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Post by fishdee on Jun 28, 2010 13:32:15 GMT
Recent CatchesFishDee beats have reported 90 salmon to 22lbs and 257 sea trout to 5lbs which given the water heights is a really good result. With the river running low and warm at 16 degrees Celsius it has been under the cover of night that the bulk of the catches have been made. The Dess beats produced 14 salmon, Ballogie reported 7 salmon to 22lbs, with Cambus O'May and Woodend reporting 6 salmon. Sea trout sport has been first class with Birse reporting 52, of which more later, Dess beats reported 33 and Aboyne water 23.I should also offer congratulations to Alec Coutts who has just reported the 100th salmon of the season for Aboyne Castle. This is the first time in 22 years under his stewardship that this figure has been achieved before the end of June. Fabian Sweeney with a fine salmon at BallogieI have not received any correspondence this week from anglers so can only provide a report about some days sport at Birse. I had some fishing there on the later part of the week with Jim Coates and John Beard CEO from Whyte and Mackay and John Finneran. As the river was low we decided that the best tactic was to fish lightly during the day and concentrate fishing effort through the night focussing on sea trout. This was a tactic that paid off well and all the anglers did well, especially on Thursday night when we had 19 sea trout to 4lbs.It was the first time night fishing for Mr Beard who did very well fishing with a single handed rod and small flies and it was a pleasure to assist him with his captures through the night. Jim Coates had an alarming encounter with what he described as a 'flatulent' roe deer making a real noise which he found quite disconcerting. He was assured that given there was a full moon there was nothing to really worry about-apart from the impending football match on Sunday afternoon. Mr Finneran scored well with sea trout and lost salmon when he fished through the dawn. How nice it was to be able to fish through the short midsummer night’s where the sea trout were so active. It was a pleasure getting so many tugs and plucks from sea trout coming to a well presented fly. Alas Saturday evening sport finished at midnight and we all had pleasant memories to discuss with the ever youthful and entertaining Ghillie Doug Murray who arrived back at midnight to shut shop. What a pity another angler fishing the beat had failed to notify anyone that he was on the beat and found himself locked in for the night until released at 3 am by one of our river bailiffs. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, June 2010 ProspectsIt could be tricky to predict how the week will go, but in keeping with the footballing theme thats catching the headlines, it looks like a week of 2 halfs. We will have pleasant dry conditions during the first half with perhaps the scores being made in the early mornings and late evenings, anglers may score heavily with sea trout. If as some weather forecast models are indicating we get rainfall, then the second half of the week could see the catchment get a 'hammering' and the river will rise. How heavy the rainfall will transpire to be is difficult to gauge but Thursday and Friday will see heavy rain. If the river rises, which it hopefully will, we will surely see salmon sport picking up and new runs of summer salmon and grilse arriving into the system, with the lower and middle beats perhaps doing well. Forecast temperatures are to be between 14 degrees Celsius and 24 degrees Celsius with Thursday likely to be cool and windy. The maritime influence is indicating high tides of 4.1 metres falling back to 3.6 metres on Sunday. As the river is currently running at 4 to 6 inches on the Sepa gauges then stealth will be required, and our super beat Ghillies will advise on what tactics to use, perhaps some may wryly suggest using a German snaelda with a smile. For the first half of the week the night fishing potential should be excellent where beats allow this. Feedback suggests that between 1 am and 5 am are the hours that many fish are reported to be taking well. Night fishing with single handed rods and small flies is not everyone’s favourite fishing method, but it can be tremendously productive as we found out last week. If the river rises and colours during the second half of the week and fish get on the move then Ally's, Park shrimps and of course the small German snaelda could score heavily. For sea trout fishing a stoat’s tail, dark mackerel or black Fritz may be productive. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, June 2010
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Post by macd on Jun 28, 2010 16:37:43 GMT
flatulent deer and geramanic references...another interesting veek on deezide ja!
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Post by greenbanks on Jun 29, 2010 14:45:50 GMT
And no sign of the Klinkhammer
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Post by fishdee on Jul 5, 2010 11:06:37 GMT
Recent Catches Last updated: Monday 5th JulyForgive the mendacity of my predictions last week as I predicted we could see good sport in the lower beats if we saw increased river levels, alas the river levels rose too late in the week to provide the hoped for increase in sport in the lower beats. That’s not to suggest it was a disappointing week for visiting anglers as FishDee beats reported 59 salmon and 269 sea trout. The FishDee beats have reported season to date 2831 salmon and 1821 sea trout which is quite satisfactory with an expected and hoped for good run of summer and early autumn fish still to arrive. Dess reported 8 salmon with Park and Invery reporting 8 and 7 salmon respectively. The Dess beats reported 35 sea trout, Aboyne Castle 31 sea trout and Waterside recorded 30 sea trout. This is another really good week for sea trout catches, and perhaps for some a quieter than hoped for week for salmon. I have received some correspondence this week I am pleased to report. It was nice to receive a report of good sport from the FishTay franchise's reporter, respected Cargill Ghillie David Godfrey, who reported 'Just a short note to congratulate Ian and David Murray and the Dee Board for supplying myself and fishing companion Malcolm Anderson (Highland Flies) with a fantastic days sport on the Dee. We hooked well into double figures of salmon, and actually had a double hook up 100 yards apart. Keep up the good work.' I also received an e-mail from Crathie Ghillie Archie Hay who advised 'Just a short note about last week’s fishing, sorry it is so late, but this was due to internet problems at home and a group of brand new fishers arriving today which prohibited me from visiting the office to use their computer. I had a very varied group of fishers last week most of whom were only fishing for a day by kind invitation of Proctor's of Blairgowrie. The week started well with a salmon and a grilse caught on Monday morning, this was to prove a very rare event with only 1 salmon, 1 grilse and 1 sea trout caught during the day for the rest of the week. All 22 sea trout were caught on the Crathie fly size 12/14/16 or 10mm Eumer micro crayfish tube. Of the 17 salmon and grilse, the same flies accounted for 14, with a size 12 silver stoat catching the remaining 3. Most of the salmon were caught between 10 and 11 pm with the sea trout caught in the hours of darkness. Biggest salmon was a fine 19lber caught on Saturday evening at 10.45pm with a superb 5lb sea trout caught at 12pm on Wednesday.' I would like to take this opportunity to advise anglers that there is plenty of rod availability on the River Dee at the moment and anglers who are thinking about coming to fish should take the plunge and book fishing. There are prime Dee beats offering fishing at really good value over the next 3 months. Given the stocks in the system and the hoped for summer and autumn runs that should be arriving then anglers could see really good sport through the summer and autumn months provided we have reasonable water levels. Given the prolonged dry spell I hope we will see reasonable steady rainfall through the summer months to facilitate healthy runs of fish. Malcolm Anderson with a nice summer salmonCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010 Beat catches reported (week ending 3rd July) SALMON & GRILSE: Park 7, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Invery 8, Sluie 1, Ballogie 1, Carlogie 2, Lower Dess 6, Upper Dess 2, Birse 4, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 7, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Deecastle 3, Headinch and Cambus O'May 3, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 3, Crathie 5, Mar Lodge 1. Total: 59 Largest: Upper Dess 16lbs SEA TROUT: Park 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Cairnton 3, Woodend 2, Commonty 1, Ballogie 9, Borrowston 21, Kincardine 9, Carlogie 12, Lower Dess 10, Upper Dess 25, Birse 2, Aboyne Water 25, Aboyne Castle 31, Craigendinnie 10, Waterside and Ferrar 30, Dinnet 18, Deecastle 24, Headinch and Cambus O'May 7, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 18, Birkhall 1, Crathie 6. Total: 270 Largest: Ballogie & Borrowston & Carlogie & Upper Dess & Deecastle & Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 5lbs ProspectsIt's always a bit of a gamble making a prediction on how the weather forecast is going to affect our anglers prospects and one could question the veracity of the forecasts provided by some websites. As we are affected by a maritime influence we