This upstream shot of the River Tay was taken from the 200 year old Telford Bridge and shows a traditional River Tay salmon fishing boat out in the Cathedral Stream pool with 2 salmon fishing holiday guests. This perfect shot was taken during the month of May which is an exceptionally beautiful time of year in the Tay Valley for a salmon fishing holiday as you can clearly see here.

Here's professional salmon fishing guide Steve McIrvine holding a perfect heavyweight Spring salmon of 35lbs which he caught during the month of February when he was the Head Ghillie on the Glendelvine Beat of the River Tay near the Perthshire village of Murthly. Steve is now one of the Ballathie Beat professional ghillies near Stanley.

This former Tay Valley Duke of Atholl hunting lodge is now a beautiful salmon fishing hotel which is positioned only a few yards away from the River Tay near Dunkeld. This is the lovely river facing side entrance to the hotel which is only 70 yards from the river edge.

Here's Jock Monteith powering upstream in a traditional larch built River Tay salmon fishing 'coble' boat at the confluence of the River Tay & River Tummel during the month of May. Jock has his cold weather clothing on and Tweed cap in addition to his life jacket which is essential for all boat or riverbank duties.

I caught this superb 42inch Tay salmon which took a size 9 salmon fly in the Cottar Pool on the River Tay's Newtyle Beat during October. What an amazing battle this fish put up before I could steer it to the landing net. Book a professional River Tay salmon fishing guide to assist you to connect with specimen River Tay salmon like this.

Here's professional Scottish salmon guide Jock Monteith with a salmon fishing tour guest at the neck of the famous Kinnaird Beat's Ash Tree Pool. You can clearly see the beautiful Perthshire hills behind Pitlochry in the distance and Jock carrying his favourite salmon landing net over his shoulder.

River Tay Salmon Fishing

By Jock Monteith 13th December 2018

The River Tay is one of Scotland's finest salmon rivers and is fortunate to benefit from an extensive salmon fishing season that runs from the 15th of January to the 15th of October each year.

The Tay is known as a big fish river and often produces huge specimens and in recent years salmon up to 45lbs have been landed.

This was one of 2 perfect Autumn salmon caught by 2 salmon fishing trip guests who drove from Switzerland all the way to Scotland to fish the River Tay. This was their first salmon which was caught on a fly and their 2nd fish was caught on a spinner.

Big River Tay Autumn Salmon

The River Tay Autumn run also brings big salmon back into the river and it was during the month of October that the 45lbs salmon I mentioned above was landed a few seasons ago on the Kercock Beat of the Tay close to the village of Murthly. The British rod caught record salmon of 64lbs which was also caught on the Tay in the same area was another October fish and both of these heavyweight were enormous male or 'cock' salmon. This year 2 heavyweight cock salmon of approx 30 pounds in weight were caught during late September and mid October on the Dunkeld House beat of the Tay which is another great holding beat for salmon in the higher water levels of early Spring and late Autumn. Make no mistake about the fact that there's many 20lbs plus Autumn salmon present in the Tay each year with the occasional real 'monster' lying in amongst them!

River Tay Fishing Accommodation

The Tay Valley has great choices for quality accommodation with the hubs of Perth, Stanley, Dunkeld & Pitlochry that offer quality hotel options. In the early Spring there's a run of big multi sea winter Spring salmon that heads up to loch Tay and if you are tactful enough with the correct early Spring salmon fishing mind set and can intercept one of these heavyweights you'll certainly never forget the experience. This run of heavyweight Tay salmon are present from February each year even though most Tay salmon anglers are still completely unaware of this fact. This February saw the capture of a 34 lbs fish on the Glendelvine beat as testimony to what I've just stated about this run of big Tay Spring salmon.

This perfect Summer salmon was hooked at the tail of the Ash Tree Pool on Kinnaird and landed by myself as the salmon guide a few hundred yards down stream at the New Pool. This was a hard running Summer salmon that paused briefly at the tail of the pool just as this salmon fishing trip client was presenting his fly there. This area of the River Tay is very close to the Perthshire village of Dalguise.

River Tay Salmon Runs

From mid March the River Tummel salmon appear which adds to the main Spring run which builds right through until the end of May. Sometimes depending on water levels and temperatures the Spring run can roll over into June so don't right off the first 2 weeks of June on colder than normal Spring years. The Summer months are a great time of the year for fishing as all the salmon pool formations and attractive River Tay streams take their shape in the lower water conditions that June, July & August usually bring. The salmon lies that would be targeted in the high water of Spring are usually the opposite areas of the same Tay pools you'd be looking for Summer salmon in so a good understanding of the type of water that suits high water Spring salmon and low water Summer salmon is important for success on the Tay and all other Scottish salmon rivers.

The River Tay Catchment

Due to the sheer loch fed size of the River Tay catchment salmon can & do enter the river off every tide as there's always sufficient water for fish to run the Tay. This feature of the Tay makes it a safe bet for a fishing trip when some of the shallower smaller Scottish rivers can struggle in low water conditions and especially through the Summer months. In addition to this fact that the Tay is the biggest Scottish salmon river its valley is positioned in central Scotland within easy commuting range from the major hubs of Glasgow & Edinburgh which make it a very accessible Scottish salmon fishing destination for a huge portion of the Scottish population.

This young salmon fly fisherman caught this Autumn run salmon at the Willie's Croy salmon Pool at the bottom end of the Newtyle Beat near Dunkeld while I was his personal salmon fishing guide. This was this young Austrian salmon fisher's first ever salmon which he caught all by himself with a perfect Spey casting technique which he picked up very quickly. Note he is wearing a life jacket and safety glasses which are essential fly fishing safety equipment items.

River Tay Autumn Salmon Fishing

When the Autumn months come so does the big Autumn run of salmon and although these fish can be caught anywhere in the system the lower Tay beats in and around the village of Stanley usually benefit from the biggest build up of fish. These days this head of Autumn salmon has been showing up during late September & early October due to lower than normal late Summer rainfall levels which has to be expected as salmon are tuned only into water conditions and not our diaries which are often out of sync with Mother Nature. If good water levels are present during late August or early September a large portion of the Autumn Tay salmon run can be found up in the middle Tay area too in the fine salmon beats around the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry and Dunkeld.

River Tay Salmon Fishing Guides

If you're new to Scottish salmon fishing and want to learn the various different tactical approaches for success in River Tay salmon fishing it is always wise to consider booking a River Tay salmon guide to give you the best chance of success. Our professional salmon guides are all of time served 'Head Ghillie' career status so you'll have access to specialist salmon fishing information from decades of daily riverbank experience. Learning the best and most productive tactical spin fishing & fly fishing approaches and how best to maximise your daily water coverage on Scotland's largest salmon river is always going to be advantageous. Follow this link to book a River Tay salmon fishing guide.