Fishing Reports & Prospects 2012

[FishDee]

Recent Catches

It is perhaps fitting that the recent wonderful Jubilee weekend culminated with a spectacular event at Balmoral with the reported capture of a 50 inch long salmon. Mr Nick James was fishing the pretty 6 mile beat as part of the Woodward Party. Mr James, an experienced angler, hooked and landed this leviathan after 45 minute struggle and in accordance with the River Dee conservation code returned the fish to the river with the minimum of fuss after measuring the fish at 50 inches. He remarked that the fish was a good deep specimen that had been in the river for perhaps 3 weeks. Fishing on the River Dee was steady at the start of the week however a lift in river levels curtailed sport somewhat over the last 3 days of the week. FishDee beats have reported 122 salmon to 48lbs and 57 sea trout to 5lbs. Waterside and Ferrar reported 12 salmon, Birse, Cairnton and Crathie reported 11 salmon and Park also reached double figures.

I received correspondence from Edward Humphrey from Dinnet Estate who commented 'Just to report that Charles Hill's party fished Dinnet and Dee Castle the week before last and had their best catch for 26 years with 31 salmon and 6 sea trout and they even afforded themselves some time off to play golf! There was no lack of effort for the rest of the week but on Saturday evening the party were still two short of the 2010 total. Charles kindly asked me to fish on Saturday night and I caught a small grilse whilst he landed a 10lb fish in Logie but the prize went to Andrew Markland who caught the 27lb cracker in the Glide to round off an excellent week. Sadly no photos are available of the big fish but it rounded off an excellent week for the Hill part with the majority of the fish being shared equally between Charles, Andrew Markland and his brother Robert.' I spoke briefly with Birse Ghillie Doug Murray this morning to ask about the 30lb salmon reported from his beat on Saturday. Doug commented 'Gordon Smith, a keeper at Seafield Estates from Elgin was the angler who landed the 30lb salmon they reported on Saturday. The fish was caught at the Trees Pool and was measured.' Birse is a big fish beat and I am sure Mr Smith was delighted with his fine capture.

I received a humorous anecdote from Kincardine Estate proprietor Andrew Bradford last week that I wanted to share with readers. Andrew advised 'I've just received the following feedback from a Fishing Tenant on our new hut and on his team's (of 3 couples) week's fishing at Kincardine which might amuse you. 'The new Palace on the Bend is wonderful, and the stove was much appreciated even in early June. A barby would be nice, we might bring our own next year, if that is ok by you; otherwise it only lacks a nubile and willing wench to help pull off our waders, and maybe offer to rub lightly scented oils into our weary shoulders after a long day spent battling with huge salmon. The fishing went pretty well much as usual. The girls occasionally dropped a fly into the water between bouts of gossiping, sleeping, drinking, and puzzling over some of the more purple passages of a book they'd found 50 Shades, or some such twaddle, and they caught 5 salmon and 4 sea trout; the gentlemen applied themselves vigorously, continuously and skilfully, throwing a splendid straight line at least 45 yards on all necessary occasions, and caught 4 salmon and 2 sea trout. Despite the humiliation we would very much appreciate being allowed back next year, please.'

Please ensure all visiting anglers sign the Gyrodactylus salaris declaration forms and follow Ghillies instructions. Bio-Security is vitally important to the river, ensuring all visitors are vigilant in ensuring we take necessary precautions and don't see this devastating parasite wiping out our stocks of salmon. If you are not offered one to sign then I would urge you to please ask for one to be provided to you prior to commencing fishing. The new FishDee blog will have reports through the week as I hear of them so please keep me informed of any news http://fishdee.wordpress.com/ As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.


Beat catches reported(week ending 9th June)
SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Tilbouries 3, Park 10, Lower Crathes and W Durris 5, Crathes 5, Invery 2, Lower Blackhall 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Cairnton 11, Lower Woodend 1, Commonty 1, Ballogie 3, Borrowston 3, Kincardine 3, Carlogie 1, Dess 3, Birse 11, Aboyne Water 6, Aboyne Castle 2, Waterside and Ferrar 12, Dinnet 7, Deecastle 3, Headinch and Cambus O'May 5, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 5, Birkhall 1, Balmoral 4, Crathie 11, Heughhead 1.
Total: 122 Largest: Balmoral 48lbs
SEA TROUT: Park 1, Lower Crathes and W Durris 3, Invery 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Woodend 1, Lower Woodend 2, Kincardine 1, Carlogie 1, Dess 11, Birse 1, Aboyne Water 4, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 6, Dinnet 7, Deecastle 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 4, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 5, Crathie 1, Heughhead 1.
Total: 57 Largest: Dinnet 5lbs

Prospects

The Met Office forecast for Aboyne this week advises a continuation of the cool weather that has prevailed recently. Air temperature maxima will struggle to reach 12 degrees Celsius and most days will be rather overcast and dull with perhaps the odd rain shower, there is a risk of increased rainfall towards the weekend. The light winds from the north will continue. The maritime influence shows tides dropping back from 3.8 metres to 3.5 metres mid week and then starting to build again next weekend. The Sepa gauges are reading 6 inches at Mar Lodge and 1 ft 1 inch at Park so levels are reasonable for anglers visiting the river. Night fishing for sea trout will perhaps be slow as air temperatures are really quite low for the time of year. Hopefully the next few weeks will see air temperatures increase.

As I always counsel please listed to the advice offered by your Ghillie as they can make a difference to your chances of success. Your Ghillie can advise on where the fish are located on the beat you are fishing and advise on the tactics you should employ when fishing your beat. Your Ghillie can make recommendations about what flies to use and please show them your fly box and discuss the best ones to try. If you don't have a Ghillie to call on for advice then perhaps you will fish with a full floating line or sink tip and a size 13-15 fly on a long leader, and work your fly with perhaps a figure of eight retrieve. The patterns to try may include silver stoats tail, Munro Killer, Crathie fly and black Frances. You may find fish located in the faster streams now where fish like to lie in the well oxygenated flows. At nightfall fish can be on the move and pool tails can fish well as running fish come into a pool. If you don't have the range of flies you need then you can visit the Orvis shop in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil post office and Strachan's of Aboyne who all have a decent range of River Dee flies available. The catches last week from Altries to Crathie show a decent distribution of fish throughout the catchment and fish are now running the Feugh with salmon and sea trout being encountered at Heughhead.

Please ensure all visiting anglers sign the Gyrodactylus salaris declaration forms and follow Ghillies instructions. Bio-Security is vitally important to the river, ensuring all visitors are vigilant in ensuring we take necessary precautions and don't see this devastating parasite wiping out our stocks of salmon. If you are not offered one to sign then I would urge you to please ask for one to be provided to you prior to commencing fishing. The new FishDee blog will have reports through the week as I hear of them so please keep me informed of any news http://fishdee.wordpress.com/ As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

[FishDee]

Recent Catches

It was a steady week on Deeside with catches well distributed throughout the catchment with salmon landed between Altries and Mar Lodge. FishDee beats have reported 220 salmon and 88 sea trout for the week with Ballogie/Carlogie reporting 29 salmon, Dinnet and Deecastle reported 20 with Park reporting 18. It was pleasing to see some of the lower beats starting to get some decent catches with Upper Drum and Lower Durris reporting 14 and Tilbouries getting into double figures. Feedback suggests there are salmon and grilse running the river in reasonable numbers and prospects look favourable. Sea trout fishing was quite reasonable with Invery reporting a dozen, Kincardine and Park both reported 9 and a number of other beats reported around half a dozen.

