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Post by kingfisher on May 21, 2010 8:12:55 GMT
Dave you would have been isolating that video, as anyone can access at least your default album!!
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Post by greenbanks on May 22, 2010 21:47:24 GMT
Just back from an afternoon and evening cast at Dinnet-water was dropping back after the torrential downpour that hammered the Gairn tributary yesterday late pm. I had a lovely sea trout yesterday on the dropper, just before the storms hit. Went to Banchory lodge for breakfast this morning and the Dee was dirtier than I have ever seen it-like drinking chocolate. It was marginally better at Dinnet but worth going as its a bonny piece of water. (Bet it fishes well next week when it clears) I just heard Serena Humphrey has just landed a fish and Tony had a grilse this afternoon from Pol Slachd which was a pleasant surprise.
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Post by fishdee on May 24, 2010 12:34:23 GMT
Recent CatchesCatches again were reasonable with 159 salmon and 82 sea trout reported so far from FishDee beats and would have been significantly higher had we not received a deluge from the Gairn on Friday following a torrential thunderstorm. Many parts of Aboyne were also submerged with significant flooding with quite a visual display of lightening interspersed with tremendous clatters of thunder. I was fishing on Friday and was almost caught out in shirt sleeves when the rain deluge arrived; thankfully I managed to seek shelter in the hut beside Dinnet Bridge. Talking about Dinnet I can advise that their catches with Dee Castle and Cambus O’May and Headinch were the highest for the week with both producing 19 fish for the week. Crathie's numbers increased strongly and they were just a few behind. It’s good to hear of fish now running into the upper beats in good numbers and sport could be excellent there this week. No doubt the Gillies will be busy with their landing nets ensuring fish are landed for their guests. I was pleased to receive correspondence from Blairs tenant Stuart Yeats who reported 'Hope you are keeping well and good to see the Dee producing good numbers of fish over the last few weeks. My Dad and I booked at Lower Woodend on Saturday and planned to have an evening session for Sea Trout and then fish the first few hours of daylight for Salmon, as the forecast was for a hot sunny day. My Dad and I turned up at the beat around midnight to be met with a murky river sitting at 2ft 6" on the beat gauge. We headed home and returned at 6am to be met with a river at 3ft 7" and the colour of a Caramac. I had another look on the website at 8pm and noticed the river had fallen to 2ft, so decided to try a third attempt to get a cast. The river was still carrying colour but fishable and within 20 minutes of starting I landed and nice bright fish around 6lb and still carrying some sea lice (photo attached).' As Stuart mentions the river was heavily coloured on Saturday and to all intents and purposes was mostly unfishable. I can report that there was some catches at Dinnet with Tony Conroy and Serena Humphrey reporting catches as well as noting there were catches at Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld as well as Crathie. The river in the upper beats was a little bit clearer than the water I observed at Banchory lodge when visiting for breakfast with Jim Coates. A word of congratulations to our Gillies who are doing a great job with our fishing guests. The feedback forms that anglers are submitting are very complimentary which is great to hear with many anglers achieving success following good advice from their Gillie. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Europe to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O’Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, May 2010 "Christopher Tregoning made an easy transition from city banker to river banker on 17th May and caught his first ever salmon within a few casts in the Mill Pool, Carlogie. Pictured here with Gillie Sean Stanton and the 20lb fish, he underwent every true Carlogie fishrman's rite of passage by falling into the Boat Pool the following afternoon." ProspectsAfter the mini heat wave that lasted a few days on Deeside culminating with Thunder showers we see a return to cooler conditions which are coming from the north. The forecasters are predicting frequent rain showers throughout the week with air temperatures below normal. The air temperature maxima will be 14 degrees Celsius with minima of 0 degrees perhaps bringing a touch of ground frost in some sheltered spots and perhaps hill snow. River levels are currently at a good height with Sepa gauges showing heights from 1 ft 1 inch to 1 ft 8 inches throughout the catchment. The maritime influence shows spring tides rising from 3.9 metres to 4.1 metres which should encourage new fish to come forward on incoming tides. Taking all this into the consideration catches should continue strongly with sea trout catches increasing along with salmon and grilse. There is a good migration of smolts underway so please ensure you handle this precious resource carefully when returning them to the river as they are the next generation of returning adult salmon. Ensure you heed your Gillies wise counsel as they will be able to give you sound advice about what tactics to use