These wild lupins are a great sight to behold during late Spring on the riverbanks of Scotland. These's so much fascinating natural beauty to be observed on the riverbanks of Scotland catching salmon is only one dimension of a day out salmon fishing. This is the neck of the Boat Pool on Glendelvine Water which is a perfect River Tay salmon fishing venue near Perth.

Here's a red circle highlighting the deep trough in the riverbed at the neck of the famous Glendelvine Beat's Boat Pool. This is exactly where the British record rod caught salmon of 64lbs was hooked and eventually landed back in 1922.

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.

Georgina Ballantine's 64 lbs salmon from the Glendelvine Beat of the Tay was caught on the 7th of October 1922. This British record salmon was finally landed in the darkness downstream of the then old iron Caputh Bridge after and epic battle that lasted over an hour. The fish was hooked in the Boat Pool neck a few hundred yards upstream of the Caputh Bridge. The old Iron Caputh Bridge was dismantled 20+ years ago and now there's a slick new modern road bridge there. If you look over the upstream side of the new bridge you can still see the stanchion foundations of the old bridge on the riverbed.

This is the British record salmon of 64lbs and was captured in 1922 on the River Tay near Murthly. There's still heavyweight salmon like this running the Tay but these huge fish are mainly late Autumn fish which don't coincide with the current River Tay salmon fishing season fishing dates. This big record salmon was caught on the 7th of October 100 years ago which is the equivalent of mid November these days for this historic run of big Tay salmon. I took this shot of the cast of the fish which is displayed in the Perth Museum.

The Tail Of The Boat Pool is where the Glendelvine Bridge spans the River Tay. There used to be an old iron railway bridge slightly upstream of this new bridge. You can still see the old submerged railway stanchions on the river bed on the upstream side of the new bridge. The dark wooden side of the river you can see in this downstream photograph is one of my favourite River Tay salmon fishing areas.

Famous Tay Salmon Pools

By Jock Monteith 13th April 2026

When it comes to famous Scottish salmon pools nothing tops the Glendelvine Beat's Boat Pool on the River Tay thanks to the late Georgina Ballantine's fine efforts on the 7th of October 1922.

Glendelvine is still however a big fish River Tay venue and make no mistake about it.

Special River Tay Salmon Beat & Ghillie

Glendelvine water is truly something else to fish and still ocassionally produces salmon in the 30lbs class due to the highly experienced and 'in the know' head ghillie Steve McIrvine who has fished this beat since boyhood. Steve's been the head ghillie there for some 25 years and if you want to study the form of a true Tay boatman and how they operate then he's definitely one of a rare breed of 'true' craftsmen operating on the Tay these days. Talk about having the nose of an otter!!

The Old Iron Glendelvine Bridge

Having personally fished the Glendelvine Beat since my early teens I recall the days when the old Iron Bridge was standing which was a real picture in itself before they replaced it with the new Caputh Bridge some 20 years ago. You can still see the riverbed bases of the old bridge stanchions if you look upstream from the new bridge and fortunately for Georgina her 'beast' after being hooked high up in the neck of the Boat Pool chose a left hand bank flight path between the first stanchion and the riverbank when rapidly exiting the pool that famous day and they were able to get back into the boat and follow it in an attempt to get some line back on the reel!

The Neck Of The Boat Pool Salmon Lie

This world famous salmon lie (circled in red) is located high up in the neck of the Boat Pool is easily missed by anglers as it's only a deep scoured riverbed pocket but a clear 'stopper' for salmon in the faster water at the neck of the pool. This river bed trough is best fished from the right hand bank as it's much closer for a controlled salmon fly when fished from the right bank. This is the sort of salmon lie where running salmon will frequently enter and leave from so the 'little and often' approach is the smartest option so as not to detract from covering other fantastic Glendelvine Beat salmon lie hot spots. If a transient 'taker' has moved into this lie it will usually always identify itself fairly quickly!

Special Glendelvine Memories

I recall some far distant but highly memorable fishing days on this glorious River Tay salmon beat including one day of 2 perfect Autumn heavyweights from underneath the wires at the Ministers Pool and landing a 17 pounder sea liced Springer in the Boat Pool on my birthday the 15th of March in the mid 90's immediately after watching an opening day trout fisher directly opposite on the Murthly bank hook what was obviously a similar sized fish which sat there giving the occasional head shake for 20 minutes before deciding 'enough was enough' and rapidly emptied his trout reel before the inevitable sound of a loud 'crack' was heard!

Keith had been trying to catch a salmon for a number of years before he was pointed to myself on the River Tay for his Sky TV Tight Lines programme. It took all of 10 minutes to put him into this fine River Tay salmon as his personal salmon fishing guide at the Boat Pool on the Glendelvine Beat. The Sky Sports cameras captured all of the footage and everyone went home happy and even the fish too which was released after this fine photo was taken. Note Keith is wearing a life jacket with his chest waders which is essential for safe wading reasons.

Recent Big Salmon From Glendelvine

The Garth Pool at the upper end of the Glendelvine Beat has produced some seriously big Spring salmon in recent years up to the 38lbs mark. Even in recent years a 34lbs scale perfect February 'clunker' of a Springer was taken on the 'harled' tube fly out of this exact same square metre salmon lie in the Garth Pool. Nothing beats time spent on an individual salmon beat to get the real variable water height taking spot picture into your head where you're leading with visual and memory driven intuition as to where the takers are likely to be found. When you've got a ghillie of big Steve McIrvine's caliber you can relax as it's only a matter of time before he makes sure your fly's on target and your reel begins to sing!