I received correspondence from Euan Reid at Dinnet advising 'Hello Ken. This week's report from Dinnet and Deecastle is a good one! This time last year we had a big head of fish in all the pools but they had been with us for quite some time. This time we have fewer resident fish but we have a steady run of fresh fish entering the beat and it is these that are being caught, some still with sea lice. For me, this is the best type of salmon fishing, with success coming from covering as much water as possible as delicately as you can; with the expectation of a pull in every pool from a fresh fish. Notable fish this week were many but I'll select a few- Barry Hannigan 18lb from Ministers, Jeff Featherstone 16lb plus 2 sea trout on a very difficult day for him personally. Jamie Adamson caught a 16lb fish from the Dinnet side of Logie using a very small black conehead and size 20 double! Mike Noble had 6 salmon, Phillip Taylor 4, including a wild 16lb fish from Bruich, and Geoff Stainton caught his first Dee salmon from between the goalposts in the Glide on Deecastle. Unfortunately there was one angler who failed to score, Dick 'fishless' Bradshaw who will no doubt be top scorer next year.' I do wish Dick success on his return to Dinnet as sometimes fishing can see one talented angler being frustrated when everyone else is getting sport.

I was delighted to meet Invery Ghillie Karl Revel this morning who provided an in depth report as always. Karl advised 'As many will know the Invery beat has recently been sold and will now be split, with the upper double bank section remaining as Invery and the lower single bank section being renamed Tilquhillie. The new owners will co-operate closely and will at times operate the two beats in tandem. On Friday Peter Hutchison, back home in Echt, having recently qualified as a doctor, enjoyed a memorable first days salmon fishing. In the morning he adapted quickly to Speycasting with a double handed rod. This in itself pleased him greatly and in the afternoon he put his newly learned skills to good use when he was fortunate enough to catch and release two sea liced salmon of 12 and 13 lbs on a size 12 Munro Killer variant in the Killing Hatch pool. Describing his experience as 'one of the best days of my life,' he added 'I don't know if I'm trembling because I'm cold or because I'm so excited.' Everyone who has caught their first salmon will know the answer to that question. Peter was congratulated by Eddie Sinclair; a regular Dee fisherman who had earlier landed a beautiful 20 lb sea liced fish in Tilquhillie's Floating Bank pool using a self designed size 11 Posh Tosh variant. Eddie and I did caution Peter not to expect success on every trip to the river but we were sure that on this day he was paying little heed to our words of wisdom' Congratulations to Peter and hopefully the first of many memorable salmon fishing adventures.



Peter Hutchison with his first ever salmon at Invery looking delighted

Please ensure all visiting anglers sign the Gyrodactylus salaris declaration forms and follow Ghillies instructions closely. Bio-Security is vitally important to the river, ensuring all visitors are vigilant in ensuring we take necessary precautions and don't see this devastating parasite wiping out our stocks of salmon. If you are not offered one to sign then I would urge you to please ask for one to be provided to you prior to commencing fishing. The new FishDee blog will have reports through the week as I hear of them so please keep me informed of any news this link As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.


Beat Catches Reported
Week ending 12:08 on Mon 11th Jun 2012
SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 2, Middle Drum 2, Tilbouries 10, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 14, Park 18, Lower Crathes and W Durris 6, Knappach 1, Crathes 4, Invery 3, Lower Blackhall 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 5, Cairnton 10, Woodend 3, Commonty 4, Sluie 2, Ballogie 15, Borrowston 5, Kincardine 6, Carlogie 14, Dess 9, Birse 10, Aboyne Water 5, Aboyne Castle 4, Craigendinnie 5, Waterside and Ferrar 12, Dinnet 8, Deecastle 12, Headinch and Cambus O'May 4, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 13, Birkhall 1, Abergeldie 5, Crathie 4, Mar Lodge 2, Total 220
SEA TROUT: Middle Drum 1, Tilbouries 3, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 4, Park 9, Lower Crathes and W Durris 4, Invery 12, Cairnton 1, Woodend 1, Ballogie 4, Kincardine 9, Carlogie 5, Dess 5, Birse 2, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 2, Craigendinnie 1, Waterside and Ferrar 3, Dinnet 7, Deecastle 6, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 7, Birkhall 1, Total 88
TROUT: none reported

Prospects

The Met Office forecast for Aboyne this week advises a continuation of the cool weather that has prevailed recently. Air temperature maxima will struggle to reach 12 degrees Celsius and most days will be rather overcast and dull with perhaps the odd rain shower, there is a risk of increased rainfall towards the weekend. The light winds from the north will continue. The maritime influence shows tides dropping back from 3.8 metres to 3.5 metres mid week and then starting to build again next weekend. The Sepa gauges are reading 6 inches at Mar Lodge and 1 ft 1 inch at Park so levels are reasonable for anglers visiting the river. Night fishing for sea trout will perhaps be slow as air temperatures are really quite low for the time of year. Hopefully the next few weeks will see air temperatures increase.

As I always counsel, please listen to the advice offered by your Ghillie as they can make a difference to your chances of success. Your Ghillie can advise on where the fish are located on the beat you are fishing and advise on the tactics you should employ when fishing your beat. Your Ghillie can make recommendations about what flies to use and please show them your fly box and discuss the best ones to try. If you don't have a Ghillie to call on for advice then perhaps you will fish with a full floating line or sink tip and a size 13-15 fly on a long leader, and work your fly with perhaps a figure of eight retrieve. The patterns to try may include silver stoats tail, Munro Killer, Crathie fly and black Frances. You may find fish located in the faster streams now where fish like to lie in the well oxygenated flows. At nightfall fish can be on the move and pool tails can fish well as running fish come into a pool. If you don't have the range of flies you need then you can visit the Orvis shop in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil post office and Strachan's of Aboyne who all have a decent range of River Dee flies available. The catches last week from Altries to Crathie show a decent distribution of fish throughout the catchment and fish are now running the Feugh with salmon and sea trout being encountered at Heughhead.

Please ensure all visiting anglers sign the Gyrodactylus salaris declaration forms and follow Ghillies instructions. Bio-Security is vitally important to the river, ensuring all visitors are vigilant in ensuring we take necessary precautions and don't see this devastating parasite wiping out our stocks of salmon. If you are not offered one to sign then I would urge you to please ask for one to be provided to you prior to commencing fishing. The new FishDee blog will have reports through the week as I hear of them so please keep me informed of any news http://fishdee.wordpress.com/ As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

[FishDee]

Recent Catches

Last week was shaping up to be a really productive week - perhaps one of the best for the season, but the heavens opened and we had a big coloured river on Friday and Saturday that slowed down the action somewhat in areas of the catchment. It wasn't a total washout though as FishDee beats reported a creditable 177 salmon and 118 sea trout. There was some good sport encountered at times and the Ghillies I have been speaking to this morning have been very positive about recent sport and the current prospects. It appears that there were good runs of new salmon and grilse coming in last week before the big lift in river levels, which should encourage another good run of new salmon to run the river. At this time of year if we get water we can get good runs of fish and anglers fishing this week could do very well. In terms of salmon catches the Ballogie beats reported 31 salmon with many lost, Dess reported 15 salmon with many lost, Park and Lower Crathes and West Durris both reported 11 salmon and grilse and many other beats did well.

On the sea trout front, conditions at night were not ideal as the air temperatures during the evenings were on the cool side. That said FishDee beats saw Kincardine report 16 sea trout, Dess 15 sea trout and Park 11. Anglers were catching sea trout as a by catch when fishing for salmon during the day. If we get warmer evenings this week then conditions may be ideal for anglers wishing to have a crack for sea trout with lighter tackle at dusk. I visited the lovely Lower Woodend beat on Saturday morning for a cast and the river looked in really good order until it started to rise.



