Fishing Report w/c 16th September
Last week was very tricky for anglers as 2 days of a surprise summer arrived midweek with bright sunshine and temperatures getting up to the mis 20’s so the fish were keeping an extremely low profile. Towards the end of the week cooler weather came and I am hearing back from chats with ghillies and anglers that the fish are in the pools and even leaping out of the water, but not keen to take the fly! This coming week the river will get freshened up as I can see a few days rain in the forecast, and it is the last full week above Aboyne bridge ,so let’s hope they get a few fish to their rods.
News from the river
I can see from FishPal that there were over 60 salmon and 17 sea trout to the Dee rods this week from Altries beat on the lower river right up to Crathie beat at the top end of the Dee.
Most of the fish we are catching now are coloured and we are seeing some on the larger side, with a 17lber from Park beat on Monday, a 14lber from Crathes Castle on Saturday and a 20lber from Carlogie on the Ballogie estate this week.
Just a couple of beats have given me information for the report this week, Brian Brogan at Cairnton & Middle Blackhall mentioned that they did have 3 coloured grilse for the week, all around the 5lb mark with small Ally’s shrimps doing the trick - a few fish lost also. Water heights on their beat were 1’ on Monday with a gradual drop each day finishing at just 4” on Saturday. Water temperatures were low to mid 50’s Fahrenheit.
Further up the river at Craigendinnie, Allan Hawkins started the week with an impressive 16lb fish from the Middle Fontie on a size 12 yellow and black fly. I hear that initially the fish came in quietly, but as so often happens when it reached shallower water decided to go for a run or 2 or 3 ……so Allan did well to hold the rod and juggle his phone to call ghillie Stewart Cumming!
Over at Aboyne Castle, visiting rod Rob Gearing landed a 10lb fish from Tanar Mouth on a Collie Dog on Tuesday.
As I am drafting this report Birse have got off to a good start for this week with 6 on the counter already!
The river Dee team were out on foot and in canoes for the first piscivorous bird count of autumn last Tuesday. We are still awaiting confirmation on some counts from the upper catchment, but the current figure is broadly around average expected for this time of year.
We are running an autumn photo competition , please share your river-themed photographs with us in e mail or on our Facebook or Instagram media posts about the competition by 5pm on September 30th. We will choose our favourite shortly after, and the winner will appear on our website and social media banners. Entries should Include the river Dee or one of its tributaries and be in landscape shape format.
Many of you will know the team from Twin Peakes Fly Fishing who won the category for “Best adventure or outdoor experience” in the Aberdeen City & Shire Tourism awards last Friday evening, very well done to all of their team and good luck in the national final!
If you have not had chance to see our latest Save the Spring update then it is now on the website, scroll down to the Monthly updates section - https://riverdee.org.uk/save-the-spring/
I am looking forward to the Come & Try Day at Banchory this Friday, this is now fully booked, it looks like we might get a rain shower in the afternoon but overall, I am sure it will be a good day.
If you have any fishing stories, then drop me a note at debbie@riverdee.org
Have a good week.