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 perfectly timed photograph was taken by professional photographer Louise Bellin on the Kinnaird Beat of the River Tay at the famous Junction Pool which is directly where the River Tummel enters the Tay. Jock, dressed in traditional Tweeds and waders holds his fishing rod, demonstrating the perfect Spey cast required in this salmon fishing hot spot for maximum water coverage of the lovely Tay salmon pool.

Here's professional Scottish salmon guide Jock Monteith with a salmon fishing tour guest at the neck of the famous Kinnaird Beat's Ash Tree Pool. You can clearly see the beautiful Perthshire hills behind Pitlochry in the distance and Jock carrying his favourite salmon landing net over his shoulder.

This Tay 'coble' boat was hand made by famous River Tay boatbuilder John Ferguson who's based in Stanley in the Tay Valley. These traditional salmon fishing boats serve many different fishing applications and are a pleasure to be out on the Tay in one for the day. This photograph of me in the boat with my fly rod & my labrador dog 'Selkie' was taken in the Cottar Pool on the Newtyle Beat of the River Tay by professional photographer Peter Sandground.

Jock Monteith is a well known professional salmon fishing tour organiser in Scotland and leading professional salmon fishing guide. Jock is holding a perfect fresh run 14lbs Summer salmon in this shot at the Daffodil Lie Pool of the River Tay's Kinnaird Beat which he hooked after a few casts while testing out a salmon fishing trip client's new fly rod .

Salmon Fishing Guides

By Jock Monteith 7th June 2026

From what I've seen of this pursuit there's often a significant difference between a Scottish beat ghillie's role and that of a personal salmon fishing guide.

The next few paragraphs will focus in on exactly what the general roles of each are so you know what to expect and don't turn up on a busy salmon beat with an inaccurate picture of what to expect.

Professional Ghillie Advice

A beat ghillie on any Scottish salmon river will offer all kinds of salmon fishing advice to his daily guests and plan a fair salmon pool rotation for all of his fishers. Most fishing parties these days are made up from individual fisher bookings and not 1 party bookings which were normal a few decades ago prior to the internet. Throughout the course of the morning and afternoon fishing sessions a professional beat ghillie will usually be checking on all of his fishers at least a couple of times to make sure all of his guests are fishing correctly and to offer additional beat/fishing advice when necessary.

Here's myself with a few River Tay salmon fishing guests enjoying their salmon fishing break on the Pitnacree salmon beat. This upper middle Tay salmon beat has beautiful riverbank paths and woodlands like you see behind us which are easy to fish from so it makes a perfect salmon fishing holiday destination.

The Salmon Beat Ghillie's Role

It is also the professional salmon beat ghillie's duty to keep a clean and well maintained fishing hut for his guests and make sure the floor is swept every day and that the kettle is always boiled for the morning arrival of his guests and at lunchtime too. It is also his responsibility to keep the beat's riverbanks in good shape for ease of fishing purposes which can sometimes detract from the time the beat ghillie has to spend with his fishing guests as properly maintaining the riverbanks of a salmon beat requires a huge ongoing annual effort.

Here's one of our professional salmon guides about to give a riverbank talk to a party of new River Tay salmon fishing guests during the beautiful month of June on the Kinnaird Beat.

A Busy Salmon Beat Ghillie

The above daily duties of a professional ghillie does not leave much spare time each day if delivered correctly but it is important to know that a professional salmon beat ghillie normally has the responsibility to look after everyone who is fishing and that means he will usually always be busy and constantly on the move throughout the full course of the fishing day.

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.

Personal Salmon Fishing Guide Service

A personal salmon fishing guide service offers a more comprehensive service which focusses a professional salmon fishing guide's attention solely on one or more private party fishing guests. The personal guide will teach all of the salmon fishing tactical approaches from Spey casting techniques to effective riverbank movement and will stick solely with his guests for the full fishing day. Sometimes salmon beats will offer a guided service with tuition & equipment but this should never be assumed that it goes with simply purchasing a permit.

Here's professional salmon fishing guide Jock Monteith demonstrating the single Spey right hand up cast with his Graham of Menteith tartan kilt and lovat green Tweed jacket. The blue fishing hut across the river is the Newtyle Beat fishing hut near Dunkeld where Jock served as Head Ghillie for a decade. This shot was taken at the neck of the Newtyle Beat's Boil Pool.

Booking A Personal Tay Salmon Guide

A personal salmon fishing guide service provides all the appropriate salmon fishing equipment including chest waders, waterproof jackets, fully serviced life jackets and proven salmon fishing flies, lures & tactical tuition. A personal guide's skills can go a long way towards the overall success of your salmon fishing trip and should always be considered especially if you are new to salmon fishing or have new salmon fishers in your party who are in need of tuition and the correct salmon fishing equipment.

Qualifying All Salmon Fishers

If the visiting salmon fishing clients haven't been correctly qualified with a view to understanding exactly what they need and expect from their salmon fishing trip then issues can and do occur. This industry has been hindered by agents who are only interested in selling a salmon beat permit on its own without any thoughts of what the fishing guests really require through proper basic client qualification. This lack of basis client qualification has cost the industry dearly as for a newcomer to salmon fishing who has come to fish with a salmon permit and no adequate equipment or salmon fishing skills is only likely to only stay in this pursuit for a short time through a general lack of understanding and basic salmon fishing skills.

Here's a group of delighted salmon fishing guests with their salmon guides after a great day out on the River Tay near Dunkeld. The 2 lads with the red & blue skip caps are 2 of my salmon guides who were assigned to looking after this fishing party of 6 guests on the Kinnaird Beat.

Professional River Tay Salmon Fishing Guides

If you need a more comprehensive salmon fishing service then it's important you consider booking a professional salmon fishing guide rather than turning up on a salmon fishing beat with a permit thinking that the beat ghillie will be able to provide all of the assistance or proper equipment levels that you or your party requires. On the popular River Tay salmon fishing venues the beat ghillie can sometimes struggle to pay the occasional visit to his fishing guests if he is pre-booked on boat duties making that basic level of riverbank guest interaction virtually impossible.