A.D.A.A. Angling Reports 2009

As the fishing information obtainable by the Conveners is limited why not drop the Webmaster a line on a good catch, by you or fellow members with some details if possible and I will include it in the reports as soon as I receive them. Or post them on the Forum.

23rd - 29th Nov

Well a huge report for this week.

Loch of Loirston
4 fish recorded at the loch, all taken on the worm. Three by John Jamieson and one from Stuart Fleming.
Stuart and I went out for a nice morning of fishing (me watching from the bench) on Saturday morning, had a nice chat with GR trying out some salmon lines and then we had a royal visit from Matelot.
Just a shame the quiet morning was ruined by bus loads of Rangers supporters stopping in the lay-by to dump their bottles and cans and to empty their bladders.
We even had a sausage roll thrown at us luckily for them the dog ate the evidence.
A lot of anglers out at the weekend but nothing reported from those using the fly.

From now until opening day there will only be reports put on the site if anything is recorded.

Tight lines everyone!

16th - 22nd Nov

Loch of Loirston - Plenty rainbows and blues being recorded, Rainbows up to 4lb and blues up to 2lb.

Parkhill - Plenty rainbows being taken, 1500 fish have been recorded in the book since the fishery opened.

9th - 15th Nov

Loch of Loirston - Rainbows up to 4.5lb being taken.

Parkhill - Rainbows up to 4lb.

2nd - 8th Nov

Loch of Loirston - Plenty fish being taken, well done to Ernie Mackay who landed a rainbow of 10lb to secure the Club championship.
Blues up to 2lb also being recorded.

Don

Kemnay
11lb,8lb,7.5lb,7lb,6lb,6lb,5lb,4.5lb,4lb,4lb,3lb.

Lower Fintray
15lb.

Upper Parkhill
17lb, 14lb, 13lb, 12lb,12lb,12lb, 11lb, 10lb, 7lb, 7lb, 7lb, 6.5lb.

Lower Parkhill
6lb, 5lb.

Ythan

Methlick
Sea Trout 1.5lb, 1.5lb.
Salmon 15.4lb, 15lb, 14lb, 12lb, 12lb, 10lb, 8.5lb, 8.5lb, 6lb, 6lb, 6lb, 5.4lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Belmuir
17lb, 16lb, 15lb, 12lb, 11lb, 9lb, 8lb, 8lb, 6lb, 5lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Ardlethen
Sea trout 2lb.
Salmon 20lb, 17lb, 14lb, 14lb, 9lb, 7lb, 7lb, 6.5lb, 5.4lb, 5lb, 5lb, 3.5lb, 3.5lb.

David Paterson returning a lovely fish of 16lb at Belmuir.

Don

Upper Fintray
3.5lb

Lower Fintray
8.5lb, 8lb, 6lb, 4lb.

Upper Parkhill
10lb, 6lb, 6lb, 5lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Lower Parkhill
14lb, 12lb, 7lb, 3.5lb.

Ythan

Ardlethen
17lb, 14lb, 12lb, 11lb, 8.5lb, 8lb, 7lb, 7lb, 7lb, 7lb, 5.5lb, 5lb, 4.5lb, 4lb,

Pictures of 2 Salmon caught on the same evening by Michal Ostrowski.

Dee

Banchory Dev
8lb.

Ythan

Ardlethen
10lb, 9lb, 8.5lb, 8lb, 7lb, 7lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4.75lb, 4lb, 4lb, 4lb, 4lb, 4lb, 2.5lb.

Don

Lower Fintray
20lb, 12lb, 9lb, 5lb, 4.5lb.

Upper Parkhill
16lb, 10lb, 8lb, 7.5lb, 6lb, 6lb, 5lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4.25lb, 4lb, 4lb, 3lb.

Lower Parkhill
12lb, 11lb, 8.5lb, 8lb, 8lb, 7lb, 7lb, 6.5lb, 6lb, 5lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4lb, 3lb, 2lb.

Cruives
18lb, 12lb, 10lb, 9lb, 7lb, 7lb, 4lb.

Don

Kemnay
12lb

Upper Fintray
Salmon - 14lb, 12lb, 5lb.
Sea trout - 2.5lb

Lower Fintray
16lb, 12lb, 12lb, 5lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Upper Parkhill
17lb, 14lb, 14lb, 14lb, 13lb, 12lb, 12lb, 10lb, 8lb, 7lb, 6lb, 6lb, 5.5lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4lb, 3lb.

Lower Parkhill
12lb, 11.5lb, 11lb, 6lb, 6lb, 6lb, 6lb, 5lb, 4lb, 4lb, 3lb.

Cruives
15lb, 12lb, 12lb, 12lb, 11lb, 10lb, 8lb, 8lb, 7lb, 6lb, 6lb, 6lb, 6lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4.25lb.

Ythan

Methlick
3lb

Belmuir
7lb

Ardlethen
15lb, 15lb, 12lb, 9lb, 8lb, 7lb, 6lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Machar
Sea trout
3lb, 3lb, 3lb, 3lb, 2.5lb, 2.5lb, 2.5lb.

Dee

Banchory Devenick
8lb, 4.5lb, 4.5lb, 4lb, 3lb.

