Post by Mon The Flee on Aug 19, 2013 10:28:19 GMT
LAST WEEK
Its Highland Games time up on Deeside and there certainly was some fun and games on the riverbank last week for anglers and Ghillies alike. Salmon fishing can be exciting at times as the fortunes of anglers improved dramatically during the last week on the River Dee. FishDee beats have as I write reported 221 salmon with more to be added and 56 sea trout, with Park reporting 43 salmon and grilse, Lower Crathes 26, Carlogie/Ballogie 23 with Birse, Dess and Altries also in double figures. What a difference a bit of rainfall can make after weeks of low warm water and high air temperatures. The River Dee saw a number of much needed rises in river levels during the week and stocks of fish that had been building up in the Aberdeen area took their leave and migrated upstream quickly giving anglers and Ghillies some great sport. On Tuesday and Saturday 41 salmon were reported each day and Thursday saw 81 salmon reported; sport would have undoubtedly been better had the river not coloured up on Thursday night through Friday. High winds on Friday put a lot of debris from trees into the river and this debris and turbidity in the water put fish off the take considerably. We cannot grumble though as the expected summer run of fish is taking every opportunity to come into the river now in good numbers. Spring tides are building during the week and more fish will come forward, hopefully in ever increasing numbers.
I spoke to the Park Ghillies Keith Cromar and Bert Webster this morning to get news from the beat. I had visited the beat during the week and caught up with anglers Ron Low, David Cronshaw and Major Simon Poett. Keith was optimistic and looking forward to Thursday where he predicted a good day’s sport; the beat reported 18 for the day and 13 on Tuesday. I was delighted to hear that Major Poett had 3 salmon on Thursday. We had dinner the night before and he was so looking forward to Thursday. Marcus Kemmer from Germany had 5 salmon and a sea trout for his 3 days. Bert Webster reported that the south bank of the beat had 30 salmon and grilse for the week with anglers making the most of their opportunities and fishing hard. He advised visiting anglers Nick Drake and Tim Hart from London had 17 salmon between them for their annual visit. He advised that some of the fish were so well conditioned that they could easily have been taken for February spring fish. Bulwarks, Coopers and the Long Pool all fished well from the south bank with floating lines with intermediate tips popular and the ever reliable size 10-12 cascades on the business end coming up trumps. He advised that visiting angler from the Findhorn David Cronshaw had two excellent 14lbers and Andy Roskill had the biggest of the week at 17lbs, a very fresh fish. Great to hear the Park beats doing very well where they have a lot of fine holding water for salmon and grilse. Surely now the beat will see more and more fish being landed as we head into the autumn and hopefully some really big fish too.
I just received a phone call from Robert Harper at Lower Crathes where anglers Paulo Cesana and Alberto Notarbartolo had 19 salmon and 7 grilse between them for their week. Paulo landed 18 and Alberto 8, mostly on small cascades fished just under the surface. They had a blank day on Monday and two fish on two of their other days with the bulk of their action during a hectic 3 day spell of marvellous fishing. Paulo was over earlier in the season and had a very productive spell then and he couldn’t have timed his visits any better. I spoke to the anglers on Wednesday and they were very happy and looking forward to their remaining days. I also spoke to regular River Dee visitor Ade Warburton who had the rods for the week at Carlogie and he advised he was delighted with the sport during the week. He advised Robin Sproull had his first ever Dee fish from the Mill Pool. Other successful anglers were his partner in crime Dr Patrick Taylor, Bill Cook, Dave MacDonald, Neill Sproull and Paul McIntyre. Ade had 7 to his own rod with one of the salmon being coloured carrying sea lice!
Please remember I need your help to write this weekly column, write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.
Beat catches reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Culter 2, Altries and Lower Drum 10, Middle Drum 3, Tilbouries 8, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 2, Park 43, Lower Crathes and W Durris 24, Knappach 1, Crathes 8, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 3, Upper Blackhall 6, Cairnton 6, Woodend 6, Commonty 5, Ballogie 10, Borrowston 9, Kincardine 3, Carlogie 13, Dess 10, Birse 12, Aboyne Water 4, Aboyne Castle 3, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 3, Dinnet 7, Deecastle 8, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 4, Crathie 1, Heughhead 2, Total 221
SEA TROUT: Culter 1, Altries and Lower Drum 1, Middle Drum 2, Tilbouries 3, Park 4, Lower Crathes and W Durris 3, Crathes 3, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 1, Middle Blackhall 1, Woodend 1, Commonty 1, Ballogie 5, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 1, Carlogie 5, Dess 2, Birse 3, Aboyne Water 2, Aboyne Castle 3, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 2, Deecastle 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 2, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 1, Heughhead 2, Total 56
TROUT: Heughhead 2, Total 2
PROSPECTS
Following on from last week’s regular lifts in river levels and lowering of water temperatures fresh summer salmon are taking every opportunity to enter the river and make their way upstream. There have been some good catches made of late with 81 salmon and grilse reported on Thursday. It’s been a tough season for many anglers but there can be no doubt that good numbers of fish are now running the river and there are plenty rods available on the FishDee website for anglers looking to catch salmon before the season draws to a close in a couple of months time. The Lower beats are seeing runs of bright new fish running through them every day and these will take an anglers fly if he’s in the right place at the right time. We normally see big multi sea winter fish entering the catchment during august and September.
