Last week
(Last Updated: Tuesday 17 May)
We are now moving towards the middle of May but last week it felt more like autumn with strong winds coupled with showers or longer spells of rain, especially during the first half of the week. The rain was heaviest towards the western side of the catchment area and it felt quite cool for the time of year. Towards the end of the week and into the weekend it became drier and warmer. Water levels were quite unsettled with multiple lifts in water through the course of the week which seemed to dislodge a lot of slime from the river bed and the water was quite coloured on some days. The tough conditions undoubtedly had an impact on catches last week. The water temperature was 9.9 degrees Celsius which is 49.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Upper Farleyer Beat produced a couple of nice fish during the first half of the week. At Portnacraig on the River Tummel, Mr Steve Watt caught a twelve pounder on the fly on Monday from the Pitlochry bank. On Tuesday following a lift in water Mr Ally Gowans caught a nine pounder first thing from the Pitlochry bank. Unfortunately, by mid-morning on Tuesday, the water coloured up on the Tummel which made conditions tough. On Thursday Mr Gordon Hanslip had a lovely ten pounder on the fly from the Pitlochry bank.
On the middle river, there was success at Lower Kinnaird on Monday with a fish being caught on the fly from the Guay Pool. It was good to see a cracking fifteen pounder caught from the Dalguise Beat on Wednesday and there was success at Dalmarnock on Saturday.
It was a fabulous Friday for Mr Callum Russell at Dunkeld. Mr Russell was fishing the Cathedral stream when he got a savage take on the fly rod. After a great fight, Mr Russell landed his first ever fly caught salmon weighing fourteen pounds. Well done sir!
Mr Luke Emanuel had a day to remember at Newtyle on Monday. Mr Emanuel caught a lovely sea liced springer from the Boil. On Thursday it was a memorable day for one female angler who was fishing at Newtyle. It was her first ever day salmon fishing and she managed to land two lovely spring salmon weighing ten and fifteen pounds from the Boil. This salmon fishing game is easy for some!
There was also another fish caught from the beat at the Alders on the fly. Both the Murthly Beats produced some nice fish through the course of last week which was good to see.
There was a fine brace landed at Meikleour on Friday weighing seven and nine pounds. There was more success on the beat on Saturday when a fine ten pounder was caught from the Pumphouse
At Islamouth the Woods party landed two fish on Monday but lost four. During the second half of the week, there were numerous fish hooked but unfortunately, they failed to stay on. Thankfully this finally changed on Saturday when Mr John Horlock landed a lovely fifteen pounder. Further downstream it was good to see a fish being caught from the Upper Redgorton Beat on Saturday.
Lower Bolfracks open day on Saturday attracted anglers from across the region, including a gentleman from Spain who was introduced to salmon fishing by Jim Stewart, Lower Bolfracks owner. Everyone had an enjoyable day finished off with a BBQ cooked by a regular angler on the beat and also a chef at Three Lemons restaurant, Aberfeldy.
There is some decent availability on the river in the upcoming days why not wet a line on one of Scotland’s most prolific salmon rivers? You might just end May on a high by landing some sparkling River Tay spring silver!
We would like to thank all the ghillies and beat owners on the River Tay system who have contributed to this report by providing their time and information as the weekly report would not be possible without your help and support. If you would like to share any interesting stories or pictures from your time fishing on the River Tay for the purposes of this report, please free to contact us at [email protected]
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You can find this weeks fishing prospects here.
Good luck to all those anglers fishing on the River Tay next week.
Tight lines,
Samantha & Sandy Datta
River Tay Fishing Reports 2022
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