Look at this for low summer water salmon pool perfection. This is the right hand bank of the River Tay on the Kinnaird Beat's March Pool. Many of our salmon fishing holiday guests catch salmon in this lovely pool each year while being looked after by our excellent salmon fishing guide team members. The best salmon lie hot spot here is in the shadow cast by the single tree on the opposite riverbank.

Here's the most perfect River Tay salmon pool where the River Tummel meets the Tay. This has always been a great area for catching salmon on a fly. Located between the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld this area is fairly easy to access from all major Scottish cities making it a must for any visiting salmon fishing trip guests. This salmon fisher was being guided by one of our salmon fishing guide team members who captured this lovely shot of the occasion.

This fish was caught at sunrise on the River Tay near the Perthshire town of Dunkeld. This salmon weighed 14lbs and took a small fly at 7am just as the sun was rising. You can see the glimmer of light on the silver flanks of this fine fish as it lay in the landing net prior to its release.

Here you can see a perfect upstream shot from the Kinnaird Meetings Pool to the mouth of the River Tummel which flows in on the right hand side of frame directly behind the boat. This area of the Tay is fantastic for fly fishing and especially during March, April & May when the Spring salmon are running the River Tay & Tummel as they always hold up in this area and are easy to cover with a fly rod.

Here's a salmon fishing guest fly fishing their way down through the Gean Tree Pool of the River Tay's Kercock salmon beat. This guest was under the supervision of a professional salmon guide resulting in 2 salmon being caught by this fisher that day even though it was a very bright July day. Look at the lovely sunlight sparkle coming off the water.

Here's a truly amazing piece of salmon water on the Kinnaird Estate near Pitlochry which is a firm favourite for visiting salmon anglers. Salmon love to sit close in to this riverbank beside the broken water riffles you can see in this photograph. Personally I seldom fail to hook a salmon while fishing through this perfect River Tay salmon pool.

Salmon Fishing Gut Feelings

By Jock Monteith 5th July 2026

While logical salmon fishing tactical thoughts are created in your head the truth of any effective tactical adjustment usually always comes from the gut.

This is the biggest 'unspoken' weapon we've ever had for 'out smarting' and detecting the presence of an astute creature that can return thousands of miles to its natal stream via only the earth's magnetic field and its highly tuned nostrils!

Look at this shimmering River Tay fly water perfection and think about what could be lying up in here and ready for a careful salmon fly presentation. This is the perfect March Pool on Scotland's famous River Tay which is one such perfect fly pool in this middle River Tay fishing area between the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld.

Use Your Gut Feelings To Detect Salmon

Take a close look at this perfect 'halfway house' River Tay salmon 'stopper' shared between the Upper Kinnaird & Lower Kinnaird salmon beats that is known as the March Pool (or Junction Pool). Gaze deeply into the perfect fly paced holding water and then try to bring your gut into play by imagining the presence of Salmo Salar. If you're properly connected to this game and study any salmon pool long enough you should start to see the entire riverbed and the suspected holding positions of salmon whether you care to admit it or not. Other highly experienced salmon fishers will understand this but just don't tell your doctor!

This Copperass pattern I designed as a hybrid of the famous Ally's Shrimp Cascade while working as a professional fishing guide on the River Tay. The only changes are a copper body with 2 strands of holographic gold tinsel tied into the wing and a lick of UV varnish on the copper body. The fur is Arctic fox which has far superior stream movement than the stiffer more rigid buck tail.

Persevere With That Salmon Fly Or Lure

Gut feelings in salmon fishing works 2 ways and the 1st is on what fly or lure to use when setting up your rod in the morning. The 2nd is that gut endorsement to stick with that proven fly or lure when salmon seem not to be cooperating based on the fact that you've seen this many times before and often only minutes before a fish shows up! There's strange things that happen on a salmon river and overthinking or willing a fish to take are guaranteed to back fire on you. Switching off all feelings of urgency but staying consistent in your approach and even letting your mind wander a little seems to without doubt be the winning formula!

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 Clearly Have Gut Feelings Too

I've watched the Scottish rivers and studied the behavioural patterns of salmon long enough to make me think that we're the ones that are not fully tuned in compared to our silver colleagues. A salmon knows in advance when its ready to run a river and even the slightest smell of fresh water (& well before any water gauge reading starts to budge) that fish will be on red alert or already on the move. Salmon can also detect exactly when your mind has 'drifted' and if you study the salmon takes you receive throughout the fishing season you'll notice that the vast majority of them are 'mysteriously' timed to perfection!

Here's a team of visiting Arabian guests who came up from London for a day of river therapy on Scotland's famous River Tay. This lovely group shot of them sitting in my traditional salmon fishing boat was taken at the mouth of the River Tummel which is a great fishing area close to the Perthshire town of Pitlochry.

Drop All Signs Of Salmon Fishing Eagerness

As a former River Tay boatman I used to completely cringe when any fishing guests starting mouthing careless words like 'come on fish' from the boat knowing fine well that they'd likely just 'death sentenced' the entire fishing day effort. I don't recall a salmon being caught on any day I ever heard these words used which clearly were a huge 'siren' of over eagerness on the angler's behalf that should have been kept well hidden from a salmon's ESP and kept under a kevlar wrap in the back of their mind! If you spend enough time on a salmon river pursuing these special creatures you'll realise what I've just mentioned is overly accurate information!!

I took this photograph of this salmon fisher on the River Tay while serving as his salmon fishing guide. The former legendary Kinnaird Beat ghillie Bob Grant always described the Guay Pool as his favourite and most productive salmon pool. Having personally steered many fishing guests to salmon in this lovely pool I can only agree with Bob's evaluation. Nothing has changed in recent years as the Guay Pool is still the most productive Lower Kinnaird Beat salmon pool.

Think About Your Water Coverage More Than The Salmon

The key to successful salmon fishing is firstly knowing exactly how to optimise your salmon fly or lure water coverage via thoughtful riverbank cast spacings. Notice I didn't say launching a 40+ yard cast out across the river as that has little to do with catching a salmon so let your 'real' fishing thoughts click into gear the split second your 'controlled' fly or lure enters the surface of the river. The other key point I'm trying to make here is to stay under the radar once you're fishing well and disengage all thoughts of landing a salmon and instead just periodically self check your 'riverbank movement' form and stick with it. You'll be amazed if you focus on quality water coverage and drop (or keep hidden) any over eager thoughts about landing fish how salmon will all of a sudden become more attracted to you!