Welcome to this week’s report as we move into April.
The weather on Speyside has been more Arizona than Aberlour, with cloudless blue sky days and a ground frost most mornings. Temperature fluctuations through the day have been as much as 20 degrees in the upper catchment.
Not ideal conditions for catching salmon, with the river dropping to summer levels by the end of the week.
Nevertheless, anglers that persevered were rewarded with some fine spring fish to 22lbs, with catches being made from Gordon Castle right up to Grantown.
We start this week on the lower river at Gordon Castle.
“A challenging north easterly made itself known to the very few fishers we had out this week but a brace of fish on Saturday saved the blank!” writes Lewis Webb.
“Next week is looking more favourable with the river now down to a great height for us, the wind is set to subside and tides are on the rise, we look forward to seeing what the week will produce!
Some rods are still available and can be booked via Fishpal.”
One of two fish from Gordon Castle on Saturday afternoon.
A fine spring salmon
Andy Gunn at Orton tells of another busy week, but only 3 fish landed.
“Billy Collins got the ball rolling with a fresh 8lb Springer from lower Cairnty on Monday afternoon.
He then fished The Turn on Tuesday morning and landed a 10lb fish.
Things went quiet until Jon Amos arrived on Friday and produced a nice 9 pounder from Upper Cairnty.”
Billy Collins’ first fish from Cairnty.
Billy’s second fish from the Turn.
Jon Amos with a nice fish, again from Cairnty.
“It was good to welcome back Dryburgh Upper ghillie Brian Lile and his team again to Delfur,” writes Mark Melville
“We managed to get into double figures for the week. Thursday being our best day, catching four.
Lee Craig, the ghillie on Carham had the biggest fish catching a superb 22lb spring salmon! Lee has a habit of landing big fish here and elsewhere.
The river after a rise last weekend dropped away over a foot and kept its temperature down with the frosts and the cold east winds.
The bright sunshine was lovely though not what you want for fishing each day.
We saw fish everyday which is encouraging and we still caught a few kelts which makes it interesting when you hook something!”
One of two fish for Brian Lile.
Lee Craig and Islay with a stunning 22lb spring salmon from Big Haddie.
Lee’s big fish safely returned to the river.
Marc Schiavone with his first Delfur salmon from Hollenbush.
Marc’s second fish. This one from Broom.
Another one for Lee Craig, this time from Collie.
Dylan Jones with a fine fish from Broom.
A memorable day for Andrew Manson with his first Scottish salmon!
John Grant’s fish from Big Haddie.
A Saturday evening fish for Grant Morrison.
A quieter week at Rothes and Aikenway for ghille Robby Stronach.
“Just the two for the week with us. Richard Brekell got both of them. One from Junction and the other one from Geantree on Saturday. We also lost a couple on the Friday.”
Moving upstream to Arndilly, Euan Reid sent this account.
“We welcomed Ian Ogden and his team. Unfortunately , Ian could only spend the first half of the week with us as his week clashed with his Naver fishing, so he disappeared off up there on Thursday. Malcolm Smith almost got us off to a flier, losing a fish after having it on for 5 minutes without seeing it at the lop of Long Pool.
Ian got an 8lb fish from the Piles, right bank, well down to the wires on Tuesday morning followed by Sarah Cruickshank with a 6lb fish from the right bank of Jocks Tail.
Thereafter, disappointingly, the week went a little bit flat. We were blaming the weather, although reports from below kind of discounted that, and although the water is low for April, we have done well at this height this season. It seems it just wasn’t our turn.
Saturday was more encouraging with 8 or 10 fish seen scattered round the beat, and Gordon Tait lost one in Reids.
The Sand Martins have arrived in numbers, and the first sandpipers were seen this week. The osprey was also spotted collecting straw for nesting material from the carrot field at the Soo. Roy Arris will enjoy the nature updates as always!”
Ian Ogden’s fish from the Piles.
Sarah Cruikshank with her fish from Jock’s Tail.
Orn Sigurhansson reports a week of 2 halves at Easter Elchies, with near summer water level and overhead conditions towards the end of the week.
“We were pleased to welcome the Semple, Tisdale and Grandison fishing parties this week.
We landed a nice fish from the white stone in Red Craigs on Wednesday. David Tisdale also landing a cracking fish from Upper Dips on Tuesday.”
David Tisdale’s fish from Upper Dips.
Just the one fish from Wester Elchies this week writes Malcolm Newbould.
“James Simpson landed the fish on Monday morning. (Either he doesn’t like the look of Phil or his photographic skills are not as good as his angling ones.)
Bright sun, cold easterly winds and low-ish water didn’t help the rest of the week.”
James Simpson’s fish from Wester Elchies – safely returned by this week’s Mystery Ghillie.
Not much news from the beats around Aberlour, until we get to Carron where Ian Borthwick reports a first Scottish salmon for Danish angler Rene Gerken from the Dalmunach pool.
A somewhat frustrating week for Archie Baillie and his anglers at Knockando.
“After having a hold of two fish on Monday morning and losing both we were very quiet until Saturday afternoon when we landed two nice fresh fish and had a hold of another two that came off.
Gregg McArthur landed the first fish at 8lb and Ritchie Campbell the second at 10lb.”
Gregg McArthur with his Knockando fish.
“The week started with plenty of water and blue skies at Castle Grant,” writes Simon Crozier.
“We got off the mark on Monday with a sealiced 8 lber for Graham Bicker in March Pool. The water fell away quickly but we were rewarded with a fine fish from The Dipper on Friday.
We finished off with a cracker for 85 yrs young Brian Thomas from Number1 Burn. A few more fish were seen towards the end of the week.
We look forward to next week.”
A superb fish for Brian Thomas from Number 1 Burn.
Graham Bicker’s fish from the March Pool.
A happy angler with a spring salmon from the Dipper.
And finally, Grantown Association report one fish for the week, an 8lber from the Long Pool.
With clear sunny weather forecast for the coming days, conditions are again likely to be challenging. Concentrating fishing effort in the mornings and evenings might well be the way to get the most from the week.
There are some high tides building as the week progresses, hopefully bringing some more fresh fish into the river.
As always, perseverance and regular consultation with your ghillie will give the best chance of success.
Best of luck to anyone having a cast in the coming days.
