Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 30th July 2018.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 30th July 2018.

The Salmon fishing season has now nearly seen out July on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland.  We have been encountering some very hot summer weather with rain seemingly a distant memory until the weekend when the heavens opened. We had trying conditions last week with very low water and a rising river temperature towards the end of the week. The coming week is looking much better with more fresh water and a drop in water temperature. Catches have improved in recent weeks due to cooler weather and a summer run seems to be happening however in lesser numbers giving far more optimism following disappointing catch figures. The Tay has the largest flow of any river in the country and although low, still has enough water to attract fish in. Hopefully the current run will now improve following the rain everyone has been praying for and trigger off some more summer salmon and grilse to run the river. 

On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are in the skies with their young, Ospreys are being seen in numbers, Ducks, Dippers and Sand Martins have broods of young on the river banks and you could see the flash of a Kingfisher if you are lucky, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay and a salmon would be a bonus.

Currently the river is slightly unsettled following the rain but clear. It is at Caputh (9”) and similarly on the lower river (1’ 3”) on the Ballathie gauge.

The Weatheris to settle back down over the coming week with some bright days and some rain on Monday . The warmer temperatures would have encouraged salmon to run the river and get into the upper areas as fish continue to shoot through the ladder at Pitlochry. The river has cooled slightly helping matters with a current river temperature 65 degrees Fahrenheit or 18 degrees Celsius for the start of the week. These are not typical temperatures for this time of year but hopefully rain will cool it further and improve sport. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river. 

As to methods, in settled conditions with the water warming, fishing by any method should be with flies and lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. The recommendations are set out below for different times in the season. Harling is also a favoured method.

Tackle recommendations for fishing the Tay throughout the season.

Fly Rods. 

The Tay is a large river especially when running at a normal level and even in lower levels you are fishing another river within the mighty one so therefore a 15 foot fly rod for a 10 weight line is certainly minimum requirement for much of the season. Do not come under gunned.  In some parts of the river where it is especially wide even longer rods are used. It should be noted however that it is better to cast a shorter controlled line than try to cast out with your capabilities and have the lines end up in a mess and decrease your chances. 

Fly Lines.

In early season when the water is cold you need to cast larger flies and get them deeper in the water to fish them slowly. There is a tremendous choice on the market nowadays which can be quite confusing to many anglers. Any type of Skagit line that can easily cast a 15 foot sinking leader of various depths is a good choice especially to the less experienced. Iflights and a tip of choice attached are another good bet as these lines enable you to cast a longer line than normal with ease. For more experienced anglers, there are a vast array of shooting heads of different sinking abilities available as well. These tactics can be used in late season as well when the water starts to cool down. 

Once the water temperature starts to climb by April then tactics change to mainly floating lines and sink tips with much smaller conventional flies. Again, the choice of lines is incredible from longer belly Spey lines to shooting heads. If you go to shooting heads, then it is important to choose a good shooting backing as line management can be a big issue casting longer lines on a river such as the Tay. 

Spinning Rods.

You should have a minimum of a 10 foot rod for casting baits of 20gm to 60gms. 

Line. 

A main line of 20 pounds in nylon or 30 pounds in braid. You should use a lesser poundage far a cast such as 15 pounds so if you get caught up on the bottom you do not lose a large part of your main line. 

Baits.

Tobies from 18gm upwards. Toby Salmos are very popular in 30gms. Conventional weighted Devon's are good especially in the Spring. Rapalas and Vision 110's are very effective and of course Kynochs are popular for harling. 

What flies should I take?

In early season bigger flies such as Tube Flies, Temple Dogs and Monkey type flies up to 2 inches in body length and larger conventional patterns in 4's and 6's in lower water are required. A point of note is that a lighter Tube such as an aluminium or plastic body is far easier to cast than brass. Current line technology enables you to get these lighter flies to the correct depths. Ask your ghillie for tip advice on the day. 

As river temperatures rise to a more conventional approach then a size range in your box should be from 6 in higher water to 12 in lower water and even smaller on exceptionally low conditions. Cascade type patterns seem to be the most popular and recently feeler flies have come to the fore. It is always worth a go with a Sun Ray type fly with a long wing whether casting normally in colder conditions to stripping it fast in warmer water. Why not try a Hitch fly in summer low water conditions?