Ythan

Ardlethen
10lb, 7lb, 6lb, 5lb, 5lb.

Dee

Banchory Dev
4lb, 3.5lb.

Garthdee
4lb.

Don

Lower Fintray
8lb, 7lb.

Upper Parkhill
15lb, 13lb, 8lb, 6lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4.5lb, 4.5lb, 4lb, 3.5lb.

Lower Parkhill
5.5lb, 4lb, 4lb, 3lb.

Cruives
12lb, 6lb, 5.5lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4lb, 4.5lb, 4.5lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Netherdon
5lb, 4.5lb, 4lb, 4lb, 4lb, 3.5lb.

Dee

Banchory Devenick
9.5lb, 7lb, 5lb, 4lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Garthdee
8.5lb, 7lb, 5lb, 3lb.

Ythan

Ardlethen
10lb, 4.5lb.

Don

Upper Parkhill
14lb, 13lb, 10lb, 8lb, 7lb, 5lb, 5lb, 3lb.

Lower Parkhill
8.5lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Cruives
19lb, 11lb, 6lb, 6lb, 6lb, 5lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Netherdon
17lb, 14lb, 8lb, 5.5lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Dee

Banchory Devenick
10lb, 7lb, 7lb, 5lb, 5lb, 4.5lb, 4lb, 4lb, 3lb.

Anglers are reminded as per their rule book you may NOT cross the water from North to South Bank and vice versa.

Ythan

Ardlethen
18.5lb, 8lb.

Don

Lower Fintray
10lb

Upper Parkhill
20lb, 17lb, 12lb, 10lb, 8lb, 8lb, 4.5lb, 4lb, 4lb, 4lb.

Lower Parkhill
14lb, 14lb, 7lb, 4lb, 4lb, 3lb.

Cruives
10lb, 8lb, 6lb, 6lb, 5lb, 4.5lb.

Netherdon
6lb, 4.75lb, 4lb.

Photos and storys much apppreciated!

Dee

Prospects

Last updated: Sunday 20th September

Sunday sees the river levels running at 4 inches to 10 inches on the SEPA gauges which see the river running clear and fish are present in good numbers in all the FishDee beats. There is still some limited rod availability for anglers this season from Ardoe to Mar Lodge and this provides an opportunity for anglers to have a final cast on the Dee and toast the 2009 season on perhaps their favourite beat. The Ghillies have worked extremely hard for visiting rods and it would be good to see all the rods snapped up for anglers and ghillies to have one final push to try and get another fish before season end.

Now the weather forecast shows a low pressure system brushing the northern part of the UK and this will bring some rain on Monday and breezy conditions until Thursday. The latter part of the week shows a build up of pressure and conditions will become quite calm with overnight ground frosts forecast in the upper reaches on Thursday and Friday night. Air temperature maxima will be 17 degrees Celsius and this is slightly above what we expect to see in early autumn .The maritime influence shows tides falling back from 4.7 metres today to 3.4 metres on Saturday. High tides in Aberdeen will move forward daily from 14.11 pm to 18.38 pm which is of importance to anglers fishing the bottom beats.

I mentioned in the catches section a good tip for accurately recording the size of your catch. I am grateful to Murray Stewart for advising “To accurately measure a big fish capture, an angler needs to run a length of monofilament or fluorocarbon, from the fork of the tail to the nose of the fish and tie a knot. Then the angler continues to run the mono round the girth of the fish and tie another knot. By cutting the mono just above the second knot the angler has a length of mono that they can measure against a tape measure later which has the length and girth of the fish recorded. Ally Gowans has a calculator for predicting the size of your fish which is available on the internet at http://www.letsflyfish.com/weight.htm” Thanks for this Murray, I am sure anglers will find this advice most helpful.

If you are fishing this week then please heed advice from your Ghillie on what tactics to employ as they will give you excellent ideas on how you may catch your salmon. With the river running low and clear anglers may be utilising sparsely dressed flies such as Stoats Tail, Tosh and Crathie fly. Other anglers will fish perhaps with Ally's shrimp, Cascades, Flamethrowers in sizes between 8 and 14. They may use full floaters, but may find an intermediate line or sink tip useful at the beginning of the day when the water is cooler. Some anglers are using little tube flies and working them deeply and getting success, so there are a wide variety of options to try. Many fish however are just not inclined to take an anglers fly, but there are enough that may do so. Talking off fish, there are runs of silver tide fresh fish still coming in and running the river. Ghillies and anglers are reporting seeing them in the bottom reaches, so your silver prize may be lurking in your allotted pool, awaiting your well presented fly.

I would like to finish by advising that there has been a new Hotel joining FishDee as an advertiser. It gives me pleasure to announce that the Tor Na Coille hotel in Banchory has recently been acquired by Mr Anderson who is significantly refurbishing the premises over the next few months. This promises to provide an excellent venue for visiting anglers to the Banchory area, who I am most sure will be very impressed with the facilities on offer. I extend best wishes on behalf of the FishDee team to Mr Anderson and his team at the Tor Na Coille and wish them every success for the future. There are many quality accommodations listed on FishDee so please ensure you access the page on the FishDee website to find venues to stay in whilst planning your next visit to Deeside.