when fishing your beat. If you do not have the services of a Gillie to call on then you should fish with floating lines with perhaps a 5 ft poly leader and small flies. Patterns to try with real confidence are Smiths Shrimp, Silver Shrimp, Arndilly fancy and stoat’s tail with perhaps the cascade or Park shrimp for streamier flows. Fly sizes in the range of size 10-14 will be suitable. To finish I would advise that persistence is called for whilst conditions are showery and ensure you are prepared to try different tactics including square casts with a figure of eight retrieve, slow and deep, riffled hitched tubes and perhaps a stripped collie dog or sunray shadow where beats allow this. Full Spey lines and shooting heads seem to be the popular choice just now with leaders of 8- 10 feet in length, perhaps 12-15 lbs breaking strain. Careful casters will use long leaders with a dropper and point fly. For anglers visiting Deeside and fishing onto the evening I can advise that the Boat Inn are doing late evening dining so please pay them a visit for a nice hot meal at the end of your evenings fishing. As always can you please write to me with news of your catches and pictures if you have some you want to see on the FishDee website to ken@riverdee.org Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, May 2010
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Post by fishdee on May 27, 2010 13:15:04 GMT
Recent Catches 27 th May 2010
Midweek Catches UpdateWhat an exciting start to the salmon fishing on Deeside for some of the FishDee beats this week. It’s been a hectic time for anglers and Gillies landing fish where there has been a really good amount of fish movement which has led to catches exceeding 200 salmon and 88 sea trout for the first 3 days of the week. I was wondering as I wrote this week’s report if we would see 250 salmon caught. I was pretty optimistic given the fish catches over the previous 10 days and a good lift in water levels at the end of last week. As I write I am now wondering if we shall see the 400 barrier breached for salmon catches this week? It is a tall order and the weather forecast is causing some concern if we do see forecast thunderstorms materialise. What I am delighted to report is that the catches for the spring have exceeded the 5 year average which looked perhaps doubtful during March when there had been so many days lost to poor weather and river conditions. Congratulations must go to our loyal group of visiting anglers who have toughed it out when it has been difficult and of course our expert team of Gillies up and down the length of the river. We are not out of the woods yet and we would all like to see Spring catches recover to a level they were once at but we can all be grateful for the efforts of great many people working to enhance the river by natural means. I would hope to see catches exceed 2000 fish for the spring period and fingers crossed we shall get there over the next few days. It’s fitting to list the top beats this week that have waited so long this spring to receive good runs of fish. Dinnet and Dee Castle have landed 37 salmon, Aboyne Castle; a 2 rod beat has landed 22 salmon, Crathie 19 salmon with Lower Invercauld and Monaltrie reporting 17 salmon and Abergeldie, Balmoral and Birkhall 17 salmon. I sincerely hope that catches continue in the same vein as the weekend totals might be quite remarkable. It is also pleasing to report that sea trout catches have been very encouraging with 88 sea trout to 7 lbs reported so far for the week with Park reporting 14, Borrowstone 7 and Sluie 6. I have been advised that sea trout are in very good condition with some plump specimens being landed. Given how low catches were during the really terrible conditions it is heartening to hear that salmon and sea trout numbers are improving with the peak season still to come for these elusive fish. I am sure night fishers due in the summer months will be looking forward to their visits with some degree of optimism. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Europe to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O’Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010 Midweek Prospects UpdateThe cooler weather will continue and there is potential for thundershowers to hit the catchment. If they do arrive we may see catches fall off if the rise materialises and the river colours up as it did last Friday and Saturday. There is a good migration of smolts underway so please ensure you handle this precious resource carefully when returning them to the river as they are the next generation of returning adult salmon. Ensure you heed your Gillies wise counsel as they will be able to give you sound advice about what tactics to use when fishing your beat. If you do not have the services of a Gillie to call on then you should fish with floating lines with perhaps a 5 ft poly leader and small flies. Patterns to try with real confidence are silver stoats tail, Crathie fly, Black Frances, Tosh, Executioner and Arndilly fancy, with perhaps the cascade or Park shrimp for streamier flows. Fly sizes in the range of size 10-14 will be suitable. To finish I would advise that persistence is called for whilst conditions are showery and ensure you are prepared to try different tactics including square casts with a figure of eight retrieve, riffled hitched sunray tubes and perhaps a stripped collie dog or sunray shadow where beats allow this. Full Spey lines and shooting heads seem to be the popular choice just now with leaders of 8- 10 feet in length, perhaps 12-15 lbs breaking strain. Careful casters will use long leaders with a dropper and point fly. For anglers visiting Deeside and fishing onto the evening I can advise that the Boat Inn are doing late evening dining so please pay them a visit for a nice hot meal at the end of your evenings fishing. As always can you please write to me with news of your catches and pictures if you have some you want to see on the FishDee website to ken@riverdee.org copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010