can forgive our forecasters for having their forecasts going askew from time to time. One common theme this week from analysing the weather forecast models is rainfall, and this is likely to be a regular feature for the week, in what volume? Well that’s a question that's difficult to answer accurately. Hopefully enough to maintain river levels at a nice height for salmon fishers who have seen sport quieten down due to low and warm water conditions. It looks like a breezy start to the week with winds quietening down through the week, but a series of fronts will sweep across the country and hopefully will reduce water temperatures. The maritime influence this week shows high tides rising from 3.5 metres to 4.1 metres with some good high tides occurring through the hours of darkness from Thursday to Sunday. This should encourage fresh bright summer salmon and grilse to make an appearance in the lower and middle beats. River levels have seen a welcome rise on both Friday and Sunday with river heights currently running between 9 inches and 1 foot 11 inches on the SEPA gauges on the main stem of the river. When water temperatures rise to over 16 degrees Celsius, as they have done, salmon become quite dour and less inclined to take the anglers fly. It is also a time of the season when salmon that do take the fly really need to be quietly and quickly returned to the river forgoing the trophy picture shot, and held facing upstream to allow a good flow of oxygen across their gill plates to help them recover from being captured. If they are kept out of the water for even a short time this is seriously detrimental to their chances of surviving so they must handled with real care and consideration. I urge anglers to ensure salmon are returned in water that has a good flow. David Godfrey returning a summer fishAll things considered prospects for this week look better than last week given the current conditions with a good head of fish in the river. Sea trout sport has been really first class over the last few weeks which has really added another dimension for visiting anglers who are coming to fish the Dee. There should be better sport with salmon and grilse, and hopefully a continuation of lively, and at times frantic action with sea trout. As to tactics to employ to good effect then as always heed the advice of your beat Ghillie if you have the services of one to call on. They will provide an opinion and views on what tactics that should be utilised, and where the fish are likely to be on your chosen beat. If you don’t have a Ghillie to assist you on your chosen beat then you may find a full floating line with a small polyleader useful with a leader of approx 10 feet length. Flies to utilise to good effect could be the Smith's shrimp, Cascade, Park shrimp and silver bodied Ally's shrimp for salmon and as a good all round option the silver stoat, Crathie, Editor and silver shrimp. At dusk on beats that allow it a collie dog fished square and fast or a riffled hitch mini tube may produce spectacular sport if fish are in the mood to respond to these surface lures. Anglers fishing through the wee small hours may find sea trout take a teal blue and silver, dark mackerel, silver march brown and perhaps a jambo wake lure or sunk needle fly. The most important bit to remember is to fish hard and diligently, and persevere as fish are in the pools from the top of the river to the bottom. The stocks of fish cannot be active 24 hours a day but when they are on, it may be short and fast sport. A word of caution though; as it is high summer there are now a lot of visitors to the valley, and some may be opportunists looking for a cast on your beat. If you see anything suspicious please contact the river board emergency hotline on 013398 80411 which is managed 24 hours a day, where river bailiffs will respond to any reports of unauthorised angling .Can we remind restaurant owners and hotel owners that it is illegal to buy rod caught salmon and sea trout in Scotland, so please refuse any that are offered to you. This helps the rivers security and fish stocks which are recovering slowly after years of declining numbers. Deeside is a marvellous destination for visiting anglers where there are a wealth of activities for visitors to enjoy. Some anglers are bringing their golf clubs with their fishing rods, and they will find the local courses in Banchory, Aboyne and Ballater in reported super condition. Please access the FishDee website for day time activities, in the local websites section, if you are bringing the family to Deeside with you. They can find a wide range of facilities and activities to enjoy through the length of the River Dee valley. Fish OnFish Being ReturnedCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As some European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There is a risk of this parasite coming into our river from anglers arriving from Europe for example, where the salmon stocks from many European rivers are resistant to this parasite. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010
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Post by fishdee on Jul 12, 2010 11:38:27 GMT
Last Week’s CatchesSalmon catches rose considerably last week from the week before with good new fish coming forward leading to a productive Friday and Saturday with 103 salmon and 123 sea trout being reported by FishDee beats. There are also reports of new fish being hooked and lost, especially in the lower beats. Lower Crathes reported 9 salmon with Park reporting 8 salmon, however the top reporting salmon beat for the week was Crathie who reported 15 salmon. Crathie was also top sea trout beat recording 12 with Craigendinnie reporting 10 sea trout and Birse and neighbour Aboyne Water reporting 8 each. I have received quite a few pieces of correspondence with some witty contributions which I hope will entertain you as much as I was. Firstly David Gordon reported some success and commented ' My host Alan dontmentionagain encouraged me to have a wee cast in the Roe Pot, a famous pool I have wanted to fish for some time. The rain was pouring down but after coming out from the city, I thought a cast would be very pleasant. The river was low but the colour of the Dee Dram. I took a size 12 cascade out of the box (well you would) and threw a floating line with an intermediate tip down my bank to get the line out. Then cast it out off the top jetty to just above the boil at the top of the pool. As usual I immediately hooked the rock, and lifted to pull the fly free, however the rock was having none of it and took off downstream! A fine tussle ensued, with the fish taking line off upstream and then doggedly fighting in among the rocks. I phoned Alan, telling him I had a fish on and thanking him for the cast, he was just finished his meal so was on his way! I decided the best course of action now was to knock my net off the jetty into the river, and then immediately decided this was a bad idea. However the fish, feeling pity on me allowed me to lead it into the shallows, to be carefully hand tailed. I unhooked it in the water and, so Alan would believe me took a quick picture on the bank. Unfortunately, as I did this, just after clicking the button, the fish jumped, knocking said camera / Blackberry into the water as well. Nothing would dampen my delight however. I cradled the fish under water, carefully taking it back into the stream to be released. Just as I reached the end of the jetty a toot behind me alerted me to Alan and a car load of anglers, eager to share my enjoyment as I returned the 12 lb fish to much hilarity, leaving my cheeks feeling rosier than a glow worm.' Dave Gordon with his fine catchI also received a humorous anecdote from Jamie Sampson who very much tongue in cheek observed 'Who would give up hospitality at The LTA for Women's Semi and Women's Final at Wimbledon last week - we did! My wife Ingrid and I are just back from a week fishing on Craigendinnie. Having fished all the Dinnet & Glentanar beats over the last 30 odd years it was the first return to Craigendinnie for 17 years. Last fished with Colin Espie the Spring before he returned to Deecastle, then I watched him land a 19lb Springer. We met George Murray our Ghillie for the week on Monday morning where he had been fully briefed on us by Colin! Imagine the thrill by 11am of having 2 salmon on the bank 7lb & 9lb out of Tanarmouth. The week progressed and at its end I returned to Ayrshire a happy man with a tally of 8 salmon-largest 17lbs and 12 sea trout. This sport is a great leveller - on Wednesday I lost 3 salmon and had my first ducking for 11 years. I feel that George should be inducted into 'The Guards Division' of Glentanar Ghillies along with Colin, Fergus & Davie at the rank of Full Colonel. The week was immense. We saw Eoin Smith - with honey, stayed at The Cambus O’May, well fed by The McKechnie girls, met the late Jimmy Oswald's cousin Mr Syme, and last but not least met 4 charming fishers at the hotel from Lancashire - they fished Cambus. One of their number Garry McDonald was so thrilled to catch a 8lb grilse he booked a day through the FishDee site on Mar Lodge successfully landing a 9lb salmon-not bad for a 40 mile round trip. Finally having spent the last few years fishing in the cold of March/April with little to see, this week was like the fishing's were 20 years ago. Thank you Eoin Smith for teaching me to respect the fish, thank you Colin & Fergus, but a big thank you to George for last week. . Also there was a party of retired officers from the 7th Lancers, lead