Last Week

Last updated: Sunday 20th September

There was a continuation of steady sport throughout the catchment with catches reported from Ardoe to Crathie, with some fine specimens reported including salmon of 26 lbs, 2 at 23 lbs and a few over 20 lbs. There was also a fine sea trout of 5lbs which must be in contention for fish of the month. FishDee beats that have reported so far advise 213 salmon and 22 sea trout with many new finnock in the lower reaches, which augurs well for next year.

There has been a lot of correspondence this week and I am grateful to all who have taken the trouble to drop me a line. Perhaps the season drawing to a close is encouraging anglers to write in before the reports cease in a few weeks time. I am grateful to Edward Humphrey advising “ We all know going on honeymoon is fantastic, but to come back from Sri Lanka and then have a week at Aboyne Castle obviously did the trick for Alasdair Gardner, who for the first time outscored his father, Martin, by 7 salmon to 5 plus a 4lb sea trout to cap a wonderful week. History does not relate whether Martin concluded a business deal in London during the week as his mobile kept going off showing 3 times a picture of Alasdair's next catch! On Saturday while fishing Tanar Mouth Alasdair lost a fish, but worse was to follow as it took his fly, line and all. Despite a big search there was no sign of the blue line but that afternoon, an eagle eyed George Murray from Craigendinnie spotted the line on his side of the pool and it was retrieved along with a 10lb hen fish by Jim Coates who had a sore hand in the process with friction burns! Alasdair was handed back his line and fly, the fish safely released, but does it count as an Aboyne Castle or Craigendinnie fish? Anyway a great week for the Gardner family”.

Stuart Buchan wrote about his experience at new FishDee beat Upper Drum& Lower Durris,and commented ”On Friday and Saturday this week I had a very enjoyable two days fishing on the new entrant to the FishDee website, Upper Drum and Lower Durris.We had a very productive day on Friday. On the Saturday morning I drove to Dr. Geoff Fisher's house to pick him up and take him to the river. A few weeks earlier Geoff ruptured his Achilles tendon and was using crutches as the bottom part of his leg was in plaster. On the way to the river, he had doubts about his ability to fish, so we agreed that if it didn't work out for him, he was going to leave early. Geoff couldn't get his waders on over his plastered leg, so the Ghillie, Jim Paton told him that the only place that he could possibly fish would be the Kirks pool, as there is a nice flat concrete walkway running all the way down the pool. I fished on the other bank and further up river. I landed a fresh grilse and hooked something more substantial then lost it. A few minutes later, I saw Jim's Land Rover heading down the north bank towards Kirks, so I thought that either Geoff had fallen in, was playing a fish, or possibly both. I finished fishing the pool and made my way round. When I arrived, I saw Geoff sitting on the bank with a smile on his face and Jim was in the water standing over and watching a very large fish recover. After a short time, the fish strongly swam off, which was shortly followed by handshakes and drams. We estimated the fish to be approximately 20lb.I was impressed by the professional way that Jim looked after the recovering fish and it was great to see Geoff smiling from ear to ear for the rest of the day. Well done Geoff and Jim I can't wait until the next time”.

I received another report from a lower FishDee beat with Scott Ferguson advising about his visit to Knappach, who wrote “I was fishing at Knappach last week, both Thursday and Friday and had some success. On Thursday I lost 2 fish before landing a fresh grilse of 4lbs. On Friday I never had a pull all day until the light started to fade, I got a heavy take and lifted into a fish that lead me a merry dance for 25mins before landing it. It was a big fish at least 20lbs if not more, I was on my own so wasn't sure about an estimate, and I had to set my camera on timer and sit it on a rock because I couldn't let such a big fish go without getting its photo. I've enclosed the photo to see what you think?” I agree Scott it was a big fish. I will have a good tip in this week's prospects page about how to accurately measure your catch if you don't have a measuring tape.

Robert Fuller wrote about his parties visit and observed “thought that you might like to have some information concerning our trip to the Dee commencing the week beginning Monday 7th September. I lead a team of 12 rods known as The Hawkins Week in memory of Richard Hawkins who died last year, who had been our party leader for many years. We fished on 4 beats notably Park south (Durris), Ballogie, Carlogie and Birse. Between us we only managed to catch 23 salmon, which considering the conditions was not as many as we had hoped for, but the biggest was 18lb caught by Graeme Dixon at Birse, and I was fortunate to catch 9 , of which 6 were fresh grilse.” Many thanks Robert for showing me the extremely funny cartoon sketches of your party's visits over the year.

Jeremy Savill wrote to me and commented “Firstly thank you for taking time each week to write your reports which are much appreciated. Just wanted to drop you a line to let you know of the fabulous week I have just enjoyed with my father at Woodend and reiterate the comment you have already included in your narrative. Following a small grilse 3lbs Tuesday, 6 1/2 lbs grilse Thursday, I enjoyed a real red letter morning fishing the Moral Pool Friday 3 fish - 15lbs estimated, 23lbs estimated, at 39 inches, 26 lbs estimated, at 41 inches (photo attached). I also lost another large fish later that afternoon. I have caught quite a few salmon but never breaking the 20lbs mark so to do so twice in one day was marvellous. While the 3 fish were all coloured they put up a great scrap. So in all 5 for the week, my only regret was that my father didn't catch a salmon on his first trip to the Dee, perhaps next year. The surroundings were fabulous and Miranda / Julian's hospitality made our say at the Garden Cottage a very pleasurable break”.