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Post by fishdee on May 31, 2010 12:05:00 GMT
Recent CatchesCatches for the week started well and picked up pace during the week and finished well providing anglers with 383 salmon from FishDee beats as well as 272 sea trout. The upper beats saw good runs of fish and the bulk of the sport which the following beats indicate. Dinnet and Dee Castle reported 59 salmon, Crathie reported 39 salmon and Aboyne Castle 30 salmon. Good sea trout catches were made at Kincardine with 35, Park 32 and Borrowston 21, with a visiting angler doing well at Kincardine on Saturday with a dozen sea trout in the evening. Derek Wright with a nice salmonCrathie Ghillie Archie Hay reported ' What a enjoyable week on the river with plenty of fish both seen and caught, a big change from the previous weeks of the season which have been very disappointing but what I put down to the continuing cold weather and low water temperatures. I had a mixed party of fishers throughout the week some complete novices to others who have fished for many a year. Despite our best efforts we could not quite hit the 40 for the week despite trying hard on Saturday evening, fishing into the dark. Heaviest fish of the week a 20lber fell to Mr Derek Wright a Dee regular in Boat Runs to a 2" Tosh tube fished on an sinking tip. Of the 39 fish reported 12 were in double figures, 2 were grilse with the remainder in the 6-9lb bracket. Successful flies were the Crathie, Ally's Shrimp, Munro Killer, Sheila, Tosh, Silver Stoats, Stoats Tail and Collie Dog/Monkey type, flies size 12 's being the most successful. Let’s hope for as good week next week there has been a rise in the river today.' I was also pleased to hear that visiting angler Pierre Chenet from France caught a nice fish at Mar Lodge and was returning there after visiting in 1978. The heaviest salmon for the week was landed by Lower Blackhall and Inchmarlo Gillie Terry Paton and was 23lbs, his heaviest fish to date, no doubt the first of many big fish during his angling career. I know his father Jim Paton at Upper Drum was delighted for him. David Winterbottom was back fishing Woodend, a beat he knew well in the 70's and 80's in March and remarked it's paradise fishing in May. He caught 3 salmon and 2 sea trout and enjoyed a great 3 days in beautiful surroundings. Fellow angler David Jackson also fishing Woodend was highly delighted to catch his 100th fish from the beat. He commented ' Wed night with half the week gone I was beginning to have my doubts especially as the other rod for the first three days (David Winterbottom from Leeds) had taken three salmon in 2 hrs that morning. Eventually on Thursday it was relief all round and I could relax a bit more. On Saturday morning I managed a superb 13 lb cock fish from the loop pool, no sea lice but the proverbial bar of silver, to end another great week on Deeside. Its thanks all round to everyone who looks after such a marvellous resource as the Dee is. Keep up the good work!' Terry Paton with a 23 lb salmon-his biggest so far I received an extensive report from Edward Humphrey where he commented 'What a truly amazing week in the upper river! It is almost difficult to know where to start, but perhaps we should mention the Gillies, Alec Coutts at Aboyne Castle, George Murray at Craigendinnie, Davie Goodfellow at Waterside and Ferrar, Colin Espie at Dinnet & Deecastle, Fergus Cumming at Cambus O’May and Headinch, as well as further up river, Ian Murray at Lower Invercauld and Archie Hay at Crathie, as it may be that these gentlemen perhaps thought it unlikely they would ever see a week like this to match some of those of “the good old days”. All our Gillies are excellent on the Dee, but I am so pleased for those in the upper river to have such a fantastic week to put behind them the bitterly cold March and parts of April. I happened to bump into Alec Coutts on Tuesday lunchtime after his rods had landed 5 fish off the Aboyne Castle bank that morning and he was struggling to remember exactly when that had last occurred. We think it is in the region of 20 years ago, I shall certainly look up the records to check this. The party fishing Aboyne Castle, Craigendinnie and Waterside and Ferrar was led by Harvey Norman whose father John sadly died last year, but it is a fitting tribute to the Norman family and John in particular, that they have stuck with the River Dee for 40 years now after he took on the tenancy of his first week on Cambus O’May in 1970 and has gradually built up a tenancy of beats in the upper river over a 5 week period in May and June each year. Harvey thought that the best total in any one week before had been around 30 fish so their