The week ahead sees weather forecasters suggesting sunshine and afternoon showers for the week ahead with an air temperature maxima of 18 degrees Celsius and overnight lows getting down to perhaps 7 degrees Celsius. River levels have dropped back following last week’s rises and the Sepa gauges are currently between 4 inches at Mar Lodge and 9 inches at Park. Tides will be building during the week from 3.8 metres to 4.3 metres. The water quality will be ideal for anglers and Ghillies will encourage their anglers to fish hard, especially when they see activity in their pools. Listen to the advice offered by your Ghillie and fish the spots they recommend diligently. Last week saw a lot of fish caught on small cascade patterns, sizes 10-12 typically as the water was coloured at times. No doubt, Cascades, Park Shrimps, Stoats Tail flies along with small black and red Frances flies will catch fish this week. If you need more flies or other equipment please visit Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Strachan's of Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater. Another must visit place at lunchtime is the Kincardine O'Neil Post office for a super range of sandwiches and fishing flies.
With the good level of rod availability on FishDee if you are considering a visit for a few days then please remember to look at the good range of accommodation on offer in the where to stay section on the FishDee website. Remember to ask for Fishermans rates if you are coming in a group of 3 or more anglers for stays of 3 days or more. There is a quick online survey about hotel accommodation provision on the FishDee daily catches page and the feedback from this indicates that anglers are being very well looked after and getting excellent value for money so take advantage of what’s on offer and come and fish the Dee.
Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It's a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.
Regards
Ken
Ken Reid, Fisheries Development Officer
DDSFB & River Dee Trust Office
Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland,AB34 5LA
D +44 (0) 13398 80411 M +44 (0) 7979 878971
E-Mail ken@riverdee.org
www.riverdee.org and www.fishdee.co.uk
River Dee Trust Registered Charity No SC028497
Its Highland Games time up on Deeside and there certainly was some fun and games on the riverbank last week for anglers and Ghillies alike. Salmon fishing can be exciting at times as the fortunes of anglers improved dramatically during the last week on the River Dee. FishDee beats have as I write reported 221 salmon with more to be added and 56 sea trout, with Park reporting 43 salmon and grilse, Lower Crathes 26, Carlogie/Ballogie 23 with Birse, Dess and Altries also in double figures. What a difference a bit of rainfall can make after weeks of low warm water and high air temperatures. The River Dee saw a number of much needed rises in river levels during the week and stocks of fish that had been building up in the Aberdeen area took their leave and migrated upstream quickly giving anglers and Ghillies some great sport. On Tuesday and Saturday 41 salmon were reported each day and Thursday saw 81 salmon reported; sport would have undoubtedly been better had the river not coloured up on Thursday night through Friday. High winds on Friday put a lot of debris from trees into the river and this debris and turbidity in the water put fish off the take considerably. We cannot grumble though as the expected summer run of fish is taking every opportunity to come into the river now in good numbers. Spring tides are building during the week and more fish will come forward, hopefully in ever increasing numbers.
I spoke to the Park Ghillies Keith Cromar and Bert Webster this morning to get news from the beat. I had visited the beat during the week and caught up with anglers Ron Low, David Cronshaw and Major Simon Poett. Keith was optimistic and looking forward to Thursday where he predicted a good day’s sport; the beat reported 18 for the day and 13 on Tuesday. I was delighted to hear that Major Poett had 3 salmon on Thursday. We had dinner the night before and he was so looking forward to Thursday. Marcus Kemmer from Germany had 5 salmon and a sea trout for his 3 days. Bert Webster reported that the south bank of the beat had 30 salmon and grilse for the week with anglers making the most of their opportunities and fishing hard. He advised visiting anglers Nick Drake and Tim Hart from London had 17 salmon between them for their annual visit. He advised that some of the fish were so well conditioned that they could easily have been taken for February spring fish. Bulwarks, Coopers and the Long Pool all fished well from the south bank with floating lines with intermediate tips popular and the ever reliable size 10-12 cascades on the business end coming up trumps. He advised that visiting angler from the Findhorn David Cronshaw had two excellent 14lbers and Andy Roskill had the biggest of the week at 17lbs, a very fresh fish. Great to hear the Park beats doing very well where they have a lot of fine holding water for salmon and grilse. Surely now the beat will see more and more fish being landed as we head into the autumn and hopefully some really big fish too.
