Salmon fishing Tummel & Tay

Well what a bummer of a summer. What I hear you say, the weather was as good as we had for yonks. I do not disagree but as you might note my last blog was in June this year. During that walk I was aware of pain in my right foot which was diagnosed as the dreaded plantar fasciitis. I suffered from this a few years ago and was grounded for almost 4 months. Now I am 4 months in and only started walking again but still with considerable discomfort. Basically it is a tendon which runs along the base of your foot and is linked to your Achilles tendon. With me it is constantly inflamed, painful, you hobble about most of the time and time is really the only true healer. They say it can take up to a year to fully heal. So, my summer was not as intended, blue skies, back garden, beer, weight gain but not the outdoors I expected. I did manage to cycle regularly, not long distances, as this exercise put the least strain on the foot. I also got some fishing in but again this was limited as even standing was a sore option, but you have to move on and I have tried to get back into some sort of action.
A couple of weeks ago we managed to get some salmon fishing action in beautiful Perthshire. Too many people, myself included, Perthshire is the best overall outdoor experience in Scotland.  I had fished the River Tummel before but only for brown trout & grayling, but never the Tay, so this was an experience I was looking forward to.
Day 1 took us to the River Tummel in Pitlochry, fishing the two beats below the dam which are part of the Pitlochry Angling Club waters. There were 5 of us fishing today so despite the time of the year expectations were high.

Looking upriver (Tummel) to the Pitlochry dam

Normally these waters fish well in the early part of the season but we knew that the salmon were still in the river. The price is well discounted to compensate. However, even at this late stage in the year almost 20 salmon a day were going up the fish ladder into Loch Faskally. The height of the water was lower than previous visits but within 5 minutes a salmon had shown itself, rising in the fast water just opposite my stance, a good omen I thought. On the day we fished up and down the beat, using both fly and spinning techniques. By my reckoning I saw well over a dozen salmon showing themselves but the bottom line was we caught nothing apart from catching a few spinning lures in the rocks in this lowish river. 

It was shallow but very slippy wading

As said the fish were in the river but we were not good/lucky enough to hook any that day. 

Colin instructs Paul on how to cast

We did provide entertainment for the tourists who were still out in force and a few of us will be stars in Japan as all the Nikons/Canons etc from the tour buses clicked away. If you are ever lonely stand at this river with your fishing gear on and plenty of people will talk to you. Despite, or because of the low water, the wading was challenging with very slippy rocks particularly on the Port na Craig side of the river, again this provided a few camera moments as we struggled with our footing. Also a couple of brown trout came and went just to prove they were also in the water but not to see us catch them.
Wildlife on the day saw the 1st geese of the year flying over in their V formations calling away to each other. An impressive site as always. A kingfisher flew past, a blue blur going downriver at speed. A beautiful immaculately white chested dipper was in and out of the water totally ignoring us. A grey heron and a merganser made up the birds.
The loudest noise of the day were the jet military aircraft that came past extremely low from the south, very impressive and very loud.
At the end of the day it was still enjoyable, being out on the banks of a salmon river close to the town centre, just fab.
Thankfully we had an overnight stay so after a good day on the river it was time for food and beer and the rest.
Day 2 saw us heading for the River Tay for more salmon fishing. Half an hour from our base in Pitlochry saw us just outside of Aberfeldy, fishing the Upper Farleyer beat. Again we are at the tail end of the season but when we got our permits we were informed that one had been caught just last night. This is a stretch that runs for about a mile. The water looked as if it was a reasonable height for salmon fishing, possibly a bit low, but optimism was again high at the start of the day. The one thing this beat has is one of the best fishing lodges.

Looking upriver (Tay) to fishing lodge

It is an extremely well cared for lodge, full of information inside, fishing logs going well back and even photographs of 2 of our team, Colin and Ally with salmon caught on their last visit, so despite the rumours we do not blank every trip. 
The weather was grey but not cold, a good day for fishing. When we arrived there was another bloke spinning further downriver. Strange as we had the sole rights for the day, was it a poacher? It turned out not, he was a French bloke fishing the beat downriver but had wandered into our beat, no harm done.

Tackling up outside the lodge

I decided to walk the beat to its furthest point upriver. I had never been here before so getting a recce in before fishing is no bad thing. The water beside the lodge was running fast and looked too deep to wade safely on our side of the water. However, as I walked the path the flow had eased and I could see plenty of spots for wading in relative safety. Still a wading jacket with its built in flotation unit is a must have safety item. The only downside of this stretch is the electricity pylons that split the beat in half. These are double banked monsters that disappear up the glen totally spoiling the natural beauty of the area. They are also extremely dangerous if your gear catches in them, instant death. I started fishing at the top of the beat where the Tay meets the Lyon. A really nice spot.

Colin pictured with his salmon

Shaun ever hopeful

Just as I entered the river I was greeted by the sound of geese yet again but this time they were not up in the skies, they honked as they skimmed my head, displaying their ariel skills whilst landing in the field opposite me. The river was nice fast running water, looked good and as it turns out the only place that I saw a salmon that day, apart from the pictures in the lodge. Compared to yesterday on the Tummel the salmon were not even showing themselves never mind getting hooked. As per yesterday we fished the whole beat up and down, again using fly and spinners but nothing came our way. Literally at the end of the day we had one of our safety reminders. Shaun, Ally and I had finished and were chatting away at the lodge. We heard a shout from the water but could not see anyone. Paul had waded down the river alongside the trees, just upriver of the lodge in the photo above. He found himself in deeper faster water than he liked but the power of the flow meant he could not turn and there was no obvious exit sideways. Luckily Shaun was able to jump down and acting as a lever helped Paul scramble out of the water. Paul admitted that he thought his only option was going to be letting himself go so that he was floating past us at the lodge and hoping we could get a hold of him as he went past. With the fast water in this flow this would have not been a given and would have been high risk. Paul was wearing an inflatable so he would have not gone under the water straightaway but it it was a good reminder of how dangerous wading can be. We all tried our best but yet another day without a salmon. For me it was 2 days salmon fishing in places I always wanted to fish. Yes, I would have liked to have caught a salmon, it would have been released in any case, but it is the being there, enjoying your sport in the countryside that is the true enjoyment.
Two subsequent events. When we were ready to leave, all the gear stored away, Colin roared off, I was about to go then the shouts, Shaun's battery was dead, despite our best efforts we could not get it jump started. Luckily a trip to a nearby farm saw us get some jump leads so off we went.
When we checked back in to report our lack of success we were told that 4 salmon had been caught on the beat below us today, maybe our Frenchman struck out after all!!
Time for more food, beer and a few drams.