FishDee 2010 Fishing Season Summary Review
Salmon Rod Catches for FishDee beats for the 2010 season are as follows. February 154 salmon, March 342 salmon, April 604 salmon, May 985 salmon, June 746 salmon, July 744 salmon, August 1312 salmon, September 1762 salmon and October 703 salmon. There is no facility from FishPal to separate Grilse catches from Salmon catches. This gives a total of 7352 salmon and grilse catch from FishDee beats. This is a 27.4% increase on last year’s catch which was viewed as a very decent season overall.
Opening day celebrations in Banchory at the StagSea Trout rod catches for FishDee beats for the 2010 season are as follows. March 11 sea trout, April 63 sea trout, May 493 sea trout, June 1172 sea trout, July 455 sea trout, August 161 sea trout, September 133 sea trout and October 44 sea trout. This gives a total of 2,532 sea trout from FishDee beats which is a significant recovery from 2 years earlier when the catch was less than 1,200 sea trout.
Richard Millar with a super springerRiver conditions were difficult during the early months of the season due to extreme cold days with quite a number of fishing days lost to the presence of grue causing fishing effort to come to a virtual standstill. The extreme cold conditions persisted until the middle of March which meant early running fish were keeping their heads down. When conditions warmed up fish got on the move and this was helped by regular lifts in water levels. The high snow mass in the mountains certainly helped sustain river levels for a long time and many commented that the spring weather was like the old days. Having looked at water levels throughout the season we have been remarkably lucky with regular spates and freshets throughout the spring, summer and autumn. This really helped keep fish on the move and ensured anglers were capitalising on the opportunities that the good water conditions provided.
Ken Rothwell with a big springerCatches recovered during the spring and by the end of May the catch was 2083 salmon which was an increase of 23.1 % over last year and well ahead of the 5 year average. Considering how tough conditions were this was excellent news and congratulations to all anglers who fished hard during really trying conditions. There were the usual crop of big 3 sea winter fish running throughout March and early April and there were numerous good fish landed from the lower and middle beats. As always there were many visitors to Deeside who arrive from Scandinavia who take advantage of excellent air travel opportunities. The Scandinavian anglers add an extra dimension to Deeside during the spring where they really enjoy the opportunity to fish for springers during their long close season. These visitors are always welcome in Deeside and they fish hard and diligently with their Monkey Flies and Temple Dogs. Some talented Scandinavian anglers like Reid Hagelin and Mikael Frödin have been visiting Deeside for many years and bring many visitors to Deeside who in turn bring their friends over to experience the challenges of fishing for Springers.
Greig Thomson with a nice fresh salmonSummer came to Deeside and large numbers of fish were on the move to the upper beats with beats reporting really good catches and good numbers being seen running. To cap it all there appeared to be really good runs of sea trout coming into the river which provided great sport for anglers fishing on into the evening. There were some remarkable sea trout catches in June with beats like Birse and Waterside having real bonanzas. As there were regular rises in river levels in June, July and August conditions favoured anglers and fish seemed to just keep on running with good grilse numbers arriving as well. The catches continued to rise and there was fantastic sport in late summer during August and September which saw salmon catches for these two months exceeding 3000 which would have been very much appreciated by many of the long standing tenants who take fishing on the River. The season finished on the 30th September and the two week trial fishing extension for scientific research commenced where anglers were able to fish and this allows Ghillies the opportunity to record catches, take scale samples and record the condition of fish. Fish from beats between Banchory and Aboyne were radio tagged by River Dee biologists and readers can follow their progress at
www.riverdeetracking.com which is a new website set up to allow people to follow the progress of this year’s tracking, as well as reading the full reports from the previous two years. This is very important research which will help the River Dee Board consider if it is appropriate to possibly extend the fishing season. I understand no decisions will be made until the Trust reports to the River Dee Board next spring. As it was the fishing continued for a fortnight and many anglers reported seeing good runs of new silver fish in the lower beats which were running the river. It promises to be a good spawning season with perhaps in excess of 80,000 salmon in the catchment and 20,000 sea trout.
Malcolm Anderson looking well pleased with his catchThere have been some really big fish reported by anglers and it is frustrating for anglers who land them to find they have no way of having these fish verified because they don’t capture good images or take accurate measurements. I would urge anglers to take a pocket tape measure to record the dimensions of big fish they are fortunate to land and if possible have the fish photographed where it can be reasonably accurately scaled against an object ie beside a fishing rod and take some scales which can be subsequently read by the River Dee biologists. The Park Trophy is awarded to the angler who catches the largest verified rod caught salmon and it appears that the largest verified rod caught salmon that was accurately verified and measured, was caught by Jesper Holm Nielsen at Lower Dess. The fish was a fraction under 45 inches and was assessed to be 30lbs by Ghillies Colin Simpson and Eoin Smith at Dess. If there is a bigger fish recorded that has not been reported then please write to me with details at ken@riverdee.org
Stuart Yeats with an opening week 15 lberThere have been extensive weekly reports with many images provided to the media which can be viewed at the excellent Salmon Atlas website
www.salmonatlas.com/forums/dee-aberdeenshire/10639-river-dee-fishing-reports-2010-a.html as well as many other fora. We have created a Facebook site for FishDee which has extensive image galleries where images have been supplied by many anglers to me in their correspondence. The site can be accessed here
www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/FishDee/112852245438009 Most internet sites I use for media work are free sites but you have to register with them to view content. This does not mean you get inundated with spam, and they are an interesting diversion for anglers wishing to chat and share news. We have also been actively developing the FishDee website where we have a link to a web camera at Potarch Bridge on the river levels page. We also delighted to have launched the FishDee Megastore which has been kindly provided by Mr Paul Devlin and this can be accessed at
www.fishdeemegastore.com Proceeds from all transactions are going to the River Dee and helping with much needed restoration projects being carried out throughout the River Dee catchment where the River Dee staff endeavour to restore the river to its former glories. The website provides anglers with a massive range of highly competitively priced fishing products from arguably the largest tackle dealer in Europe. We are delighted to have many guest contributors commenting about what the River Dee means to them and what tackle they choose to use on the River. I would urge all anglers whether UK or Europe to try out the website where I am sure they will be delighted with the value and service provided and in the process help support the well being of the River Dee in the future.
To finish what has been a very good season for anglers fishing the River Dee, I would like to thank many people. Firstly, the directors of FishDee and River Director Mark Bilsby, for their support and help in developing the site and providing encouragement and support. I would like to thank Edward Humphrey, Ian Scott, Shane Christie and other Ghillies and proprietors who have helped cast a helpful eye on these reports prior to publication, to help ensure we have a good balance to the weekly reports. Finally I would like to thank all readers who have been ever so kind by writing to me and sharing their news, anecdotes and opinions about their experiences fishing on Deeside. I really cannot thank you enough for your support and for the enjoyment I get on receiving your correspondence. The reports would be a pale shadow of what they are without this most generous support and help. I wish all readers a happy Christmas when it comes and a prosperous new year. The 2011 salmon fishing season will soon be upon us and I sincerely hope the salmon and sea trout runs continue to grow and provide all anglers with much enjoyment. Make sure you keep an eye on the find fishing page to book fishing next year as demand is sure to be high.
Ken Reid
Fisheries Development Officer
DDSFB & River Dee Trust Office
Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne
Aberdeenshire, Scotland,AB34 5LA
D +44 (0) 13398 80411
E-Mail ken@riverdee.org
www.riverdee.orgwww.fishdee.co.ukRiver Dee Trust Registered Charity No SC028497