Here's a fresh run Summer salmon displaying red running marks on its belly. These marks are due to the salmon powering up over shallow gravel during periods of low water which are common in Scotland in Summertime. Salmon fishing guides and experienced salmon fishers know that salmon tend to move through the hours of darkness during the low water Summer months of June, July & August.

When you hook a salmon it's important to know how to play the fish properly to gain control of proceedings. This perfect Spring salmon was caught on the middle area of the Tay during early June and is typical of the quality of fish found in the Scottish rivers at that time. The fly in this salmon's mouth is the deadly Jock's Shrimp salmon fly pattern.

Here's professional River Dee salmon guide John Fyfe holding 1 or 3 salmon that he landed on the River Tay near Dunkeld during the month of August. I personally guided him this day to eliminate him guessing where the salmon were holding and his professional salmon fishing presentation expertise did the rest. This Summer salmon was landed at the Green Bank Pool on the Kinnaird beat and you can see the Tay salmon boat in the background.

Here's Scottish salmon guide Jock Monteith showing a group of Canadian salmon fishing holiday guests how best to tie on a salmon fly. Much salmon fishing technical information is delivered to the fishing guests on a guided salmon fishing day including Spey casting lessons, how to move effectively between each cast and how to set the hook when a salmon takes the fly.

Look at this perfect Spring salmon lying on the rubber mat on the floor boards of this River Tay salmon boat. This fine salmon is lying in the landing net after being hooked and landed by one of our salmon fishing holiday guests before the fish was released back to the Tay.

Salmon Catch Statistics

By Jock Monteith 5th December 2017

Let's consider for a moment a few of the other relative factors that seems to have developed into such a 'hot topic' in Scottish salmon fishing in recent decades.

The entire 'catch statistics' theme has certainly become the 'thorn in the bottom' of something as glorious and naturally unpredictable as Scottish salmon fishing.

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.

The Beauty Of The Scottish Rivers

If you're a salmon fishing agent who lacks flair with nothing more than an interest in a small commision for taking an order online because an estate hasn't had the inclination to sell it's own online rod availability then I can partially understand this selling concept. To my mind it just seems very thoughtless to base any beautuiful Scottish salmon river's main selling point on a digit which is not created by consistent or equal fishing pressure.

The huge hydro dam in Pitlochry was constructed in the 30's and is a colossal environmental disaster for the River Tay catchment as are all such hydro production schemes. You can see the concrete barrier which stops the entire river from replenishing the natural salmon spawning beds during high water conditions. While electricity production is important we should not be sacrificing our environment and the creatures that depend on it.

There Are No Salmon Fishing Guarantees

With this thoughtless marketing approach comes a 'trap' which can cripple an estate's salmon fishing permit rod sales through naturally ocurring low salmon stock periods and nor have I ever been contractually assured that a salmon would be guaranteed to cooperate in over 40 years of pursuing them. I've also seen pools absolutely stuffed with hundreds of salmon with none of them prepared to take a salmon fly regardless of how well the fly is presented so why are these fish not considered.

This tranquil riverbank shot was captured during late June at the Green Bank Pool of the Upper Kinnaird salmon beat on the River Tay which is one of the most beautifully scenic salmon beats on this famous Scottish salmon river. Look at the lovely alder trees on the far riverbank

Investment For Scottish Rivers

If we can invest billions annually in high tech weaponary to kill then surely we can invest a little in the effective stock management of God's finest aquatic creation that is so important to Scotland and other nations of the northern hemisphere. Whether our tinkereing with the planet through emissions or deliberate geoengineering is to blame for climate change or whether we are entering a natural global re-occuring pole shift era wouldn't it be worthwhile to know our exact wild Atlantic salmon stock position via hard factual fish counter evidence for effective stock management. purposes.

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.

Salmon River Fish Counters

If the fishing management in Scotland want to ever get a true grip of the Scottish salmon stock position they need to invest in the latest high tech fish counting equipment for the 'main stem' rivers of Scotland and stop fiddling about with the tributaries. I can hear the excuses already but come on boys & girls isn't this the most logical approach to find a salmon river's true stock position (if you really must know) rather than allowing a heavily flawed 'catch statistics' concept based on individual angler's fishing ability (or attendance records) to lead the way.

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.

The Value Of A Salmon

When salmon stock numbers are running low there's more of a challenge and as we are mainly operating a sensible 'catch & release' code these days so anglers are not fishing for food like was previously the case. De Beers don't flood the market with diamonds but instead release these tiny stones slowly from their vast stockpiles. If they didn't do this the value would fall out of these little pieces of carbon. How could anyone with half an eye for natural beauty compare the natural 'live' magnificence of a fresh run Scottish salmon to a little sparkly stone let alone compare it to the adrenalin release involved in catching that salmon.

Here's a lovely fly caught salmon by one of our guided fishing guests which was caught on the River Tummel neat Ballinluig in July. This fishing area of the Tummel is close to Dunkeld & Pitlochry. You can see the salmon is being perfectly supported by this salmon fisher while I took the salmon capture shot as his salmon fishing guide.

Salmon Angler Skill Levels

It's not really any different on the riverbanks either as many of the salmon fishers who come to the Scottish rivers are completely 'self taught' to a varying degree of skill. The fisher who can turn up knowing how to hook a salmon confidently under any river condition are as rare as hen's teeth which is fine as salmon fishing should cater for all levels of skill and competence of salmon fisher. For goodness sake though please do not be so daft as to make 'catch statistics' a reliable factor as to whether a salmon beat is worth fishing or not as salmon will often surprise you.

This photograph of professional Scottish salmon fishing guide Jock Monteith was captured by TV producer Chris Webster outside Ferry Cottage on the Kinnaird Estate of the River Tay in Perthshire. You can see the snow clad hills and riverbanks in the background.

Top Salmon Fishery Management

At what point in this industry do we hire people who can really make a difference and who can think outside the box and who are allergic to the 'red tape' that has hindered Scottish salmon fishing for decades. Sure there are a few superstars in Scottish salmon fishing management already but the bulk of them are from what I've personally seen largely unproductive or completely stiffled with bureaucracy.