I was delighted to receive an e-mail from a visitor from Stavanger,Norway.Geir Magne Johnsen wrote “As I was visiting River Dee 11th and 12th of September. I was lucky to get the opportunity to fish Park for one day. On Friday 11th September I arrived and drove in my car from Aboyne down to Park. I visited most of the beats, and talked to many fishermen. All beats at this time of year were packed with fish, which was amazing to see, I observed jumping fish all the time, many fresh salmon too. Fishing Park South on Saturday 12th of September was an amazing experience. I was lucky to hook 2 fresh salmon (5 and 7 lbs) on the first run down the pool in beat 5. Later that day I landed a sea trout. Park is just the perfect place for a fly fisher, with fantastic pools and very easy wading. I want to thank Ghillies Charlie Yates and Keith Cromar who kindly looked after me so well. I enjoyed our end of day get together for a dram and laugh-such great company all the people assembled. This day on Park I have seen more fish on one day than I have seen all year!! Mainly I fish in local rivers in South Norway. Looking at the amount of fish you are holding and catching in River Dee compared to our Norwegian rivers, I must say that we have much to learn from your operation in River Dee. I will be back at Deeside fishing Ballogie September 28-30.” Hopefully Geir Magne will attend our inaugural visit to Stavanger on October 31st with many of his fellow countrymen, where we are holding a River Dee Trust seminar, as advertised on the www.fishdee website. This is beside the details about the River Dee Trust fundraising Lunch at the Marcliffe Hotel on November 29th. We do hope readers can attend these planned events. There will be an on-line auction commencing shortly to support this event.

I received a short e-mail from Colin Innes who enthused about his visit “Just a quick note to tell you how fantastic the Dinnet beat is, my brother-in-law David Ramsay and I took the opportunity of a day there yesterday. We had a beautiful sunny day where my size 12 stoat's tails resulted in me hooking and losing 3 fish, one very nice, and David landing a 10lber. Can't say how much I enjoyed the peace and quiet and scenery. I also managed to take a few photos for my web site (probably expanded quite a lot since you last looked!). I'm trying to get photos of all the fishing huts!”

Last but not least I have received feedback from Frank Kirkham who commented about a fish he landed which he reports as being 32 lbs, albeit the photograph isn't entirely clear in providing a clear reference of its reported size “The fish was caught in Moral Pool, at Woodend, on a Thunder and Lighting Fly (size 10 I think).I hooked the fish at 11.15 hours I have got into the habit of always looking at my watch when I hook a fish. I was using a Greys 16 foot rod a No11 weight forward floating line with a 5ft sinking poly leader and approx 10ft of 8 lb leader line. The fight was more a trial of strength with the fish staying near the bottom and was very dour, it did not run far apart from swimming across the other side of the pool when it chose to. I was on my own but kept hoping somebody would come along to help me land the fish. When I did eventually land the fish I took a quick picture with my mobile telephone and measured it at a shade less than 43 inches with a tape measure I keep in my fishing waistcoat. I then immediately returned the fish to the water, held it for about five minutes allowing it to recover fully before releasing it, the time then was nearly 5 minutes to 12 o'clock. Gordon and I had a great week which we always do at Woodend apart from the rain which caused the river to rise to about 7' 6" well above the top of the gauge. In fact on the Thursday Gordon had a superb fresh run fish complete with sea lice of 34 ins which in my opinion is the nicest fish I had ever seen” It's a pity Frank's capture wasn't witnessed but must have been tremendously exciting nevertheless.

As always please let me know how you get on by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences on the river. I will try and post your pictures on the catches and prospects pages on the FishDee site. Tight lines, Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, September 2009


Beat catches reported
(week ending 19th September)
SALMON: Ardoe and Murtle 17, Blairs 4, Altries and Lower Drum 7, Middle Drum 2, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 11, Tilbouries 2, Park 18, Lower Crathes and W Durris 8, Crathes 9, Invery 6, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Cairnton 3, Commonty 1, Sluie 6, Ballogie 15, Borrowston 18, Kincardine 16, Carlogie 3, Lower Dess 2, Upper Dess 6, Birse 4, Aboyne Water 11, Aboyne Castle 10, Craigendinnie 5, Waterside and Ferrar 8, Dinnet 9, Deecastle 2, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 18, Crathie 6, Mar Lodge 2.
Total: 231 Largest: Park 26lbs
SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 6, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 1, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Middle Blackhall 1, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 1, Upper Dess 1, Birse 2, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 1, Waterside and Ferrar 3, Dinnet 2, Crathie 3.
Total: 26 Largest: Crathie 5lbs
TROUT: None reported

Dee

Banchory Devenick
10lb, 8.5lb, 6lb, 4lb, 4lb, 4lb, 3.5lb, 3.5lb, 3lb.