Robin Kemp with his best salmon ever at Ballogie
I have chatted with some of the river Ghillies this morning who were very upbeat. Eoin Smith at Dess remarked 'We caught a good number of fish and lost quite a few too, mostly sea liced fish to boot. We had 10 salmon and 5 grilse. George Chan from Chester did well and had a good number to his rod. Ian Wilson from the Borders Gun Room did well with salmon and sea trout and I expect him to do well this week. Ian's the inventor of the popular Posh Tosh fly and this did the trick for him when the river rose on Friday night.' The pools have stocks of fresh and river fish and new fish are arriving regularly.

Robert Harper at Lower Crathes advised 'A good first half of the week with steady river levels; alas a big rise in river levels towards the end of the week coloured the river somewhat and fish went off the take a bit. We had a decent week with salmon, grilse and sea trout. Successful anglers were shipbroker Gordon Dickinson and John and Anthea Fielding. Cascades and Shipbroker Shrimp flies did the business for us. I would like to see the river levels drop slowly throughout the week and we should fish well.' It looks likely that we should see decent fishing conditions until at least Thursday evening when heavy rain is suggested.



The Franc N Snaelda does the business on the Dee again
Sean Stanton at Ballogie commented 'We had a good first half, a little quiet spell and then a strong finish to the week with 5 salmon on Saturday at Carlogie. Lots of new sea liced salmon and grilse coming forward which are perfectly shaped and in good condition. The Weir party, who were fishing Ballogie and Carlogie had a good week however we lost as many fish as we caught. Ian Jardine had 9 for his week and also lost 9, with 5 lost on Thursday morning at Ballogie. If temperatures rise as forecast we could do really well in the evenings when fishing for sea trout. We have a good team fishing this week and I expect them to do very well.' Based on Ghillies feedback anglers fishing this week could enjoy some excellent sport. For those pondering a flying visit, then please do as conditions appear to be as good as you could ask for at this time of year.

Please ensure all visiting anglers sign the Gyrodactylus salaris declaration forms and follow Ghillies instructions closely. Bio-Security is vitally important to the river, ensuring all visitors are vigilant in ensuring we take necessary precautions and don't see this devastating parasite wiping out our stocks of salmon. If you are not offered one to sign then I would urge you to please ask for one to be provided to you prior to commencing fishing. The new FishDee blog will have reports through the week as I hear of them so please keep me informed of any news. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd

Beat catches reported (week ending 23rd June)
SALMON & GRILSE: Tilbouries 2, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 3, Park 11, Lower Crathes and W Durris 11, Invery 3, Lower Blackhall 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 4, Middle Blackhall 3, Cairnton 4, Woodend 2, Commonty 4, Sluie 1, Ballogie 8, Borrowston 5, Kincardine 8, Carlogie 18, Dess 15, Birse 9, Aboyne Water 9, Aboyne Castle 7, Craigendinnie 6, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Dinnet 4, Deecastle 5, Headinch and Cambus O'May 8, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 7, Abergeldie 4, Crathie 10, Mar Lodge 2, Heughhead 1.
Total: 177 Largest: Park & Birse 22lbs

SEA TROUT: Middle Drum 1, Tilbouries 1, Park 11, Lower Crathes and W Durris 6, Invery 9, Lower Blackhall 2, Middle Blackhall 1, Cairnton 2, Woodend 6, Ballogie 4, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 16, Carlogie 8, Dess 15, Birse 9, Aboyne Water 8, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 3, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Dinnet 1, Deecastle 3, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 3, Crathie 4, Heughhead 1.
Total: 118 Largest: Kincardine & Carlogie & Birse & Waterside and Ferrar & Crathie 4lbs


Prospects

Good river levels allied to a reasonable weather forecast suggest potentially a very good week, time will tell as anglers tackle a falling river with new runs of fish coming forward. The river gauges are currently sitting at 1 foot 1 inch at Mar Lodge and 2 ft 10 inches at Park-ideal for the time of year. The maritime influence sees tides dropping back from 4.0 metres to 3.6 metres on Thursday and then starting to build again. The Met Office is forecasting a mostly overcast week with air temperature maxima perhaps reaching 20 degrees Celsius tomorrow with light winds through the week. There may be the odd isolated shower until Thursday PM when heavy rain is forecast and then brighter and showery conditions on Friday. It is too early to say how much rain will fall on the catchment on Thursday; hopefully it will not be too much to affect river levels drastically. There is good rod availability for anglers pondering a flying visit to Deeside this week.



The pools are at a good fishing height with lots of availability and new fish coming forward


Anglers will be advised to consult their Ghillie during their stay this week to ensure they give themselves the best opportunity of encountering good sport. With positive feedback this morning I hope anglers heed the counsel provided by their Ghillie who will advise the tactics to utilise on their chosen beat. As we have passed the summer solstice daylight hours are at their longest and anglers need to use their time wisely and don't burn the candle at both ends. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie to call on then perhaps you will fish with a sink tip combination whether speyline or shooting head. Fly choice could include Crathie fly, Franc n snaelda, Cascade, Calvin's shrimp and silver stoats tail. Anglers fishing dusk and into the darkness could get good sport from sea trout with flies such as Stoats Tail, Dark Mackerel, Teal blue and silver and monkey. If you need to stock up on flies you can visit Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, Strachan's of Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater where you will find a good selection of Dee flies.



Some of Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stantons deadly flies

There is a good selection of accommodations for visiting anglers on FishDee and we are pleased to welcome the Old Toll House in Kincardine O'Neil to FishDee. Irene Ross is mine host and welcomes visiting anglers to middle Deeside. Her website can be accessed here http://www.theoldtollhouse.co.uk/ At this time of year anglers need flexibility in the times of fishing effort, with a good place to relax in between hours on the river bank. Please look at the good selection of accommodation providers who specialise in catering for visiting anglers and will make your stay both pleasant and comfortable at www.fishdee.co.uk
As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd

[FishDee]

Recent Catches

The cool wet weather that has prevailed on Deeside for a considerable period continues and last week saw persistent rainfall during the latter part of the week ensuring river levels were above normal summer levels. This helped encourage fish activity and salmon catches were reasonable with FishDee beats reporting 213 salmon and 96 sea trout. Carlogie reported 17 salmon and grilse, Dess 15, Lower Crathes and West Durris 14 with Lower Invercauld and Monaltrie, Kincardine, Borrowston, Park and Upper Drum all in double figures. The largest salmon reported was 22lbs at Balmoral. Sea Trout fishing was steady if not spectacular with Tilbouries reporting a dozen and Kincardine 11. Weather conditions were not ideal for keen night fishing sea trout enthusiasts.

Iain Wilson from the Borders Gun Room in St Boswells continued to enjoy good sport at Dess and sent an e-mail advising ‘Hi Ken, Thought I would send you a few pics of our annual trip to Dess this year. The first one is of Bob Smith, Assistant Ghillie at Carham on Tweed, holding a very fresh 8lb fish, caught in Rossacks on Monday morning. The successful pattern was a Brown and orange conehead, which is called Bobs Golden B's, or BGB for short. The first time Bob used this fly on Tweed, he caught 8 salmon with it; Hence the name. Glad to see it works as well on the Dee. Bob caught a 2nd fish shortly afterwards using the same fly. The 2nd picture is of me with a sea liced fish approx 8lb caught on Friday afternoon; this was caught in the Mill pool at Dess, and was one of 3 Salmon a caught in a short space of time, approx 20 mins. I had caught a small grilse, in the same place 5 mins before, which was successfully netted by Mr Jeremy Clayton. After being released I started again and no sooner was into this fish, fortunately Eoin Smith, Dess Ghillie was on hand to net this one, and Mr Clayton manned the Camera. The 3rd pic is myself with a long tailed sea liced fish caught in Jetties (tail of Mill), approx 8lb, this was the 3rd fish caught in 20mins. Once again Eoin Smith was on hand with the net; as I was clearly on a roll, he was keeping a close eye on me. The Successful fly was a XS Tungsten Conehead Crimp Tube, with a Black and Orange Wing, and Orange Holographic body, fished on floating line and 10ft clear inter tip, water height was 2ft 8",and Water temp 57f . We finished our week with 15 Salmon and 9 Sea Trout, on Thursday and Friday we blanked; I think we were fishing to deep, and too big, the water was also very unsettled over the last 3 days of the week. Thanks again Iain Wilson.'