rod Peter Horseburgh. They were fishing exclusively for sea trout across Dinnet/Deecastle, Waterside & Craigendinnie/Aboyne Castle. Deployed at 00.00hrs till 05.00.Up to noon on Saturday, they had 92 sea trout! All troops deployed 22.00hrs Sat evening to break 100 you might like to check with Edward if the made it? Also many thanks to Edward and Michael for allowing The Bandit to fish their lovely water fish, or no fish. Special request Michael can we have a lovely hut like the ones your sister put up on Cambus - suggest Pol Bar or Red Brae South side.' Philippe Koehler with Crathie Ghillie Archie HayCrathie Ghillie Archie Hay provided this report this morning 'Another good week on Crathie, with Mr Tom Saville's party enjoying good sport. The week started well with our gauge reading 1'6" after Sunday's heavy rain, Mr Peter Skelton a complete novice caught his first ever salmon on the Monday morning a fine 10lb fish from MacLaren. On the Tuesday Mrs Pat Saville caught the first of her fish in Garland, Wednesday saw four fish caught two by Mr Mark Skelton another novice starting his account with an 11lber from Maclaren, Mrs Saville again adding to her tally. By Thursday the river was almost back to her previous low level and had cleared nicely, three salmon and five sea trout were landed all on a size 12 Crathie in the evening/dusk. Friday saw Mark complete his hat trick with an 8lb fish, not bad for your first week (he will learn), Pat again had success with sea trout of 3 and 4 pounds from Ploughboy, the water then rose a foot and it was not until dusk/daybreak the remaining fish were caught. Saturday daytime produced nothing and it was not until 9.30pm fish again began to take with fish of 8lbs, 7lbs and 4lbs being caught and more 3 sea trout were added before 12 when we had to stop fishing.' Regular visiting tackle dealer from Strasbourg in France Philippe Koehler was back on Deeside and again was successful on his visit and commented 'Hello Ken ,it was a pleasure to meet you, my wife and I appreciated the Dee dram we had together with you , your friends and of course Doug Murray. I had a nice week fishing, a lot of pulls ,1 sea trout ,4 grilse,(thank you Keith) the biggest was at Crathie (thank you Archie) and I lost 3 salmon , 2 at Park and 1 at Lower Crathes where we meet again a lot of very interesting and nice people .I come again the 19/20/21 July with 3 friends at Park and hope it's going to rain there. It was a real pleasure to have Ghillie Doug Murray entertain us when we met you with the Whyte and Mackay executive team.' And finally I received an e-mail from Iain Wilson a regular visitor from the Borders Gunroom who wrote ' Hi Ken, just a wee note to tell you of our success over the last two weeks on Upper and Lower Dess, the first week was fished by the Chan party, and they had 13 salmon And 31 sea trout, mostly taken late evening on small micro tubes and size 10 Peter Ross, a well known Dee pattern (NOT). All the salmon were fresh and some sea-liced, sea trout were fresh also but not liced. The second week was fished by The Wallace party, as the river levels were now down to 3",we fished late evening, and into the night finishing about 2.30 am, again using small flies and micro tubes, and the BIG FLEE in the dark ,we finished the week with 8 Salmon and 33 Sea Trout, losing Friday to a 6" rise in water, which seemed to switch the fish off, until the Saturday, but what a great two weeks they were, Total 20 Salmon and 64 Sea Trout. Many thanks, and keep up the good work, we'll be back on Dess on Oct 4th for a few days, so will keep you informed of our success/failure.' Philippe Koehler, Ken Reid and Birse Ghillie, the ever youthful Doug MurrayCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010 ProspectsI am optimistic that we shall see good catches of salmon this week from the River Dee as there seemed to be a run of new fish coming into the River on Friday and Saturday, which coincided with some small rises in river levels and cooler air and water temperatures. The weather forecast is indicating a cooler and fresher week ahead with frequent rain showers and blustery winds, with perhaps Wednesday seeing heavy rainfall. Air temperature maxima will be in the region of 15 degrees with overnight temperatures falling back to 10 degrees Celsius which will keep the river temperatures ideal for salmon fishing. The maritime influence is indicating high tides rising from 4.2 metres today to 4.5 metres in mid week and falling back to 4.1 metres on Sunday which will encourage new fish to come forward into the River. With the SEPA gauges running between 9 inches and 1 foot 6 inches and dropping back from a rise on Sunday we should hopefully have enough rainfall through the week to keep the river at a nice fishing height, so fingers crossed we don’t receive a deluge which could lead to a flood that would slow sport down dramatically. Summer Beauty on DeesideIf you are fortunate to be fishing the River Dee this week then it's important to listen to the advice of your Ghillie if you have one on the beat. With fresh fish coming into the system and river fish also getting on the move then we should see fish running throughout the catchment. This means your Ghillie could be the key to your sport this week as they will know every nook and cranny on their beat and where a taking salmon may be found. Your Ghillie will advise on what tactics to utilise and what flies to try to intercept running fish. When the river is clear black, silver and blue seem to be the preferred colour for flies and if there is a hint of colour in the water flies with orange, yellow and red can be utilised with confidence. I spoke to an angler who was successful on the Dee this week who advised me that Dess beats Ghillie Eoin Smith predicted exactly where a taking fish would be and the angler duly hooked and landed a fish precisely where Eoin predicted. Some of the Ghillies are busy doing maintenance on the river banks at this time of year so make sure you speak to your Ghillie when you can. A word of caution though; as it is high summer there are now a lot of visitors to the valley, and some may be opportunists looking for a cast on your beat. If you see anything suspicious please contact the river board emergency hotline on 013398 80411 which is managed 24 hours a day, where river bailiffs will respond to any reports of unauthorised angling. Can we remind restaurant owners and hotel owners that it is illegal to buy rod caught salmon and sea trout in Scotland, so please refuse any that are offered to you. This helps the rivers security and fish stocks which are recovering slowly after years of declining numbers. Brig O'Dee in high summerCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010
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Post by fishdee on Jul 19, 2010 12:50:48 GMT
Recent CatchesFishing on Deeside last week was steady and would perhaps have been quite spectacular if anglers had managed to land the fish that were hooked. I have received reports of many anglers losing fish up and down the valley which is tremendously frustrating for anglers and Ghillies alike. As it was though FishDee beats reported 132 salmon and 89 sea trout for the week with a number of beats reporting 20lb salmon including one to my own rod at Ballogie. The salmon catches for the season have broken through the 3000 barrier last week and 2000 barrier for sea trout from FishDee beats which is quite encouraging. Lets hope we have good water levels and see a good summer run of fish that hang about in the lower and middle river beats and give them an opportunity for some good sport. Fish seem to have been in a hurry to move upriver with Ghillies seeing fish running hard through their beats. Ballogie reported 10 salmon for the week with Park, Crathes and Aboyne Water reporting 9 salmon, however top beat again this week was Crathie with Archie Hay delighted to see 12 salmon landed and 16 nice sea trout. As I hadn't received any correspondence this morning I took the opportunity to phone a few Ghillies this morning. Sean Stanton reports that the Watson Party enjoyed good sport at Ballogie and Carlogie with all anglers catching fish. Mrs Watson was delighted to catch a fine fresh 18 lber from the Top Gannets on Saturday. Keith Cromar at Park reported a good run of grilse went through his pools on Saturday when 8 were landed by anglers. Regular Park fisherman Andy Forbes did well landing 3 fresh Grilse. Some of the Grilse were small with red vent syndrome which is caused by a parasitic nematode worm. I also was pleased to see Phillip Wood drop in to the office and he provided me with a report about his party's sport on GlenTanar beats last week. He was as always quite effusive about his parties sport enthusing about all his fishermens successes. John McGrath had his first ever salmon a fine 13lber, Kevin Wood had 2 salmon, Wayne Stirling had a salmon and a sea trout, and last but not least Phillip had 1 salmon, 1 grilse and 7 sea trout. He endured a largely unproductive season last year so it was pleasing to see him bang on form and enjoying his sport. Edward Humphrey from Dinnet popped into the office to give me a heads up on his beats for last week. He advised that Mike Stevenson's party did well with Mike landing a feisty 20 lber from Red Brae on the Dee Castle side. The party had 6 salmon and 17 sea trout for their week but lost many more fish. Let's hope he sees more fish landed this week when he continues his tenancy on the Lovely Dinnet and Dee Castle beats. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010 Beat catches reported (week ending 17th July) SALMON & GRILSE: Blairs 1, Altries and Lower Drum 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 2, Tilbouries 3, Park 9, Lower Crathes and W Durris 6, Knappach 2, Crathes 9, Invery 1, Lower Blackhall 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 6, Cairnton 3, Commonty 2, Sluie 2, Ballogie 9, Borrowston 4, Carlogie 7, Lower Dess 1, Upper Dess 2, Birse 4, Aboyne Water 9, Aboyne Castle 7, Craigendinnie 6, Waterside and Ferrar 5, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 3, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 5, Birkhall 1, Crathie 12, Mar Lodge 2. Total: 132 Largest: Ballogie & Birse & Deecastle 20lbs SEA TROUT: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Tilbouries 2, Park 2, Invery 1, Middle Blackhall 3, Cairnton 1, Sluie 1, Borrowston 2, Lower Dess 2, Upper Dess 4, Birse 14, Aboyne Water 2, Aboyne Castle 5, Craigendinnie 3, Waterside and Ferrar 7, Dinnet 5, Deecastle 12, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 4, Crathie 16. Total: 89 Largest: Borrowston & Birse & Aboyne Castle & Deecastle & Headinch and Cambus O'May & Crathie 4lbs Prospects There should be a continuation of rising salmon catches this week providing the river levels don't fluctuate too much. The weather forecast models I look at are suggesting regular rainfall throughout the week with heavy showers over the mountains a common theme. The week should start off reasonably mild with temperatures perhaps reaching 21 degrees Celsius and continue like this until Thursday when the wind changes to a northerly airflow and temperatures fall back and heavy rainfall reaches the catchment. Things should improve on Friday and Saturday with temperatures and barometric pressure rising. The maritime influence is indicating tides falling back from 3.8 metres to 3.6 metres on Thursday and then rising again to 3.8 metres on Sunday. Taking the good current river levels into account,with Sepa gauges running between 6 inches to 1 foot, then there is every likelihood that grilse runs will continue to build, with perhaps some good multi sea winter coming into the river. With a lot of fish reportedly hooked and lost last week then it's clear that grilse are running hard through the lower beats. If you are fortunate enough to be fishing this week on Deeside then ensure you speak to your Ghillie for advice. We have a team of extremely talented Ghillies who are very knowledgeable and know the tricks likely to work to deliver the elusive silver prize we all seek. Your Ghillie can advise you about what rods, lines and flies to use, as well as where taking fish are likely to be located on your chosen beat. If you dont have the services of a Ghillie to call on you will be best advised to use a floating line with perhaps an intermediate tip or poly leader. I used this outfit on Saturday with a size 11 Park shrimp and was highly delighted to be rewarded with a sea liced 20 lb salmon on the third cast of the day. As there are grilse running then you can expect to have your flies tweaked and pulled, which can be quite frustrating when they are not taking properly, so perseverance is the key word here-keep at it and eventually you will get your reward. There are still reasonable numbers of sea trout being caught so an evening cast could be profitable if you fish on until dusk. A word of caution, at this time of year there are a lot of visitors to Deeside, and some are opportunists looking to take some fishing without booking. If you see anything suspicious please contact the river board emergency hotline on 013398 80411 which is managed 24 hours a day, where river bailiffs will respond to any reports of unauthorised angling. Can we remind restaurant owners and hotel owners that it is illegal to buy rod caught salmon and sea trout in Scotland, so please refuse any that are offered to you. This helps the rivers security and fish stocks which are recovering slowly after years of declining numbers. Looking at availability over the next few weeks it is clear that there are a good number of rods on prime Dee beats and I would encourage anglers to book fishing now as opportunities to fish on the best beats don't come up very often. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010
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Post by fishdee on Jul 26, 2010 11:27:35 GMT
Recent CatchesThere was some hot action on the Dee last week following on from a reasonable mid week rise that encouraged a good run of fresh salmon and grilse to come forward. I had a feeling this would happen and was really delighted to hear of many anglers successes especially in the beats from Park to Cairnton who have been watching salmon hammering through their beats into the upper beats where good catches had been made. The beats that have reported so far this week are reporting 231 salmon and grilse to 21lbs and 55 sea trout to 5lbs.Park was top FishDee beat for the week with 25 salmon/grilse which is credible as it was lightly fished. Brian Sim had a super week at Crathes with at least 17 salmon and Jim Turnbull and Karl Revel saw 16 landed at Invery. It was also a very good week for the Dess beats where 30 salmon were reported between the upper and lower beats. It was also good to hear Cairnton had some encouraging catches and a nice 5 lb sea trout. I do hope that salmon slow down and hang around in the lower and middle beats giving the hard working Ghillies plenty of action to smile about. I have also heard of quite a number of grilse being affected with Red Vent Syndrome which is caused by the parasitic Anaskis nematode worm. Now that there are a lot of new fish coming in I would encourage anglers in the River Dee and its tributaries to support the River Dee Conservation Code and return all fish that are landed. It is important to allow as many salmon as possible to reach the redds in the main tributaries following many years of declining numbers. Many anglers including myself have wholeheartedly supported the code and it's vital that all anglers show restraint no matter how tempted they are to kill their catch, as a dead salmon cannot spawn. By supporting the code you are doing your bit to ensure one day there will be sufficient stocks to allow a sensible cropping policy to happen, but for now we must all return fish and adhere to the sensible guidelines that are in place. The conservation code applies to the main River Dee and its tributaries including the Feugh, Gairn and minor spawning burns. The Durris Stream at Park last week-beautiful fly waterNow to correspondence. I was pleased to hear of a number of successes last week as mentioned above and I received correspondence from Stephen Paterson who commented 'Just back from our annual week and what a week it was! We started at Crathes on Monday with Brian Sim telling us he needed 4 to reach a hundred for the season, (ha I thought, no chance!) But by lunch we already had 3 and 1 lost, not long after lunch Brian came down with the news my father had done it landing number 100 and 101! By 5 o'clock we had landed 6 and by 7 I had added another 3, making an amazing 9 for the day. All were sea liced ranging in size from 5 - 12lb, not bad for 2 rods and a beat record Brian says! On Tuesday we managed another 2 before the water rose and the fish went off. On Wednesday we were on Craigendinnie where I managed to land 1 just before the River Dee decided to come out onto the banks to join us! No fishing on Thursday, but Friday saw us on Invery where I landed 2 and lost 2 in the morning, I also had 3 big pulls as well! So we ended what was really 3 days fishing with a total of 14 salmon landed, 5 lost and at least 8 other takes, quite a week and one that will be remembered for a long time to come.' I also received an e-mail from Stuart Buchan who advised 'A fantastic day was had on Invery Beat on Saturday under the enthusiastic and entertaining guidance of Karl Revel. I managed to land two very fresh fish in the morning, one at 6lb and the other at 8lb, both fought well and punched well above their weight. I also hooked into something very substantial but it was having none of it and it sadly came unstuck as it self released. I had a break in the afternoon and concentrated on the deck chair at home then returned to fish in the evening. Arriving at the beat, I saw Alan Michie working through a pool and at that very moment I stopped to speak to him when a willing grilse took his fly then after a tussle, Alan landed it. A few minutes later he hooked and landed a second fish making his total for the day three and then he had another. You then joined us and took over Greig Thomson's rod and landed an 8lb fish with more than its fair share of sea lice (and even had one in the inside corner of its mouth). It was encouraging to see the Dee in such good condition with a plentiful supply of running fish and on such a pleasant beat. As a famous Austrian actor once said "I'll be back".' And finally regular Dee fisher and tackle dealer from Strasbourg in France M.Phillipe Koehler was back for a few days with friends at Park enjoying some lively action and he wrote 'My friends and I are back in France, like every time I visit Deeside; it's very hard to leave the River Dee. This time we leave, it was Wednesday at 4 pm, because it was rising very quickly at this time. When the level rises fast the Dee is impressive. We had 3 nice days with 9 salmons and 5 sea trouts. The Park shrimp was the most successful fly for this time; more than 90% of our fish was captured