Ythan

Methlick
Sea trout 3lb, 2lb, 2lb.

Belmuir
Sea trout 2.5lb

Ardlethen
10lb, 5.5lb, 4.5lb, 4lb, 3,5lb

Machar
Sea trout 4lb, 3.75lb, 3lb.

Don

Lower Fintray
16lb, 6lb, 5.5lb, 4.5lb, 4lb.

Sea trout 2lb

Upper Parkhill
15lb, 9lb, 7lb, 6lb, 6lb, 5lb, 4lb, 4lb, 4lb, 3lb.
Sea trout 3lb

Lower Parkhill
15.25lb,12lb, 9.25lb, 9lb, 7lb, 5lb, 4lb.

Cruives
20lb, 5lb, 4lb

Netherdon
12lb, 5lb, 5lb.

No stories or pictures.....................boooooooo!

Ythan

Ardlethen
Salmon 8lb, 7lb, 6lb, 5lb.
Sea trout 2lb.

Machar
Sea trout 4lb, 3lb, 2lb, 2lb, 2lb, 2lb.
A few finnock taken this week too.

Dee

Knappach
3 salmon reported for our 2 anglers this week, the largest being 17lb.

Pots and Fords
A couple of finnock recorded.

Don

Upper Parkhill
Salmon 8lb, 8lb, 7lb, 4.5lb,4lb, 4lb, 4lb.
Sea trout 3.5lb

Cruives
Salmon 9.5lb, 5lb, 3lb, 3lb.
Sea trout 4lb.

Netherdon
Salmon 9lb, 4lb.

Dee

Prospects
Last updated: Sunday 6th September

We have had good results considering how fluctuating the river levels have been of late and how fickle the salmon can behave. Now we need to see the river levels stabilise and settle and it appears that this may happen over the course of this week as the weather forecasters are advising a gradual build up of a high pressure system. But before this happens during the week, we may see quite a breezy couple of days coupled with rain showers. Air temperature maxima will be in the region of 20 degrees Celsius and river temperatures are hovering around the 10 degree Celsius range-perfect for angling. The maritime influence shows tides falling back this week from 4.3 metres to 3.5 metres from 14.23 pm to 18.43 pm.

There are fish spread throughout the catchment and fish are becoming more aggressive as we head into autumn. This is borne out by the number of coloured male fish that will snap at an anglers fly. As always ask your ghillie about what tactics to utilise on your beat as they know best. They can be the difference between success and failure and this makes them the most important ally for the angler. If you don't have the services of a ghillie then you may wish to fish with Park shrimps, Cascades, Allys orange or red shrimp patterns as well as Stoats Tails, Blue Charms and Logies if the water clears. The pots and pool tails may see success with red Frances tubes, Monkey tubes and even a Willie Gunn tube fly.

Last week
This was a week of tremendous highs with both river levels and catches generating real interest. The catches reported so far by FishDee beats are 217 salmon and 54 sea trout, which was well up on the previous week. We also had river levels rising to 8 ft above summer level on Friday following 36 hours of persistent rain. It was quite bizarre to observe an angler trying to fish from Potarch bridge whilst the river raged through the arches below him .All the more bizarre was his choice of bait, prime steak from Sheridan's in Ballater. Luke, one of the river bailiffs, managed to explain that it wasn't the done thing on Deeside and suggested better ways to enjoy Sheridan's produce. When he wasn't dealing with misguided anglers he also managed to catch a fish last week himself, along with fellow bailiff Mark Walker.

There were some notable captures last week including a reported 32 lb fish from Woodend and I hope I can get an image of this big coloured cock fish. There was another big fish caught at Cairnton and was estimated at 30 lbs. The visiting Danish angler, part of a party of 3, caught the fine fish on a blue charm fly and a silk line, provided as a a gift from his family. Hopefully the angler or ghillie will provide a picture for publication, along with an entry into the Whyte and Mackay fish of the month prize. Cairnton also produced a 23 lber on Saturday, as did Park. I was also informed an angler saw a fish move a number of times last week on a lower Dee beat estimated between 40 and 50 pounds. I would love to hear of this fish being caught by a lucky angler.

We can also announce that Upper Drum and Lower Durris have joined FishDee and we hope to have rods to let, as and when they become available. The beat is usually very busy and has a loyal customer base, as it is lovely water and has a first class ghillie in Jim Paton. We wish them every success and hope we can see some notable catches there in the near future.

I received some correspondence and images from anglers this week and am grateful to David McDonald who commented "I arranged some fishing at Commonty as a welcome home present for my son who has been in NZ for a year. I had small grilse on Friday before the water rose. We started fishing on Saturday at 7.15am and I had small grilse at 7.40. Craig lost one before taking a10lb fish. I had another grilse in the afternoon. In the evening we got permission to fish Ballogie as no one else was fishing. Craig had another salmon at 15lb and I got one at dusk of 13lb. 5 fish in a day and great way to celebrate his return! "

As always please let me know how you get on by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences on the river. I will try and post your pictures on the catches and prospects pages on the FishDee site. Tight lines, Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, September 2009

