Fantastic 23lb salmon for River & Green client

Italian client Sig. Marco Boldrini had much to celebrate while visiting Scotland as part of the Babini group’s fishing break last week. Of all the members of this terrific group of 10 gentlemen, mostly from Milan, Marco was the first to predict that he would catch nothing. How wrong can you be… during the morning of the group’s only day of salmon fishing on the Dalmarnock and Dalguise beats of the Tay, Marco managed to land this perfect 23lb bar of silver.

Many thanks to all the guys for making the weekend such a great experience. Thanks also to ghillies Stan (Dalguise) and Colin and Stuart (Dalmarnock) for their outstanding contribution to the day.

Congratulations also go to Paolo Frova for saving the day with two decent pike on Loch Venacher on the Sunday.

Sea trout in April!!!

Last week we returned to Nirvana… the Kinchurdy beat on the Upper Spey, near Boat of Garten. This special place is for me the most beautiful and possibly underrated beat in Scotland. First and foremost it’s a sea trout beat, but the salmon fishing from mid-April to the end of July and in September is also excellent. It was fantastic to back on the beat.

I arrived at about 5pm on the Thursday. My pal had been fishing all day and although he hadn’t had a fish, several had been seen in most of the likely pools. On arrival, given that I wasn’t fishing until the Friday, my task was to get the barbeque going and open the wine. While we turned the sausages and excitedly considered the prospects of returning for our sea trout week in July, a few fish began to show off the famous Kinchurdy Stones. To my surprise and my pal Stuart’s disbelief, I was sure that the first of these fish to actually come fully out of the water, was in fact a sea trout. Now I don’t blame Stuart for his lack of confidence in my fish identifying skills. In the 25 years I’ve been fishing the beat I have never seen the sea trout arrive before mid-May at the earliest.

As the sunshine weakened and dusk approached, we commented on how we would gladly take these conditions in July. It was flat calm, about 14-16 degrees and the river was at summer level. Then, again we started to see movement, not only at the Stones but also at the tail of the huge Kinchurdy pool – the classic place for sea trout to show. I was by this time absolutely convinced and managed to persuade Stuart to give it a go on the single-handed rod for an hour at least.

Fishing a 1 inch stoat’s tail Waddington on a sink-tip, Stuart gradually covered the water at the tail of the pool, while I sat above him on the bank, wine glass in hand. After 10 minutes of expert casting (half a bottle of wine can have that effect), a spanking fresh sea trout crashed out of the water just below where he was standing. Two casts later, as the fly was slowly worked approaching the dangle, a savage take almost pulled the rod from Stuart’s hand. There was no longer any scope for dispute. The first of the sea trout were there. As is often the case with these early fish, although their intent is ferocious, their mouths are soft and the fish failed to hang on.

As the air temperature began to plummet, we knew that the window of opportunity was open only briefly. On fishing through for a second time, another pull produced another rush of adrenalin, but no prize. Soon it was agreed that the window had now closed and the best course of action was to head for the Boat Hotel and to savour the anticipation of what lies ahead of us in July.

Could it be that this very early arrival means that the fish have wintered well on a better than average supply of sand eels? Could it be that the restrictions on the sand eel harvest have produced heavier, fitter sea trout that feel ready to head for fresh water early? I suppose we’ll just have to wait a few more weeks before we find out. I for one can’t wait!

Great fishing on Carron Valley Reservoir

I had a great day on Carron Valley Reservoir on Saturday. If you’ve never fished it you should certainly give it a go.

I was accompanied by two experienced trout fishermen from Milan. When we arrived, things didn’t look too promising. The level of the water is still high and there was a strong and gusty wind blowing white horses onto the surface of the loch. Despite the temperature being around the seasonal norm of 12-14 degrees, the wind made it feel very much colder.

Although the reservoir is, by definition man-made, it is nevertheless set in a truly wild and dramatic landscape, lodged as it is between the Campsie Fells to the south and the Trossachs to the north. We decided to get the motoring out of the way and head into the wind, all the way up to the western dam wall.

Absolutely nothing was showing on the surface for the first hour or so and it looked like we were in for a dour day. But as the morning progressed, the wind started to drop and the clouds gave way to intermittent sunshine and that brought the air temperature up by a couple of degrees. Soon we started to see the swallows working and fish began to take tiny black gnats from just below the surface.

Changing over from tin-headed lure patterns fished on sink-tip and intermediate lines to small diawl bachs fished on floating lines, it wasn’t long before we started to hook up. Fishing about three or four rod lengths out from the shore, the first fish was a superb fully-finned rainbow of about 2.5lbs. We then alternated throughout the day between catching small brownies and really excellently conditioned rainbows in weights ranging from about 2-4lbs. We ended the day with an even balance of 6 brownies and 6 rainbows to the boat.

Now the competition fishers would be moaning about such a modest tally. But for us, Carron Valley provided yet again, stunning scenery, uncrowded water and steady sport. The guys that run the fishery should be commended. They run a superbly well managed operation – clean and tidy boats (with landing nets), engines that start every time, friendly and helpful service and, most importantly, a healthy population of rainbows living in perfect balance with the native population of brownies. If you’re looking for huge bags of flabby stockies and boats fishing yards apart, then go elsewhere. For all the reasons mentioned above, Carron Valley will always be my pick of the best fisheries in Central Scotland.