MAGICAL MONDAY’S AND SUPER SATURDAY’S!
(River Tay weekly report week ending 1st February 2025)
We moved into February last week and are now into the final month of winter. So far it has been a relatively mild winter with the odd cold snap. However, as we all know, February can be a bitterly cold month with extreme weather, including heavy snowfall, but hopefully, this will not be the case in the upcoming weeks.
A beautiful early spring scene on the middle Tay
It was quite an unsettled start to last week, with heavy rain last weekend, and this led to a rising river on Monday. The culprit was a large area of low pressure centred close to the UK. However, as the week progressed it became more settled and water levels gradually began to drop. Temperatures were around average for the time of year and towards the end of the week there were some night time frosts.
The Cargill cracker caught on Monday!
Fishing pressure was relatively light again on the Tay system but more anglers did venture out to have a cast towards the end of the week as conditions improved. There were reports of some good fish lost on the river, including a powerful fish at Glendelvine from the Boat Pool on Friday and a couple at Kercock throughout the week. Whether they were springers or not, we will never know, but what we can say for certain is that they were strong fish. The common consensus on the river is that if there had been more rods fishing, there would have likely been a few more fish caught.
The pink & pearly Tomic was the lure that produced the goods!
It was great to see the second salmon of the season caught from the Tay system on Monday. The stunning twelve pounder was caught from the famous Cargill Beat. Mr. Stewart Scott and ghillie at Cargill Mr. Dyllan Dunbar headed out in spite of a rising river and were rewarded for their efforts with a sparkling springer from the Garden Pool. The fish took a pearly pink Tomich lure. What a fish and well done, gentleman. It was a truly magical Monday at Cargill!
On Saturday, Kinnaird Head Ghillie Mr Martin Edgar took his twelve year old son, Ewan, out for a cast on the upper beat. Father and son were fishing in the Meetings Pool when young Ewan hooked a powerful fish. After a terrific fight, Ewan went on to land a magnificent eighteen pounder. Well done young man! What a fantastic moment to share between a father and son.
Young Ewan Edgar lands this Kinnaird sparkler on Saturday!
Hopefully, as we move through February, more fresh fish will enter the system, and catches will gradually build. This should provide anglers a decent chance of catching that elusive Tay springer.
The ultimate prize!
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].
Good luck to all those anglers fishing on the River Tay next week.
Tight lines,
Samantha & Sandy Datta