Good evening all
I am back from my week on the Ewe, a good week but fishing was hard. The party finished with 4 grilse for their week with very little other action in what were perfect fishing conditions.
Its been a fine day here in Elgin but it clouded over quickly but not with rain clods but I think the smoke from the large moorland fire that is burning on the Dava Moor between Grantown and Forres/Nairn.
All in the countryside seems to be growing well, with crops developing well but the dry weather that we are experiencing again will not be helping the situation but there is the possibility of some heavy rain tomorrow which will hopefully help more than the fields.
The current conditions are not making life on the river easy for anyone at present and this is evident from what has been reported to me this week so lets have a look at what has been happening.
Simon Crozier at Castle Grant reports a few grilse were caught across the beats and some good seatrout biggest 7 lbs but its time for the rain dance to begin.
At Knockando, Archie Baillie reports that Two salmon to 11lb a grilse and four sea trout to 6lb was the total for the week. Jamie Goodhart managed his first Spey salmon as well as a seatrout. Alexander Marr had a salmon and two good sea trout and his son Rolf chipped in with a nice sea trout. Rolf was undoing a tangle when the sea trout took. All went slack and we thought it had thrown the hook but surprisingly it was still on and was landed after a strong fight.
My next stop is Carron where Ian Borthwick reports a week of 2 halves at Carron. On Monday Elwyn Davies got a salmon then on Tuesday Stephen Furnival got 2 grilse and William Shaw got a grilse as well. On Wednesday William Shaw got a sea-trout of 7lbs nothing after that.
Continuing down the river I call into Kinermony where David Brand advises that they managed another salmon on Tuesday evening Michael Patenn the captor.
Malcolm Newbould at Wester Elchies advises only 2 grilse this week. One for Antti Saastamoinen from the Boat Pool and the other on Saturday evening.
Things are quiet as I drop downstream and call into Easter Elchies where Orn Sigurhansson reports a week of 2 halves this week at Easter Elchies. We were very pleased to welcome the McAllister fishing party again this week to Easter Elchies. Monday and Tuesday being our best days, in particular Tuesday when we landed 7 salmon and 2 sea trout. Summer evening fishing proving the most productive time. Top rod of the week was Brian McAllister, landing 8 salmon for 3 days fishing – a great return in the conditions. Water height -11 on the gauge today. A total of 13 salmon and grilse and 5 sea trout. A most enjoyable June week on Speyside.
My next stop is Arndilly where Euan Reid gives me the weekly round up of happenings on the beat. Euan reports another week went by with low water but yet again we had enough success to keep us going and the team had a great time.
This week we had David and Gilly Bate and their friends to keep us entertained and on our toes! We managed to catch 6 fish which is not a historical high but each and every fish was a success in the season that the river, and most other rivers, is having.
On Monday Jamie Fergusson had an 11lb fish from the left bank of Cobble Pot. Jamie also lost a fish from a similar spot later in the week, this one a little bigger, within a minute or so of the net.
This weeks star of the show was undoubtedly Beaky Allesch-Taylor who had been unlucky for a few trips with us although fishing very well. Beaky had an 11lb fish from the left side of Cobble Pot on Tuesday.
We had 3 on Thursday, Beaky Allesch-Taylor, 8lb from the same place, David Bate, 3lb grilse in Back of the Bog and Mike Powell after a 12-year absence on Arndilly, a 14lb fish from the Cobble Pot in the evening.
Despite being just about blown off her feet on Saturday, Beaky managed her 3rd and our last fish of the week on Saturday morning, a lovely 11lb fish from Cobble Pot again. Well done Bea.
As we were dismantling rods on Saturday evening we became aware of the smoke emanating from the fire on the Dava which I can still see smoke rising from now from my house. The rain that is forecast for later tomorrow may serve more of a purpose other than putting much-needed water in the river.
At Rothes and Aikenway, Robbie Stronach reports that just the one for the week. Jethro Marriage landed it at Town Road.
Mark Melville at Delfur reports It was great to welcome back Duncan Fletcher and party again.
They did well as usual ,managing to catch fish everyday this week in some very tough conditions at times. We had bright sunshine and some ferocious gales of wind Monday and Saturday in particular.
Tomorrow’s forecast looks promising for the afternoon with heavy rain though with a high of 25c it’s going to be a hot one again! Maher Altajir got us off to a good start on Monday morning with a nice fresh 9lb fish from the Bridge pool. Malcolm Newbould also had a 10lb fish from Sourden.
Duncan Fletcher caught our first grilse of the season in Twa Stanes on Tuesday .
We had a further two grilse for the week from Broom and Hollenbush. Duncan Fletcher Jnr had a fine 12 lb fish from Sourden which fought well.
There were further fish caught from the Otterhole , Hollenbush and Sourden the rest of the week. The Delfur gauge is back down to -24” and water temperature in the low 60s again like in May.
Let’s all hope the rain lifts the river and freshens it up to attract some more salmon and grilse in.
Down at Orton, Andy Gunn updated me with their week by reporting It’s been a tough 6 days for the Reeve party, with low water, bright sun, humidity and strong winds mixed in throughout the week, however they got stuck in a produced the goods most days.
Monday morning Pat Reeve had a nice Grilse from the Glide and Richard Owen landed a battle scarred 12lb fish from Greenbank.
On Tuesday Richard & Pat continued to keep the numbers climbing with Grilse from House & Glide for Richard and 10 & 16lb fish for Pat from Cooperee.
John Reeve, Tom Charles and James Reeve added to the score with Grilse from Cooperee, Greenbank & Junction.
James was allocated the Island Pools on Wednesday morning and manage to pluck an older 8lb fish from Island Point and tempted a fresh Grilse from The Arns. We also managed to lose a few fish before lunch in Cooperee and Cairnty.
Thursday & Friday brought hot bright sticky conditions and a high pressure which just seemed to turn everything off.
Saturday morning began much cooler with a strong downstream wind and Pat managed to land a sea liced 5lb Grilse from the Junction and James brought to the net a liced 8lb fish.
A 12lb silver bar was landed in the Turn on Saturday evening.
Someone please order some rain!!
My final stop this week is to see Andy Milne of Fochabers Angling Association who reports that things certainly slowed down for us this week with only one fish reported caught. The lucky angler was Jonny Amos with a 10lb salmon from the pot. There were a few hooked and lost but no more landed as far as I’m aware.
The week ahead looks as if it maybe another tough one if the heavy rain that is expected tomorrow afternoon fails to appear in any great quantity, as the river is badly needing an injection of fresh water to help the season on its way.
Tight lines to those out and about.
Sandy