Beat catches reported
(week ending 5th September)
SALMON: Ardoe and Murtle 22, Blairs 3, Altries and Lower Drum 5, Tilbouries 16, Park 34, Lower Crathes and W Durris 14, Knappach 3, Crathes 3, Invery 2, Lower Blackhall 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 7, Cairnton 15, Woodend 7, Commonty 3, Ballogie 9, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 1, Carlogie 7, Lower Dess 5, Upper Dess 1, Birse 8, Aboyne Water 3, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 10, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 2, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 18, Crathie 16.
Total: 223 Largest: Woodend 32lbs
SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 15, Blairs 1, Tilbouries 3, Park 4, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Crathes 1, Invery 3, Middle Blackhall 1, Carlogie 2, Lower Dess 1, Birse 2, Aboyne Water 1, Deecastle 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 11.
Total: 47 Largest: Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 4lbs
TROUT: None reported

Loch of Loirston
Rainbows up to 3lb

Ythan

Ardlethen
Salmon 10.25lb - Well done Mike!

Machar
Sea trout 2.75lb

Dee

Banchory Devenick
Salmon 15lb, 4lb.
Sea trout 1.5lb

Garthdee
3.75lb, 3.75lb, 3lb.

Pots and Fords
Finnock up to 1lb.

Don

Lower Fintray
Salmon 16lb, 14lb, 4lb 3lb.
Sea trout 2.5lb

Upper Parkhill
15.5lb, 9lb, 5lb, 3.5lb, 3lb.

Lower Parkhill
Salmon 11lb

Cruives
Salmon 12lb, 7lb, 4lb.

Netherdon
Salmon 14lb, 4lb.
Sea trout 2.25lb

Photo of Lucasz with his 14lb fish from Netherdon, safely released.

Dee

Prospects

The forthcoming week looks encouraging as the river levels, currently 1ft 1 inch to 1 ft 7 inches above summer levels, will allow fish to migrate upriver easily. The maritime influence shows rising spring tides from 3.3 metres to 4.1 metres with high ties from 9.51 am moving forward hourly to 13.54 pm. This is of interest to the lower beats as runs of fish can be expected off the tide within a matter of one hour to three hours depending where you are fishing in the lower catchment. Beats such as Ardoe, Blairs and Altries will get first crack at the running fish and then Tilbouries and Middle Drum. The weather forecast is showing rain on Monday, perhaps heavy, with sunshine and showers for the rest of the week. Air temperature maxima will be 20 degrees Celsius and overnight temperatures will drop to approximately 10 degrees Celsius. This means water temperatures will remain around 10-13 degree Celsius peaking in the early afternoon.

The prevailing conditions make angling an exciting prospect as there are no doubts to there being good stocks throughout the catchment. That said just because they are there doesnít make them easy to catch. The best ploy is to fish hard and persevere and of course follow your ghillies advice. Your Ghillie will advise tactics to use and if you donít have a Ghillie I would suggest a full floater with a size 8-14 fly will put you in with a chance depending on where you are in the catchment. The further up the catchment the smaller the fly choice should be given the feedback received. The choice of fly is very much influenced by water conditions, if the water is coloured many swear by a Cascade, Allys Shrimp or Duncan Eganís flamethrower; if itís clear many swear by Stoats Tail, Tosh or Willie Gunn. I only use the Park shrimp, whatever the conditions, and it does well for me. I do occasionally use a Red Frances brass 1 inch tube in the deeper pools where I know fish are lying and this can generate takes if fished like a nymph, or down and across.

As always please let me know how you get on by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences on the river. I will try and post your pictures on the catches and prospects pages on the FishDee site. Ti Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, August 2009

For information about the River Dee management, its policies and publications etc please go to www.riverdee.org.uk and also look out for the FishPal Facebook community. FishDee has joined Twitter so log on tod here =http://twitter.com/FishDee

Last week

Fluctuating water levels affected catches with both Monday and Friday seeing fast rising levels putting a dampener on catches. The other days saw reasonable catches with 40 on Wednesday and 39 on Thursday. The reported catch of 152 salmon and 22 sea trout is really quite reasonable given the amount of colour there has been in the river. The distribution of catches from Blairs to Mar Lodge shows that fish are spread throughout the catchment. This is clearly shown with a snap shot of the weekís catches throughout the valley of Park with 24 fish, Aboyne Water with 12 and Crathie with 10.

The feedback I have had from anglers that I have met is that they are seeing fish running and this is encouraging as silver grilse are moving swiftly through the system. Archie Hay, Ghillie at Crathie tells me they are catching a mix of coloured salmon and very fresh grilse. Ben Dixon from Orvis and Hamish Young were fishing at Mar Lodge last week and had a fish but reported seeing good numbers of fish in the clear water. As always please let me know how you get on by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences on the river. I will try and post your pictures on the catches and prospects pages on the FishDee site. Tight lines, Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, August 2009

For information about the River Dee management, its policies and publications etc please go to www.riverdee.org.uk and also look out for the FishPal Facebook community. FishDee has joined Twitter so log on tod here =http://twitter.com/FishDee