total of at least 103 (72 salmon and 31 sea trout) is a very welcome reward for the loyalty that family have shown the Dee over the years. Harvey said to me on Friday evening that his father would have been absolutely thrilled to have had such a catch of classic Dee spring fish. Of course, there are many families who have supported the Dee through thick and thin over the years, but in the upper river at least there are few that can match the Norman family. At Dinnet/Deecastle, the total of 59 salmon and 5 sea trout is certainly the best for at least 22 years and here again I will have to go and search the records as my current weekly chart only goes back to 1988. Congratulations to the 5 rods in Julian Strutt’s party and to Bernard Lunel, a passionate French angler! Top rod in the party was Ron Irvine with 13 fish who, if he will forgive me, is not in the first flush of youth, but used all his experience to continue to add to his tally throughout the week. Finally it is interesting to note that the beats Aboyne Castle, Craigendinnie, Waterside and Ferrar, Dinnet & Cambus O’May have all at least doubled their average May catch solely as a result of last week’s efforts. I am not sure why so many fish seem to speed through to the upper river after last weekend’s storms, but I just wonder if the huge sediment load coming down the Tarland burn into the main stem at Aboyne pushed so many fish through to (into cleaner water) above Aboyne bridge? Many congratulations again to all anglers and Gillies who contributed to such a fantastic week, only time will tell whether this is a one off or not!' I am grateful to the correspondents who have written and am pleased for the successes many have enjoyed. It has been a super week but it’s important to not get too carried away. Let’s just hope that fish runs continue strongly this year and many anglers enjoy success but salmon fishing can be incredibly fickle at times. There's more to fishing than catching fish and as my good friend Morten Agnar commented wisely" If I want lots of fish I go to Iceland, If I want big fish I stay in Norway but if I want the best fishing holiday in the world I come to Deeside in Scotland". I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010 Prospects for the coming weekThe start of the week finds the River Dee running at a good height and a bit peaty following rain overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning. The Sepa gauges are showing heights between 8 inches and 1 ft 10 inches on the river levels page of FishDee. This will hopefully keep fish on the move and perhaps motivated enough to come to the fly. The weather forecasts I monitor are indicating a pleasant week on Deeside where air temperatures will rise during the week to 20 degrees Celsius with air temperature minima around 7 degrees Celsius. There is a potential for rain showers, perhaps some may be heavy and thundery and there may be prolonged rainfall on Friday, sites are showing different opinions on this matter. The maritime influence is indicating tides dropping back from 4.0 metres to 3.4 metres during the week but with good river levels fish should come forward. There should be some good evenings sport this week with running fish in the evenings with an encouraging good stock of fresh salmon and sea trout in the river. Anglers will find many Gillies in a very buoyant mood following the encouraging catches last week and they will be able to provide you with the best advice about what tactics to use and flies to put onto the business end of your leader. The Gillies I have spoken to, or have written to me are suggesting that size 12's to 14's are the sizes that are attracting offers from fish, with some mentioning the collie dog flies on beats that allow these to be used. As always its sporting to use the small fly before resorting to stripped lures and it’s such a pleasure to see the surface boil and feel your line tightening as the fish seizes the small fly and turns to go back to its lie. Full floating lines with or without small polyleaders will be the most popular set up with long leaders, and some anglers use a dropper fly to good effect. At this time of year a lightly dressed fly such as the stoats tail, Crathie, Arndilly Fancy, Tosh, hairy Mary and blue charm are the likely flies of choice as well as small Park, Ally's and Cascade shrimps. At this time of the year the fishing day is usually extended by choice as anglers choose to fish late on into the evening and this means angling effort is now carried out in 3 sessions during the day. It’s not without the realms of possibility for anglers to use a muddler type wake lure and encounter sport in the dusk as fish may come to investigate the wake and either snatch the muddler or seize the tail fly if a 2 fly combination is used. I am sure many rods will be travelling to Deeside with a certain level of optimism based on the decent runs of fish in May. Lars Terkildsen with a fine springer from 2 years ago which I just receivedCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Europe to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O’Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010
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Post by builnacraig on May 31, 2010 17:36:15 GMT
Excellent report FishDee, I like the emphasis on the ghillies, they must be enjoying their dram in the evening now.
