Post by fishdee on Oct 11, 2010 16:47:06 GMT
Recent Catches
This is the final weekly report of the 2010 salmon fishing season and the River Dee is still producing good numbers of salmon to anglers from Aboyne to Aberdeen. I have just returned from Prague and was eager to see how the catches have been going for the last few days; the lower beats have been doing extremely well as I had hoped. FishDee beats have reported so far 339 salmon to 23lbs and 15 sea trout to 4lbs, with Tilbouries reporting 40 salmon, Upper Drum 37 salmon and Lower Crathes 28 salmon. There were other good catches around Ballogie, Commonty and Carlogie, as well as Birse at Aboyne, Crathes and Park. I was advised by our biologist Dr Lorraine Hawkins that there were a lot of small silver fish caught on middle Dee beats last week that were too small to radio tag. The radio tagging is going well and readers can follow the progress of the radio tagged fish at our new website www.riverdeetracking.com where we are naming the fish after 60 school children from 3 local primary schools who are involved in this year's project.
There are reports of some big fish being caught with Stuart Yeats from Blairs advising that Rory Campbell had a fine fresh 23lb salmon and that his father Graham had sea liced specimens of 18lbs and 22lbs. Dave Gordon was also successful with a fish of over 20 lbs of which more to follow. I have also heard of really big fish being hooked and lost from lower and middle Dee beats, so perhaps we may see a really big fish landed before the season extension closes on Friday. The Park Trophy is up for grabs for the biggest rod caught salmon from the Dee that is witnessed and verified so please ensure you have your entry submitted to me at ken@riverdee.org
Dave Gordon from the River Dee Trust had a productive day last week and his detailed report is as follows." I had 3 pulls in quick succession on my first run down the first pool Then I had a really good pull and hooked firmly into a fish of about 10lbs, a coloured hen, which fought really well, a real tough fish. I was just returning it when my Ghillie appeared, flashing the truck lights to stop me putting it back right away. He managed to get some scale and genetic samples from it. I feel that this aids the scientific research during the trial extension to the season. I fished the rest of the morning and had the odd knock but no serious offers. A leisurely lunch with great craic, and then a change of beat, again south bank, and my favourite casting side. I was happy about this. However the downstream wind was going to prove difficult. Again plenty of fish about though, and great to see many were residents, to be expected at this time of year. Though some were coloured residents, I saw some bright shiny fish charging upstream; heading for the hills I guess. In the afternoon I had another knock or two then a solid take from a larger fish, probably 14lbs, a silvery cock fish that fought very well taking me well into the backing, loads of jumps and hard runs. I had to walk it well upstream to find a place to land it. It had been in a few days, probably a week or so. It had a tiny kype, and was only just definable as a cock fish to me, so properly fresh. So a 50 / 50 split between fresh and coloured fish, probably what you would expect at the back end any Scottish river in dropping water.
Again I fished my way downstream and I had the odd knock, and then a really solid take and a fish that splashed on the surface and then gave a real dogged fight. The ghillie on the other bank shouted to ask if I needed help and I shouted back that I thought it was a good one, so he phoned my ghillie that drove round to help. The fish gave a really good account of itself, a dogged fight but also with some spectacular runs. I had seen its tail a couple of times, and it was both large and a long way from where my line was entering the water. It probably took 25 minutes to land, expertly netted by my ghillie. Again this was a large hen fish, quite coloured and it weighed 21lbs, an absolute cracker, and my largest on the fly, actually my largest on an anything! We got our genetic and scale samples and took a quick photo. I held the fish gently in the current, supporting it on the bottom. We discussed the fish and its condition, and that it was recovering well. Its dorsal fin rose up and I could see it was recovering fast. Then the fish shot off in a shower of spray, clearly none the worse for its encounter with me. I fished on, but as I was floating a couple of feet above the bank I did not mind what happened next. Mark Bilsby, River Dee Director visited me and during our discussions he watched me expertly miss an obvious take, but who cares, a red letter day, and my last day of the season on the Dee."
