Here's a group of Canadian salmon fishers who had come to fish the River Tay learning how we tie our salmon flies onto the leader. This photo was taken near Murthly on the River Tay in Perthshire while professional salmon guide Jock Monteith was teaching these salmon fishing holiday guests the basic salmon fishing skills.

This perfectly conditioned 11lbs Spring salmon was hooked and landed by myself during May on my own designed fly line that had a 15ft type 3 sink tip added just to get the fly down a few feet. It's important to know where and how to fish your fly throughout the differing fishing seasons in Scotland based on what depth you think the salmon are holding in. This was my favourite salmon fly reel and fly rod you can see in the shot.

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 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.

Here's a shot of me teaching Angus how to Spey cast on this popular Scottish salmon fishing show at the neck of the Cottar Pool on the Tay's Newtle Beat. This was me demonstrating D Loop formation for Neen, Angus and the cameraman while I was working on Newtyle as the Head Ghillie.

Here's a group of salmon fishing holiday guests testing out their newly learned Spey casting and riverbank movement techniques on the left bank of the River Tay's Cottar Pool on the Newtyle Beat. This perfect green grassy bank makes a perfect salmon pool for teaching salmon fishing guests.

Here's Jock Monteith amidst a Spey casting lesson on the River Tay under the historic Telford Bridge demonstrating perfect D Loop loading with the single Spey cast. The traditional Spey cast is the most effective and satisfying casts. This photo was taken by local Dunkeld photographer Charlie MacDonald. Jock is wearing his Graham of Menteith tartan kilt while demonstrating Spey cast with his 15ft Monteith salmon fly rod.

Salmon Fishing Guides Scotland

By Jock Monteith 20th June 2026

There is loads more to Scottish salmon fishing than most people would care to imagine and in my opinion it's a far more diversified subject to master than golf, shooting or even driving a car.

Professional Salmon Fishing Lessons

The irony is that anyone can go out and buy fishing equipment and the salmon fishing permit to a salmon beat without ever having had a lesson on how to fish. You cannot do that with a car nor would you likely get away with it on a shoot and you'd certainly be made to hit a few targets by your stalker prior to being allowed to take a shot at a deer. On a golf course you'd make a spectacle of yourself if you kept losing your ball due to a dodgy swing but at least a salmon fly is tied on so not quite as embarrassing!

Increase Your Salmon Fishing Effectiveness

The easiest way to learn how to be effective with a salmon rod is to book a professionally guided salmon fishing day with a 'reputable' professional salmon guide. That doesn't mean a guide who's posing as a professional but what I'm referring to is a guide who can catch salmon for fun and one who has 'served his time' reading the river, is renowned for productivity and has some 'natural flair' for hosting guests. These types of professionals are fairly rare and often commercially unavailable and shy away from giving away too many trade secrets. There are however a few dedicated souls who love to assist and pass on their knowledge to others.

What To Learn In Salmon Fishing

Salmon fishing is a never ending trip of fascinating revelations that will hold your attention for life if your introduction is effective and you're suitably inspired. The things that really matter in salmon fishing are firstly having the right equipment levels and knowing how to effectively cover a salmon pool with either a fly rod or a spinning rod. You must also have a good understanding of how to set the hook which from what I've seen over the decades is the biggest 'enigma' in this entire business as still thousands of salmon hooking opportunities are needlessly lost each year on the Scottish rivers by ineffective hooking habits that may once have worked when all rivers were absolutely teaming with fish and chances were numerous so capitalising on individual salmon takes was not as important as it is today.

Book Guided Salmon Fishing

Over my professional river career I've developed some fantastic friendships with some of the most expert professional salmon men in Scotland across our big four Scottish rivers Tay, Dee, Spey & Tweed. These men are on top of their game and are true walking talking salmon fishing encyclopedias who can inspire a tactful solution for any salmon fishing scenario or question. I've also personally seen thousands of salmon anglers with one or two major flaws in their game that could easily be rectified whether it be an incorrect lift with a Spey line or a lack of ability to space each swing of their fly 'optimally' through a pool or even how to make all salmon takes count! A professional 'time served' salmon guide will instantly re-align the slightest of errors and explain the logic behind all required tweaks so these adjustments are fully & instantly understood.

The Future Of Salmon Fishing

Moving forward I see a much more informative salmon fishing approach where proper fishing skills are passed onto salmon anglers prior to or early into their salmon fishing careers. I see this knowledge being delivered in numerous new ground breaking methods with particular focus being placed on the younger generation who are sadly currently lacking from this fantastic 'natural' pursuit. I also see more ground breaking forerunners in the management of Scottish salmon fishing proving to their river fishers & other river management rivals the 'no-brainer' value of significantly bolstering their natural stock levels via wild smolt ranched stock forcing other less agile or stubborn fishery boards to get their backsides into gear and to stop poking their river management and national responsibilities with a stick!