Visiting Tweed Ghillie Bob Smith from Carham with a nice fresh salmon at Dess

I was delighted to receive an e-mail from Lawrence Hunt this morning with a super image of a nice big brown trout his 5 year old son Joshua had caught whilst out fishing with dad on the ADAA beat on the Feugh. Lawrence added ‘Both my boys are hooked and it really is wonderful for them to be able to enjoy such sport locally.' I can also report that Lower Blackhall proprietor Lawrence Ross was providing fishing today to three teenagers from Banchory Academy; Lewis, Cameron and Alex, have just finished their exams, had been helping clear rubbish from the river bank at Kinneskie and were being rewarded for their efforts by Mr Ross. I was delighted to meet them all this morning where Ghillie Colin Simpson was looking forward to teaching them all to fish. Dinnet proprietor Edward Humphrey dropped into the office and advised that Dinnet/ Deecastle had 162 salmon during the spring period, which was the same as 2008. Given the challenging fishing conditions encountered by many anglers during the spring this was a decent achievement and is in line with the beats 5 year average.



5 Year old Joshua Hunt with a nice 3.2 lb brown trout caught whilst fishing with dad Lawrence from the ADAA beat on the Feugh tributary of the River Dee

Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will take a minimal period to carry out. The new FishDee blog will have news through the week so please keep me informed of any news. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd


Beat catches reported (week ending 30th June)
SALMON & GRILSE: Tilbouries 3, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 10, Park 10, Lower Crathes and W Durris 14, Crathes 8, Invery 3, Lower Blackhall 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 5, Cairnton 3, Lower Woodend 1, Commonty 1, Sluie 3, Ballogie 6, Borrowston 11, Kincardine 10, Carlogie 17, Dess 15, Birse 12, Aboyne Water 9, Aboyne Castle 5, Craigendinnie 5, Waterside and Ferrar 6, Dinnet 6, Deecastle 6, Headinch and Cambus O'May 7, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 10, Birkhall 1, Balmoral 5, Crathie 15, Mar Lodge 1.
Total: 213 Largest: Balmoral 22lbs
SEA TROUT: Culter 1, Tilbouries 12, Park 7, Lower Crathes and W Durris 6, Crathes 4, Invery 1, Lower Blackhall 2, Middle Blackhall 2, Cairnton 2, Woodend 2, Lower Woodend 1, Sluie 1, Ballogie 1, Borrowston 3, Kincardine 11, Carlogie 4, Dess 8, Birse 2, Aboyne Water 4, Aboyne Castle 5, Craigendinnie 1, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 2, Deecastle 4, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 3, Crathie 3, Heughhead 1.
Total: 96 Largest: Invery & Woodend & Kincardine 4lbs


Prospects

The river is running well above summer level as I write and gauges are rising in the lower catchment. The Sepa Gauges are reading 9 inches at Mar Lodge and 3 ft 2 inches at Park. The Met Office is suggesting that air temperatures will rise a bit during the week and may reach as much as 20 degrees Celsius. There will be rain at times during the week with perhaps thunder showers on Thursday/Friday occurring. How this will impact on the river is difficult to predict, but heavy localised downpours can cause discolouration if a lot of sediment is washed into the river from fields. The maritime influence sees tides building though the week from 4.1 metres to 4.4 metres. Providing we don't get any dramatic rises in river levels then fishing could be very productive with night sea trout fishers getting a good opportunity for sport. I am looking forward to getting out to fish later in the week.



Iain Wilson from St Boswells with a nice salmon at Dess

I visited a number of beats to speak to Ghillies about bio security and was able to gather some information about how the beats were fishing. Ghillies were very upbeat about fish catches and numbers of running fish. I always recommend anglers speak to their Ghillie to discuss tactics and fly choice; this advice is as valid today as it was when I first started writing these fishing reports a number of years ago. If you don't have a Ghillie on hand to consult then your fly choice could include Crathie fly, Franc n snaelda, Cascade, Calvin's shrimp and silver stoats tail; perhaps a Ness C in peaty water and a green cascade variant. Anglers fishing dusk and into the darkness could get good sport from sea trout with flies such as Stoats Tail, Dark Mackerel, Teal blue and silver and monkey. If you need to stock up on flies you can visit Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, Strachan's of Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater where you will find a good selection of Dee flies. Make sure you have floating lines and some poly leaders to help sink the fly just under the surface.



Dess Ghillie Eoin Smith with successful angler Iain Wilson who enjoyed a good fishing trip on Deeside

There is a good selection of quality hotel accommodation on Deeside with some hotels offering tremendous value for money to visiting parties of anglers. I understand Tor Na Coille Hotel, Raemoir Hose Hotel and Banchory Lodge Hotel are offering special fisherman's rates of just over £50 per night for B&B for stays of 3 nights or more-this is tremendous value for money from these top establishments. Please look at the good selection of accommodation providers who specialise in catering for visiting anglers who will make your stay both pleasant and comfortable at www.fishdee.co.uk

Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will take a minimal period to carry out. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd

[FishDee]

LAST WEEK

Another week of cool wet weather saw river levels maintained at a good fishing height and resulted with another week of reasonable catches with FishDee beats reporting 195 salmon to 24lbs and 94 sea trout to 5lbs. The biggest fish reported for the week was landed at Woodend but I have no other details about this fish. Lower Crathes and Dinnet beats both reported 16 salmon each which was decent sport as only two anglers were fishing each beat for the week. Crathes and Invery both reported 13 salmon, with Birse reporting 12. The river is not as heavily fished just now as it is in the early spring, which is a pity as there are good runs of fish coming forward, and lots of availability at super beats-River levels are ideal to encourage fish to run the river in good numbers. If you have a chance to come fishing then I would recommend that you come to the Dee to fish.

I met Jeremy Clayton, the Dess proprietor on Friday who reported that he had some good sport with a fine 22lb salmon to his own rod. His last 4 fish caught very recently from Dess have all been over 15lbs which has delighted him.I was also delighted to hear that Ron Low had a fine 21lb sea liced fish from Tilbouries. Ron is the proprietor of the Raemoir Trout fishery in Banchory which is a great place for local youngsters wishing to learn to fly fish during the school holidays as they have equipment available to hire and good numbers of stocked brown and rainbow trout to catch.



Bernard Bimboes from France with a lovely summer salmon at Lower Kirks, Park North

Regular Dee fisher Philippe Koehler from France was back on Deeside staying at the Tor Na Coille Hotel and fishing Tilbouries and Park. He sent an e-mail advising ' Back from The Dee, my friend Bernard and I had a good week at Park and Tilbouries, we fish very hard and manage to catch 6 salmons, 5 were sea liced 1 was not. One was a grilse and the 5 other fish were over 12 pounds, the biggest was 17lbs . I caught my 3 fish with the Frank n snaelda, on a little conehead tube, black and yellow (thank you Mr Sean Stanton!) Marguerite saw you at Tilbouries, she was receiving some casting lessons from Willie Banks, she began salmon fishing this week! We will come back in September and hope we will meet you.'