Finally, there has now been a bold change in policy following poor catches so far this season and you are reminded that the Tay's policy from 1^stJune until the end of 2018 season is that all salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has a policy of 100% catch and release of all salmon caught in this period. salmon are a scarce and precious resource currently. Please preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following this request from our current board. 

When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended. Further information on good catch and release practice.

The Tay Ghillies Association are continuing their popular FISH OF THE MONTH AWARD to encourage good catch and release practice on the Tay. Each month the winner will receive 2 personalised crystal Whisky glasses engraved with details of the catch and they will automatically be entered into the fish of the year competition for a Stylish Crystal Engraved Decanter. Full details of this initiative. 

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com included in the reports.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 28th July 2018.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 28th July 2018.

The Tay, Perthshire has nearly seen out July for salmon fishing with disappointing results in recent weeksdue to very hot and bright weather conditions in our current outstanding summer. The hot weather is making life extremely difficult with water temperatures going over 70F/21C daily, although that has started to break down with some cooler days recently and catches have been slowly improving. This past weekend has seen heavy rain at last and on Sunday the river temperature dropped back as well making a far better prospect for the coming week. Despite the low water levels and lack of rain there are still salmon running due to the rivers size and that makes it a premier destination even in current conditions giving you a great chance of landing a “Bar of Silver” and even possibly a fish of a lifetime with some of the multi sea winter fish currently being caught in recent weeks.

Beat catches reported

(week ending 28th July)
SALMON & GRILSE: Almondmouth 2, Lower Redgorton 1, Fishponds 1, Upper Scone 1, Stobhall 4, Taymount 2, Ballathie 3, Cargill 6, Islamouth 7, Meikleour and Upper Islamouth 1, Kercock 2, Glendelvine 1, Murthly 2 2, Newtyle 1, Dunkeld House 1, Dalmarnock 1, Lower Kinnaird 1, Keithick Mains 1.
Total: 38 Largest: Almondmouth & Upper Scone 14lbs
SEA TROUT: Stobhall 2.
Total: 2 Largest: Stobhall 3lbs

Salmon were landed last week in more favourable conditions with improving numbers despite lower levels now due to the lack of rain and slightly cooler water temperatures until the very end of the week when they crept back up. The numbers were slightly better but still low with around 40 fresh salmon recorded making it still frustrating however it was a step up on the previous weeks and hopefully that will continue to build especially after the weekends rain as there seems to be a summer run on with improving grilse numbers. The coming week will show how strong a run comes as it will be by far the best conditions we have encountered for weeks. The spring run is a memory, and frustratingly only small runs are still coming into the river until this spell of weather breaks, it seems that there is a start to a summer run with more grilse appearing which hopefully will build, and last but fluctuating weather can make fishing difficult especially in very hot weather. Hopefully there will be a lot more of them to come as we go deeper into the summer period. 

On the Lower river most beats have had odd fish but have had to really work for any success. The very lower beats of Almondmouth and Lower Redgorton have had limited success in the past week demonstrating that there are only small runs making it into the river. At Almondmouth David Craig’s party from Sommers Tackle shop in Aberdeen had a couple of fish up to 14 pounds at the start of the week. Matin Ritchie caught a grilse on Fishponds and Steven Watt caught a 14 pounds fish from the Long Shot on Benchil on the fly with Lower Scone. Further upstream of Stanley Taymount and Stobhall had 6 between them. The deeper pools at Ballathie and Cargill were holding fish in the low water and they accounted for 9. At Ballathie William Sinclair and Jen Hughes caught fish in the trying conditions. 

On Cargill Ian Muir managed a couple in a day by going our early in the morning and fishing late at night in the cooler conditions catching a fish of 7 pounds and a grilse on a micro tube fly. Further success was gained by Gavin Mason and Vince Sparrow. Islamouth had 7 in the week up to 12 pounds with Andrew Cairns and James Mayhew’s party’s having the success. Upper Islamouth and Meikleour also caught a fish last week ending a drought of blank weeks. 

The Middle river had a slightly better week but should fare much better with the rain coming at long last as will the whole river. 

