A very quiet week on both the North and South Esk last week, water levels are at there lowest so far this season with no rain forecast for the foreseeable future. It is not all doom and gloom; the silver lining is that there are plenty of salmon and sea trout in both rivers, with another run of fresh grilse coming into the North Esk. So, when one is fishing, fish are being covered. For what ever reason the fish have just switched off, low water levels, bright days or saving up energy for spawning it is anyone’s guess. The sea trout have started to cut redds on the South Esk and some were viewed cutting at the weekend on Inshewan. I am sure this will be happening elsewhere on our river’s as conditions are about perfect for them. The gas pipeline works going on at Gallery are not affecting the fish or fishing one little bit as fish have been seen passing through in the evenings and early mornings just before work commences. Most of the fish caught last week were of the smaller variety with the biggest of the week coming from Stracathro on the North Esk at 24lbs. I am sure that when the rivers get a top up, hopefully in the not to distant future we will see more of the big ones being caught.
The Week Ahead.
With the water levels at the lowest so far this season and little to no rain for a while, small and sparsely dressed flies are most definitely the order of the day and most likely into next week as well. Think micro size, Stoats Tail, Stinchar Stoat, Small Cooper Allys Shrimp. Dry flies and hitches will still be worth a shot this week as will Sunrays and Collie Dogs. With the small flies use a hover or an intermediate tip and nothing heavier. Spinning in low water is best avoid, keep this for when the water levels are higher and more appropriate for this technique if you so wish to use it, as chances of foul hooking increase. So, if you can fish with a fly use barbless hooks and keep fish handling to the minimum.
Tight Lines.
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Beat catches reported
(Last week)
