Here's another fine heavyweight salmon of 24lbs which was caught from the boat on the Dunkeld House salmon beat. Salmon of this caliber are always present in the Tay during the early months of the year for those astute enough to realise that. Catching one of these is a dream come true for most salmon fishers. Note the fine 'fish friendly' mesh landing net & padded landing mat to protect the salmon during the unhooking stage prior to release.

Here's one of my hard working trusted River Tay boat fishing lures which has performed numerous times over the years as you can see by its battered external condition. This is the pearly pink 4 inch Tomic Classic lure from Canada which is the only River Tay 'harling' lure required from January to the end of April each year. As a professional River Tay boatman having trusted effective lures like this are vital for success.

Here's a brace of these special larch & oak built River Tay salmon fishing boats. These boats are known as the 'Tay coble' and are fantastic for assisting guests to catch salmon. These have numerous fishing applications such as harling, trolling, anchored up fishing which can often provide a salmon fishing advantage. You can see the long rope and anchor in addition to the blue padded comfortable boat seats.

Here's Jock Monteith photographed with his black labrador dog 'Selkie' in the Cottar Pool of the Newtyle Beat during late Spring. This shot was taken by professional Scottish photographer Peter Sandground while Jock was in his tweed jacket and traditional River Tay salmon fishing boat near Dunkeld. You can almost make out the bluebells on the grassy slopes in the background.

Here's a perfectly coloured traditional River Tay cobble salmon boat blending in with the riverbank stones slightly upstream of the River Tummel/Tay confluence. This is the tail of the Rock Pool which lies between the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld. The riverbank trees in the shot are primarily oak trees.

There's something magical about fishing the Cathedral Stream on the Dunkeld House Beat of the River Tay. Maybe it's something to do with the old ley lines that run through this location. This natural energy can be felt by anglers and salmon! I took this shot of the salmon beat head ghillie in his boat while serving as the accompanying guest's salmon fishing guide. I took this upstream shot from the mid section of the 200 year old Telford Bridge at Dunkeld.

A Perfect River Tay Springer

By Jock Monteith 27th January 2018

This salmon was the inevitable end result of a talented River Tay ghillie being 'set loose' on a river that's coming into good fishing order.

I've seen salmon caught on all water conditions however some far less than others. l'll now give you a bit of insight into the capture of yesterday's perfect fish.

Dunkeld House Beat Investment Plans

Up until then this beat was only leased with no huge outlay of finance like this to account for. Part of the investment is for the construction of a brand new fully serviced 'state of the art' salmon fishing hut at the tranquil top end of the beat. In addition to this 2 brand new traditional Tay coble boats have been ordered from John Ferguson at Stanley (which will only ever be varnished) plus 3 brand new Yamaha 4 stroke engines.

Dunkeld House Beat Fishing Prospects

With the recent flood water now behind us the prospects for this middle River Tay salmon beat are truly excellent and although a higher ticket price which I'll get into in a minute this beat is massive value for money if you're equating it to your actual chances of catching a Spring salmon like this one. Personally I'd rather pay £50 or £60 to be in with a real chance of a Springer in the early months of the season than £30 to have the slimmest of chances. The Dunkeld House beat prices for 2018 were set with careful consideration for the recent £575,000 investment which was made to purchase this prime middle Tay salmon beat from the Hilton Group last November.

There's much skill and understanding involved in catching a Scottish salmon on a spinning rod and make no mistake about that fact. This visiting American salmon fisher was learning these spin fishing skills near Dunkeld on the River Tay during the low water of Summertime while under my supervision as his salmon guide.

Salmon Fishing Timing

Although yesterday saw the water levels on Dunkeld House still nowhere near perfect with much high water debris in the river the conditions were good enough for Gordon to be out yet again systematically covering all the likely high water Spring salmon holding areas. All dedicated River Tay ghillies will be 'naturally' keen for their first salmon each year if they're conscientious about the reputation of their salmon beat or are remotely competitive. The indicator of a keen professional ghillie is not necessarily whether salmon have been caught but whether they have been out trying or not. At Dunkeld House a 'daily & thorough' attempt has been made since the 15th and the above is the well deserved end result of that consistent effort. With water conditions now favourable I've no doubt you'll be seeing much more of the above in the coming weeks on the Dunkeld House beat.

Here's a fine Winter shot of a downstream view of the River Tay taken by the River Tay boatman at Dunkeld. Note the historic 200 year old Telford Bridge in the distance which is one of the Tay's most famous sandstone bridges. This shot was taken during late January after some local snow fall.

River Tay Spring Salmon Holding Beat

The Dunkeld House salmon beat is one of the very best bets for an early Spring salmon on the entire River Tay which is simply due to this beat having its lower half structured with deep wide slow moving pool formations which slows up the current and encourages salmon to hold. When the Tay is running high it turns most middle Tay beats into a torrent but not on Dunkeld House. In addition to the brilliance of the holding water on lower half of this salmon beat the upper half of the beat has perfect salmon fly water which has now for the first time been sanctioned as 'fly only' which already has been well received by many discerning River Tay salmon fishers.

Why Book Through Salmon Fish Scotland

I'm a true time served professional Scottish salmon fishing guide who has built a solid reputation in all areas of the Scottish salmon fishing industry who has unrivalled 'hands on' agent experience of this fine pursuit and I'm available 24/7 on 0131 618 7058 to offer an in depth insight into any aspect of Scottish salmon fishing.