Kercock had a couple of fish on Saturday with 

Mark Torrance and Graham Lynn both catching. The Murthly beats featured as well with beat 2 and Glendelvine picking up 3 fish between them. Single fish also came from Newtyle, Dunkled House, Dalmarnock and 

Lower Kinnaird. A further fish was reported from the Isla at Keithick Mains. 

The Tummel was also seeing sport until fairly recently form the Pitlochry Angling Club stretch at Portnacraig however nothing was reported last week but on a positive note there are now around 1830 fish through the ladder with temperatures rising. 

The current week will start with great expectation after the rain that everyone has been praying for and cooler temperatures. It will be a defining week for the river in an extremely difficult year so far.  

The Tay is certainly the place to come to for the chance of a fish of a lifetime. The sheer size of the river produces very powerful large salmon and the possibility of a 40 pounds fish must be on the cards now. The food source for Atlantic salmon is moving further away from our shores with sea temperatures rising and salmon are spending longer away in the ocean before they are returning making the possibility of much bigger fish finding its way back. The fish that are being caught now is further evidence of that phenomenon. 

There have been some encouraging signs in the past week or so however the very hot settled summer weather has slowed things down in the meantime, but the sheer class of the fish caught continues to be outstanding and with hopefully a settled river in the coming weeks should see improved catches with a settled forecast as well. 

The Spring Salmon fishing was slow as we saw out May with the end of that run this year. June had picked up probably due to some fresh water and the emergence of some summer fish a couple of weeks ago, but we now need the current hot weather to break and it has so let us hope that the summer run builds further in the weeks to come. It has been a quiet start but let us hope the season lives up to every one’s expectations over the coming weeks and months and when you visit the Tay you catch a fish of a lifetime. Tight lines!

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them, please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 23rd July 2018.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 23rd July 2018.

The Salmon fishing season is now well into July on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland.  We have been encountering some very hot summer weather with rain seemingly a distant memory until a few days ago with a dampening of the ground yet again. We had better conditions last week with slightly cooler weather nearly every day and some rain on Friday. The coming week is looking similar again giving more optimism however the river is still very low. Catches improved probably due to cooler weather and a summer run seems to be happening however in lesser numbers giving far more optimism following disappointing catch figures. The Tay has the largest flow of any river in the country and although low, still has enough water to attract fish in. Hopefully the current run will improve and trigger off some more summer salmon and grilse to run the river. 

On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are in the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks, Dippers and Sand Martins have broods of young on the river banks and you could see the flash of a Kingfisher if you are lucky, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay and a salmon would be a bonus.

Currently the river remains at low summer levels. It is at Caputh (3”) and similarly on the lower river (4”) on the Ballathie gauge.

The Weatheris to continue settled over the coming week with some bright days and some rain overnight tonight. The warmer temperatures would have encouraged salmon to run the river and get into the upper areas as fish continue to shoot through the ladder at Pitlochry. The river has cooled slightly helping matters with a current river temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit or 20 degrees Celsius most days. These are not typical temperatures for this time of year but hopefully rain will come soon and help cool it further and improve sport. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river. 

As to methods, in settled conditions with the water warming, fishing by any method should be with flies and lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. The recommendations are set out below for different times in the season. Harling is also a favoured method.

Tackle recommendations for fishing the Tay throughout the season.

Fly Rods. 

The Tay is a large river especially when running at a normal level and even in lower levels you are fishing another river within the mighty one so therefore a 15 foot fly rod for a 10 weight line is certainly minimum requirement for much of the season. Do not come under gunned.  In some parts of the river where it is especially wide even longer rods are used. It should be noted however that it is better to cast a shorter controlled line than try to cast out with your capabilities and have the lines end up in a mess and decrease your chances. 

Fly Lines.

In early season when the water is cold you need to cast larger flies and get them deeper in the water to fish them slowly. There is a tremendous choice on the market nowadays which can be quite confusing to many anglers. Any type of Skagit line that can easily cast a 15 foot sinking leader of various depths is a good choice especially to the less experienced. Iflights and a tip of choice attached are another good bet as these lines enable you to cast a longer line than normal with ease. For more experienced anglers, there are a vast array of shooting heads of different sinking abilities available as well. These tactics can be used in late season as well when the water starts to cool down. 