Beat catches reported
(week ending 29th August)
SALMON: Blairs 4, Altries and Lower Drum 6, Middle Drum 9, Tilbouries 8, Park 24, Lower Crathes and W Durris 4, Lower Blackhall 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 3, Middle Blackhall 4, Cairnton 3, Woodend 1, Commonty 6, Sluie 2, Ballogie 5, Borrowston 9, Kincardine 3, Carlogie 4, Lower Dess 4, Upper Dess 4, Birse 8, Aboyne Water 12, Aboyne Castle 2, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Dinnet 1, Deecastle 4, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 8, Crathie 10, Mar Lodge 1.
Total: 153 Largest: Blairs 20lbs
SEA TROUT: Blairs 1, Tilbouries 1, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Middle Blackhall 1, Cairnton 2, Aboyne Water 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 14, Crathie 2.
Total: 23 Largest: Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 4lbs
TROUT: None reported

Loch of Loirston
A few rainbows being caught up to 2.5lb

Ythan

Machar
Sea trout 3.5lb

Ardlethen
Sea trout 3lb

Dee

Pots and Fords
A few finnock being caught, water could be a little high now though.

Garthdee
Sea trout 2lb
Salmon 7 & 3.5lb

Banchory Devenick

Salmon 5lb

Knappach
Salmon 5lb.

Don

Lower Fintray
Grilse 4lb, 4lb

Upper Parkhill
Salmon 14lb, 6lb, 4lb and a well done to Dionne on landing a 5lb Grilse here!

Lower Parkhill
Grilse 3.5lb, 2.5lb

Cruives
14lb,5lb,4lb,4lb,4lb,4lb

Netherdon
Sea Trout 2lb
Plenty finnock being landed this week.

Just a wee note to anyone reporting their catches on the online system. When entering your catches please make sure that you put the right beat on the reports. i.e. The Manse pool is on Lower Fintray, Snuffies is at Cruives, etc, if at all unsure check your maps! Thanks!

A well done to all the new members who have been reporting fish this week! It's nice to see the names coming up on the lists.

Parkhill Fishery - No report

Loch of Loirston
More rainbows being taken this week, well done to Jim who caught and released 10 fish up to 3lbs.
Some anglers still finding it frustrating as plenty of fish there but just can't find the right tactics, ask Jim!

Dee
Garthdee
A couple of wee grilse off the water this week 4lb and 2.5lb.

Pots and Fords
Sea Trout 1.75lb.
Plenty of finnock showing with Bob Dey having a good day on Saturday, releasing 10 for his afternoon.

Don
Lower Fintray
Salmon 7lb.

Upper Parkhill
Salmon 8lb, 7lb, 4lb.
Sea trout 3lb.

Lower Parkhill
Salmon 12lb, 8lb, 6lb.

Cruives
Salmon 5lb.

Dee

Prospects

I would like to say that prospects look very good, and anglers fishing the river might find it a very memorable week. The lower river is starting to fill up with resident fish and these encourage the freshly run fish to sit with them. As always at this time of year it can pay to fish the tails of pools diligently, as running fish can tarry awhile and are susceptible to an anglers fly. There is still good availability on FishDee, with some top beats amazingly still finding a few rods available - these beats are full of fish! I am sure hesitant anglers will be kicking themselves this time next week if they donít book the rods available this week and see good catches reported from this column.

Now whatís in store weather wise this week? Well itís starting to look like autumn is on the way as we have regular bouts of rainfall predicted on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, combined with gusty winds. The air temperature maxima are forecast to be in the region of 19-20 degrees Celsius with winds blowing from all directions of the compass during the week.

Tactics utilised this week may see anglers fishing with sink tips or full floaters and leaders of 12-18 lbs breaking strain. Successful flies could include the Allyís shrimp, Park Shrimp (with arctic runner tail) and a selection of small Loop or Eumer bottle tubes, including 1 inch Gold Willie Gunn, Red Frances and Monkey. Perhaps as an option, when running fish are seen, a Collie Dog, cast squarely across the pool and retrieved steadily. Likewise a big heavy Snaelda tube cast square and allowed to swing round quickly. However the best guide is your expert Dee Ghillie, who will surely give you the best advice at the time of consulting them.

I can only finish by saying ìI wish I was able to fish the river this week given the prospects and availability!î

As always please let me know how you get on by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences on the river. I will try and post your pictures on the catches and prospects pages on the FishDee site. Tight lines, Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, August 2009

For information about the River Dee management, its policies and publications etc please go to www.riverdee.org.uk and also look out for the FishPal Facebook community. FishDee has joined Twitter so log on tod here =http://twitter.com/FishDee

Last week

The catches improved this week, with fish a fair bit more decisive when taking the fly, and reasonable catches were recorded throughout the full length of the catchment. FishDee beats have reported 169 salmon to 31 lbs and 26 sea trout so far, with more to go on over the next 24-48 hours when late returns are logged in. Park amazingly reported 39 fish, which was quite an achievement as it was not fished hard and had some availability. The Ballogie and Carlogie beats between them also reported 33 salmon, and itís clear there are good stocks of salmon throughout the river. There are really good runs coming into the lower beats now, where the salmon will not be in a desperate rush to get to the top of the river.

Top fish for the week was a 42.5 inch fish reported by Mr Coates as part of a party of four fishing at Park South. Perhaps this will be the biggest this month? There is every chance this could be beaten into second place given the quality of fish coming into the river.