with this wonderful pattern. Of our catch, 6 of 9 salmons were sea liced, but the sea trout were not. Special thanks for Bert Webster and Charlie Yates the Park South Ghillies." I am pleased to hear about the successes of the Park shrimp fly as designer Ross Macdonald designed this almost 3 years ago to this day for me to use at Park and it got its first freshwater trials which were quite spectacular. I recall landing 5 salmon between 12 and 18 lbs on the Saturday morning on a size 11 and on the following Monday landing six fish including 28 lbs,22lbs and 20lbs fish on another size 11 Park shrimp. The beat saw tremendous runs of fish during August and September which saw 527 salmon landed. Hopefully all the lower River Dee beats will see runs like these returning during August and September where anglers catch many fish. River Dee Chairman Ian Scott with a 14lb salmon at CrathesCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010 ProspectsI am very optimistic we shall see good catches continue this week with many aspects that contribute to our sport being favourable. Firstly the weather forecast looks very reasonable with most days being a bit overcast and warm with showers a regular feature throughout the week. Winds will be predominately weak sou'westers and will not hamper casting for newcomers to Deeside who are looking forward to the opportunities of casting into pools with fresh running salmon and grilse. The predicted rainfall through the week looks reasonable and should ensure that the river levels stay reasonably consistent as they are currently running between 7 inches and 1 ft 1 inch on the Sepa gauges. The maritime influence is also favourable with high tides between 4.2 metres and 3.9 metres encouraging new shoals of returning salmon and grilse into the river. Barometric pressure is also looking steady throughout the week with it perhaps dropping a little on Saturday. If you are able to come and fish then please book a rod from FishDee where River beats are showing their rod availability. There are plenty of opportunities to come and fish and there are good stocks of new fish in the river. Phillipe Koehler with a fresh salmonIf you are fortunate enough to be fishing this week on Deeside and I hope as many anglers as possible do, then ensure you speak to your Ghillie for advice. We have a team of extremely talented Ghillies who are very knowledgeable and can perhaps help you achieve your goal- a fine Dee salmon caught on the fly. Your Ghillie can advise you about what rods, lines and flies to use, as well as where taking fish are likely to be located on your chosen beat. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie to call on you will be best advised to use a floating line with perhaps an intermediate tip or poly leader. As to fly choice well I don't look beyond the Park shrimp but many other flies are popular. River Dee chairman Ian Scott positively enthused about the sport he had last week on a lightly dressed thunder and lightning pattern. Other anglers swear by the silver stoat's tail, Ally's shrimp, Silver shrimp and the black Frances fly. In the fast necks of pools a sunray shadow fished fast and square can also be tremendously exciting, with fish at times hammering these flies at pace. Such a visual piece of action to behold, but it can also lead to many poor hook ups. As it's high summer, a word of caution, at this time of year there are a lot of visitors to Deeside, and some are opportunists looking to take some fishing without booking. If you see anything suspicious please contact the river board emergency hotline on 013398 80411 which is managed 24 hours a day, where river bailiffs will respond to any reports of unauthorised angling. Can we remind restaurant owners and hotel owners that it is illegal to buy rod caught salmon and sea trout in Scotland, so please refuse any that are offered to you. This helps the rivers security and fish stocks which are recovering slowly after years of declining numbers. Looking at availability over the next few weeks it is clear that there are a good number of rods on the river and I would encourage anglers to book fishing now as opportunities to fish on the well stocked beats don't come up very often. Tide fresh salmonCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, July 2010
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Stevie
Forum Member
Posts: 456
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Post by Stevie on Jul 26, 2010 14:50:34 GMT
Recent CatchesRiver Dee Chairman Ian Scott with a 14lb salmon at Crathes how crabbit does the guy in the back look lol
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Post by fishdee on Aug 2, 2010 13:02:55 GMT
Last Week’s CatchesAnother week of steady sport on Deeside with FishDee beats that have reported so far notifying catches of 210 salmon and 27 sea trout. There appeared to be reasonable runs of fresh grilse and small summer salmon last week which is borne out with the bulk of catches coming from lower and middle beats. Park reported 25 for the week; Lower Crathes reported 20 fish, with Ballogie and Birse reporting 12 salmon each. It is pleasing to see lower beats such as Blairs, Tilbouries, and Upper Drum picking up new fish, hopefully this will kick off the start of a period of sustained good sport for the lower beats right through until the end of the season. I was pleased to hear that it was well known talented Deeside angler Malcolm Tocher who had the fishing at Lower Crathes. I met him briefly on Friday evening where he seemed very pleased with the weeks sport and was looking forward to his Saturday on the beat. I met Ian Scott, Gordon Anderson and visitor Steve Barnes at Park on Monday lunchtime where they had enjoyed some steady sport with new Grilse. Regular Blairs fisherman Rory Campbell has also being rewarded for his efforts at Blairs. I was pleased to receive an invitation to spend a day at Park on Friday with some of the Park estates staff who are novice anglers. I was really pleased to see Rosalind Chrisp, who handles all the Park bookings finally catch her very first fish after a number of years trying. It wasn't the biggest fish for the week, but Ghillie Charlie Yates carefully returned a fine sea liced Grilse that really made the day for Rosalind. Another newcomer to do well was Jacob Rhodes who landed his very first salmon, a sea liced hen of 32 inches from the Durris stream on a small Park shrimp fly. Jenny and Morag fished hard but were unsuccessful and Alison hooked a fish on her first cast only to sadly lose it. Ross Macdonald was visiting and had 2 nice fish of 11 and 9 lbs, and I was very lucky to catch 6 salmon and grilse to 9lbs on a size 13 Park shrimp fly for the day. It is very good to see Park operating an initiative during July for novices and youngsters to come and fish to see if they like the sport, and perhaps become regular anglers. We need to do all we can to encourage another generation of anglers to enjoy our wonderful river. I understand Stuart Fleming from Aberdeen Angling Association was successful during his day at Park. The biggest fish of the week at 20lbs was one that was landed at Kincardine by David Brooks, who many will know as his wife Susan runs the Post Office and general store in the village of Kincardine. It is a super shop offering first class lunches for visiting anglers. David will be delighted with his catch as he has been troubled by a sore foot following surgery a few months ago, which has taken a long time to heal. I know he had some real discomfort when he visited Russia this year with a group of anglers from Deeside, so it is fitting that he gets rewarded for his perseverance with his biggest fish for many years. Jacob Rhodes with his first salmonI have received some correspondence from visitors to Deeside. I received a telephone call a few weeks ago from Steve Barnes looking for advice and was delighted he booked fishing and came to Deeside last week. He wrote to me yesterday and commented ' Thanks for your advice, the visit was really enjoyable. Luckily I managed to get 3 grilse on Park on Monday which was the day we met. The following two days saw me on Cairnton, the Tuesday yielding a supercharged 10lber, and the Wednesday a small grilse. All the fish were chromed and dripping with sea lice. I saw lots of fish and the two ghillies were absolutely fantastic. I cannot praise the river enough. Once again many thanks, I hope to be back in late August.' I was delighted to hear of his good fortune at Cairnton, which had over 30 salmon and Grilse during July. Let’s hope the catches keep rising there and keep expert Ghillie David Cowie smiling. It's a very pretty beat that has a great tradition of being the home of greased line fly fishing pioneered by AHE Wood many decades ago. For those interested in the history of Cairnton and AHE Wood I can recommend the informative website of Cairnton The Cairnton salmon fishing beat on the river Dee. I also received correspondence from Gareth Headland who is a well known face in the angling retail business. He is UK sales manager for Loop products who manufacture top quality salmon rods, reels and lines .I have known Gareth for a number of years and he is a regular visitor to Deeside with many big fish to his own rod over the years. Gareth advised 'regarding the pictures I have sent, my picture was a sea liced 12lb'er at Ballogie’s Top Gannet Pool-one of 3 fish I hooked there in a short time. I landed 2 and lost 1, with both captured fish being sea liced .I was using a s1/s2 line with a Frede's Nightmare