Once the water temperature starts to climb by April then tactics change to mainly floating lines and sink tips with much smaller conventional flies. Again, the choice of lines is incredible from longer belly Spey lines to shooting heads. If you go to shooting heads, then it is important to choose a good shooting backing as line management can be a big issue casting longer lines on a river such as the Tay. 

Spinning Rods.

You should have a minimum of a 10 foot rod for casting baits of 20gm to 60gms. 

Line. 

A main line of 20 pounds in nylon or 30 pounds in braid. You should use a lesser poundage far a cast such as 15 pounds so if you get caught up on the bottom you do not lose a large part of your main line. 

Baits.

Tobies from 18gm upwards. Toby Salmos are very popular in 30gms. Conventional weighted Devon's are good especially in the Spring. Rapalas and Vision 110's are very effective and of course Kynochs are popular for harling. 

What flies should I take?

In early season bigger flies such as Tube Flies, Temple Dogs and Monkey type flies up to 2 inches in body length and larger conventional patterns in 4's and 6's in lower water are required. A point of note is that a lighter Tube such as an aluminium or plastic body is far easier to cast than brass. Current line technology enables you to get these lighter flies to the correct depths. Ask your ghillie for tip advice on the day. 

As river temperatures rise to a more conventional approach then a size range in your box should be from 6 in higher water to 12 in lower water and even smaller on exceptionally low conditions. Cascade type patterns seem to be the most popular and recently feeler flies have come to the fore. It is always worth a go with a Sun Ray type fly with a long wing whether casting normally in colder conditions to stripping it fast in warmer water. Why not try a Hitch fly in summer low water conditions?

Finally, there has now been a bold change in policy following poor catches so far this season and you are reminded that the Tay's policy from 1^stJune until the end of 2018 season is that all salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has a policy of 100% catch and release of all salmon caught in this period. salmon are a scarce and precious resource currently. Please preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following this request from our current board. 

When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended. Further information on good catch and release practice.

The Tay Ghillies Association are continuing their popular FISH OF THE MONTH AWARD to encourage good catch and release practice on the Tay. Each month the winner will receive 2 personalised crystal Whisky glasses engraved with details of the catch and they will automatically be entered into the fish of the year competition for a Stylish Crystal Engraved Decanter. Full details of this initiative. 

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com included in the reports.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 21st July 2018.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 21st July 2018.

The Tay, Perthshire is now well into July for salmon fishing with disappointing results in recent weeksdue to very hot and bright weather conditions in our current outstanding summer. The hot weather is making life extremely difficult with water temperatures going over 70F/21C daily, although that has started to break down with some cooler days recently and catches are slowly improving. Despite the low water levels and lack of rain there are still salmon running due to the rivers size and that makes it a premier destination even in current conditions giving you a great chance of landing a “Bar of Silver” and even possibly a fish of a lifetime with some of the multi sea winter fish currently being caught in recent weeks.

Beat catches reported

(week ending 21st July)
SALMON & GRILSE: Almondmouth 6, Waulkmill 3, Lower Redgorton 3, Fishponds 1, Benchil 4, Upper Scone 2, Pitlochrie 1, Stobhall 2, Taymount 4, Ballathie 3, Cargill 6, Islamouth 15, Kercock 1, Dunkeld House 1, Dalmarnock 4, Lower Kinnaird 2, Keithick Mains 1.
Total: 59 Largest: Upper Scone 21lbs
SEA TROUT: Fishponds 1, Newtyle 1.
Total: 2 Largest: Newtyle 2lbs

Salmon were landed last week in more favourable conditions with improving numbers despite lower levels now due to the lack of rain but slightly cooler water temperatures. The numbers were better but still low with around 60 fresh salmon recorded making it more heartening but still frustrating however it was a step up on the previous week and hopefully that will continue to build as there seems to be a summer run on with improving grilse numbers. The spring run is a memory, and frustratingly only small runs are coming into the river until this spell of weather breaks, it seems that there is a start to a summer run with more grilse appearing which hopefully will build, and last but fluctuating weather can make fishing difficult especially in very hot weather. Hopefully there will be a lot more of them to come as we go deeper into the summer period. 

