Hello everyone
Another week has passed us by as we finish February on the river.
A bright, breezy and a tad cold here in Elgin today but that has been the conditions all week, with most nights temperatures close to or below freezing. I love this time of year when it is cold and crisp and it is also giving everything a chance to start to dry after what has been a wet winter.
The dawn chorus is starting to feature more in the mornings as day break comes in when I have been out with the dog and it is lovely to take a moment and listen, just magical.
There has been some more activity across the river this week, with a couple more beats getting off the mark for the season and we have seen the river fall and clear following last weekends dirty rise.
Before I head to the beats I would like to confirm that the fish caught at Speymouth Angling Association during the opening week was genuine as I have received messaged to verify such information. Mark Tait was the lucky captor and the fish took on the second cast at the start of the Braehead Pool. Mark was somewhat shocked and surprised to hook and land the fish and facetimed a couple of friends after he landed the fish.
Okay lets see how last week went.
Gordon Castle and Brae Water got off the mark advises David Buley in his report -The week started with high dirty water, which obviously didn’t suit us down here, but it continued to drop all week. By mid week, things started to look much better, and on Friday we were lucky enough to get ourselves off the mark. The glorious weather was an added bonus. On Saturday we carried on our lucky roll, catching another two fish. With the lower water looking like it’s going to stay fingers crossed for more fish next week. We have lots of availability so get in touch with the office or book a day through fishpal.
Up at Orton, Andy Gunn reports a big coloured river on Monday morning didn’t deter Charlie Knight from giving it a go down in the Turn with Mark.
He hooked a kelt almost immediately then went on to land his 1st ever Spring Salmon, his 1st ever Spey fish and his 1st ever on the fly.
Another Kelt and a couple of Brown Trout meant that Charlie had his string pulled a good few times during the day.
A falling river all week made for enjoyable fishing but other than a load more kelts and a Rainbow Trout nothing fresh was landed.
Conditions for next week look favourable!
Heading up to Delfur, Mark Melville advises a quiet week with just a few kelts caught. Good to hear fish being caught below and above us which gives us confidence for next week as the river continues to fall away.
It was great to welcome back Ryan Rutherford and friends on Saturday.
We were able to gift him and I the wonderful prizes from the sponsors Aberlour distillery and Walkers for the biggest fish caught on the opening week.
It was only correct that both the famous shortbread and a dram of whisky or two were enjoyed by all, delicious!
Robbie Stronach was also delighted to report that Rothes and Aikenway had their first fish of the season. They finished their week with 2 fish in the book. The lucky captors being James Simpson in the Junction and Graeme Davies in Burnmouth.
Arndilly Head Ghillie, Euan Reid reports that this week, they had a new party with us headed by Nick Sayer, who has fished with us before, but for the rest of the party, it was their first Arndilly experience. Everyone this week had at least pulls, most landed kelts, but just the 1 fish landed by Nick from the Cobble Pot at 2ft 3.
With the water we had this week, I fully expected to get another, but it was not to be.
Now we are into March, and our expectations move up a notch.
At Easter Elchies, Orn Sigurhansson reports a week of cold starts and big water. The week started off with high water which suits our high water pools including Ladies Haugh, Heathery Isle and Fiddich Mouth. Hard frosts each morning, down to -4 each morning. We were pleased to welcome Dave Bilborough of Guide Fly Fishing this week. Unsurprisingly, Dave brought an experienced fishing squad. Another week of plenty of kelts. We landed our third fish of the season on Tuesday. Good friend of Easter Elchies, Ian Simpson, landing a cracking 12lb fish from Heathery Isle. We landed a further fish on Friday, Ben Grundie landing a really good 9lb salmon from Tail of Fiddich. Another good week in early spring sun.
The week ahead looks to be settled with clear weather fore cast with temperatures forecast to reach double digits for most of it.
Tight lines if you are out and about
Sandy