BnC
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Post by fishdee on Jun 14, 2010 12:18:51 GMT
Excellent report FishDee, I like the emphasis on the ghillies, they must be enjoying their dram in the evening now. BnC Aye for sure-if they are not out netting sea trout for anglers. Sea trout numbers are encouraging after a couple of bad years.
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Post by fishdee on Jun 14, 2010 15:57:38 GMT
Recent CatchesAnother steady weeks sport was encountered on the river by anglers with the enigmatic sea trout providing some anglers with terrific sport. That’s not to suggest salmon fishing was dour, far from it as this snap shot of catches will indicate. Salmon catches reported from FishDee beats so far are 246 for the week with Dinnet and Deecastle landing 40, Crathie reported 25, Waterside and Ferrar reported 23 and Lower Crathes reported 19. Heaviest fish was reported at Ballogie at 25lbs of which I don’t have details as yet. Sea Trout catches reported from FishDee beats so far were 288 with the honours going to Davie Goodfellow’s beat Waterside and Ferrar landing 74, Dinnet and Deecastle reported 31 and Headinch and Invery reported 22 each. The quality of sea trout reported is of excellent plump specimens to 5lbs and some anglers really did tremendously well with small silver stoats tail flies with jungle cock cheeks. What tremendous sport these feisty fish provide on single handed rods at dusk. Anglers who are able to fish at night will encounter salmon as well as sea trout as it doesn’t get really too dark for salmon to take through the night. The party hosted by Mr Wardle did very well at Waterside and Ferrar. I have received some communication from Dinnet proprietor Edward Humphrey who is always enthusiastic about the river and keen to visit his visiting anglers when time permits. Edward commented 'Another great week's sport on the river last week, particularly in the upper river. Dinnet/Deecastle produced 40 fish and 31 sea trout to give the beat its best spring since 1993 which was the last year that spinning was allowed on the beat prior to the introduction of catch and release. One notable anecdote involved Simon Jones, who hooked what turned out to be a 5lb sea trout, but in doing so his reel fell off his rod. Being a completely unflappable Welshman, Simon merely bent down, picked up the reel, put it in his top pocket and proceeded to hand line the sea trout into his net. Realising this was a sea trout of significant size, he managed to take some pictures with his camera, but sadly the next day he left his camera on the roof of his car and it was later found on the South Deeside road in more than one piece! Also worth mentioning in relation to Aboyne Castle is the 10lb fish caught on 10 June by the ever youthful Arthur Harwood from Aboyne. I am sure he won’t mind me saying that he doesn’t throw the longest of lines, but the quality is significant, not how far you throw it.' I also received a communication from Guy Hemsley who commented 'I recently had three days fishing on Headinch & Cambus O'May , 27th -29th May as part of the Beaty party. I was lucky enough to be on the river during the 'big week' and caught the fresh 11lb fish in the attached photograph from the Clarach Pool. The photo looks as though I am offering up a prayer of thanks which I was!, one of our party asked me to look up from the top of the bank which I did at exactly the same time as another member of the party took a photograph at river level. The captions could be fun?! The other photo shows how this all evolved, but it may worth putting on the website with a caption suggestion. I have been fishing the Dee for 15 years, this week was the best.' I am grateful to the correspondents who have written and am really delighted for the successes many have enjoyed. It has been a good week but it's important we don't get too carried away and imply that anglers are all going to encounter terrific sport. Let's just hope that fish catches continue strongly this year and many anglers enjoy success but salmon fishing can be incredibly fickle at times. As my old friend and renowned angler and writer, the late Hugh Falkus remarked 'there's more to fishing than catching fish'. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please do write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. And finally I have been advised that there is a fundraising auction for the breast cancer charity Casting For Recovery and auction lots are on line now including River Dee fishing at shop.ebay.co.uk/kerri-martin/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010 Guy Hemsley looking thoughtfully to the heavens perhaps having his prayers answered ProspectsFor anglers arriving on Deeside they will find the river in good order with the river running at a good fishing height with levels between 7 inches and 1 foot 2 inches on the Sepa gauges and water temperatures around 12 degrees Celsius in the middle stretches, perhaps marginally cooler above and higher below. The weather forecast models are suggesting pleasant fishing conditions, with generally light breezes from northerly directions at the start of the week swinging around to the south for the middle of the week and reverting back again to the north towards the weekend. Air temperatures will be around 12 degrees Celsius at the start of the week rising to 19 degrees and falling back again to 12 degrees at the weekend. The maritime influence is showing high tides in Aberdeen at 4.2 metres at the start of the week falling back to 3.6 metres on Saturday. Some rainfall yesterday with some snow melt is keeping the river at a nice height so we hope to see steady sport throughout the catchment. Having just returned from a much cooler northern Russia I have not been able to catch up with river Gillies but expect they will be reasonably optimistic about prospects given the steady sport enjoyed in Deeside over the last few weeks and decent water levels. Anglers should ensure they heed the advice offered by our Gillies who will advice on fly choice and where the best chances of sport on their allotted beats may be encountered. Feedback from anglers about the advice from Gillies has been full of praise which is great to hear as many anglers are getting some sport during their visit. There appears to be a decent head of salmon and sea trout in the river and salmon catches around the 2,500 mark and sea trout over the 1000 mark from FishDee beats this season. For anglers fishing without the services of a Gillie to call on then tactics to employ will see full floating lines with perhaps five foot polyleaders, leaders of around 10 feet and fly sizes in the range of size 8 to size 14. Patterns to try would be the ever reliable silver stoats tail, black Frances, Tosh, Crathie fly and for streamier flows the Park, Calvins, Allys and Cascade. Small bottle tubes may be used in deeper pots and sunrays or monkey flies. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers from Europe to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright Ken Reid FishDee Ltd, May 2010
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Post by underghillie on Jun 16, 2010 21:43:09 GMT
Is there many grilse coming off the Dee yet Ken?
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Post by greenbanks on Jun 16, 2010 22:03:34 GMT
Tony we have had some coming in for about six weeks now according to the scale readings. Some fishermen have been suffering angst worrying if all the grilse have come now but it would appear that we have been fortunate to have fish coming in the last 8 weeks in reasonable numbers. Being a glass half full fisherman I hope to see numbers escalate throughout the summer if we have water-thats the key. I know its been tough for many this year and we hope that all rivers see a rise in numbers. I think the north east coast has benefitted from marginally improved inshore prey food stocks. Its a delicate foodchain in the marine environment and so many factors influence the returns that we cannot effectively control. Anyway tight lines to all who venture forth during the summer and autumn.
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Post by underghillie on Jun 16, 2010 22:13:57 GMT
Thanks Ken, the Tay is starting to see a few Grilse now and more seatrout than in the last few years, but not many of the usual summer salmon, heres hoping it improves soon.
