This upstream shot of the River Tay was taken from the 200 year old Telford Bridge and shows a traditional River Tay salmon fishing boat out in the Cathedral Stream pool with 2 salmon fishing holiday guests. This perfect shot was taken during the month of May which is an exceptionally beautiful time of year in the Tay Valley for a salmon fishing holiday as you can clearly see here.

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.

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.

This is the neck of the famous Ash Tree Pool on the Lower Kinnaird salmon beat which has a lovely fly fishing stream that you can see where many salmon hold up during late Spring through to early Autumn each year. This side of the river is the easiest side to fish from and this salmon fishing trip guest was accompanied by his professional salmon guide.

I took this shot at the famous Ash Tree Pool of the Kinnaird Beat which is a must fish salmon pool for any salmon angler who's visiting the River Tay. This pool holds many Atlantic salmon from mid March through to mid October each year. This salmon angler was fishing the tail of the pool in this photograph.

Here's a picture of River Tay salmon guide legend Willie Laird out in the boat on the river. Willie was a career ghillie on the Tay for 50+ years before his retirement in 1986. Willie was the Head Ghillie on the Tay's Newtyle Beat near Dunkeld which is still a very popular Tay salmon fishing beat.

River Tay Brilliance

By Jock Monteith 12th January 2018

Why would anyone not want to be out on the glorious River Tay bathed in this special kind of 'God given' sunlight & immense natural scenic beauty.

Imagine the effectiveness with many human ailments if the NHS doctors had the authorisation to 'prescribe' a good natural dose of 'river therapy' instead of Big Pharma's 'toxic' poisons!

Amazing Stories From The River Tay

I'm still amused from yesterday's newsletter re-thinking my late pal's labrador swimming lesson that went seriously wrong but I can imagine many other highly amusing incidents that have occurred on the Tay over the last few centuries. Here's another thing I was told about by my late friend which wouldn't necessarily be a safe thing to be a spectator at!

The 'Craic' In Scottish Salmon Fishing

Incidents like this and my late pal's un-calculated January 'near death' swim across the Tay in an attempt to impress his 'not so loyal' labrador dogs are a big part of Scottish salmon fishing. To sit in a fishing hut anywhere in Scotland in good company with a dram in your hand and hear all this stuff and the laughter and thoughts these stories provoke is the 'craic' and a big part of our game.

The Brilliant Duke Of Atholl

Willie Laird told me that the late 3rd & 4th Dukes of Atholl were big into tree planting and planted some 25 million larch tress on the still vast Atholl Estate which in those days would have encompassed most of the entire Tay Valley. I was told that the Duke used to seed his estate landscapes with clay cannon balls that were packed with seeds which shows fantastic initiative if you really think about it.

Planting Trees In The River Tay Valley

The impact of these clay cannon balls would drive these larch seeds effectively into the ground and give great range of planting coverage depending on the charge & angle of barrel launch trajectory. The amusing part of this is that the Duke would often mount his cannon onto a traditional River Tay coble with 2 of his boatmen and travel down the Tay for miles 'letting rip' at random into the surrounding riverbank terrains!

Shattering The River Tay Ambiance

Can you imagine being a trout fisher or an unsuspecting riverbank walker and all of a sudden BOOM! as a clay cannonball whistles over your head and smacks into the ground! Absolutely brilliant and to this day in much of the Tay Valley you can see the results of the late Duke's entrepreneurial tree planting techniques! Sometimes in life we all need to think outside of the box and take the 'initiative' which is exactly how our species evolved. The same depth of thought works exceptionally well too when your objective is to make a salmon open its mouth!