This fine salmon took a 'Copperass' tube fly in the Ash Tree Pool of the River Tay near Dunkeld. A few professional salmon fly fishing instructors understand just how deadly controlled salmon fly presentation is during the cold high water level of Spring so they prefer to use a spinner.

The most famous of the bigger Scottish rivers are the Tay, Spey, Dee & Tweed and this perfect fish of around 14 lbs was caught on the fly on the River Tay during July near the Perthshire town of Dunkeld. Look at the perfect deep bodied build of this perfect salmon as it lay in the landing net prior to being released.

This perfect fish was one of 3 fish landed at sunrise on the River Tay during early June on a size 9 Jock's Shrimp salmon fly pattern fished off a floating line with an added 15ft sink tip section. The Tay often produces special moments for those astute enough to know how to fish it effectively. The Tay is Scotland's most accessible salmon river and less that 90 minutes from both Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Here's a late May example of a fresh run River Tay caught Spring salmon which was captured on the Kinnaird salmon beats near Dunkeld. This is the most sought after salmon of all and it's a delight to land a fish like this on a 15ft salmon fly rod.

Here's a perfect example of God's finest marine creature the Atlantic salmon. These fish are amazingly powerful and awesome to look at once your skill levels are high enough to place one in the landing net for a close up inspection. This fine specimen was caught near Pitlochry on the River Tay by one of my salmon fishing trip guests.

If the salmon fly fisher has done his job properly then this unhooking scenario is a foregone conclusion. This was one such successful salmon capture during Summertime on the River Tay near the Perthshire village of Stanley. This professional River Tay salmon guide was unhooking this salmon which I landed at the Croys Pool on the River Tay's Pitlochrie salmon beat. Note the salmon was being held in the landing net through this unhooking process.

Hooking Salmon Effectively

By Jock Monteith 15th July 2026

There's been loads of content written on this important salmon fishing topic and from what I've personally witnessed 'most' of the normal hooking techniques will work some of the time.

As a professional ghillie a 'some of the time' success rate is not high enough so in the next few paragraphs I'll give you an insight into what personally works for me well over 90% of the time.

This was my first fish of the 2024 River Tay salmon fishing season and a fine fish too as you can clearly see here in this photograph. Look at its beautiful oceanic colours as they highlight against the dark browns of the river environment. I caught this fine at the Rock Pool on Kinnaird Water which has always been a good Spring salmon fishing area.

Working Hard For The Salmon Take

On most salmon rivers in the Northern Hemisphere every salmon fisher usually has to work smart for the chance of sub-surface co-operation as salmon tend not to usually shoal up like eager mackerel on some sort of 'feeding frenzied' suicide mission. With this in mind coupled with deploying essential consistent well spaced riverbank fly swing spacing movement & the general tactical skill required in placing your fly in front of a salmon that's willing to cooperate it is very important that you can convert these salmon fly investigations into salmon captures and not leave them as wasted hooking opportunities.

This shot was taken by professional photographer Louise Bellin on the River Tay's Meetings Pool on the Kinnaird Beat while I was serving as the Upper Kinnaird Beat Head Ghillie. My landing net is over my shoulder in anticipation of a pluck on the salmon fly which often occurs in this perfect salmon pool.

Don't React To A Salmon Immediately

The absolute key here is to allow that salmon sufficient time to turn on the fly and never to react immediately you feel the first tap from the salmon's initial contact. If you're a trout fisher you'll be pre-programmed to immediately tighten and each year in Scotland thousands of salmon hooking opportunities are squandered by anglers who lack the knowledge or composure and react too quickly. If you're new to salmon fishing and doubt your own reactive instincts repeat the mantra 'do nothing' in your head over and over again while salmon fishing to re-align your pre-programmed trout hooking habit. If you do this effectively though it may well have a negative impact on your success the next time you go trout fishing!

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.

Letting The Salmon Turn On The Fly

It's vital that you let your salmon turn on the fly but that doesn't always happen straight away and it's normal to experience 4 or 5 positive tugs on the fly before the steady draw of fly line from your reel commences. You must be patient and even when after several seconds of these tugs have lapsed you need to typically give the salmon another 6 seconds of steady consistent line draw before you need to then set the hook. The problem with these early 'do nothing' moments is that they will feel more like minutes and not seconds due to the instant adrenalin release they trigger!

Setting The Salmon Fly Hook Properly

When a salmon takes and turns on your salmon fly you are in the 'hands of the Gods' as to where the micro point of your fly's hook is positioned in the salmon's mouth. The majority of the inside of a salmon's mouth is fairly tough tissue and not soft tissue. If your hook point is sitting lightly in the tougher tissue of the salmon's mouth when it turns logic will tell you that a fair amount of hook point pressure will be required to set that hook properly. If a salmon wants to get rid of a 'half set' hook it is indeed a master at doing so and your contact with that fish is unlikely to last more than a minute.

Here's a lovely Tay Spring salmon that fell for the deadly Jock's Shrimp tube fly near the River Tummel mouth where it enters the River Tay. Fly fishing in Scotland is great fun and is highly satisfying when salmon are outsmarted. This fine salmon took the Jock's Shrimp salmon which you can see in the photograph.

Applying Salmon Fly Hook Point Pressure

When the time is right during the initial take after making sure the salmon has turned the most logical method of applying hook point pressure to the micro hold of the hook point in the salmon's mouth is to lock up your reel face by clamping it with your hand at the same time keeping the rod tip down and pointing in the direction of the fish. If you do this you will feel the weight of the salmon from its forward momentum which indicates sufficient hook point pressure to ensure a proper hook set. Please note than only a few seconds of feeling the weight of the fish is required before then releasing your grip of the reel face and only then lifting the rod to play the fish.

This perfect Summer salmon took a very lightly dressed silver stoat salmon fly fished deep with a 15ft type 6 sinking tip. Salmon lie deep in warm water so it's important you also fish your fly deep to make it easy for them to intercept. One of our salmon fishing trip guests caught this perfect Summer fish during late August on his River Spey salmon fishing holiday.

What The Salmon Fishing Books Say

The salmon fishing books range from varying degrees of advice but the main one is not to react and let the salmon turn as I've already mentioned. The books then usually go onto say 'just lift into the fish'. If you do that the soft action of a fly rod coupled with a lightly set reel drag (which you have to fish with to allow the salmon to turn) will not exert enough hook point pressure to logically set the hook properly & effectively and especially so if the hook point is positioned in the tougher tissue inside the salmon's mouth.

Here's myself with a fine Spring salmon in the landing net immediately prior to its release. A good landing net with fish friendly mesh is an essential piece of salmon fishing equipment. I caught this fine salmon at the Daffodil Lie Pool on the beautiful Kinnaird Beat of the River Tay in Highland Perthshire.

Test This Salmon Hooking Procedure

To test this 'dead cert' hooking procedure place a salmon fly hook point in the tough skin on the palm of your hand and have a colleague lift into the hook point at 25 yards with a lightly set clutch. You will indeed be jagged but certainly no more than that. Whatever you do don't ask him to clamp the reel face with the rod tip down as you walk away with the fly hook in the palm of your hand unless the receptionist at the local doctor's surgery is exceptionally hot!