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Post by fishdee on Jun 21, 2010 12:56:34 GMT
Recent CatchesThe FishDee beats reported 171 salmon and 231 sea trout for last week which is down a bit on recent weeks, but not by any means disappointing. There was good angling effort and we cannot blame the footballing extravaganza in South Africa for putting the fish catches down, rather a rise in river temperatures and a drop in river levels ensured catches fell during the latter part of the week, after a strong start to it. When this happens fish become harder to catch during daylight hours when more stealth and guile are required to winkle a fish or two out. Right continuing with the topical footballing theme, onto the scores, Waterside reported 17 salmon, Park 16,Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 15 with Crathie and Aboyne Castle reporting 14 each. The biggest fish at 24lbs was reported at Borrowstone, a well known big fish beat and a favourite of mine. Sea trout catches continued strongly with 231 reported to 5lbs. I have also just received confirmation of an amazing 11lb sea trout being landed at Altries a couple of weeks ago, of which more later. Dinnet and Deecastle reported 24 sea trout, which could have been more as many fish were lost, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld reported 19, which would have delighted Ian and David Murray, Aboyne water performed strongly with 18 and Waterside another good return with 15 reported. Park incidentally was lightly with fresh fish coming forward in good numbers. The running total for the season from FishDee beats is standing at 2656 salmon and 1280 sea trout and June's catches already above the 5 year average, so congratulations are due to our successful teams of anglers and Gillies, who are doing a great job in finding taking fish for their guests. 11 lb Sea Trout from AltriesNow onto correspondence and I have had a few e-mails today which I am always delighted to receive news to share with our readers through the mixed media who provide a platform for our news. Firstly I was pleased to receive a note from River Dee Board and Trust Chairman Mr Ian Scott, who advised 'Mike Wrightson's party were delighted with their week at Carlogie with 12 Salmon and 9 Sea trout. Mike, (79) has fished the Dee for 32 years, and this week caught the 100th fish of the season on the beat. Alan Lankshear (86), a member of Mike's party, caught the largest at 16Lbs. This Year 2010, is Alan’s 49th consecutive year fishing Ballogie Estate water' .What a fantastic supporter of our River Alan Lankshear is and hopefully he will celebrate his golden anniversary of visits to Deeside in some style next year. I am sure he has many fine stories to tell spanning almost half a century. I was really pleased to receive an e-mail from Kevin Fleming the super Gillie at Altries who reported the capture of a really big Sea Trout by Dee standards. Kevin reported 'Just thought I would forward this picture to you of a sea trout caught by David Wakefield on Altries and lower Drum in the Hotel Pool on the evening of the 05/06/2010. The fish is estimated to be around 11lb and was 30 1/2 inches in length. It was caught on a home tied 1 inch and a half tube. The fish gave a fantastic fight and was returned safely to the river.' What a fantastic experience it must have been for David to land this fish on a single handed rod. I was delighted to receive this report from Mark Farnsworth who commented ' We had 3 days at Crathie with Gillie Archie Hay the week before last and I'm happy to report a first fish for my brother in law, Chris Stafford. He had 3 fish in 3 days on his first trip to Deeside. His first fish was a lovely 14lb fish in Garlum, taken at 10pm, he then had a second fish 12 hours later in exactly the same spot, and finished with a third fish in the Brig of Dee pool on Saturday afternoon. He's now hooked and will be back next year! I attach 3 photos, 2 of Chris with his first and second fish and then a third photo of one of the two fish I had which was a 6lb fish from Polmonier. We had a total of 5 fish for our three days.' It’s great to hear of good sport at Crathie which must be helping Gillie Archie convalesce following his serious prolonged illness through the winter months. Finally I received a report from David Main who reported 'My friend and I were on Middle Dee on Saturday, we had a great day hooking up to 9 fish! But only managed to land 3 of them. Everyone of them was in pristine condition, with sea lice and one of them the biggest 9lb had long tailed sea lice. Sadly we both left our cameras at home so have no images.' This can happen when fresh fish are running and not taking the fly properly but what a great days sport they enjoyed with all these taking fish. Chris Stafford 10 pm Salmon at Crathie Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, June 2010 Chris Stafford second fish at CrathieProspectsWell the weather forecast models I look at are suggesting different outlooks so I will make recommendations on the one I rely on UK Weather Forecasts - Radar, Alerts, News and More - Netweather.tv who are usually reliable. The Met