The very lower beats on the river are starting to see far more action with Almondmouth, Waulkmill and Lower Redgorton recording a dozen fish and seeing a lot more fish showing. 

Fishponds had a 12 pounds fish caught in the Fireshot landed by an American guest from Boston. Upper Scone recorded a superb fish of 21pounds caught by Steven Bruce caught on the Pitlochrie beat at Stanley. Tim Greenfields party enjoyed a hard week on the Stanley water with 5 fish landed throughout the week. John Colin nearly got the week off with a bang losing a good fish in the Woodside on the fly after 10 minutes however Tim caught a 10 pounds fish the next day on Benchil from the Skellies. 

Further fish came from the same area with Gary Westwood landing his first ever fish weighing 14 pounds and Simon Smedley catching a grilse on Saturday. Further upstream Taymount and Stobhall had 6 between them throughout the week. Ballathie and Cargill fared a bit better with 9. George Lamberti, Nick Baird and Peter Ayton all caught on the Ballathie rotation by various methods. 

On Cargill Jannet Hird caught a small grilse and Steven Carter caught his first ever salmon on the fly from the Bridge Stream then caught another later in the week. Further were landed including a 10 pounder for Graham Raffin. Islamouth performed best of all with 15 grilse in the week with the Keith Skeoch and Dan Rix parties enjoying similar totals all on fly. Up in the middle river life has been a struggle with only odd fish recorded. 

Kercock had a single fish caught by George Hunter on the fly from the Cottage pool. Dunkled House had a grilse however Dalmarnock had a better week with 4 fish and Lower Kinnaird caught a couple. On the Isla Keithick Mains recorded a single fish.  

The Tummel was also seeing sport until fairly recently form the Pitlochry Angling Club stretch at Portnacraig however nothing was reported last week but on a positive note there are now around 1800 plus fish through the ladder with temperatures rising. 

The current week has started off reasonably well with a good few fish recorded on Monday up to 15 pounds and reports from the lower river of fresh grilse and summer salmon showing. Let us hope that is a positive sign for this week and the ones to come. 

The Tay is certainly the place to come to for the chance of a fish of a lifetime. The sheer size of the river produces very powerful large salmon and the possibility of a 40 pounds fish must be on the cards now. The food source for Atlantic salmon is moving further away from our shores with sea temperatures rising and salmon are spending longer away in the ocean before they are returning making the possibility of much bigger fish finding its way back. The fish that are being caught now is further evidence of that phenomenon. 

There have been some encouraging signs in the past week or so however the very hot settled summer weather has slowed things down in the meantime, but the sheer class of the fish caught continues to be outstanding and with hopefully a settled river in the coming weeks should see improved catches with a settled forecast as well. 

The Spring Salmon fishing was slow as we saw out May with the end of that run this year. June had picked up probably due to some fresh water and the emergence of some summer fish a couple of weeks ago but we now need the current hot weather to break, let us hope that the summer run builds further in the weeks to come. It has been a quiet start but let us hope the season lives up to every one’s expectations over the coming weeks and months and when you visit the Tay you catch a fish of a lifetime. Tight lines!

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 16th July 2018.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Prospects for Tay, Perthshire w/c 16th July 2018.

The Salmon fishing season is now well into July on the mighty Tay in Perthshire, Scotland.  We have been encountering some very hot summer weather with rain seemingly a distant memory until a few days ago with a dampening of the ground. We have had difficult conditions last week with very hot and bright weather nearly every day although it has now cooled slightly helping matters. The coming week is looking is similar but cooler again giving more optimism however the river is still very low. Catches improved dramatically three weeks ago probably due to rain giving far more optimism following disappointing catch figures, that was then dashed by the current hot spell but we are now seeing a break in very hot conditions to hopefully trigger off some more summer salmon and grilse to run the river. 

On the nature front the Sand Martins, Swifts and Swallows are in the skies, Ospreys are being seen, Ducks, Dippers and Sand Martins have broods of young on the river banks and you could see the flash of a Kingfisher if you are lucky. The wild flowers are out in bloom with outstanding displays of Lupins on the banks recently, it is truly magical to be salmon fishing in Perthshire on the banks of the silvery Tay and a salmon would be a bonus.

