Here's a perfectly coloured traditional River Tay cobble salmon boat blending in with the riverbank stones slightly upstream of the River Tummel/Tay confluence. This is the tail of the Rock Pool which lies between the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld. The riverbank trees in the shot are primarily oak trees.

This perfect Spring salmon was caught on a dull light early Spring salmon fishing day on the River Tay near Pitlochry. A fresh run Spring salmon like this isn't that bothered about the poor light conditions as it clearly still had it's oceanic hunting mindset when it took this American salmon fishing holiday angler's fly. Personally, as a salmon fishing guide I prefer a little bit of sunlight during the early season but often salmon like this one think differently!

When you hook a salmon it's important to know how to play the fish properly to gain control of proceedings. This perfect Spring salmon was caught on the middle area of the Tay during early June and is typical of the quality of fish found in the Scottish rivers at that time. The fly in this salmon's mouth is the deadly Jock's Shrimp salmon fly pattern.

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.

Look at the smile on this salmon angler's face moments after landing this perfect Summer salmon from the River Tay in Perthshire. Catching a salmon like this on the fly takes skill, patience and a good tactical understanding of how to fish your fly effectively. This 14lbs Summer salmon is being held in the McLean landing net for this photo before being released.

Look at the beautiful silver flanks of the June caught river Tay fresh run salmon which was hooked and landed at the Ash Tree Pool on The Lower Kinnaird Beat of The River Tay on this bright light early June fishing day. Note the salmon fishing trip guest is wearing eye protection and a life jacket as safety always comes first on the salmon river.

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.

Salmon Fishing Light Conditions

By Jock Monteith 4th April 2026

On a personal basis I much prefer fishing days where there's a glimmer of sunlight sparkle on the water to illuminate my salmon fly as opposed to fishing days when there's dull flat light conditions.

If however you were able to ask a fresh run salmon that's still got its 'deadly' ocean hunting head on what it prefers you'd more than likely receive a different view point!

Here's Alan Rennie playing one of 5 Spring salmon he caught that with myself as his salmon guide in the boat that day. Look are the riverbank where there's no leaves on the trees yet there's some beautiful sunlight which just gave the surface of the water of the river enough warmth to get these fish on the move and in a 'taking' frame of mind. This photo was taken in the Cottar Pool on the Newtyle Beat of the River Tay.

Sunlight Is Good For Salmon Fishing

There's something about the sparkle of sunlight on the water that excites me and more often than not I've seen it have the same reaction with salmon. Observing the many salmon captures I've been involved in over the last 4 decades I'd say that some form of sunlight was present in at least 85% of these salmon encounters even though most salmon books would have us brainwashed into believing that dull days are best.

It's always a good indicator of future salmon stocks when you get a visual on the fry density following a Winter spawning season like you can see here. This shoal of fry is approx 20% of the density we used to see 5 decades ago when salmon spawning gravels were in much better silt free condition. I took this shot during early June on the River Tay near Dunkeld.

Juvenile Salmon Behaviour In The River

When a salmon is in the river as a juvenile it is conditioned to expect a hatch of nymphs and flies if there's high pressure or warmth on the surface of the river and studies have proven the relevance of rising barometric pressure with salmon taking behaviour on numerous occasions to confirm this fact. It's not just salmon that are tuned into high/low pressure movement but all other forms of wildlife too.

Here's a lovely fly caught salmon by one of our guided fishing guests which was caught on the River Tummel neat Ballinluig in July. This fishing area of the Tummel is close to Dunkeld & Pitlochry. You can see the salmon is being perfectly supported by this salmon fisher while I took the salmon capture shot as his salmon fishing guide.

True Predatory Salmon Hunting Instincts

An adult salmon will never deprogram its prior juvenile river conditioning however it will also never lose its ability as a 'prolific' predator either as it returns to the fresh water river environment so do not right off the dull flat light days even though I have less personal faith in them. A fresh run sea liced salmon will still be in full 'predator' mode for at least a few days while it transitions back into its fresh water river mindset and that is why these fresh run fish tend to be much easier to catch regardless of the prevailing river conditions.

This happy American salmon fishing guest landed this perfect salmon on a cold & dull early Spring day with the assistance of myself as his salmon guide. The leader material we were using was good old 'time tested' Maxima Chameleon which has always been my leader material of choice. This salmon fishing guest has a warm hat on and a life jacket too for wading safety reasons.

Visiting International Salmon Anglers

This fortunate angler travelled all the way from California for a 1 day chance of catching a River Tay salmon on the fly built into his Scottish touring itinerary. Our 'Salmon God smiled for him within 30 minutes of starting on that cold dull early April day even though I personally didn't fancy his chances in the prevailing cold flat light easterly wind conditions. This is indeed part of the magic of Scottish salmon fishing and why it is crucial that you maintain positive core thoughts and a consistent and persistent salmon fishing approach to override any negativity that may creep into your mind.

This guided salmon fishing trip guest came to learn how to wade properly & safely in the River Tay and to brush up on his general salmon fishing tactical approach. The gravel bank in the distance is where the River Tummel enters the Tay which is a great area for intercepting salmon which is not too far away from the Perthshire town of Pitlochry.

Adopt A Consistent Salmon Fishing Approach

The minute you right off any fishing day in your mind is indeed when you stand little chance of success so always remember that salmon are independent creatures and don't always comply with our thoughts and assessments of them. A fresh run salmon can appear or be present in a pool at any time regardless of the prevailing water or light conditions so stay positive and stay focussed on the important factors like fly swing spacings for maximised & thorough water coverage and the depth & speed of your fly. There's a great saying that 'you need to be in it to win it' which applies perfectly to this truly magical pursuit.