Salmon Fishing Guides
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.