Salmon Fishing Tips

Expert advice from the Ghillie

Doing Your Salmon Permit Justice

What's the point in buying an often expensive salmon fishing permit to then turn up unprepared or unskilled on the salmon river. A basic level of tactical awareness should be mandatory in this business even though many fishers likely wouldn't understand it was for their own benefit and success in the sport.

Jock Monteith

24th July 2026

Fishing A Salmon Fly

There's far more to Scottish salmon fishing than simply launching your salmon fly out into the river and 'hoping for the best' as the current swings your fly back towards the riverbank. If you develop a sense of 'fly awareness' when you're fishing your success levels will increase significantly.

Jock Monteith

23rd July 2026

Effective Salmon Fly Swim Time

Effective salmon pool water coverage and a sound understanding of how to react to the inevitable take from a salmon are the biggest two misunderstood aspects of Scottish salmon fishing.

Jock Monteith

22nd July 2026

Setting The Salmon Fly Hook

Catching salmon on a fly rod is the most satisfying and exciting method you can use and there's nothing that beats the sound of a fly reel under strain from a lively 'powerhouse' of a fish. Here's a few pointers well worth bearing in mind when you receive your next 'tug' from the underworld!

Jock Monteith

21st July 2026

Scottish Fishing Guides

Never underestimate the value of having a professional Scottish salmon guide overviewing & adjusting your salmon fishing approach even if you've been salmon fishing for years. The difference between success & failure in this fine pursuit can often be something minor!

Jock Monteith

20th July 2026

The Salmon River Vibe

Far too much attention these days is spent trying to work out when the best time would be to visit a certain beat or salmon river. The reason I state this is because a wild Atlantic salmon operates over a completely different frequency and set of rules than we could ever fully understand or appreciate.

Jock Monteith

19th July 2026

The Atlantean Encounter

While it often appears as if it's getting tougher to catch wild Atlantic salmon on any salmon river over the last few decades there's nothing that beats that electric nudge & pull on the fly reel when the 'Atlantean' does appear!

Jock Monteith

18th July 2026

Spey Running Line Management

When fly fishing for salmon with a Spey line it is important that you understand the logical way to manage your running line if you're fishing a longish line. The following information is what works well for me up to a 40 yard delivery.

Jock Monteith

17th July 2026

Forcing The Salmon Take

Don't be a delusional salmon fisher and think that just because you're delivering a nice line and spacing each swing of the fly correctly without success that there's no fish present. Stubborn resident salmon need a degree of 'winding up' to be caught so here's my take on that fact.

Jock Monteith

16th July 2026

Hooking Salmon Effectively

There's been loads of content written on this important salmon fishing topic and from what I've personally witnessed 'most' of the normal hooking techniques will work some of the time. As a professional River Tay salmon fishing guide a 'some of the time' success rate is not high enough so in the next few paragraphs I'll give you an insight into what works for me the vast majority of the time.

Jock Monteith

15th July 2026

Identifying The Salmon Lie

In periods of low water it's much easier to identify the exact areas of a salmon pool where fish are likely to be found. If you focus your efforts on these likely areas you'll fish far more effectively and your batting average is likely to soar!

Jock Monteith

14th July 2026

Handling Running Line

Jock Monteith

13th July 2026

The Eye Of The Osprey

Here's a few career observations relating to how to quickly 'time assess' your salmon pool fishing effort. Maximising your 'effective' fly swim time throughout the course of the fishing day will dramatically increase your chances of contact with the underworld!

Jock Monteith

12th July 2026

Releasing A Salmon

In the 70's when I first became involved in Scottish salmon fishing there was no such thing as 'catch & release' and every fish that was caught regardless of its condition was killed which would have caused shock & horror in this day and age.

Jock Monteith

11th July 2026

Setting A Salmon Fly Hook

There's nothing more guaranteed in Scottish salmon fishing than watching salmon fishers waste great hooking opportunities during the early Spring when the heavier gauge wire hooks typically used on tube flies don't get enough hook point pressure to be set when a salmon takes.

Jock Monteith

10th July 2026

Waking Up Resident Salmon

To obtain the desired 'reactive' response from a salmon it's imperative that you don't try to bore the fish to death by letting it see far too much of your salmon fly as your fly approaches its holding position. 'Startling' a salmon gives you a far better chance of it responding favourably!

Jock Monteith

9th July 2026

Salmon Fishing Preparedness

It's not just the salmon beat ghillie who's got to get his beat & fishing hut in top order to receive guests but the anglers also have a responsibility to turn up at the river with everything they need and in good working order for a real chance of a fish.

Jock Monteith

8th July 2026

What Makes A Ghillie

Choosing the professional ghillie route in life is one of the most important national ambassador roles of all and one that requires a vast amount of salmon fishing expertise and as importantly superb people skills.

Jock Monteith

7th July 2026

Play Your Salmon With Tact

After going to the trouble of learning all the proper presentation skill levels necessary to hook a salmon it is imperative that you also understand the basics of how to play a fish all the way to the landing net.

