This Steps Pool on the Newtyle Beat is a productive salmon holding pool on the River Tay many salmon hold up here due to the series of giant riverbed stones that span right across the Tay in this pool hence the pool's name. The salmon fisher you see is fishing this easy side of the pool where the riverbed is gently tapered and therefore easy to wade through.

Here's a salmon fishing guest fly fishing their way down through the Gean Tree Pool of the River Tay's Kercock salmon beat. This guest was under the supervision of a professional salmon guide resulting in 2 salmon being caught by this fisher that day even though it was a very bright July day. Look at the lovely sunlight sparkle coming off the water.

I took this shot of a salmon fishing trip guest on the River Tay slightly north of Dunkeld. This pool tail is a great salmon lie for running fish to stop and are often caught here. On the opposite riverbank where you see the bigger tree there's a deep water channel and that is exactly where salmon can often be located.

This perfect Newtyle salmon pool is known as 'The Boil' due to a huge riverbed stone that's positioned in the middle of the river opposite this salmon fisher which creates a huge boiling effect on the river surface. You can see Birnam Hill in the distance.

The dark glassy water shown here at the tail of the Trap Pool on the Tay's Newtyle Beat is one of those hot spots where salmon love to stop after powering up through the faster water below. This pool and the downstream Cottar Pool are a delight to fly fish through with always a real chance of some salmon action. I took this shot while working as a salmon fishing guide on this lovely River Tay salmon beat.

Look at this shape of a salmon for total marine predator hunting finesse. This is a River Tay Spring salmon which was caught by myself while working as a River Tay salmon fishing guide near Dalguise in the Tay Valley. These are the most prized salmon of all to target and thousands of salmon fishers come to the Scottish rivers each Spring for a chance of one.

Covering A Salmon Pool

By Jock Monteith 23rd March 2026

On the big Scottish salmon rivers like the Tay don't waste your day trying to force a salmon you've seen to take your fly as normally if a take is going to occur it will happen fairly quickly and soon after a salmon sees your fly for the 1st or 2nd time.

Effective salmon water coverage plays a big part of success in this wonderful pursuit and good spacings between each swing of your fly will get you closer to a fish that is willing to cooperate.

The River Tay's Newtyle Beat has many good salmon fishing pools that can be fished with a fly or a spinner. This fly fishing angler is just approaching one such hotspot at the tail of The Trap Pool. I took this shot while working as a salmon fishing guide for this salmon fisher. This fine photograph was taken during August when many fish are present in this lovely Tay salmon pool.

Do Not Overfish A Salmon Pool

If you sit over salmon that are clearly not going to be caught like many salmon fishers do you're only training salmon to accept your fly's presence instead of searching effectively for the one that is in the right frame of mind to have a go! On a personal basis I'll move a minimum of 3 feet between every cast when fly fishing and I'll put this riverbank movement in as either the fly hits the water if I'm throwing a mend or as I'm hand lining in prior to recasting if a mend is not required.

I took this shot of a salmon fly fishing angler at the Croys Pool of the Kercock salmon beat which is one of many middle River Tay hot spots. This middle area of the Tay is good for salmon fishing from March through to October and the Tay can be fished with the fly or with a spinning lure. This lovely gravel riverbank is easy to fish from unlike the far tree clad riverbank.

Salmon Fly Fishing Instruction

If you think about water coverage properly and how it obviously will increase your chances of placing your fly in front of a taking fish over the full course of the fishing day then you'll appreciate the sense in understanding this important salmon fishing factor. Being a 'heron' on the riverbank will very rarely work and it will also diminish the salmon fishing day for other paying guests on the beat. Increase your chance of catching a salmon and stay on the move throughout your fishing day is my professional salmon fishing guide advice and engage logic in that the more water you cover properly the better the chance of hooking a fish.

I took this picture of this beautiful perfectly shaped River Tay Spring salmon is probably my most favourite one of all time even though I've photographed thousands of salmon over my professional salmon guide career. This perfect River Tay Spring salmon I caught during the month of May near Dunkeld.

When A Salmon Takes Your Fly

In most cases a salmon will take your fly when your mind is dwelling on a far distant subject from the 'task in hand'. With that in mind I've always wondered if salmon can sense eagerness from anglers and it wouldn't surprise me if they could as any creature that can scent its way home from its Greenland feeding grounds is certainly far more astute than we often give them credit for. Enjoy your casting and riverbank movement and become a water coverage machine. If you do then sooner or later you will no doubt be rewarded by our Salmon God.

This Ally's Shrimp salmon fly hybrid with it's green pearlescent body is an absolute salmon magnet during duller salmon fishing days and especially if tied with Artic fox fur in the tail & wing as you see here. On an overcast day this fly has serious presence in the stream and often cannot be ignored by salmon.

The Unexpected Salmon Fly

Salmon that have seen too much of a fly or lure will more than likely have switched their predatory inquisitiveness button to 'off' mode. A properly spaced fly or lure will stand a better chance of the desired reaction as a salmon won't get time to think if all of a sudden the fly is right in its strike zone. I would say from my own personal experiences in this game that less is definitely more for forcing stubborn salmon to take. Again all of these pointers comes down to sub surface thinking and not switching your mind off as your fly lands after recasting like so many salmon anglers currently do. Become your fly or lure and give serious thought to how salmon may be seeing things.

Settle In To The Salmon River Environment

I cannot explain how a salmon's radar exactly works however I am 100% convinced they can sense eagerness from salmon fishers. Having spent many years as a boatman on the River Tay the vast majority of salmon takes occurred when my mind was completely off the true task in hand. That doesn't mean that I'd not be in perfect 'auto pilot' water coverage mode with a fly rod or when working harling lures from the boat. The words 'come on fish' from a fishing guest would completely sink my expectations of success that day. With the above in mind try to chill out on the river and focus only on your water coverage presentation and don't allow frustration or eagerness to occupy your thoughts. Salmon definitely operate on a different frequency to us and carbon fibre has always been a great radio wave transmitter!