Good afternoon everyone
We are now into March, goodness knows where the first couple of months of this year has gone. It is very true time definitely flies as you get older or does that just apply to me?
I cannot believe how mild it is today, well above the seasonal average but we are due to come down to earth with a bump this week coming as temperatures fall away to single digits with the threat of wintry showers returning. I do not think it is going to be a long period of colder weather but you never know.
Things are starting to spring into life in the garden, bulbs are well through the ground and buds are appearing on some on the bushes in the garden. My greenhouse looks like a disaster zone so will really need to get it stripped and washed shortly to prepare for this years plants.
Before we see how the river has fared in the last week I would like to draw the following to the attention to parents with junior anglers or indeed junior readers of the report to the following event which is taking place at the Castle Grant water in July this year.
The Lionel Main Memorial Angling Course Takes place at Castle Grant during the week commencing 6th July 2025. The course is residential and is based at Inverallen House and takes place following generous sponsorship from Saxavord Spaceport and Reidhaven Estate. There is a cost of £100 per participant. Please see attached poster for contact details.
Right lets head to the river to see what has been happening.
Ok as we head up the river Gordon Castle and Brae Water landed no fish caught this week unfortunately reports David Buley. Only a few anglers came out to give it a go. Still plenty rods available for the upcoming weeks, get in touch with the estate office or book via Fishpal. The current conditions do suit these beats so you just never know.
Andy Gunn at Orton reports a single fish for their week and it was a bit special for the lucky angler. Peter Bowling fishing the day after his 70th birthday landed a sparkling 8lber from the the Wee Pool on Monday afternoon but for the rest of the week a few kelts were encountered but fresh fish were being seen.
As we continue up the river, Mark Melville at Delfur is my next port of call who advises that they had a good start and finish to our week here at Delfur.
Monday morning Kevin James managed to land a nice 9lb fish from Big Haddie. We lost another fresh fish that morning.
Tuesday we had a first Delfur fish for Kenny Graham fishing Beaufort at 7lb.
The wind through till Thursday was challenging to say the least, most of the rods stuck at it and battled the elements!
We ended up losing two more spring fish on Wednesday which had the strongest gales of the week but with 17c temperatures!
The river came up 5” on Wednesday night when the top of the system caught the rain coming in from the west.
Thursday the temperature of the water was sitting at 47f first thing in the morning, the warmest it’s been all year.
This along with the rise made the kelts move down the river for the next few days, we’ve not seen as many kelts showing like that for years. They, of course weren’t keen to take as they had other things in their mind.
Saturday was a stunning spring day of weather with the birds in full song and nature coming alive again.
It was also a fantastic first time River Spey visit for Donald John Gillies from Fort William who managed to catch two spring fish from the Collie in quick succession.
Back to the winter wear tomorrow and hopefully more spring salmon to be caught.
Tight lines everyone.
Next stop is Rothes and Aikenway where Robbie Stronach advises that they had three fish for their week. The lucky captors being Sandy Lawton with an absolute beauty of 21lbs from Creeky, Ian Robertson and Michael Larg. Well done gents.
Euan Reid at Arndilly advises that they welcomed Henrik Larsen and his team from Denmark.
We lost 2 on Monday, which would have been a great start, but alas, it wasn’t to be.
We had 2 for the week, both caught by Kurt Juel. On Wednesday, Kurt had a 6lb fish from level with the Long Pool hut, and on Saturday, he had a 12lb fish from 20 yards below the sycamore, again in the Long Pool.
Lars also lost a fish from Reids on Saturday.
We landed a few kelts a day saw surface activity in the warm afternoon weather.
I don’t think we’ll see warm afternoons this week!
Up round the corner at Easter Elchies, Orn Sigurhansson reports a more settled week with high water level dropping all week and some unseasonably warm weather. We are now into March and the beat is starting to burst into some early spring colour. On Wednesday we were pleased to land a fish from Ladies Haugh – always a good place in a good water height. Ben Grundie doubling his seasons total. The week ended well with another cracking fish from Tail of Fiddich. Another good week.
Further up the river kelts are being encountered on a number of beats but no fresh fish to speak of. David Brand at Kinermony advises they came closest to landing their first fish but it was lost at the net!!
Finally as previously mentioned the River Spey Anglers Association are hosting their first ladies fishing festival for a number of years on the 28th and 29th March at Gordon Castle/Brae Water. It is a first come, first served event so please see the RSAA facebook page for more Information.
As previously mentioned the week ahead looks as if it will be a wee bit chilly with single digit temperatures but hopefully that will not deter the fish.
Tight Lines to those out and about – including myself.
Sandy
