Another week, another mini-heat wave on Speyside. August has been a challenging month for Spey anglers, but things could be about to change for the better.
Whilst last week saw many days of cloudless skies and baking heat, as I write, Speyside is blanketed in clouds with showers of rain breaking out, bringing much-needed rain to the catchment. Perhaps the heavy rain that is forecast today and tomorrow, along with the lower temperatures and cloud forecast for the rest of the week will help liven things up and encourage movement in the river. We can only hope.
For those interested in digging into the data and watching the water levels rise and fall, we have a section on our website dedicated to SEPA water stations, river web cameras and water quality stations:
For example, if you look at the water levels at Boat o’ Brig today (Monday 15th August at 11:00am) it paints a worrying picture of falling water levels at near record lows. It will be interesting to see if the rain forecast will nudge levels in the right direction.
Now onto the river.
Lewis Webb from Gordon Castle reports that they had a good couple of days fishing on Monday and Tuesday…then the sun came out and made things hard work. Most guests opting to fish morning and late evening, allowing time to enjoy the sun and taking an afternoon to visit the Estates Walled Garden for lunch and some time away from the river to allow the fish to rest.
Orton had a slow week according to Andy Gunn, with only daytime fishing and 5 grilse landed. He can’t wait for the rain to arrive!
Mark Melville sent in his report from “Costa Del-fur ☀️” where guests averaged a fish a day, not bad considering the challenging fishing conditions all week. He, along with the rest of the river, is looking forward to the change in conditions this week.
Now onto Rothes and Aitkenway and according to Robbie Stronach they had hard conditions to contend with and 3 fish caught.
Orn Sigurhansson at Easter Elchies reports a week of low water and high temperatures. They were pleased to welcome the James fishing party to Easter Elchies and the Burns fishing party to Upper Arndilly. The week started well, with 3 fish landed on the Monday. As the heat increased during the week, fishing during the day became more difficult. Early mornings or late night fishing the best chance. Les Tyson landing a fish in Inverfiddich on Friday night on a size 16 fly, a reflection of the conditions. Welcome rain and cooler weather forecast for next week which will improve fishing conditions.
Aberlour Angling report no fish for the week.
In our final update for this week, Malcolm Newbould shares that Wester Elchies had just two in difficult conditions.
Let’s hope that August proves to be a month of two halves and that improving conditions bring improved prospects!
To all those on the water this week, tight lines.
Paul