I will write a season review once the season has finished, but in the meantime I would like to take the opportunity to publicly thank so many people for assisting me this season with the production of the River Dee fishing reports. Firstly I would like to thank all the anglers who very kindly took time out of their schedules to write to me about their experiences on Deeside. Without their contributions the reports would be a pale shadow of what they are. I would like to thank both River Dee Ghillies and Beat Proprietors, who have worked so hard in looking after visiting anglers to Deeside and accommodating their needs. Anglers have been fulsome of praise for the support and advice given by Ghillies and Proprietor, and there is no doubt that this has helped many visiting anglers enjoy their experiences even more so. Finally I would like to thank all the accommodation providers, restaurant and hostelries, and service providers, the length and breadth of Deeside for looking after our many visitors, as these guests have been highly complementary about the quality service they have received and enjoyed. We head into the winter months and many beats are embarking on improvements and maintenance prior to the 2011 salmon fishing season commencing next February. It's been a good year, and all the FishDee team and directors wish all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year when it comes, and hope the salmon run in increasing numbers again next year, when once again anglers travel from far and wide to experience the magic of Royal Deeside. Keep in touch during the close season for River Dee news by writing to me by e-mail to ken@riverdee.org Copyright FishDee Ltd, October 2010
Prospects
We enter the last few days of the trial extension where anglers are fishing on lower and middle Dee beats, assisting our busy River Dee biologists by catching salmon that may be radio tagged and monitored throughout the winter as part of the River Dee Trust's 3 year scientific research programme. The conditions for visiting anglers look really ideal with high pressure dominating and providing calm weather conditions. Air temperature maxima will b around 12-15 degrees Celsius daily with overnight lows falling to a few degrees above freezing, perhaps there will be overnight frosts as it will turn distinctively cooler when the sun dips below the horizon. There will be very light winds, if any, and these will be from the south with virtually no rainfall worthy of concern. This means the river levels will drop a bit through the week. The Sepa gauges are currently between 7 inches at Mar Lodge and 1 foot 5 inches at Park. The maritime influence sees tides dropping back from 4.5 metres to 3.3 metres which will ensure any fish wishing to come forward into the river will be able to do so.
As always, please seek advice from your beat Ghillie, who will advise on tackle set up and fly choice whilst visiting your chosen beat. There are a few rods left on the FishDee for anglers looking for a last cast before the river closes on Friday. The Ghillies have worked really hard to ensure anglers get some success, and it pays to heed their wise advice and counsel as they know their beats intimately and how to give you the best chance of success. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you should use a sink tip or intermediate line with a stout leader and small tube fly. Popular Fly choices at this time of year include the red or black Francis fly, small monkey fly, Willie Gunn or Cascade or perhaps a Templedog. Reports suggest the pools are full of fish and cock fish are becoming quite aggressive in the pool tails, where they are establishing territories prior to the spawning season kicking off in a few weeks time when the water really cools. All fish need to be handled firmly and returned quickly to the river to ensure minimum stress. Salmon will recover quickly if returned promptly to the river, and please ensure you do not lift a salmon by the tail, but support it with both hands when removing your fly and returning it to the river. Support it pointing upstream in the current, and hold it until it is ready to swim away strongly; this could take a few minutes.
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 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. For anglers looking for ideal equipment to use on the River Dee then please look into or consult the tackle dealers who advertise on this site as well as our FishDee megastore for products and advice-We now have an international translation facility on the site. 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 newsletters. Copyright FishDee Ltd, October 2010
This is the final weekly report of the 2010 salmon fishing season and the River Dee is still producing good numbers of salmon to anglers from Aboyne to Aberdeen. I have just returned from Prague and was eager to see how the catches have been going for the last few days; the lower beats have been doing extremely well as I had hoped. FishDee beats have reported so far 339 salmon to 23lbs and 15 sea trout to 4lbs, with Tilbouries reporting 40 salmon, Upper Drum 37 salmon and Lower Crathes 28 salmon. There were other good catches around Ballogie, Commonty and Carlogie, as well as Birse at Aboyne, Crathes and Park. I was advised by our biologist Dr Lorraine Hawkins that there were a lot of small silver fish caught on middle Dee beats last week that were too small to radio tag. The radio tagging is going well and readers can follow the progress of the radio tagged fish at our new website www.riverdeetracking.com where we are naming the fish after 60 school children from 3 local primary schools who are involved in this year's project.
There are reports of some big fish being caught with Stuart Yeats from Blairs advising that Rory Campbell had a fine fresh 23lb salmon and that his father Graham had sea liced specimens of 18lbs and 22lbs. Dave Gordon was also successful with a fish of over 20 lbs of which more to follow. I have also heard of really big fish being hooked and lost from lower and middle Dee beats, so perhaps we may see a really big fish landed before the season extension closes on Friday. The Park Trophy is up for grabs for the biggest rod caught salmon from the Dee that is witnessed and verified so please ensure you have your entry submitted to me at ken@riverdee.org
Dave Gordon from the River Dee Trust had a productive day last week and his detailed report is as follows." I had 3 pulls in quick succession on my first run down the first pool Then I had a really good pull and hooked firmly into a fish of about 10lbs, a coloured hen, which fought really well, a real tough fish. I was just returning it when my Ghillie appeared, flashing the truck lights to stop me putting it back right away. He managed to get some scale and genetic samples from it. I feel that this aids the scientific research during the trial extension to the season. I fished the rest of the morning and had the odd knock but no serious offers. A leisurely lunch with great craic, and then a change of beat, again south bank, and my favourite casting side. I was happy about this. However the downstream wind was going to prove difficult. Again plenty of fish about though, and great to see many were residents, to be expected at this time of year. Though some were coloured residents, I saw some bright shiny fish charging upstream; heading for the hills I guess. In the afternoon I had another knock or two then a solid take from a larger fish, probably 14lbs, a silvery cock fish that fought very well taking me well into the backing, loads of jumps and hard runs. I had to walk it well upstream to find a place to land it. It had been in a few days, probably a week or so. It had a tiny kype, and was only just definable as a cock fish to me, so properly fresh. So a 50 / 50 split between fresh and coloured fish, probably what you would expect at the back end any Scottish river in dropping water.
