As I write this, summer has arrived on Speyside!
It’s such a beautiful time of year to be out on the river. 🙂
However, it didn’t look exactly like that at the start of last week. Heavy rain in the catchment sent the river levels up to almost 4ft, making fishing a bit of a challenge.
River heights – 1.6ft-4ft (+/- 2in)
Water Temps – 47-52F or 8-11C
Air temps – 7-19C
As the week progressed the levels started to drop and the fishing and catches improved – and once again, the river produced some fine specimen salmon.
As one would expect with all this water, there’s a healthy stock of salmon throughout the catchment – which is great news for all the visiting anglers to Speyside. It would also appear that Seatrout numbers are building nicely and there’s some real heavy weights amongst them.
Catch Summary
Upper River – Around 15 reported – Castle Grant, Grantown Association
Middle River – Over 50 fish reported – Knockando, Laggan, Lower Wester Elchies, Craigellachie, Kinermony, Aberlour AC, Delagyle
Lower River – Over 75 fish reported – Gordon Castle, Orton, Delfur, Rothes, Arndilly, Easter Elchies&Upper Arndilly
Average size – approx 12lb. Biggest fish reported 20lbs.
Over 30 Seatrout reported up to 9lbs.
The lower river was top location last week with some lovely fresh fish being landed across all beats.
The middle river also produced some great salmon and none more so than a cracking 20lber for Chirag Kanji – his first salmon. What an introduction! Hooked it at 8am, landed at 8.40am – assisted by Delagyle ghillie David Smillie.
I even managed one myself on a late evening session.
Other middle beats were also doing well.
The upper beats enjoyed some good sport as the river levels started to fall, although it was a quieter week than previous. This will change as we move into June.
Some more highlights which deserve a mention –
12yr old Henry Macrae caught his first ever salmon from the Easter Elchies beat – well done young lad – he looks a happy chappy! Our lady angler of the week-Tor Cutmore landed a lovely fresh fish, also from Easter Elchies. Both aided by Ghillie – Orrn Sigurhansson.
So, what’s in store for early June?
Warm and sunny would seem a good guess. It’s long overdue though!  However, river heights are good and water temperatures are perfect, so I’m hopeful the fishing will also remain good.  Early and late starts might come into play,  but that’s always part of fishing in June.  If the sun gets too intense, why not enjoy the full Speyside experience – take in a distillery or two; I know The Macallan distillery is open to visitors now.  If whisky isn’t your thing, then take a trip to “Eight-Lands” and try some local Speyside Vodka and Gin. Or, bring the golf clubs and enjoy the many courses in and around the spey valley.  There’s always something nice to do when the salmon aren’t cooperating and you’re waiting for the sun to dip behind the hills 🙂
Tightlines to all and more importantly have a great time!