I just received a phone call from Robert Harper at Lower Crathes where anglers Paulo Cesana and Alberto Notarbartolo had 19 salmon and 7 grilse between them for their week. Paulo landed 18 and Alberto 8, mostly on small cascades fished just under the surface. They had a blank day on Monday and two fish on two of their other days with the bulk of their action during a hectic 3 day spell of marvellous fishing. Paulo was over earlier in the season and had a very productive spell then and he couldn’t have timed his visits any better. I spoke to the anglers on Wednesday and they were very happy and looking forward to their remaining days. I also spoke to regular River Dee visitor Ade Warburton who had the rods for the week at Carlogie and he advised he was delighted with the sport during the week. He advised Robin Sproull had his first ever Dee fish from the Mill Pool. Other successful anglers were his partner in crime Dr Patrick Taylor, Bill Cook, Dave MacDonald, Neill Sproull and Paul McIntyre. Ade had 7 to his own rod with one of the salmon being coloured carrying sea lice!
Please remember I need your help to write this weekly column, write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.
Beat catches reported
SALMON & GRILSE: Culter 2, Altries and Lower Drum 10, Middle Drum 3, Tilbouries 8, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 2, Park 43, Lower Crathes and W Durris 24, Knappach 1, Crathes 8, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 3, Upper Blackhall 6, Cairnton 6, Woodend 6, Commonty 5, Ballogie 10, Borrowston 9, Kincardine 3, Carlogie 13, Dess 10, Birse 12, Aboyne Water 4, Aboyne Castle 3, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 3, Dinnet 7, Deecastle 8, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 4, Crathie 1, Heughhead 2, Total 221
SEA TROUT: Culter 1, Altries and Lower Drum 1, Middle Drum 2, Tilbouries 3, Park 4, Lower Crathes and W Durris 3, Crathes 3, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 1, Middle Blackhall 1, Woodend 1, Commonty 1, Ballogie 5, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 1, Carlogie 5, Dess 2, Birse 3, Aboyne Water 2, Aboyne Castle 3, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 2, Deecastle 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 2, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 1, Heughhead 2, Total 56
TROUT: Heughhead 2, Total 2
PROSPECTS
Following on from last week’s regular lifts in river levels and lowering of water temperatures fresh summer salmon are taking every opportunity to enter the river and make their way upstream. There have been some good catches made of late with 81 salmon and grilse reported on Thursday. It’s been a tough season for many anglers but there can be no doubt that good numbers of fish are now running the river and there are plenty rods available on the FishDee website for anglers looking to catch salmon before the season draws to a close in a couple of months time. The Lower beats are seeing runs of bright new fish running through them every day and these will take an anglers fly if he’s in the right place at the right time. We normally see big multi sea winter fish entering the catchment during august and September.
The week ahead sees weather forecasters suggesting sunshine and afternoon showers for the week ahead with an air temperature maxima of 18 degrees Celsius and overnight lows getting down to perhaps 7 degrees Celsius. River levels have dropped back following last week’s rises and the Sepa gauges are currently between 4 inches at Mar Lodge and 9 inches at Park. Tides will be building during the week from 3.8 metres to 4.3 metres. The water quality will be ideal for anglers and Ghillies will encourage their anglers to fish hard, especially when they see activity in their pools. Listen to the advice offered by your Ghillie and fish the spots they recommend diligently. Last week saw a lot of fish caught on small cascade patterns, sizes 10-12 typically as the water was coloured at times. No doubt, Cascades, Park Shrimps, Stoats Tail flies along with small black and red Frances flies will catch fish this week. If you need more flies or other equipment please visit Somers of Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Strachan's of Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater. Another must visit place at lunchtime is the Kincardine O'Neil Post office for a super range of sandwiches and fishing flies.
With the good level of rod availability on FishDee if you are considering a visit for a few days then please remember to look at the good range of accommodation on offer in the where to stay section on the FishDee website. Remember to ask for Fishermans rates if you are coming in a group of 3 or more anglers for stays of 3 days or more. There is a quick online survey about hotel accommodation provision on the FishDee daily catches page and the feedback from this indicates that anglers are being very well looked after and getting excellent value for money so take advantage of what’s on offer and come and fish the Dee.
Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It's a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.
Regards
Ken
Ken Reid, Fisheries Development Officer
DDSFB & River Dee Trust Office
Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland,AB34 5LA
D +44 (0) 13398 80411 M +44 (0) 7979 878971
E-Mail ken@riverdee.org
www.riverdee.org and www.fishdee.co.uk
River Dee Trust Registered Charity No SC028497