The River Tay is a tantalisingly beautiful Scottish river as you can clearly see here. This shot shows the lovely overhanging oak tree and the perfect cut riverbanks directly outside the Kinnaird fishing hut which is positioned slightly downstream of the Logierait Bridge. I took this perfect river shot while working on Kinnaird as a salmon fishing guide and tactical salmon fishing tuition provider.

Look at this shimmering River Tay fly water perfection and think about what could be lying up in here and ready for a careful salmon fly presentation. This is the perfect March Pool on Scotland's famous River Tay which is one such perfect fly pool in this middle River Tay fishing area between the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld.

It's easily possible to go into a dream like state of mind when your immersed in the natural beauty of the River Tay's magnificent scenery like this. This shot was taken from the Green Bank Pool at Kinnaird looking downstream towards the Rock Pool and the mouth of the River Tummel beyond which is an amazing area of the Tay Valley near Dunkeld. Many salmon fishing guides host our clients in this perfect salmon fishing area.

This fine fish was caught on the River Tay in June which is located close to the Perthshire town of Dunkeld. Look at its perfect silver flanks which indicate the salmon is fresh run and has only been in the river for a few days.

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.

This perfect Spring salmon was caught by myself on the River Tay during late February after hours of searching the river for a fish. When you go salmon fishing it requires a solid logic backed fishing plan at the start of the day to catch salmon and this fish was the result of that type of detailed planning. Look at the perfect shimmer from this early Spring salmon's silver flanks lying beside my salmon fly reel & Spey rod.

Living Salmon Rivers

By Jock Monteith 19th February 2026

Have you ever arrived at a salmon river on a fishing day and the river has looked and felt completely alive.

There's no doubt about it in my mind that all salmon rivers are living creations and when you sense they are 'awake' normally their inhabitants are too.

So much nonsense is spoken about how to hook a salmon on the fly which results in the loss on thousands of Scottish salmon each year. Book a professional guide to get you into position and then show you exactly how to set the salmon fly hook effectively. This salmon in the landing net was hooked properly on the River Tay near the rivers Tay & Tummel confluence which is a great fishing area near Dunkeld in Perthshire.

Separate Your Salmon Fly From The Pack

Of course its always easier if salmon are in a state of inquisitive alertness but because they are salmon they are not always operating on optimal form! Accept the game for what it is and try to focus on different angles of approach that may well impress a fish well enough into having a go at your fly. When the going is tough be the 'non conformist' salmon angler who experiments with fly pattern, pace and depth and who's salmon fly swim movement profile is more unpredictable than a big bag of unpredictable things!

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.

Show Salmon Something Different

Learning how to force a salmon to react by adopting a sub surface 'psychological' approach will put you in the top 5% of salmon fly fishers and this will keep you enthusiastic when others have mentally given in! Sheer persistency and fishing confidence are highly effective attributes to have in your fishing bag and if developed well enough will give you the fishing power of several salmon anglers. Never allow 'negativity' to creep into your fishing approach as I'm certain salmon are highly sensitive to negative energy and will avoid your fly on every occasion!

If you're serious about your salmon fishing you'll learn how to separate each swing of the fly effectively to achieve maximised water coverage over the full course of the fishing day. This lovely shot was taken of a guided salmon fishing guest on right hand bank the River Tay Kinnaird Beat's March pool while learning how to fish for salmon..

Effective Salmon Pool Coverage

While salmon fishing conditions play a big part in getting salmon 'woken up' or moving there's nothing that beats effective & consistent water coverage as the back up plan to your fishing day when the weather & water conditions are less favourable. The key to the 'silverware' safe from what I've seen is the depth, speed and spacings of your salmon fly and how much of that you can keep going throughout the full course of the fishing day.

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.

High Pressure Salmon Fishing Days

Although many would disagree with what I'm about to say I'd take a high pressure brighter light fishing day over the low pressure dull day equivalent any day of the week. I read a fascinating book once about the effects of a rising barometer and how it pairs in a salmon's mind with food from being a juvenile in the river. That made complete sense to me but the real proof is in the photographs you see of landed salmon as there's more often than not a sparkle of sunlight somewhere in the frame.