mini bottle tube fly at business end! The other picture is of Ed Foster who owns 2 well known trout fisheries down here in Northant's- Elinor and Ringstead. Ed is also a co-England International Stillwater team member of mine too. It was his first ever salmon, and while only 3lb was sea liced all over and made Ed as happy as a 20lb'er! Ed and my other friend Paul Haskey (who is not pictured as lost all 3 fish he hooked) are now "hooked" on the Dee, and will be back. Thanks Ken'. What a pleasure to hear of so many newcomers first fish of the Dee this week. Ros Chrisp with her first fishCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010 Prospects for the coming weekThe same again would do nicely and if we have more fish then that would be a bonus. Given the number of novices who have been catching their first fish last week it is encouraging that a lot of fresh fish are coming forward and entering the catchment. The weather forecast is similar to last week’s which will probably suit anglers as it should be changeable throughout the week. Air temperature maxima will be in the region of 18 degrees with rain showers a regular occurrence throughout the week, perhaps some localised heavy thundershowers. Wind will generally be from the south swinging round to the north later in the week before reverting back. Barometric pressure will start high and drop a little before rising again towards the end of the week. Just in time for the Aboyne Highland Games where a crowd of around 9000 visitors may attend this highly popular annual event. The maritime influence is indicating tides of 3.8 metres dropping to 3.4 metres and rising again to 3.8 metres by the end of the week. The river levels are quite good at present with the Sepa gauges showing levels between 7inches at Mar Lodge and 10 inches at Park. There should be enough water if levels hold up to encourage new fish to come forward if they choose to. I expect Grilse numbers to build and these fish should move quickly through the lower beats to the middle and upper beats. We may also see a few big multi sea winter salmon arriving and hopefully we will be notified of some big fish captures for the Fish of the month prize. I have not received any submissions for some months now so hopefully people may wish to submit entries that are verified captures. Ross Macdonald with a fresh sea liced salmonWater temperatures are around 16 degrees Celsius, which is really quite cold for the local school children going for a dip as they while away their summer holidays, but the temperatures are good for anglers, and of course the salmon and sea trout which are cold blooded animals. Anglers fishing the river should heed the wise words offered to them by their Ghillies as they know their beats intimately and know where the fish lie, what tactics to use and what flies to utilise. Floating lines with a small poly leader seem to be popular at this time of year. I prefer just now to use a 13 foot rod with an 8/9 weight Rio AFS shooting head system. Depending on where you are fishing in the valley the advice offered by Ghillies may be different. I know some suggest very small lightly dressed flies and the further down the catchment there is a advice to use shrimp type patterns like the Park Shrimp, Smiths Shrimp, Cascade and Calvin’s Shrimp. Some anglers hedge their bets by using a small silver stoat’s tail as a dropper and use a shrimp fly on the point. Whatever fly you do use its important to persevere as running fish can appear one minute and seem to be gone the next. As its high summer, a word of caution, at this time of year there are a lot of visitors to Deeside, and some are opportunists looking to take some fishing without booking. If you see anything suspicious please contact the river board emergency hotline on 013398 80411 which is managed 24 hours a day, where river bailiffs will respond to any reports of unauthorised angling. Can we remind restaurant owners and hotel owners that it is illegal to buy rod caught salmon and sea trout in Scotland, so please refuse any that are offered to you. This helps the rivers security and fish stocks which are recovering slowly after years of declining numbers. Looking at availability over the next few weeks it is clear that there are a good number of rods on the river and I would encourage anglers to book fishing now as opportunities to fish on the well stocked beats don't come up very often. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers its imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010
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Post by fishdee on Aug 9, 2010 13:38:42 GMT
Recent CatchesI commented last week and suggested same again would be ideal and if we have more, that would be a bonus. Well the salmon rod catch did increase over the week with FishDee beats reporting over 50 fish on Monday and again on Saturday. This helped boost the weekly catches to 238 salmon and 36 sea trout. There were some super results last week reported by FishDee beats. Park, which was lightly fished reported 59 salmon and grilse. Lower Crathes, which is a 2 rod beat at this time of year reported 20 fish between Italian visitor Paulo Cesana and a guest. Beats in the Aboyne area produced good catches with Jim Cowper’s Aboyne Water reporting 14 salmon, just ahead of Alec Coutts 13 salmon at Aboyne Castle. Willie Banks at Tilbouries and Brian Sim at Crathes would be pleased with their anglers landing 11 salmon/grilse. Cairnton again produced double figures and their website reports 'another successful week' which will have pleased Ghillie David Cowie and his anglers. As I am writing this I have received a message from Rory Campbell who's been having a cast before work this morning at Blairs, and he reports the capture of 2 new sea liced fish before 7. 00 am. Fish are running in from the tide and anglers in the right place at the right time are doing well. Donnie Whiteford with one of his 6 fish catch at Aboyne CastleI have received some correspondence from visitors to Deeside. I was delighted to receive an e-mail this morning from Donnie Whiteford. Donnie was the fishing consultant for the Thuras a Bhadrain TV series broadcast on STV and BBC Alba. Donnie visited Deeside last week with his partner and TV programme presenter Neen Mackay. He was visiting some beats including Morven which he described as delightful, and a productive Aboyne Castle with Alan Green on Saturday. He wrote ' Hi Ken. I've just returned from my first day fishing on Aboyne Castle and will take a week to recover! Every cast was covering fish and I ended up landing 6 salmon/grilse from 3 to 18lbs plus 2 sea trout at 2 and 3lbs. The pools are stunning and I had to drag myself away at the end of the day. Ghillie Alec Coutts was outstanding and added greatly to one of the most enjoyable days salmon fishing I can remember.' I also received a message from Jim Coates from Whyte and Mackay who advised 'Hi Ken, had a great day on Saturday catching 5 bonny fresh Grilse covered in long tailed sea lice. It's great to see them running in good numbers this year.' I have also received an e-mail from Iain Gray this morning who Keith Cromar had advised me about his productive visit to a lightly fished Park. Iain commented 'I thought I’d give you a report on a few days’s fishing that myself and a few mates had on the Dee at Park. I was lucky enough to secure the winning bid for 2 days for 2 rods on Park via the Dee Trust Auction. I was given my choice of dates and picked last Friday and Saturday (6 and 7 August).I fished with Ewen Steele on Friday and 2 other friends – Campbell Pitt and Phil Lowe – fished the Saturday. We were all Dee virgins. Conditions looked good on the Friday; the hardest part was finding the correct entrance for the fishing. It’s always the last mile! Keith Cromar made us very welcome when we arrived and we were allocated our pools. To cut a long story short, I landed 4 by lunchtime and 7 for the day. Ewen blanked in the morning, but landed 3 in the afternoon (this is only his second year of fishing).Keith spent a lot of time helping Ewen which was brilliant. On the Saturday, Campbell had landed 3 by 11:00 but things then went a bit quieter for him; Phil had blanked in the morning, but again with some advice from Keith, landed 2 in the afternoon. 