Office suggests 25 degrees tomorrow for Grampian region and I am dubious about this. The suggested forecast is for temperatures between 14 and 19 degrees Celsius with the highs on Tuesday and Saturday. Winds will be light with cloud cover variable with Monday, Wednesday and Thursday being suggested as offering the cloudier conditions which are desirable to anglers. In terms of precipitation we may see some rain showers and these are suggested for the latter part of the week but with no real volume of rainfall forecast. Winds will be predominately light and from southerly directions, also pleasantly warm providing some rippling of the water surface to provide cover for anglers. For anglers fishing late and early sunrise this week will occur around 4.20 am with sunset around 22.10 pm. This means for some a very long day of angling effort so please ensure you cover the water as well as resting it occasionally as levels are low. The maritime influence is indicating rising tides through the week peaking at 4.1 metres with 7 high tides during the night this week which will allow fish to enter the river under the cover of darkness. Mark Farnsworth fish at CrathieAs we go into the summer months with a good head of fish in the river and good water levels caused by snow melt, I am delighted to report that there is a lot of availability for last minute bookings on the FishDee website. I would recommend anglers to come and fish if they can possibly manage as they have a good chance of encountering some exciting sport with both salmon and sea trout. Please look at the find fishing page on the FishDee website to book your fishing on line. Given that sport has been really good for many beats, especially in the upper reaches, it is perhaps worthwhile exploring some of the upper beats with Mar Lodge, Abergeldie, Birkhall, Balmoral, and Morven all having rods available now and with good stocks in all these beats. They have fantastic streamy fly water that’s just a pleasure to fish and enjoy with good company. There are also plenty of rods available in middle and lower beats where new runs of fresh sea liced fish are coming forward from the sea. For those who have booked fishing then as always heed the wise counsel of your Gillie if you have one to advise you. Our Gillies know their beat intimately and will know the best tactics to employ and advise where the taking lies are. If you do not have the services of a Gillie to call on and are unsure what tactics to employ then you may consider the following suggestion; a 13 foot rod with an 8/9 weight floating shooting head, short poly leader with a long leader of over 10 feet and small flies. As the water level continues to fall and the water temperature rises, the best chances of sport are early mornings and evenings where beats allow this. As to fly choice, well feedback indicates small and very lightly dressed flies are doing well. Black Brahan, Stoats Tail, Executioner, Crathie, Black Frances as well as tiny cascades, Frances flies and silver bodied Ally's shrimp. The Sunray can be successful fished square and stripped fast with many takes both visible and bordering on violent at times. This is a tactic that can be utilised to good effect at dusk as fish move from the deeps into shallower flows and the streamy necks of pools. Fish will find more dissolved oxygen in the streamier flows so they are well worth fishing diligently as fish seek lies in this type of water. A worked fly in low water can succeed when a conventionally down and across presentation is ignored and a figure of eight retrieve can be utilised to keep the fly on the move. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, June 2010
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Post by greenbanks on Jun 25, 2010 11:23:44 GMT
I was lucky to secure some rods this week at Birse beside Aboyne and we commenced operations last night as the start of our 3 day slot. It was a lovely night for sea trout, overcast, muggy with plenty of these feisty fish plopping about. We started at 10.30 pm and by 1 am we had landed 8. The sky lightened slightly and the fish came on again and we had another 11 sea trout. Its not something I do a lot these days but used to spend countless nights fishing for sea trout many moons ago. It was a great fun night using the light single handers and I was really pleased with my Orvis Helios 10 footer (they are incredibly light)which I had only used once before. Cant wait for tonight and hopefully the sea trout will be in a co-operative mood.
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Post by laxdale on Jun 28, 2010 8:33:47 GMT
Are sea trout still coming in from the sea in numbers or are the fish getting caught been in a while?
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Post by greenbanks on Jun 28, 2010 8:58:26 GMT
Are sea trout still coming in from the sea in numbers or are the fish getting caught been in a while? Some very fresh sea trout still being landed-Birse pools are full of sea trout which is great to see.Great fun fishing through the night with a single hander and small dark Mackerel flies etc.
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