I also received an e-mail from Sam Harris advising ' Hi Ken, just a quick line for you to consider for your blog, it would make Mark's day if you include it! I had a fantastic day with my father and best mate, Mark Roxburghe at Cairnton today. Mark was my pupil until today, having recently mastered his Spey cast, he put it to good use and took a sea trout and two salmon. Good luck for the future Mark! Thanks Ken, Regards, Sam Harris' Delighted to hear of Mark's success at Cairnton. This is a lovely beat where new Ghillie Brian Brogan I hear is doing a great job with visiting guests. I visited him for a brief chat and was pleased to hear how much he is relishing his role at Cairnton. I was pleased to get the chance to fish for an hour or so in the evening and was pleased to land a nice sea trout of 3lbs.

Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will take a minimal period to carry out. The new FishDee blog will have news through the week so please keep me informed of any news. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd

SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Middle Drum 2, Tilbouries 7, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 11, Park 7, Lower Crathes and W Durris 16, Crathes 13, Invery 13, Lower Blackhall 4, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 4, Cairnton 9, Woodend 2, Commonty 3, Sluie 2, Ballogie 7, Borrowston 3, Kincardine 5, Carlogie 11, Dess 5, Birse 12, Aboyne Water 11, Aboyne Castle 6, Craigendinnie 4, Dinnet 16, Deecastle 3, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 7, Crathie 6, Heughhead 4, Total 195

SEA TROUT: Altries and Lower Drum 3, Middle Drum 1, Tilbouries 3, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 1, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Crathes 5, Invery 8, Lower Blackhall 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 1, Cairnton 3, Woodend 6, Lower Woodend 1, Commonty 1, Sluie 1, Ballogie 5, Kincardine 5, Carlogie 12, Dess 14, Birse 6, Aboyne Castle 3, Craigendinnie 4, Dinnet 1, Deecastle 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 2, Crathie 2, Total 94
TROUT: Crathie 1, Heughhead 1, Total 2

PROSPECTS

The river is still carrying a bit of peat stain as I have spent the day with a flim crew at Glen Tanar filming their beats. The water is at a super fishing height and should remain so during the week unless we get a dramatic rainfall. The Sepa gauges are running at 9 inches at Mar Lodge and 2ft 6 inches at Park,great levels for summer fishing on the Dee. The Met Office are suggesting that there will be heavy rain on Tuesday with perhaps a little bit more rain later in the week. It will be predominantly an overcast week with light northerly breezes. Air temperature maxima will be around 15 degrees Celsius. The maritime influence sees tides falling though the week from 4.1 metres to 3.6 metres. Providing we don't get any dramatic rises in river levels then fishing could be very productive with night sea trout fishers getting a good opportunity for sport too if the evenings stay warm enough. I suspect salmon anglers could do very well this week if we can get enough to come and fish.



Philippe Koehler with a nice summer fish from the Long Pool, Park North


I always recommend anglers speak to their Ghillie to discuss tactics and fly choice; this advice is as valid today as it was when I first started writing these fishing reports a number of years ago. If you don't have a Ghillie on hand to consult then your fly choice could include Crathie fly, Franc n snaelda, Park Shrimp, Calvin's shrimp and silver stoats tail; perhaps a Ally's shrimp in peaty water. Anglers fishing dusk and into the darkness could get good sport from sea trout with flies such as Stoats Tail, Dark Mackerel, Teal blue and silver and monkey. If you need to stock up on flies you can visit Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, Strachan's of Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater where you will find a good selection of Dee flies. Make sure you have floating lines and some poly leaders to help sink the fly just under the surface.

There is a good selection of quality hotel accommodation on Deeside with some hotels offering tremendous value for money to visiting parties of anglers. I understand Tor Na Coille Hotel, Raemoir Hose Hotel and Banchory Lodge Hotel are offering special fisherman's rates of just over £50 per night for B&B for stays of 3 nights or more-this is tremendous value for money from these top establishments. Please look at the good selection of accommodation providers who specialise in catering for visiting anglers who will make your stay both pleasant and comfortable at www.fishdee.co.uk

Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will take a minimal period to carry out. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd

[FishDee]

LAST WEEK

This summer on Deeside has seen cool wet conditions overall which have been ideal for salmon anglers, with river levels fine to encourage new fish forward. It was the second best week of the season which saw FishDee beats break through the 3,000 barrier for the season once the 272 salmon were added to the season's totals. It was an exciting week for anglers on Deeside with some great sport to be had at times. Park reported 44 salmon for their week with their best day of the season occurring on Tuesday when 4 anglers landed 17 salmon. Birse had a good week with 26 salmon and two rods fishing Lower Crathes had 17 for their week. I was out on the river with a film crew producing beat films for 7 estates last week and would like to thank all the participating anglers for their kind help and patience with the film crew. Thanks also go to our participating Ghillies who did a sterling job in helping produce these films, which should hopefully be ready by the end of October to go onto the FishDee website.



Philip Black with a nice salmon at Park, one of 6 to his own rod for his day there
I have received quite a few e-mails in the last week and am grateful to all the correspondents who have written to me. The weekly reports would be all the poorer without your enthusiastic reports; so please keep them coming. Firstly I received an e-mail from Tom Saville, a long time River Dee supporter and famed inventor of the renowned Crathie Fly, featured in this month's Trout and Salmon magazine, in an excellent article written by local angler and writer Ross Macdonald who invented the renowned Park Shrimp fly. Tom commented 'We had a poor week last week on Crathie, the water was peaty all week and I'm sure it puts them off. We had 6 for the week (5 on one day) - all on the Crathie fly! Of course. We're back on August 12th, hoping for better conditions.' Tom has been fishing the Dee since the 1960's and has a wealth of experience and invaluable knowledge which he puts to good use on his trips to the upper river at Crathie. His Crathie fly is a great all rounder and ideal for the River Dee. Paul Huggins also dropped me a line with an image of the 24lb salmon he landed recently at Woodend, a super fresh sea liced cock fish. Paul advised 'Hi Ken, I am a regular rod at Woodend. We have swapped emails etc in the past. I saw your report mention a 24 lb fish at Woodend last week. Please find picture attached. The fish was 40 inches long snout to fork. As you can see it was very fresh and in perfect unmarked condition. The fish took a size 12 editor and put up a very exciting struggle! I was on my own so took this quick snap at the water's edge before slipping him back unharmed. Thanks for all your FishDee work and info, like many others, I am a regular reader. Kind regards Paul Huggins' The beats around Woodend offer superb scenery and privacy.

I also was delighted to receive nice feedback from anglers fishing at Park last week who enjoyed their productive trip. Philip Black wrote with images advising 'Hi Ken, good to see you yesterday, hope all went well with the filming. I'm just sending a few pictures of fish I caught on Park on Wednesday. I had a great day with Jim Reid and Keith the Ghillie. I ended up getting 6, from 4lb to 13lb, all liced. I'm not back up till end of august. All the best Phil.' Philip was most helpful with his colleague Billy at Little Blackhall where we were filming on Wednesday during really high water conditions. I also had news from the aforementioned Jim Reid, who also had good sport at Park. Jim commented 'Hi Ken, fishing was really good, despite quite high and peaty water. I got three on Monday, two grilse and a 12lber, then two 12lber's and two 14lber's on Tuesday. My pal Philip Black got 6 on Tuesday; another two fishers got three each. Most of mine were sea-liced, cracking Dee fish. I was very well looked after by Keith as usual. Take care, Jim'. After a difficult season it is good to hear that Park is producing really good catches whilst not fully let. There appears to be good numbers of fish there now co-operating with the anglers who are fishing there. It's a lovely beat to fish, with at times very productive pools and streams. Current conditions are excellent for anglers fishing the Dee and I hope more anglers will take advantage with the amount of availability at present and come to fish the river. Lots of good fishing this week is available at 12 locations on Deeside and can be booked online at the find fishing page on the FishDee website.

Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will take a minimal period to carry out. The new FishDee blog will have news through the week so please keep me informed of any news. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences.

Beat Catches Reported; Week ending 17:11 on Mon 9th Jul 2012
SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Middle Drum 7, Tilbouries 11, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 11, Park 44, Lower Crathes and W Durris 17, Crathes 8, Invery 11, Lower Blackhall 8, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Middle Blackhall 9, Cairnton 10, Commonty 1, Ballogie 8, Borrowston 4, Kincardine 9, Carlogie 12, Dess 6, Birse 26, Aboyne Water 8, Aboyne Castle 5, Craigendinnie 8, Dinnet 5, Headinch and Cambus O'May 4, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 9, Abergeldie 5, Crathie 15, Mar Lodge 5, Heughhead 3, Total 273
SEA TROUT: Culter 2, Middle Drum 2, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 3, Park 1, Lower Crathes and W Durris 2, Invery 4, Lower Blackhall 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Cairnton 2, Woodend 1, Ballogie 4, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 2, Dess 7, Birse 12, Aboyne Water 6, Aboyne Castle 2, Craigendinnie 2, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 5, Crathie 1, Heughhead 1, Total 64
TROUT: none reported


PROSPECTS

Last week saw the second best week's sport of the fishing season and perhaps it would have been the best had we not had a big rise in river levels on Wednesday that curtailed catches significantly. The cool wet weather conditions that have prevailed look set to continue with most days seeing light rain or showers forecast. Air temperature maxima should be around 17 degrees Celsius with any winds being light and from a northerly direction. By and large it should be overcast most days which allied to decent river levels at present, indicate that this week should be productive for anglers out fishing the river. The maritime influence shows tides building through the week from 3.6 metres to 4.3 metres. This should bring more salmon and grilse forward into the river. There have been good runs of new fish recently and these will hopefully continue to build between now and the end of the fishing season.With prospects looking great for the week it is important for anglers to capitalise on the potential for good sport.



Greig Thompson of Salmo Fishings International with a fine summer salmon at Park

As always listen to the advice offered by your Ghillie whilst fishing the pools on your beat. The River Dee Ghillies are very knowledgeable and helpful and can help in no small way to increase your catch. They will advise on fly choice, presentation, where to concentrate on fishing and at what depth. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie you would be advised to fish with a full floater or a sink tip fly line and leader of perhaps 6 foot plus. Fly choice could include the following popular Dee flies; Crathie fly, Park shrimp, Monkey, Snaelda, Red or Black Frances, Tosh and as Eoin Smith from Dess recommends, any black fly that's one inch in length ! If you need to stock up on flies you can visit Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, Strachan's of Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater where you will find a good selection of Dee flies.

There is a good selection of quality hotel accommodation on Deeside with some hotels offering tremendous value for money to visiting parties of anglers. Please look at the good selection of accommodation providers who specialise in catering for visiting anglers who will make your stay both pleasant and comfortable at www.fishdee.co.uk the feedback from anglers about the service they have enjoyed on Deeside has been really excellent. Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will take a minimal period to carry out. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd

[FishDee]

LAST WEEK

It was the best weeks fishing for the season for FishDee beats with 311 salmon and grilse reported and 64 sea trout. With eight more fishing days until the end of the month it is hoped that the month will finish with a flourish and returns for the month will exceed 1,000 salmon and grilse. Prospects look very reasonable with the Lower Beats starting to catch good numbers of salmon and grilse. Earlier in the season salmon had rocketed through the lower beats to the middle and Upper River and it is pleasing to hear of good catches on lower beats. I have spoken to a number of lower beat Ghillies today who were all really upbeat about recent catches. There are good sized summer salmon and very well conditioned grilse being reported.

Park had an excellent week with anglers catching 52 salmon and grilse. I spoke to Ghillies Keith Cromar and Bert Webster who advised 'We caught really good quality salmon and grilse last week with a good number of fish over 15lbs with the largest 22lbs. Small lightly dressed flies seem to do the trick with 12's and 14's very successful. The Park shrimp did very well along with cascade, silver stoat and Willie Gunn Flamethrower. The ever enthusiastic Majors, Simon Poett and Mike Dunning put their extensive knowledge of the beat to good use and had great sport. Duncan White had 6 to 22lbs on his trip. George Buchan, a day rod from Fourdon had 6 for his day. Best day of the week saw 21 landed between North and South banks with quite a lot of fish hooked and lost nover and above. Considering there was not a full complement of rods fishing this was a good result with a lot more fish caught than were being seen. Conditions are looking really ideal now for anglers here with levels dropping to a height that encourages fish to stop at Park.'



Jim Coates who had a 5 salmon and a sea trout for his day at Ballogie

Robert Harper at Lower Crathes advised 'The Fielding party had an excellent week with 25 salmon and grilse to 20lbs. They had an excellent first half of the week with 19 for the first 3 days before the river rose significantly and sport quietened down. Anthea Fielding had an excellent 20lb salmon on Saturday to round of an excellent week.' I also chatted with Brian Sim at the lovely Crathes beat who commented 'We had a good week with 23 nice salmon and grilse to 16lbs. Mr Vincente Gonzalez had a fantastic weeks fishing with 14 fish for the week on small size 14 Cascades fished on a variety of sink tips off a floating line to suit water heights. We have had 3 already this morning which is a super start to the week.' Eoin Smith at Dess advised 'We had a good week with 13 salmon being caught by the Somerville party. Ross Somerville had 3 fish on Monday which set us up nicely for the week.'

I received an e-mail from Dave Hartley commenting about his recent trip to the pretty Aboyne Castle beat. Dave commented 'Two of us had 3 days on Aboyne Castle last week. Ghillie Alec Coutts put me straight on to the fish and we had a superb 14lber in the first hour, thanks to my red-headed Norham Butcher fly. The river was at a good full height and the fish weren't showing, but we knew they were there. Later in the day my pal had a respectable smaller fish so we felt the pressure was off. Next day we fished hard under Alec's guidance, but despite tweaks and pulls we failed to score. That night there was a lot of rain and the river was quite high but Alec was able to guide us to the only really fishable place at that height. Again, a few pulls but nothing on the bank. Late in the day, as the river was dropping he moved us to another pool which was coming into play - again, pulls and 'releasing at distance' as we call it, all good fun. Two friends arrived to fish the second part of the week, and as always, we missed the best water and it was going to be good for them. (should have been here last week etc.). I heard later they had 3 excellent fish (1 better than mine), and as is good form, released a few 'at distance'. We all had a thoroughly enjoyable time thanks to Alec's invaluable help and guidance, and look forward to a return visit.' Alec is a very popular and knowledgeable Ghillie who offers great advice to visiting anglers.



Super summer salmon like these are running in excellent numbers

Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will only take a minimal period to carry out. The new FishDee blog will have news through the week so please keep me informed of any news. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences.