15 fish landed for 2 days, with plenty more hooked; all in all a great couple of days. We will certainly be back. Finally, I think I may have met you quite a number of years ago on the Brora. I was part of John Grant’s party at the time and I remember you and your brother fishing around the same time. I’m back on the Dee at Banchory on the 30th August, and while a repeat of Friday would be too much to hope for, some sport would be good. Keep up the good work.' Park Shrimp Flies that worked tremendously well last week on DeesideCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010 ProspectsIf we have a another good week and the prospects look likely, then catches from FishDee beats will accelerate quickly through the 4000 barrier this week for salmon catches, which will be pleasing for all the anglers fishing on Deeside this week. Weather-wise we have a mixed bag forecast but in local parlance, at times it will be gie dreich-great for the angler but not for the holiday makers visiting Deeside. There is a chance overnight this evening we could have some significant rainfall as a weather warning has been issued by the met office. Air temperature maxima will be in the region of 18 degrees Celsius this week with winds forecast to be gusty at times, but as they are from the south it shouldn't feel too cold. It is highly probable we could see rising and falling river levels this week and provided they are not too great then fishing will be productive all week. The maritime influence sees high tides peaking in Aberdeen at 4.1 metres on Monday rising to 4.7 metres on Thursday and Friday before falling back to 4.4 metres. This will bring new fish forward and these should consist of grilse and salmon. We may hear of some big fish being encountered too, as was suggested last week, when we saw Birse report a 25 lb salmon. For those who take an interest in barometric pressure we shall see the air pressure just over 1000 mb's at the beginning of the week which will rise over the week to 1025 mb’s. Many novice anglers are catching their first fish and experienced anglers are catching good numbers of fish. This could be the best week of the season so far if all goes well and fingers crossed it will be. Angler Ken Reid fishing the Lorne Pool, Aboyne Castle where stealth is requiredI have been speaking to Robert Harper from Lower Crathes and Keith Cromar at Park, who are both optimistic for the week ahead. Keith’s advice was to stick with small flies from size 12-14's rather than size 8's which anglers are reaching for from their fly boxes. The River Dee Ghillies are very knowledgeable and helpful to visiting anglers and anglers should heed their wise words of advice about catching salmon and grilse from their beats. They know the salmon lies at all heights of water and can make your visit highly productive and rewarding. If you don’t have a Ghillie service to call on then perhaps you will use a floating line and poly leader with a leader perhaps of 6-10 feet and a small shrimp type fly on the point. I know an angler had 5 on Saturday to his rod on a size 13 Park Shrimp and another angler had 6 to his rod on a similarly sized Calvin's shrimp and a collie dog. (See flies for the Dee page) As fish are running hard through some of the beats it's important to stick at it and make the most of your opportunities when a new run of fish enter your pool. Spending too much time in the hut over lunch could deny you the opportunity of a bumper days catch. As an alternative to fishing with dressed flies, anglers could try a collie dog tube fly or perhaps a riffled hitch tube fly in the faster water where fish are located in the heads and tails of pools. The Grilse are fighting very hard and many anglers land a 5 lb Grilse and think it’s a much heavier fish given the fight from them. There are many Grilse that are hooked and lost, and that is quite often the case with running fish nipping at the fly and not taking a good hold to ensure a good hook up. Ross Macdonald's Calvins shrimp flyInfo at Salmon FliesCan I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would really like to hear of your angling successes and share these with our readers, so please write to me with your news and pictures to ken@riverdee.org. Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010
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Post by hazeldub on Aug 10, 2010 12:09:08 GMT
Another great report and McD sure ties a bonny flee. Good luck this week
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Post by fishdee on Aug 16, 2010 12:40:24 GMT
Recent CatchesI had high hopes that catches for the week may have been the best weeks catch for the whole season, alas high water midweek damped catches down a little, and nevertheless it was still a great week for anglers on Deeside with FishDee beats reporting so far 311 salmon for the week and 35 sea trout. There were some impressive tallies for some of the beats with Park reporting 54 salmon, Lower Crathes , a 2 rod beat reported 32 salmon, Crathes did well with 19, Upper Drum 18, with 11 on Saturday, Kincardine and Carlogie reported 17 apiece and Cairnton reported a solid 14 for their guests. There was an impressive run of new fish coming in on the high water and big tides at the end of last week and we should see a continuation of great sport for anglers fishing the river this week. There is a mixture of Grilse and decent 2 sea winter fish coming forward now and this should hopefully continue now until the end of the season. I have received some correspondence from visitors to Deeside. Firstly Mr Davie Adams wrote to me advising ' I had a day on Park (north bank) on Saturday 14th august. This was a first wedding anniversary present from my wife Nicola. After a blank morning, I was allocated to fish in front of the main hut. Mid afternoon, I hooked a fish, and played it, finally losing it at the net! Most of the other rods packed up by 5pm, and I fished on. Again, I hooked and lost a fish in front of the hut! Well, by around 7 15pm, my wife came to pick me up, and having one last cast; I hooked another, and landed it. A fish of around 5 lbs, on a size 11 park shrimp, the fish being returned. I had a great day, on this wonderful river. I have enclosed a photo.' That's good to hear that Mr Adams endeavour and persistence finally paid off with the capture of a handsome fish. Davie Adams with his hard earned GrilseI was also pleased to receive an e-mail from regular Dee visitor Dr Patrick Taylor who was fishing with his friend Dr Ade Warburton. Patrick commented ' We fished Commonty this week and conditions were fantastic. Monday we lost fish, Tuesday we had 2 fish (Ian Fraser accounting for a Grilse). Wednesday saw the river on great form, the day started well with a 7lb fish from Dr Ade Warburton and a 15lb fish from myself (my biggest fish to date at that point). In the afternoon, Ade went to do family duties and I had the beat to myself. Wednesday for those that were fishing saw a torrential downpour. The water stopped showing any disturbance from the sub-surface structure and looked like it was being hit by a hail of bullets,however, the fishing was brilliant. I was soaked to the skin but had a 5lb grilse from the Garden pool and shortly after, a 13lb fish from the Loop. Ten casts later I tied into another big fish (16lb Cock fish). It took me 20 minutes to land it, being well into the backing. Thursday the river rose quickly but Ian got a nice an 8lb fish from the Garden pool. The river stayed high on Friday, Ade having 4 fish take in quick succession and finally getting a beauty of 14lb. To top off the week, I had a 5lb grilse on Saturday, pretty much last cast. The majority of the fish Ade and I caught were on a Gledswood Shrimp derivative Ade had tied for the Salmon Fishing Forum 'Tie of the Month' in April. Anyway, a fantastic week and can't wait to be there in Feb' It sounds like they had a really enjoyable week at this pretty beat which is really doing well since Ian Fraser joined as Ghillie on the beat. I was very fortunate to be given an opportunity to fish on Saturday at Dinnet and visited the beat with my friend Ross Macdonald. We both caught Grilse, and I had a sea trout. The hillsides at Dinnet are magnificent just now with the purple heather blooming profusely providing excellent opportunities for taking photographs. I was also fortunate when I was out during the week to see the Osprey flying above Raemoir trout fishery. It's an ideal venue for anglers to take up fishing and proprietor Ron Low advised that there has been good numbers of youngsters fishing the bait pond this summer. Children have been thoroughly enjoying themselves, so well done to Mum's and Dad's for taking their children to the fishery for a good fun day outdoors. I should mention a few events taking place on Deeside in a few weeks time. Firstly Dr Richard Shelton is presenting 'To the sea and back' at the Victory Hall in Aboyne on Wednesday 15th September at 7 pm. Richard combines memoirs and deep scientific knowledge to reveal the remarkable life cycle of the salmon in both sea water and fresh water which it inhabits. He will also discuss the history of ocean exploration for salmonids and demonstrate the importance of salmon as an indicator of the health of our rivers and oceans. Admittance to this event is £4.00.At 5pm on Sunday 19th September at Finzean Hall, Andrew Greig presents ' At the Loch of the Green Corrie' where he uses a fishing trip to explore the themes of love, loss, friendship, and what it means to be Scottish. This honours a dying mans wish, which becomes a meditation on life, a literary biography and a celebration of the natural beauty of the Scottish Highlands .Admittance to this event is also £4.00. On Sunday 12th September the Salmon Hunt event leaves from the Boat Inn, Aboyne at 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm , cost £5.00, where you can join staff from the River Dee Trust for this walk along a section of the River Dee around Aboyne, looking at the habitat in the river and on the banks, and discovering which species depend on that habitat. Discover the environmental and land use management practises that have an impact on our salmon. How does fishery management impact on the ecology of the river? You will see a demonstration of electric fishing (a technique which is only legally allowed for research and not for catching a salmon) and identification of the fish species present. The River Dee is so important that it has been given a designation as a Special Area of Conservation - recognising the social and economic value of the river Dee as a fishery in local and international terms. For further details and how to book look into Active Aboyne Outdoor Activities Festival 2010Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I am away next week to Iceland