Currently the river has fallen right back to low summer levels. It is at Caputh (2”) and similarly on the lower river (2”) on the Ballathie gauge.

The Weatheris to continue settled over the coming week with some bright days but cooler and some chance of rain. The warmer temperatures would have encouraged salmon to run the river and get into the upper areas as fish continue to shoot through the ladder at Pitlochry. The river has cooled slightly helping matters with a current river temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit or 20 degrees Celsius most days. These are not typical temperatures for this time of year but hopefully rain will come soon and help cool it further and improve sport. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river. 

As to methods, in settled conditions with the water warming, fishing by any method should be with flies and lures to catch the elusive Tay Springer. The recommendations are set out below for different times in the season. Harling is also a favoured method.

Tackle recommendations for fishing the Tay throughout the season.

Fly Rods. 

The Tay is a large river especially when running at a normal level and even in lower levels you are fishing another river within the mighty one so therefore a 15 foot fly rod for a 10 weight line is certainly minimum requirement for much of the season. Do not come under gunned.  In some parts of the river where it is especially wide even longer rods are used. It should be noted however that it is better to cast a shorter controlled line than try to cast out with your capabilities and have the lines end up in a mess and decrease your chances. 

Fly Lines.

In early season when the water is cold you need to cast larger flies and get them deeper in the water to fish them slowly. There is a tremendous choice on the market nowadays which can be quite confusing to many anglers. Any type of Skagit line that can easily cast a 15 foot sinking leader of various depths is a good choice especially to the less experienced. Iflights and a tip of choice attached are another good bet as these lines enable you to cast a longer line than normal with ease. For more experienced anglers, there are a vast array of shooting heads of different sinking abilities available as well. These tactics can be used in late season as well when the water starts to cool down. 

Once the water temperature starts to climb by April then tactics change to mainly floating lines and sink tips with much smaller conventional flies. Again, the choice of lines is incredible from longer belly Spey lines to shooting heads. If you go to shooting heads, then it is important to choose a good shooting backing as line management can be a big issue casting longer lines on a river such as the Tay. 

Spinning Rods.

You should have a minimum of a 10 foot rod for casting baits of 20gm to 60gms. 

Line. 

A main line of 20 pounds in nylon or 30 pounds in braid. You should use a lesser poundage far a cast such as 15 pounds so if you get caught up on the bottom you do not lose a large part of your main line. 

Baits.

Tobies from 18gm upwards. Toby Salmos are very popular in 30gms. Conventional weighted Devon's are good especially in the Spring. Rapalas and Vision 110's are very effective and of course Kynochs are popular for harling. 

What flies should I take?

In early season bigger flies such as Tube Flies, Temple Dogs and Monkey type flies up to 2 inches in body length and larger conventional patterns in 4's and 6's in lower water are required. A point of note is that a lighter Tube such as an aluminium or plastic body is far easier to cast than brass. Current line technology enables you to get these lighter flies to the correct depths. Ask your ghillie for tip advice on the day. 

As river temperatures rise to a more conventional approach then a size range in your box should be from 6 in higher water to 12 in lower water and even smaller on exceptionally low conditions. Cascade type patterns seem to be the most popular and recently feeler flies have come to the fore. It is always worth a go with a Sun Ray type fly with a long wing whether casting normally in colder conditions to stripping it fast in warmer water. 

Finally, there has now been a bold change in policy following poor catches so far this season and you are reminded that the Tay's policy from 1^stJune until the end of 2018 season is that all salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has a policy of 100% catch and release of all salmon caught in this period. salmon are a scarce and precious resource currently. Please preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following this request from our current board. 

When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended. Further information on good catch and release practice.

The Tay Ghillies Association are continuing their popular FISH OF THE MONTH AWARD to encourage good catch and release practice on the Tay. Each month the winner will receive 2 personalised crystal Whisky glasses engraved with details of the catch and they will automatically be entered into the fish of the year competition for a Stylish Crystal Engraved Decanter. Full details of this initiative. 

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com included in the reports.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 14th July 2018.