Beat Catches Reported:Week ending 14:02 on Mon 16th Jul 2012
SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 5, Middle Drum 1, Tilbouries 24, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 10, Park 52, Lower Crathes and W Durris 25, Knappach 2, Crathes 23, Invery 17, Lower Blackhall 6, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 12, Middle Blackhall 6, Cairnton 11, Lower Woodend 4, Commonty 10, Sluie 6, Ballogie 13, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 10, Carlogie 12, Dess 13, Birse 9, Aboyne Water 5, Aboyne Castle 7, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 1, Deecastle 5, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 4, Crathie 9, Mar Lodge Estate 2, Heughhead 2, Total 311
SEA TROUT: Culter 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 3, Park 1, Crathes 3, Lower Blackhall 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Lower Woodend 3, Commonty 2, Sluie 1, Ballogie 2, Kincardine 12, Carlogie 1, Dess 6, Birse 7, Aboyne Castle 6, Craigendinnie 3, Waterside and Ferrar 5, Deecastle 2, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 1, Crathie 2, Heughhead 1, Total 64

PROSPECTS

Last week saw the best week's sport of the fishing season and perhaps it would have been even better had we not had a big rise in river levels again on Wednesday that curtailed catches significantly on the Thursday and Friday. The cool wet weather conditions that have prevailed look set to change with less rainfall and warmer temperatures forecast for the week ahead. Air temperature maxima should be around 20 degrees Celsius with any winds being light. By and large there should be broken cloud most days with a bit of sunshine, which allied to decent river levels at present, indicate that this week should be productive for anglers out fishing the river. The maritime influence shows tides dropping through the week from 4.3 metres to 3.7 metres. Good water heights should ensure more salmon and grilse forward into the river. There have been really good runs of new fish recently and these will hopefully continue over the next few weeks. There is good availability between now and the end of the fishing season so if you can manage to come to fish I would urge you to do so as the river is in good form, with lots of superbly conditioned fish.



Cracking summer fish at Crathes

With prospects looking great for the week ahead it is important for anglers to capitalise on the potential for good sport on your chosen beat. As always listen to the advice offered by your Ghillie whilst fishing the pools on your beat. The River Dee Ghillies are very knowledgeable and helpful and can help in no small way to increase your catch. They will advise on fly choice, presentation, where to concentrate on fishing and at what depth. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie you would be advised to fish with a full floater with or without a sink tip and leader of perhaps 8 foot plus. Fly choice, sizes 12 and 14, could include the following popular Dee flies; Crathie fly, Park shrimp, Cascade, Red or Black Frances, Tosh and as Eoin Smith from Dess recommends this week, any black fly that's half an inch in length –stoats tail should suffice! If you need to stock up on flies you can visit Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, Strachan's of Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater where you will find a good selection of Dee flies at good prices.



Malcolm Tocher is back at Lower Crathes this week hoping to land another big Dee salmon like this one

There are a lot of visitors in Deeside at present and we sometimes can have an isolated incident of people fishing without permission. I would urge anyone noticing any suspicious activity to contact the River Office on 013398 80411 which is manned 24 hours per day to deal with such incidents. Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will only take a minimal period to carry out. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd

[FishDee]

Catches are holding up nicely with over 100 landed for the first two days this week. We have set up a FishDee blog for anglers looking for news updates and more information about the salmon fishing scene on Royal Deeside. Hope you have time to look in. http://fishdee.wordpress.com/

Ken

[FishDee]

Recent Catches

Another good week of catches for anglers on Deeside with FishDee beats reporting great sport. Some Ghillies advised they have more fish to put on the catches, but at 247 salmon and grilse, and 46 sea trout everyone seems mighty pleased with the good catches being sustained with new runs coming forward off every high tide. Jim Paton at Upper Drum and Lower Durris reports ‘The beat had 36 salmon and grilse for the week, with some real crackers being landed. Dave Wakefield had a fabulous 24lber and Peter Brown had salmon of 22lbs and 20 lbs. The grilse are in excellent condition this year; nice plump specimens. Results were really first class during the first half of the week with the Lower Durris shrimp fly scoring heavily. The fly was designed by George West and has an olive green coloured hackle and tail with silver body; a really great fly.’ That confirms there are some really good quality summer salmon entering the river now in good numbers. All in all we can say that July is turning out to be a tremendously productive one with sustained runs of really first class fish which will see the month produce well over 1,000 salmon and grilse.



Greenbanks-A lovely salmon pool to swim a fly at Park

Robert Harper was able to provide some news from the productive Lower Crathes and West Durris beat. Robert advised’ Malcolm Tocher had the beat for the week and enjoyed a really good weeks sport, with a good strong start to the week. Monday would have been really spectacular but sadly we lost quite a few fish. We had to work a bit harder during the week but we finished strongly. We had some really cracking salmon and grilse and one or two residents that came on. Successful flies again were small cascades and red Frances. Malcolm had 7 nice fish for his week and Mr James had 8 during his visit to the beat.’ My friend Stuart Buchan fished there on Monday night and had 2 salmon and lost another two salmon, including one estimated to be around 20lbs. The beat has had a really good month with over 80 salmon and grilse so far for rods; hopefully sport will continue strongly for the weeks ahead with good catch levels being sustained.



Stephen Hadden with a nice summer salmon at Park

I received an e-mail from Orazio Gatti advising he had spectacular sport on the Dee with 4 anglers sharing 61 salmon for 4 days. Orazio had 29 to his own rod which is a personal best for him from the Dee. He is a very talented fisherman of course and is a regular visitor to the River Dee with his friends. Stephen Hadden from Fraserburgh dropped me an e-mail advising ‘I recently had my first experience fishing the river Dee. I was at Park on the 21st of July and within 1 1/2 hrs fishing I landed this 14lb sea liced cracker. I then proceeded to lose another 3 fish. Needless to say I had a great day out and will most definitely be back fishing the Dee.’ The picture received shows a delighted Stephen with a fine looking salmon.



The Durris Stream at Park

River Office staff managed some success last week with River Operations Manager Ed Third enjoying good sport on Saturday at Aboyne Castle. Edwin kindly advised ‘Ken, Please find attached pictures of the fish I got on Saturday morning, one at 11:30 in Minarloch and the next at 12:30 in Lady Grace, 1st one about 10lb, second a bit bigger, maybe 11lb, both very fresh. Pictures are not great because they were taken from my phone and I was on my own, without a net and didn't want to faff about with the fish too much. Really thankful to Edward and Alec for the kind offer of fishing. Regards Edwin’ I understand River Dee Chairman Ian Scott enjoyed some good sport at Park where he had 3 fish to his own rod for his day and enjoyed further success at Aboyne Castle. I received an invitation to fish at Park on Friday and had a nice sea liced grilse and lost two other fish during the morning. Park has been fishing tremendously well in July with 137 salmon and grilse reported so far. I must try and find out if the final total for July will be a record month for the beat.

Beat catches reported(week ending 28th July)
SALMON & GRILSE: Culter 2, Altries and Lower Drum 3, Middle Drum 4, Tilbouries 7, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 31, Park 34, Lower Crathes and W Durris 23, Crathes 19, Invery 7, Lower Blackhall 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 5, Cairnton 19, Woodend 3, Commonty 2, Sluie 5, Ballogie 2, Borrowston 6, Kincardine 4, Carlogie 8, Dess 9, Birse 12, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 6, Craigendinnie 8, Waterside and Ferrar 4, Dinnet 5, Deecastle 5, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 3, Crathie 1, Heughhead 4.
Total: 247 Largest: Upper Drum and Lower Durris 24lbs
SEA TROUT: Culter 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 9, Park 5, Lower Crathes and W Durris 2, Invery 1, Lower Blackhall 1, Woodend 5, Sluie 1, Ballogie 1, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 1, Dess 4, Birse 2, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 1, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 2, Deecastle 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 3, Heughhead 1.
Total: 46 Largest: Dinnet & Deecastle 4lbs

Prospects

With tides building during the week and regular rain showers, with heavy downpours possible, the river should fish well. Weather forecasters are predicting frequent showers and perhaps prolonged rain on Wednesday and Saturday. Hopefully we won’t get a flood as we hope to install an underwater web camera mid week. The maritime influence sees tides building from 3.9 metres to 4.5 metres. The river height is good for the time of year with the Sepa gauges reading between 9 inches at Mar Lodge to 1 foot 5 inches at Park. This should encourage good runs of new fish off the high tides. Air temperature maxima should be around 18 degrees Celsius with some night time lows of only 5 degrees Celsius. There are much bigger numbers of fish building in the lower beats now and they should continue to fish very well.