so am unable to write the report however River Director Mark Bilsby will write the report and I would be really most grateful if you would forward any stories or anecdotes to him at mark@riverdee.org and remember to log onto River Dee Trust: Home to access our latest newsletter Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010 ProspectsAngling prospects for Deeside look most promising this week with good numbers of new salmon flooding in from the sea and running the lower and middle beats. We have had a recent substantial lift of water levels which has given the river a good clean out and salmon are taking the opportunity to get on the move. When this happens anglers can expect to see good sport when they encounter running salmon and anglers who plan to come and fish should book now as rods are becoming very scarce. There were no rods available on Saturday through the FishDee website. With excellent catches last week from many of the lower beats, it's probable that the biggest catches will again be in the lower beats, however sport should be steady for the middle and upper beats as well. River levels are excellent for this time of year with the Sepa gauges showing heights between 7 inches at Mar Lodge and 1 foot at Park. The maritime influence has high tides of 4.1 metres dropping back to 3.5 metres and then rising by the end of the week to 3.8 metres. The weather forecast is predicting a mixed bag with rain at times through the week and cloudy overcast skies a regular feature. Air temperature maxima are predicted between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius. Barometric pressure is likely to rise and fall over the week starting at 1021 mb's and falling to 1001 mb's and rising again to 1014 mb's. Winds are forecast to be variable but generally light. I hope to see catches approaching the 350 mark for the week and am pleased to say that salmon catches last week did in fact accelerate quickly through the 4000 mark for the season. I am also pleased to hear that Kincardine have had their best ever sea trout catch for the season. This productive beat has some great holding pools and sea trout have provided some excellent sport for their visiting anglers which will have delighted top Ghillie John McGinley. Now finding yourself on the riverbank this week with fish in your pools requires you to decide what tackle to use, fly selection and what bit of your designated beat to concentrate your efforts on. To make this a less arduous proposition I would urge you all to seek the opinions and advice of your Ghillie on your chosen beat. The River Dee Ghillies are an extremely knowledgeable and talented team who know how to maximise the opportunities for success on your beat. They will advise what tackle to use, what flies to tie onto your leader and where you should concentrate your efforts. If you are fortunate they may even be on hand to net your capture and help you take a quick photograph as a memento of your successful encounter with a salmon, grilse or sea trout. If you do not have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you may consider using a 13 or 14 ft double handed rod with a floating Spey line or Shooting head and small fly. I had success last week with a size 13 Calvin's shrimp tied for me by Park Shrimp designer Ross Macdonald. A Silver stoat's tail, Thunder and Lightning, and perhaps a Jeannie may be worth trying, not forgetting the ever popular shrimp patterns like the Park Shrimp, Ally's shrimp or cascade. The Sunray or Collie dog can be very productive at this time of year with running fish so make sure you give this a try. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it's imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I am away next week to Iceland so am unable to write the report however River Director Mark Bilsby will write the report and I would be really most grateful if you would forward any stories or anecdotes to him at mark@riverdee.org and remember to log onto River Dee Trust: Home to access our latest newsletter Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010 Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010
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Stevie
Forum Member
Posts: 456
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Post by Stevie on Aug 20, 2010 16:35:22 GMT
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tyneytone
Forum Member
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
Posts: 784
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Post by tyneytone on Aug 20, 2010 20:21:56 GMT
Think they must have it mixed up with Fishtyne Stevie
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Post by fishdee on Aug 30, 2010 15:01:45 GMT
Last Week’s CatchesHaving just returned from a busman’s holiday to Iceland I was delighted to see anglers enjoy another steady weeks sport reported from FishDee beats, with 271 Salmon and Grilse to 24 lbs reported as well as 24 sea trout. Park reported 41 Salmon and Grilse, Tilbouries reported 24 Salmon and Grilse, Both Upper Drum and Lower Crathes reported 22 each which indicates that new salmon took advantage of the good water levels to come into the river and run upstream. I was really most pleased to hear that Park Estates proprietor John Foster and his wife Clarinda had caught 3 fish each whilst fishing for a day last week and they enjoyed the pleasure of simultaneously catching fish at the same time which must have given them tremendous fun. Willie Banks at Tilbouries reported ' We had steady sport through the week from reasonable river levels for our syndicate rods with good runs of salmon and grilse observed'. Ian Murray was delighted to report 'We had some nice fish last week at Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld with an 18 lb salmon landed and a hefty 24 lb cock fish also landed. The big fish was landed by Mrs Catherine Dennis on a size 10 silver stoats tail, which was her first fish on her new rod. This was netted expertly by Martin Thompson with images to follow.' Mr John Pelly also reported to River Director Mark Bilsby 'Two young anglers both caught their first salmon last night (Thursday 26) on Drumnagesk. Brothers Nicholas and Jonathon Astor on their first attempts of fishing landed fish within 15 and 30 mins of their first casts. Both were delighted. Visitor John Gordon-Smith commented 'I had a great week fishing Park (south) in Graham Watson's party with my best ever 5 in the week. Keep up the good work and hope to see you next year. Best wishes' Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would be really most grateful if you would forward any stories or anecdotes and pictures to me at ken@riverdee.org and remember to log onto www.riverdee.org to access our latest newsletter Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010 ProspectsThe prospects for the next weeks fishing on Deeside look very encouraging following recent rises in river levels keeping fish on the move. The weather forecasters are predicting a spell of mild, calm days with high pressure building during the week which will suit anglers for the next few days. Air temperature Maxima will be around 18 degrees Celsius with overnight lows to around 3 degrees in the upper valley producing some overnight frosts. Winds are forecast to be reasonably light with sunny spells interspersed with light clouds. Air pressure will be between 1016 and 1025 mb’s. The maritime influence is indicating tides of 4.0 metres falling to 3.5 metres on Thursday rising to 3.9 metres at the weekend. Current river levels are running between 1ft 1 inch at Mar Lodge to 2ft 3 inches at Park and falling slowly. There is a slight peaty tinge to the water which will clear over the next 24 hours or so. There will be a continuation of fresh Grilse and Summer salmon entering the river providing good sport with the earlier running large cock fish hopefully coming on the take again. With the river running at a good level it is important to listen to your Ghillies advice as to what flies to use and where on your allocated beat to fish hard. In all likelihood the conditions suggest that mornings and evenings could be the most productive times this week. If you do not have the services of a Ghillie to call on the perhaps you may wish to fish with a floating line with sink tip and fish with a variety of flies. You may choose a Park Shrimp or Ally's shrimp, Flamethrower, Red Frances or silver stoat’s tail. The Sunray or Willie Gunn tube fished square and fast may deliver some aggressive takes too if given a go. There is some availability on the FishDee website so please look in and book fishing if you can manage to visit the river. Can I please take this opportunity to remind visiting anglers to ensure they fill in a Gyrodactylus Salaris declaration prior to fishing. This can be downloaded from the FishDee website as well as being provided by river beats. As European rivers are now open to anglers it’s imperative that we remove the risk of this lethal parasite entering our river which would wipe out our salmon stocks. There are disinfection stations available at Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis of Banchory and the Post Office at Kincardine O'Neil where visiting anglers can have their tackle fully disinfected for a nominal charge. I would be really most grateful if you would forward any stories or anecdotes and pictures to me at ken@riverdee.org and remember to log onto www.riverdee.org to access our latest newsletter Copyright FishDee Ltd, August 2010
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