel as they know the moods of the river and where the salmon are likely to be lying on their beat. If you do not have the services of a Ghillie to call on then please use normal spring tactics of sink tip lines, shortish leaders and a tube fly or large dressed fly on the business end. Patterns to fish with confidence are Gold Willie Gunn, Posh Tosh, Park Shrimp and the ever popular Tungsten Monkey fly. Now that water temperatures are rising perhaps a sunray shadow fly stripped across the pool may provoke an aggressive take so try this on beats that allow it after giving conventional tactics a good try first.The spiining option finishes on many of the beats in a few days time and fly fishing becomes the tactic of choice for most Dee anglers. With fish running and temperatures rising lets hope the many visiting talented anglers enjoy a fabulous weeks sport.

After your day on the river please get out and visit the many hostelries on Deeside providing top quality food and drink. There are many friendly establishments that have a long history of looking after anglers.Why not celebrate your catch with a fine Dalmore Dee Dram as this fine single malt whisky is currently available throughout the valley in George Strachan's stores, as well as the Kincardine O'Neil Post Office and the Stag Hotel in Banchory to buy. More and more of the local hotels and bars are supporting this conservation fundraising initiative for the River Dee Trust so please pop into a local pub if you are out and about and meet the friendly people of Deeside who are delighted to see visitors in the valley. Can you please write to me with news of your catches, and pictures if you have some you want to see on FishDee to [e-mail] Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, April 2010

[macd]

i caught this small springer at carlogie recently. It took a monkey fished deep.

[/QUOTE]

[mo]

Nice fish Ross .

[EV4]

Apr 14, 2010 19:25:39 GMT macd said:

i caught this small springer at carlogie recently. It took a monkey fished deep.

[/quote]

I'm envious... Pictures like that make you want to go fishing....

That is as perfect a conditioned fish as you would wish to see.



David.

[Stevie]

Apr 14, 2010 19:25:39 GMT macd said:

i caught this small springer at carlogie recently. It took a monkey fished deep.

[/quote]

what a fin perfect fish. well done

[keirstream]

I have a degree in lip reading.
Bet you its singing "Take me to the river, put me in the water."

[fishdee]

PROSPECTS

The weather forecast is indicating a cold spell for a few days and this may suppress catches a little. We shall see air temperatures in the region of 6-10 degrees Celsius during the daylight hours with overnight frosts in the upper valley most nights. This may halt snow melt from the mountain top s so we should have steady water levels during the week. There will be variable wind conditions with some afternoons seeing breezy conditions which will make it feel cold when snow flurries or hail fall locally. The maritime influence indicates neap tides with high water forecast to drop from 3.9 metres to 3.5 metres however as the sea temperatures and river temperatures are very similar now fish should migrate feely into the River catchment. The beats around Banchory are enjoying most of the sport but its clear salmon are starting to migrate upriver to the upper catchment now in reasonable numbers albeit some beats are not seeing many fish.

Willie McLauchlan with a fresh Springer


At this time of the year anglers are changing from Tube flies to dressed doubles and some are using full floating lines and catching fish. To get the best out of the river you need listen carefully to our crack Gillies up and down the valley. It's important to heed their wise counsel as they know the moods of the river and where the salmon are likely to be lying on their beat. If you do not have the services of a Ghillie to call on then perhaps you could try full floating lines with polyleaders. Patterns to fish with confidence are Silver Stoats Tail, Posh Tosh, Park Shrimp and the ever popular Monkey fly. Now that water temperatures are rising perhaps a sunray shadow fly stripped across the pool may provoke an aggressive take, so try this on beats that allow it after giving conventional tactics a good try first. If you are looking for fishing you can book rods on line or perhaps call estates as many anglers will be unable to travel because of the current air travel embargo.

Another Big Dee Springer landed By Trevor Spence


After your day on the river please get out and visit the many hostelries on Deeside providing top quality food and drink. There are many friendly establishments that have a long history of looking after anglers. Why not celebrate your catch with a fine Dalmore Dee Dram as this fine single malt whisky is currently available throughout the valley in George Strachan's stores, as well as the Kincardine O'Neil Post Office and the Stag Hotel in Banchory to buy. More and more of the local hotels and bars are supporting this conservation fundraising initiative for the River Dee Trust so please pop into a local pub if you are out and about and meet the friendly people of Deeside who are delighted to see visitors in the valley. I was delighted to hear of an angler who arrived at the Glen Lui Hotel on Sunday night at 10.30 pm who was provided with a hot meal on arrival. Can you please write to me with news of your catches and pictures if you have some you want to see on FishDee to [e-mail] Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, April 2010



Recent Catches


This was a big fish week on the River Dee with some anglers encountering some real hefty specimens throughout the catchment. The biggest fish reported was a fish caught by GlenTanar Estate Proprietor Michael Bruce who landed a fine salmon of 46 inches, conservatively estimated at 32 lbs. We spoke briefly on the phone following his dramatic encounter and Michael did extremely well to land this fish on his own. The previous evening a fish of 28 lbs was caught at Cambus O'May and I hope to receive pictures of this. This fish was landed by William Mclauchlan, photographed with scales taken, and these have been confirmed as a 3 sea winter fish by our biologist Lorraine Hawkins. There were other fish reported in excess of 20 lbs from a number of beats most days, including one landed by Mr Shepherdson at Dee Castle, and it shows there are groups of small and large salmon in the river. The total reported catch from FishDee beats was 166 salmon and 5 sea trout, with Park reporting 21 fish, followed closely by Lower Crathes with 20, Ballogie & Carlogie with 16, with Invery again reaching double figures so well done to all the successful anglers and Gillies.


Ian Laing with a nice Springer


I was delighted to receive an e-mail from regular Dee fisher Phillip Wood who commented 'Hi Ken, two weeks on the Dee over and now back home. Week 10 with a party of regulars and day guests on Waterside & Ferrar/Craigendinnie was difficult to say the least with the fluctuating water levels. However, two fish were landed with a couple of other brief contacts. Congratulations to Robert Stead who landed his first Dee Springer on his fifth springtime visit, a sweet fish of about 12 lbs. Bill Siddall also scored. Week 11 on Aboyne Castle started well on Monday with Bill Siddall and myself grassing a fish each in the 8 lb bracket. Hopes were high for a bumper week. I had several contacts but all came off during the next few days before we were into landing fish again, not seeing many fish show, but hearing the stories from the other beats. I managed two before noon on Friday, Bill also had one, and then we finished with 1 each on Saturday. A great week, although we didn't quite manage to get amongst the 'big uns', which are obviously about. A big 'thank you' to the three Gillies who have to put up with us. They are really great guys. Phillip'. I was also advised of another fine fish landed at Morven by visiting angler Mr Tony Smith who reported the fish, which measured 34.5 inches, was very fresh but didn’t have sea lice.

Willie Mclauchlan with a big Springer from Cambus 0'May


I am delighted to receive your correspondence to share with our readers so can you please write to me with news of your catches to [e-mail] There may be rods available through beats as some visiting anglers are unable to come to Deeside due to the current embargo on air travel. Perhaps you can contact beats directly to establish if there is any availability. Some agents have anglers who are unable to fly home and have other anglers who are unable to come to Deeside. I am hopeful sport will continue to gather momentum during April following a slow start to the season caused by the weather. I would really like to hear of your angling successes so please write to me with your news to [e-mail]. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, April 2010