Angler gets his wading boots disinfected prior to fishing at Park

With prospects looking great for the week ahead it is important for anglers to capitalise on the potential for good sport on your chosen beat. As always listen to the advice offered by your Ghillie whilst fishing the pools on your beat. The River Dee Ghillies are very knowledgeable and helpful and can help in no small way to increase your catch. They will advise on fly choice, presentation, where to concentrate on fishing and at what depth. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie you would be advised to fish with a full floater with or without a sink tip and leader of perhaps 8 foot plus. Fly choice, sizes 12 and 14, could include the following popular Dee flies; Crathie fly, Park shrimp, Cascade variants, Red or Black Frances, Tosh and Snaelda. If you need to stock up on flies you can visit Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, Strachan's of Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater where you will find a good selection of Dee flies at good prices. You can also purchase the 2012 Dalmore Dee Dram fundraising whisky from Strachan’s of Aboyne who have just received a new delivery. They have excellent offers to help clear the remaining 2011 Dee Dram stock with bottles going for under £35.00.



Ghillie Charlie Yates returning a nice sea liced Grilse

There are a lot of visitors in Deeside at present and we sometimes can have an isolated incident of people fishing without permission. I would urge anyone noticing any suspicious activity to contact the River Office on 013398 80411 which is manned 24 hours per day to deal with such incidents. Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will only take a minimal period to carry out. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd

[FishDee]

Recent Catches


A tougher week for anglers on Deeside, with river levels rising on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, ensuring the fish were more reluctant to come to the fly as freely as they have in recent weeks. Catches reported from FishDee beats are currently sitting at 202 salmon and grilse and 33 sea trout with fish reported from Culter to Crathie. Park has reported 33 salmon and grilse, Lower Crathes reported 27 salmon and grilse and Carlogie 21 salmon and grilse. Catches were distributed throughout the river from top beats to bottom beats. There has been a good grilse run this year and salmon are still running the river in good numbers. July saw an excellent total from FishDee beats with beats reporting 1141 salmon and grilse against a 5 year average for July of 652 salmon and grilse. Sea trout catches have been disappointing this year due in no small part to poor weather conditions. Sea trout sport can be good if the river is low and the weather is warm; not something we have seen much evidence of this summer.



The needle stone rock at Pol Slach'd Dinnet

I received an e-mail from Kincardine proprietor advising of some success for anglers fishing his beat. Andrew passed on the following e-mail ‘Dear Andrew, Just a quick note about a very enjoyable weeks fishing I have just completed at Kincardine. I was fishing with Dia Jones. What a lovely man. Very enthusiastic about his fishing and I do hope I'm still fishing when I reach his age! Ghillie John was very entertaining and knowledgeable which helped me a lot through-out the week. The water was up and down for most of the week and the bright sun played its part later on in the week but I managed to land a 10lb fresh salmon and a 4lb grilse which I was pleased with. Dia Jones managed a grilse and a couple of sea trout. I also picked up a nice sun tan which was an added bonus! Many thanks for the great week and hopefully see you again next season. Kind regards, Craig Fleming’.



A nice salmon being returned by Ross Macdonald

There are a lot of visitors in Deeside at present and we sometimes can have an isolated incident of people fishing without permission. I would urge anyone noticing any suspicious activity to contact the River Office on 013398 80411 which is manned 24 hours per day to deal with such incidents. Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will only take a minimal period to carry out. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd

Beat catches reported
(Week ending 4th August)
SALMON & GRILSE: Kingcausie 2, Culter 2, Altries and Lower Drum 6, Middle Drum 6, Tilbouries 9, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 4, Park 33, Lower Crathes and W Durris 27, Crathes 9, Invery 2, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Middle Blackhall 7, Cairnton 4, Woodend 4, Commonty 2, Ballogie 10, Borrowston 3, Kincardine 4, Carlogie 21, Dess 2, Birse 14, Aboyne Water 4, Aboyne Castle 5, Craigendinnie 7, Dinnet 1, Headinch and Cambus O'May 1, Crathie 6, Heughhead 4, Total 202
SEA TROUT: Altries and Lower Drum 2, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 2, Lower Crathes and W Durris 2, Crathes 3, Invery 3, Commonty 1, Ballogie 2, Kincardine 3, Carlogie 7, Dess 1, Birse 1, Craigendinnie 2, Dinnet 2, Heughhead 1, Total 33


Prospects


Weather conditions look reasonable this week for anglers visiting the River Dee fishing beats. Most days should be cloudy with the odd sunny interval with air temperature maxima around 19 degrees Celsius and overnight lows around 10 degrees Celsius. There are light winds forecast during the week from variable directions which should not prove troublesome for fly fishers. There is the risk of some rain showers at times during the week but nothing of any note to affect the river adversely predicted. The maritime influence sees tides dropping back from 4.3 metres to 3.3 metres. It is hoped runs of new salmon and grilse will continue to come in and populate the lower river beats in decent numbers. Some of the Lower beats such as Kingcausie, Culter, Altries, Middle Drum, Tilbouries, Upper Drum, Park and Lower Crathes could fish well, but the fish will have the final say in these matters. Make sure you give pool tails a bit of attention as running fish may be lingering before deciding to run on through your allocated beat.



Major Simon Poett with a lovely fresh salmon at Park

Prospects for sport look reasonable for the week ahead as there is a good distribution of fish throughout the whole catchment and grilse are running hard upstream providing exciting sport from time to time. These one sea winter fish can have soft mouths so fish can be hooked and lost all too frequently. As always listen to the advice offered by your Ghillie whilst fishing the pools on your beat. The River Dee Ghillies are very knowledgeable and helpful and can help in no small way to increase your catch. They will advise on fly choice, presentation, where to concentrate on fishing and at what depth. If you don't have the services of a Ghillie you would be advised to fish with a full floater with or without a sink tip and leader of perhaps 8 foot plus. Flies with a touch of red in them will start to take good catches with river fish responding to more autumnal coloured flies. Fly choice, sizes 8 to 14, could include the following popular Dee flies; Calvin’s shrimp, Park shrimp, Cascade variants, Red Frances, Willie Gunn flamethrower and red flamethrower. If you need to stock up on flies you can visit Somers in Aberdeen, Orvis in Banchory, Kincardine O'Neil Post Office, Strachan's of Aboyne and Countrywear in Ballater where you will find a good selection of Dee flies at good prices. You can also purchase the 2012 Dalmore Dee Dram fundraising whisky from Strachan’s of Aboyne who have just received a new delivery. They have excellent offers to help clear the remaining 2011 Dee Dram stock with bottles going for under £35.00.



Guide Ian Neale with angler Jean Louis Lacombe with a nice sea trout

There are a lot of visitors in Deeside at present and we sometimes can have an isolated incident of people fishing without permission. I would urge anyone noticing any suspicious activity to contact the River Office on 013398 80411 which is manned 24 hours per day to deal with such incidents. Visiting anglers to the river will see enhanced bio security measures in place as all beats have had disinfection kits provided. Anglers will need to follow the beat Ghillies instructions on disinfection, which will only take a minimal period to carry out. As always please let me know how you get on during your visit to the river by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd