Here's a beauty of a fresh run River Tay salmon that came to inspect my fly on the River Tay during early June while working as a professional salmon fishing guide. This bright light day assisted my camera in picking up the perfect silver flanks of this beautiful fish before it was returned back to the Tay. Look at the fine rubberised fish friendly landing net mesh from my landing net to the rear of the salmon ensuring zero scale or mucous membrane damage to the salmon before releasing it.

Here's a shot from 2004 of the late Peter Anderson with myself in front of the Newtyle Beat fishing hut on the River Tay near Dunkeld. Peter was a colossal figure within Scottish salmon fishing and possessed exceptional skills with a fly or spinning rod which really had to be seen to be believed! You can see the Newtyle Beat jetty casting platform behind Peter.

Here's a beautiful May shot showing a lone angler out on the River Tay near Dunkeld in search of a prized Scottish Spring salmon. The shadow of the trees on the far bank is a great salmon lie for fish that have powered up through the fast water immediately downstream.

Here's the double handede salmon Spey rod being held out and high across the fast stream at the Guay Pool on the Lower Kinnaird Beat of the River Tay near Dunkeld. This method is how you control your salmon fly at long range which is a rare skill seldom understood by the majority of new salmon fishers. A professional salmon fishing guide will teach these vital fly fishing skills.

Here is a traditional River Tay harling boat moored on the lovely sandbank at the Kinnaird Beat Rock Pool. The 2 salmon anglers on the right hand side of the river with their professional guide had just landed their 2nd salmon when I took this perfect shot. This fishing area of the Tay is between Pitlochry & Dunkeld where the River Tummel greets the Tay and is a renowned hot spot. The deep water to the right hand side of the boat is a serious salmon holding pool that our salmon guides love to take salmon fishing guests to.

I took this shot of this salmon fishing guest spinning through the Green Bank pool on the River Tay near Pitlochry. You can see from the bare trees this shot was taken during early Spring. The spinner offers a salmon fisher the ability to cover much more water on a big river than what could realistically be achieved with a fly rod. This significantly increases the chance of a salmon take on big rivers like the River Tay in Perthshire but only if good riverbank cast spacings are added to the tactical spin approach.

Salmon Fishing PR

By Jock Monteith 20th November 2018

It personally amazes me how everyone continues to evaluate a salmon river by the amount of salmon that were caught with zero consideration as to the fishing pressure or more importantly the quality of the fishing effort.

For decades I've watched salmon anglers on numerous occasions turn up on pools that were loaded with salmon and make an absolute mess of it.

Salmon Fishing Logic

We have an industry that defies logic in many areas out with that number one point listed above. You wouldn't be allowed to drive on a road without a driving licence or at least under professional supervision nor would you be allowed to take a shot at a stag without first proving to your stalker that you can hit a target consistently. Loch Ness has been selling huge amounts of visitor tickets for decades based on what most likely is an illusionary monster (sorry Nessie!) and there's no way Scottish salmon fishing is anywhere close to that stage nor will ever be regardless of the clear & obvious lack of 'effective' in-river & oceanic protection and management.

Look In The Salmon Fishing Mirror

Why then are many salmon anglers allowed turn up on a riverbank without as much as an interest in acquiring solid 'logic based' salmon fishing skills and continue to flounder away blowing great chances to catch salmon. On top of this career based observation these are usually the first people to grumble if they haven't managed to catch a salmon and jump on blaming the river or the often 'illusionary' diminishing salmon runs as the reason why they continually fail.

The action of your Spey rod is best optimised via proper line loading and if done correctly is virtually effortless like what you see here in this photograph. This salmon fishing trip guest is out on the River Tay practicing his Spey cast power stroke forward delivery near the Perthshire town of Pitlochry.

Learn Effective Salmon Fishing Skills

As a professional ghillie I've personally seen it all and I've even witnessed salmon anglers turning up on the riverbank with their fly lines loaded onto their fly reels the wrong way around! What chance has a salmon fisher really got of catching a creature that's not been contaminated by modern day society 'sheep herding' & general 'mind control' techniques and that still has its wild and natural 'escape & evasion' instincts fully intact.

Salmon Fishing River Greetings

The other nonsense that goes on is the self destroying negativity from the press or even a few ghillies who can completely bludgeon any positivity an arriving salmon fisher has by bombarding them with their repetitive verbal vomit as to how bad the salmon runs have become. Last year was a totally horrific year for low water conditions which salmon have never respond well to nor have done since the dawn of time! When the water did finally arrive so mysteriously did the salmon so what a coincidence!

Positivity Catches Salmon

Why would any paying guest wish to arrive on their day off at any salmon beat to be immediately advised that there's little or no chance of a fish. Imagine turning up at Tesco and being stopped at the front door by the manager and told there was no food on the shelves! Get a grip ghillies if you fall into that category as there's no place for that in this industry and there never will be. Personally I'm convinced that salmon respond well to and can sense positivity and why wouldn't they when there's a 15ft thought energy transmitter waving about in your hands!

This is a fantastic salmon lie that's located close to the mouth of the River Tummel where it enters the Tay. Salmon love to nose in here beside this subsurface sandstone boulder that you can see and even the otter comes into this glassy water at night looking for his dinner. Knowing the hot spots is crucial for success and a professional Tay salmon guide will show you them to avoid any guesswork.

Salmon Beat Owners

If you're a salmon beat owner and you're allowing this to happen or you haven't at least checked it isn't happening then you're equally at fault. Negativity on any salmon beat means fewer rods and fewer rods will equate to fewer fish so sort it out before your beat ghillie talks himself into the inevitable commercial 'death spiral' of his self fulfilling prophecy. Tell him to go show a guest how to catch a salmon and put it on social media if he's not already set up that most basic of marketing steps.

Ignore Negativity In Salmon Fishing

Any ghillie who's brainwashed themselves into negativity mode is in the wrong job as this business requires positivity and a certain amount of skill, consistent fishing effort & faith. We are in a fantastic business where there is always a chance of a salmon if the pool approach and basic fishing tactics are correct. Words like 'there's no fish in the beat' or 'you're wasting your time' are the most dangerous spoken words in Scottish salmon fishing and they're often like a loud call to our 'Salmon God' to prove otherwise!

This photo of a guided salmon fishing guest was taken on the River Tay near Pitlochry which is a very good fishing area. He has chest waders, life jacket and a double handed salmon fly rod which are essential salmon fishing kit that his salmon fishing guide supplied.

Assessing Your Ghillie & Salmon Beat

If you're struggling to catch salmon take advice from a career ghillie with a reputation for success. Drop the salmon beat venues where you're greeted with any form of negativity and get onboard with the numerous Scottish salmon beat ghillies who are always positive. They are the ghillies of Scotland who truly understand the business they are in and that salmon always show up when it suits them via their natural and 'ever adjusting' run cycles.