As far as the weather goes, it certainly felt more like winter than spring on the river last week. We had snow, hail, freezing air temps and cold winds most days – it was certainly challenging at times. However, the cold spell did allow river levels to steadily drop and actually provided fairly good conditions for early April.
River heights – 1ft – 2ft (+/- 2in)
Water Temps – 38-40F or 3-4C
Air temps – 0-8C
It was also pleasing to hear of improved catches from those beats that had anglers. Most ghillies still reporting “light rod pressure” on their respective beats while others report no anglers at all – which obviously guarantees no fish; but the general consensus is that those that ventured out were fishing with expectation, rather than hope. The drop in water temperature favoured the lower and middle beats and this was reflected in the overall catches – although I’ve not had a complete update from the upper river, so can’t confirm conclusively. Not so many sealiced fish this week, which is a result of the colder temps.
Catch Summary
Upper River – 2 fish reported – Castle Grant (2)
Middle River – 12 fish reported – Wester Elchies (4), Kinermony (5), Knockando (3)
Lower River – 11 fish reported – Gordon Castle, Arndilly (6), Rothes (4)
Average size increasing – around 10lb. Biggest fish reported 18lbs
2 good sea trout reported also – 3&6lbs
This weeks gallery shows some beautiful Spey springers – Mark Morrisons 18lber from Kinermony, yet another fish for Damon Harrison. Bottom photo is Blair Banks (Arndilly Ghillie) with his 6lb sea trout.
Sometimes its worth showing a fish without the angler – the one below was caught by SFB chairman Sandy Scott -and is a perfect example of a Spey spring salmon.
Looking ahead to this coming week
Weather looks good, conditions look good…. so I’m hoping the fishing will be good also. The cold weather will last a few more days, then it’s getting slightly warmer towards the end of the week. All things considered, it looks a great week to be on the river. Plenty rods available at short notice. As always, stay within the travel guidelines.
Tightlines to all.
