If you're looking for a new pursuit in life here's a lovely salmon pool on the River Tay near Dunkeld. Nothing beats a salmon fishing holiday out on the salmon river pursuing that often elusive Atlantic salmon with a fly rod. This is the mouth of the River Tummel on the Kinnaird salmon beat you can see in the photograph.

This full floating Speyline fly rod outfit with an added 15ft sink tip was the perfect combination to hook this fine fresh run Spring salmon which was caught near Dunkeld on the River Tay by myself while working in May as a salmon fly fishing guide.

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.

A heart racing close up inspection with one of these fine Atlantic salmon and will remain in your memory banks for an entire lifetime. This perfect Summer salmon came to a deadly Jock's Shrimp salmon fly and was caught near to the River Tummel/Tay confluence which is located not too far away from Pitlochry in Perthshire. Note the fish friendly fine mesh of the landing net behind the salmon.

Look at this perfectly tied Jock's Shrimp salmon fly that's been tied with soft 'movement inducing' materials like Arctic fox. When a fly like this is swum in the stream these fine fibres come alive and make the fly move like a live creature therefore making them much more effective than other stiffer fly tying materials.

The quality of your salmon fly swim over the full course of the salmon fishing day ultimately decides how many salmon you are likely to catch. Riverbank movement is very important in Scottish salmon fishing and note this salmon fishing trip guest is keeping well back from the deeper and darker salmon holding water underneath the high trees on the far side of the river.

Forcing The Salmon Take

By Jock Monteith 16th July 2026

Don't be a delusional salmon fisher and think that just because you're delivering a nice fly line and spacing each swing of the fly correctly without success that there's no fish present.

Stubborn resident salmon need a degree of 'winding up' to be caught so here's my 'take' on that fact.

Here's an Autumn salmon in its dark flanked Autumn river colours. I caught this fine fish which was captured at Kinnaird on the River Tay which is between the Perthshire towns of Dunkeld & Pitlochry. Look at the small rubberised landing net mesh which is safely supporting and protecting this Autumn salmon.

See Things From A Salmon's Point Of View

Imagine for one minute that you're a salmon lying up on the cooler riverbed of a deep holding pool during the warm water Summer months. All you're seeing is a systematic 'red arrows' display of flies swinging over your head day after day at various times of the morning, afternoon & evening. How easy would it be for you to completely 'switch off' especially after the excitement of the last spate died away weeks ago as did the buzz of fresh water in your nostrils from coming home from the sea several weeks before that. It's no wonder salmon lose all interest in a fly from time to time if you really think about it.

This River Tay Autumn salmon is lying in the landing net next to my 15ft salmon fly rod and Van Staal salmon fly reel moments before the fish was released. The Tay fishes well in September & October between the towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld which is a favourite location for visiting salmon anglers each year.

How To Wake Up Dormant Salmon

When salmon are present in a pool and not cooperating the first thing you must do is to bin the excuse of blaming the weather and water conditions. Most angler's heads go down far too easily and if our species was faced with the same perils that Atlantic salmon are faced with throughout their oceanic & river lives we'd have been extinct years ago! The salmon pool approach mentality you must adopt when fish are not cooperating has to be 100% sub surface and focussed around what tactical adjustments can you make to the swim depth of your fly to swim it right into that square foot of water right in front of stubborn old resident salmon's noses.

Here's a beauty of a fresh run River Tay salmon that came to inspect my fly on the River Tay during early June while working as a professional salmon fishing guide. This bright light day assisted my camera in picking up the perfect silver flanks of this beautiful fish before it was returned back to the Tay. Look at the fine rubberised fish friendly landing net mesh from my landing net to the rear of the salmon ensuring zero scale or mucous membrane damage to the salmon before releasing it.

Atlantic Salmon Mentality & Instincts

Juvenile salmon parr are territorial and adult fish develop the same 'memory recall' mindset when back in fresh water. If an annoying foreign object that's simulating a live creature comes too close to even the most unresponsive salmon you're then giving that fish three choices. The first choice is to get away from the fly by moving off its lie, the second is to try to keep it's 'auto pilot' predatory mouth shut or the third option is for the fish to attack the fly! For you to corner a fish like that to force a decision you really need to know your salmon pool and exactly what sink tip configuration is required to place your fly right onto the nose of resident fish.

Salmon Fly Swim Depth Perception

Most anglers are completely unaware of the depth of their salmon fly and often make wrong assumptions that the fly is swimming much deeper than it really is because the sink tip packaging says 'type 6' or 'type 10' (inch per second). That entire badging system that line manufacturer's use gives the wrong impression to anglers and pertains to a 1 inch section of sink tip material being dropped in a glass of still water which obviously has zero 'jacking up' ability like the full sink tip version would have in a flowing salmon pool. If you're targeting the presentation of your fly down deep through the pool and you're not feeling the occasional tap of the riverbed then make the assumption that your fly isn't fishing deep enough and try a denser or longer sink tip with an even bigger upstream mend on delivery to give your line a better chance to sink. Occasionally tweaking the riverbed is indeed annoying but if you've got your depth perception just right the next tweak on your fly could easily not be the riverbed!

A professional salmon guide is best placed to teach you the important salmon fishing skills. Don'y waste your spare time guessing about how to fish for salmon. This angler is out fly fishing the Mike's Run Pool of the River Tummel near Pitlochry following some intensive yet highly effective salmon fly fishing tuition.

Be Honest With Your Water Coverage Assessment

If you've fished hard but still blanked come the end of the fishing day be honest with your own assessment of the quality of your fishing effort. If you've worked out exactly where salmon are holding whether high, mid or deep in the water column and swim your fly through these zones consistently then you'll still feel a sense of satisfaction after leaving the river. If however there's a blank thought that comes to mind at the end of the day as to where you were targeting your fly in the water column then you need to start thinking deeper about this often unspoken yet essential side of our game. Too many anglers fish a pool with zero consideration or knowledge as to exactly where their fly is performing so naturally it's always going to be a big hit or a miss as to whether or not a salmon will take their fly. Get your salmon annoyance levels up via astute & effective 'sub surface' water column planning and 'feel' the difference!