Trout Fishing in Tayside

Brown trout

The Tay's fame as a salmon river has meant that it has often been ignored for its other types of fishing. This is quite wrong, as its brown trout fishing is excellent and even its sea trout fishing is too often underestimated. We hope these pages will help to put this right.

The brown trout fishing on the Tay system is covered over most of its length by a Protection Order. Reasonably priced day tickets are widely available to the visiting angler at various outlets for most sections of the Tay and its tributaries.

The Tay's trout vary in type, genetic make up and size. There are plenty wild brownies for the purist anglers, but in some areas there are stocked brown trout organised by the clubs and the odd escapee rainbow from one of the several trout farms. Sizes vary and are generally in the three quarters to one pound mark, but fish are often caught up to five pounds.

Tayside also boasts a variety of trout fisheries from remote hill lochs with stocks of native brown trout in spectacular scenery to well managed rainbow trout fisheries. The latter cater for the young and experienced angler alike, providing professional instruction and tackle hire.

Sea trout

The large Tay river system has some excellent sea trout fishing. The River Earn is especially noted as a sea trout river, but the Tay itself has a reasonable run. The fish start running in May/June, or sometimes even earlier, and they can be caught all through the summer and some even in the autumn. Some big sea trout are always caught, with specimens over 10lbs not being unusual.

The best places to fish in summer are throughout the Earn or the lower Tay, especially from Stanley down to Perth. In the autumn the lower Earn can do well too. Please note that sea trout fishing is nearly always let as part of the right to fish for salmon, so for further information please see the salmon pages.