June is a magical time to be fishing on Speyside. Of course the weather can be challenging and it may get too sunny at times, but with long summer days and balmy evenings, there’s always plenty time to catch your prize.
James Griffiths with 2 of his 6 salmon landed @ Easter Elchies and Upper Arndilly.
River heights – 7in – 1.2ft (+/- 2in)
Water Temps – 57-61F or 13-16C
Air temps – 10-22C – sunny
The river finally dropped below the 1ft mark and with water temperatures in the high 50s, it was perfect conditions for fishing your favourite fly close to the surface. A small lightly dressed fly fished conventionally in the day can work well while a sunray-shadow in the last hour can produce some exhilarating moments – this is what June fishing is all about!
The quality and condition of fish landed this last week was excellent with many in the 12-15lb range. The river, as a whole, is performing well, with all beats having action and seeing numbers of salmon running through. Although I don’t have figures, I know the upper river has enjoyed some good fishing over this last week.
Catch Summary
Upper River – Around 10 reported (no figures from the three main upper beats)
Middle River – Over 35 fish reported
Lower River – Over 60 fish reported
Average size – approx 12lb. Biggest fish reported 17lbs.
It’s always heartening to see the “young guns” on the river and having success – this is the future of our sport. Below is 16yr old Thomas Robertson with 2 fine Spey springers. Well done that lad!
The ladies were also in on the action with 2 cracking fish.
Now some rather sad news. I was informed by Dougie Ross (head ghillie on the Craigellachie beat) that their other ghillie (Chris Hallas) had a heart attack on Tuesday and is still in hospital. On behalf of everyone at the SFB and on the river, we all wish Chris a speedy recovery.
Outlook for next week
Weather looks fairly stable through this coming week with temperatures getting back into the 20s and not much in the way of precipitation. Long lunches could be nice 🙂
As always, Tightlines and enjoy your fishing.