Again I fished my way downstream and I had the odd knock, and then a really solid take and a fish that splashed on the surface and then gave a real dogged fight. The ghillie on the other bank shouted to ask if I needed help and I shouted back that I thought it was a good one, so he phoned my ghillie that drove round to help. The fish gave a really good account of itself, a dogged fight but also with some spectacular runs. I had seen its tail a couple of times, and it was both large and a long way from where my line was entering the water. It probably took 25 minutes to land, expertly netted by my ghillie. Again this was a large hen fish, quite coloured and it weighed 21lbs, an absolute cracker, and my largest on the fly, actually my largest on an anything! We got our genetic and scale samples and took a quick photo. I held the fish gently in the current, supporting it on the bottom. We discussed the fish and its condition, and that it was recovering well. Its dorsal fin rose up and I could see it was recovering fast. Then the fish shot off in a shower of spray, clearly none the worse for its encounter with me. I fished on, but as I was floating a couple of feet above the bank I did not mind what happened next. Mark Bilsby, River Dee Director visited me and during our discussions he watched me expertly miss an obvious take, but who cares, a red letter day, and my last day of the season on the Dee."
I will write a season review once the season has finished, but in the meantime I would like to take the opportunity to publicly thank so many people for assisting me this season with the production of the River Dee fishing reports. Firstly I would like to thank all the anglers who very kindly took time out of their schedules to write to me about their experiences on Deeside. Without their contributions the reports would be a pale shadow of what they are. I would like to thank both River Dee Ghillies and Beat Proprietors, who have worked so hard in looking after visiting anglers to Deeside and accommodating their needs. Anglers have been fulsome of praise for the support and advice given by Ghillies and Proprietor, and there is no doubt that this has helped many visiting anglers enjoy their experiences even more so. Finally I would like to thank all the accommodation providers, restaurant and hostelries, and service providers, the length and breadth of Deeside for looking after our many visitors, as these guests have been highly complementary about the quality service they have received and enjoyed. We head into the winter months and many beats are embarking on improvements and maintenance prior to the 2011 salmon fishing season commencing next February. It's been a good year, and all the FishDee team and directors wish all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year when it comes, and hope the salmon run in increasing numbers again next year, when once again anglers travel from far and wide to experience the magic of Royal Deeside. Keep in touch during the close season for River Dee news by writing to me by e-mail to ken@riverdee.org Copyright FishDee Ltd, October 2010
Prospects
We enter the last few days of the trial extension where anglers are fishing on lower and middle Dee beats, assisting our busy River Dee biologists by catching salmon that may be radio tagged and monitored throughout the winter as part of the River Dee Trust's 3 year scientific research programme. The conditions for visiting anglers look really ideal with high pressure dominating and providing calm weather conditions. Air temperature maxima will b around 12-15 degrees Celsius daily with overnight lows falling to a few degrees above freezing, perhaps there will be overnight frosts as it will turn distinctively cooler when the sun dips below the horizon. There will be very light winds, if any, and these will be from the south with virtually no rainfall worthy of concern. This means the river levels will drop a bit through the week. The Sepa gauges are currently between 7 inches at Mar Lodge and 1 foot 5 inches at Park. The maritime influence sees tides dropping back from 4.5 metres to 3.3 metres which will ensure any fish wishing to come forward into the river will be able to do so.
As always, please seek advice from your beat Ghillie, who will advise on tackle set up and fly choice whilst visiting your chosen beat. There are a few rods left on the FishDee for anglers looking for a last cast before the river closes on Friday. The Ghillies have worked really hard to ensure anglers get some success, and it pays to heed their wise advice and counsel as they know their beats intimately and how to give you the best chance of success. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you should use a sink tip or intermediate line with a stout leader and small tube fly. Popular Fly choices at this time of year include the red or black Francis fly, small monkey fly, Willie Gunn or Cascade or perhaps a Templedog. Reports suggest the pools are full of fish and cock fish are becoming quite aggressive in the pool tails, where they are establishing territories prior to the spawning season kicking off in a few weeks time when the water really cools. All fish need to be handled firmly and returned quickly to the river to ensure minimum stress. Salmon will recover quickly if returned promptly to the river, and please ensure you do not lift a salmon by the tail, but support it with both hands when removing your fly and returning it to the river. Support it pointing upstream in the current, and hold it until it is ready to swim away strongly; this could take a few minutes.
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 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. For anglers looking for ideal equipment to use on the River Dee then please look into or consult the tackle dealers who advertise on this site as well as our FishDee megastore for products and advice-We now have an international translation facility on the site. 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 newsletters. Copyright FishDee Ltd, October 2010