Here on Speyside we normally associate August as being a month associated with lovely balmy days and low water.   Mind you, much like salmon themselves, nothing is 100% predictable, and this August proved to be one of those really frustrating months where rain, as welcome is it was, when it came, unfortunately, forgot to stop! 

Anglers coming equipped to fish floating line with small flies, whilst wading knee deep into the middle of pools were to be disappointed, finding instead they needed sink tips, intermediate and sometimes sinking lines fished off the bank, which in the case of the Spey, means close to trees.   So, are those conditions so unusual?   Well, not really! What we must remember is, this is Scotland and one of the main reasons our rivers have such prolific runs of fish is the fact that 3 - 4 years out of every 10, we have wet summer weather.   Generally speaking, depending on the size of the run of fish, such years provide anglers with good sport and favour those who are fairly good casters and have more tools in the box than simply a floating line and small flies. 

For the first time in many years the river has a real stock of MSW fish present, not all, but in most beats, this has been augmented by a generally weak, but important run of Grilse.   I say important because in many cases, although large numbers of older MSW fish have been present, they have proved very difficult to take.   Most fish taken in the middle to upper part of the river during August have been fresh Grilse and those have certainly provided a lifeline to many beats throughout the month. 

As I write this 2nd of Sept I am still hearing of some Sea Liced fish in the Tulchan area, Mr Jim Mitchell with a nice 9lb fish in this class from D Beat.   Having travelled from Japan I was personally thrilled to see my client, Mr Tomio Maekawa have a nice weeks sport at Gordon Castle and Tulchan, landing 9 quality fish ranging between 5 – 17lbs.   Interestingly all his salmon were caught on a Red Capper [a dark, almost black fly] and his Grilse on the more regular orange, yellow and black fly.   Another fly which did well for both my clients and I this month was the Rosy.   A variant of the Garry Dog, this proved to be deadly as the water turned to tea colour after each rise.   Dressing for those can be found on my website here

Fish of the month was undoubtedly the 36lb fish taken on the 24th of August by Pitchroy ghillie Mr Wayne Davidson.   The older cock fish was eventually subdued after a battle which lasted more than 40 minutes, after which Wayne revealed he was fishing light, 10lb nylon and a small Stinchar Stoat.   Interestingly, Wayne tells me that, during the same week last year, the tenant, Mr A Pelhum-Burn landed another fish of 30lbs, again, an older cock fish which again gave a great account of itself.   

So is there anything in big fish being caught at the same area and at the same time? Well, I would say yes.   I remember all of the big fish I saw caught whilst ghillie on Lower Pitchroy were caught around this time too, none more than the 36lb fish one gentleman caught some years ago on his 40th birthday, the other amazing thing about this particular fish was it was his first ever!   If someone asked me about targeting such a fish, I would always point them to the last week in August or first in September in this area, particularly if there had been a good run of MSW fish in the river earlier in the year. 

Never say never in Salmon Fishing!   It will always throw up some surprises, my ex employer used to say, there’s always an enchanting moment!   The fantastic charity day shared on Kinermony by The “Tay” Team, Mr Tony Black, John Young and Jim Reid, was testimony to just that, when by using their experience they accounted for 19 fish in the one day, ten falling to the rod of Tony, which incredibly he trumped the following week on the River Dee with a further13 in a single day on Park. 

Hats off also to the organisers of this day which raised £2000 for Casting for Recovery, particularly beat ghillie, Mr Jock Royan and proprietor of Speyside’s premier B&B, Speyburn House, Mrs Lesley Calzetti.   The success was put down to thinking outside the box; which I have to say is always a good thing to do when salmon fishing, as much like ourselves, it would seem they have a wide and varied taste!! 

As another season draws to a close here on Speyside, 2011 will be remembered as a good one with lots of good quality fish spread throughout the full length of the river. Congratulations again to Wayne Davidson on landing what I’m sure will be the biggest fish of the season. 

Ian Gordon
Speycaster