Tay Salmon Fishing Scotland Tay, Perthshire Salmon fishing report w/e 14th July 2018.

The Tay, Perthshire is now well into July for salmon fishing with disappointing results in recent weeksdue to very hot and bright weather conditions in our current outstanding summer. The hot weather is making life extremely difficult with water temperatures going over 70F/21C daily, although that has started to break down with some cooler days recently and catches are slowly improving. The most positive news this season has been the number of multi sea winter fish landed on the river especially in the spring which has put the Tay again at the centre of everyone’s attention. Hopefully the weather will turn much cooler soon but remain reasonably settled over the coming weeks and give everyone a chance of landing a “Bar of Silver” and even possibly a fish of a lifetime.

Beat catches reported

(week ending 14th July)
SALMON & GRILSE: Almondmouth 3, Lower Redgorton 3, Cargill 2, Islamouth 13, Kercock 2, Delvine Burnbane 1, Murthly 1 3, Dunkeld House 1, Dalmarnock 2, Dalguise 1.
Total: 31 Largest: Islamouth 21lbs
SEA TROUT: Murthly 1 2, Lochlane and Laggan 2.
Total: 4 Largest: Murthly 1 2lbs

Salmon were landed last week in very hot and bright conditions in much smaller numbers in lower levels now due to the lack of rain and far warmer forecasts. The numbers were understandably still low with around 30 fresh salmon recorded making it very disappointing and frustrating however it was a step up on the previous week and hopefully that will continue to build. The spring run is a memory, and frustratingly only small runs are coming into the river until this spell of weather breaks, it seems that there is a start to a summer run with more grilse appearing which hopefully will build, and last but fluctuating weather can make fishing difficult especially in very hot weather. Hopefully there will be a lot more of them to come as we go deeper into the summer period. 

The very lower beats on the river are starting to see more action with Almondmouth and Lower Redgorton both recording 3 fish each and seeing a lot more fish showing. Unfortunately, the immediate stretches above there did not have any luck last week with Cargill the next beat in the system to catch with 2 evening fish on the fly. Islamouth was the stand out beat with 13 in the week which included a 21 pounds fish on the fly for one of beat owner David Mayhews guests, Mr Barraclough on a day of 5 fish. Earlier in the week the Gilles Moffat party enjoyed limited success. The middle beats enjoyed a better week with a spread of catches from Kercock to Dalguise. 

Jim Lamb caught one of the fish from Kercock on the fly where 2 fish were recorded. On Delvine and Burnbane a French guest, Jean-Michael Desnos caught a 10 pounds fish on a flying C. The Lower Murthly beat had 3 fish and Dunkeld House recorded a single fish. Dalmarnock had a couple and on 

Dalguise Gus Briggs caught a 9 pounds fish from the Bridge Stream. 

The Tummel was also seeing sport recently form the Pitlochry Angling Club stretch at Portnacraig however nothing was reported last week but on a positive note there are now around 1700 plus fish through the ladder with temperatures rising. 

The current week has started off well by recent standards with over a dozen fish recorded on Monday up to 15 pounds and reports from the lower river of fresh grilse and summer salmon showing. Let us hope that is a positive sign for this week and the ones to come. 

The Tay is certainly the place to come to for the chance of a fish of a lifetime. The sheer size of the river produces very powerful large salmon and the possibility of a 40 pounds fish must be on the cards now. The food source for Atlantic salmon is moving further away from our shores with sea temperatures rising and salmon are spending longer away in the ocean before they are returning making the possibility of much bigger fish finding its way back. The fish that are being caught now is further evidence of that phenomenon. 

There have been some encouraging signs in the past week or so however the very hot settled summer weather has slowed things down in the meantime, but the sheer class of the fish caught continues to be outstanding and with hopefully a settled river in the coming weeks should see improved catches with a settled forecast as well. 

The Spring Salmon fishing was slow as we saw out May with the end of that run this year. June had picked up probably due to some fresh water and the emergence of some summer fish a couple of weeks ago but we now need the current hot weather to break, let us hope that the summer run builds further in the weeks to come. It has been a quiet start but let us hope the season lives up to every one’s expectations over the coming weeks and months and when you visit the Tay you catch a fish of a lifetime. Tight lines!

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.