Now onto correspondence and feedback received. Firstly, I must congratulate Lee Harper for catching his first salmon at Lower Crathes. His father, Lower Crathes Ghillie Robert Harper will be delighted to see his son catching such a nice fresh salmon, hopefully the first of many for Lee.

I also received a nice e-mail and picture from Dr Mark Perry, whose picture is now on the prospects page on FishDee. Mark remarked ìMy recent visit to the Dee was more successful than ever before. After a few very quiet days earlier in the season I had three great days at Aboyne Castle, Crathes and finally Park. It is always a pleasure to fish the Dee with so much good fly water. I caught my first ever sea liced fish at Crathes 14lb, which was expertly netting by my pregnant wife! My final day at Park was fantastic with 4 fish hooked and 2 landed, both sea liced and the biggest 16lb (5 in total for the 3 days). I would like to say thanks again to the Ghillies on all the beats.î I met Clive Miles and party at Aboyne Water following an e-mail about sourcing some Park Shrimp flies and Clive commented about the parties week ìHey Ken -Good things come to those who wait! Jim Cowper gave some excellent tuition to Patricia, she has mastered the Single Spey, and the Circle cast and tied several flies ñ one called the Trishaís Treat (special ingredients....!) the later accounted for several fish. Patricia landed her first Salmon on the fly, a 13lb fish on Saturday, caught on the Park Shrimp that you delivered to us! It was caught in Upper Irrigation pool and took approx 25mins to land, by the end of which Patriciaís arm was numb and her heart was thumping! A superb result, a big thank you to Ross for tying it and you for the express delivery! As you are aware the week was initially slow, but persistence, night fishing and some cloud cover made the Groupsí (Geoff Lockett, Pete Clapperton, Angus Philp, Simon Straker, Patricia and myself) tally; 4 Salmon and 7 Sea Trout, and as you witnessed, several hook ups that were not landed. The fish were taken on Stoats Tail, Trishaís Treat (Cascade variant) Pot Belly Pigs and the Park Shrimp. I took my first ever Salmon at night, approx 14lbs as well. The hospitality on Dee side once again has been fantastic and was topped off by seeing the Queen inspect the Scots Guards at Balmoral Castle. I wish you and those who continue to support the River Dee all the very best for the remainder of the season.î

I also received an e-mail today from Archie Hay, Ghillie at the popular Crathie beat ìHi Ken, just a short note to inform you of a milestone achieved this year. Mrs Clutterbuck, who is 89 years young, has fished the Crathie Beat for the past 50 years and introduced all her own children and grandchildren to fishing, I myself have taught several of the party to fish. This past fortnight has seen the family account for 5 salmon, largest 12 lbs caught by the good lady herself , 9 grilse and 7 sea trout which considering the changing river conditions is a very respectable tally. Next year has been booked already and long may she keep visiting Crathie.î

The auction on FishDee organised and run by Walter Raitt and Sue Rudge, for Robert Harper finished on Saturday. The final total raised by the auction looks like being in excess of £3,500, which is a tremendous effort. I would like to thank everyone for supporting Walter, Robert and the other Dee Ghillies.

To cement the sponsorship between FishDee and Whyte and Mackay there will be whisky tasting event on Thursday September 3rd at The Potarch Hotel, Ballogie at 7.30 pm. The evening will be hosted by the master distillers from the Whyte and Mackays different brands, including amongst others Dalmore, Jura and Fettercairn. The evening will see guests introduced to the intricacies and secrets of whisky production and have the opportunity to sample a variety of drams. This will be a memorable evening and buses will be laid on to the event from Banchory and Aboyne. There will be a limited amount of seats available for anglers at this free event. Anyone interested in going should contact the river office at info@riverdee.org or phone the River Dee office.

As always please let me know how you get on by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences on the river. I will try and post your pictures on the catches and prospects pages on the FishDee site. Tight lines, Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd, August 2009

For information about the River Dee management, its policies and publications etc please go to www.riverdee.org.uk and also look out for the FishPal Facebook community. FishDee has joined Twitter so log on tod here =http://twitter.com/FishDee

Beat catches reported
(week ending 15th August)
SALMON: Ardoe and Murtle 1, Blairs 1, Altries and Lower Drum 8, Middle Drum 6, Tilbouries 8, Park 39, Lower Crathes and W Durris 5, Crathes 6, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 7, Middle Blackhall 2, Cairnton 7, Woodend 3, Commonty 2, Ballogie 13, Borrowston 2, Carlogie 20, Lower Dess 2, Birse 5, Aboyne Water 3, Aboyne Castle 5, Craigendinnie 5, Waterside and Ferrar 3, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 3, Crathie 9.
Total: 169 Largest: Park 31lbs
SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 2, Altries and Lower Drum 4, Middle Drum 1, Tilbouries 1, Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Invery 2, Woodend 1, Ballogie 1, Borrowston 1, Carlogie 1, Upper Dess 1, Dinnet 2, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 6, Crathie 2.
Total: 26 Largest: Invery & Crathie 4lbs
TROUT: Crathie 1. Total: 1