Jock Monteith

6th July 2026

Salmon Fishing Gut Feelings

While logical thoughts are created in your head the truth of any scenario 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!

Jock Monteith

5th July 2026

Salmon Fishing Fiction

Never let anyone 'contaminate' your salmon fishing well by misinforming you that bright light river days are a waste of time. Many of my most memorable salmon fishing days have been ones where the light conditions were brighter than a big bag of bright things!

Jock Monteith

4th July 2026

Catching A Quick Salmon

As a professional ghillie it's always a great thing to take the pressure off and eliminate the 'expectation management' effort while looking after guests with a quick salmon capture at the start of the fishing day.

Jock Monteith

3rd July 2026

Salmon Take Composure

Wild Atlantic salmon are true masters at appearing at your fly at a moment during the fishing day when you're completely 'switched off' as if they are mind readers. It's crucial that you 'keep the heid' at this moment and maintain absolute adrenalin surge composure!

Jock Monteith

2nd July 2026

Salmon Fishing Tuition In Scotland

There are so many different angles and skill sets involved in teaching salmon fishing that need to be adapted to suit the guest's entry level depending on whether he or she is a beginner or an established salmon fisher in need of fine tuning.

Jock Monteith

1st July 2026

Weaponise Your Wading Boots

When I study all of the important salmon fishing skills that are vital for ensuring the best chance of success and especially on a salmon fishing tour on the bigger salmon rivers of Scotland I'd state without doubt that 'riverbank movement' if mastered correctly (which equates to colossal daily water coverage) is number 1.

Jock Monteith

30th June 2026

The Salmon Take

There's been loads of content written on this topic in salmon fishing and from what I've personally witnessed most of the normal hooking techniques will work some of the time. As a professional ghillie a 'some of the time' batting average is simply not good enough a conversion ratio for hard earned salmon takes.

Jock Monteith

29th June 2026

Effective Salmon Pool Coverage

To achieve the 'desired' reaction from a salmon it's imperative that you don't try to 'nauseate' the fish by letting it see far too much of your salmon fly as the fly approaches its holding position. 'Startling' a salmon gives you a far better chance of it responding favourably!

Jock Monteith

28th June 2026

Fly Fishing The River Tay

There's nothing that compares to catching a wild Atlantic salmon on Scotland's largest salmon river. Although we often get carried away with the aerial performances of our fly lines here are a few of my thoughts on what really truly matters!

Jock Monteith

27th June 2026

Salmon Fly Fishing Scotland

While salmon fishing the beautiful rivers of Scotland it is crucial you have complete faith in the fly pattern you're fishing with. This is a logical yet illogical part of salmon fishing as a salmon will only ever take the fly you're using!

Jock Monteith

26th June 2026

Hold Back With The Landing Net

Given the skill and patience involved in getting to the point where a salmon cooperates then what's the point of rushing proceedings. There's nothing worse than a fishing buddy or ghillie lifting the landing net far too soon during the early stages of battle and 'ruining' the scenery between you and your salmon!

Jock Monteith

25th June 2026

Your Salmon Fishing Approach

There's a vast array of tactical salmon fishing approaches to learn for success in salmon fishing. One of the biggest parts of success in Scottish salmon fishing is having the ability to control your mind as success often does not come within your first few casts of the day.

Jock Monteith

24th June 2026

Salmon Fishing Tuition

Salmon fishing is like anything else in life when it comes to knowing exactly what you are doing and a solid understanding of what makes an effective river approach will separate you from the vast majority of UK salmon fishers.

Jock Monteith

23rd June 2026

Salmon Beat Operation

Before you embark on fishing any salmon river whether it be for the very first time or even if you have been salmon fishing for decades it is worth pondering on some of the following points just to make sure you are not missing any vital components that could diminish your chances of booking a day and catching salmon.

Jock Monteith

22nd June 2026

Salmon Fly Behaviour

Now here's a topic that's likely going to change the way you think when you're in a situation where salmon are playing hard to get. Often in Scottish fishing we become far too rigid & robotic as to the way we fish a fly and sometimes it really boils down to a game of opposites if you're trying to get into a salmon's mind.

Jock Monteith

21st June 2026

Salmon Fishing Guides Scotland

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. The irony is that anyone can go out and buy fishing equipment and a permit to a salmon beat without ever having had a salmon fishing lesson.

Jock Monteith

20th June 2026

River Tay Fishing

Of all the Scottish salmon rivers the mighty River Tay is the most renowned 'big fish' river of them all. On the Tay you're always in with a chance of connecting with a 20 lbs class salmon and occasionally an even bigger one. Knowing how to deal with a big fish is half the battle and I've seen many heavyweight Tay salmon escape capture due to inexperienced anglers.

Jock Monteith

19th June 2026

Salmon River Therapy

It's truly fantastic that we still have the Scottish salmon rivers to take refuge in for 'cleansing the soul' and regaining positive mental composure amidst this world of chaos and deception.

Jock Monteith

18th June 2026

Salmon River Observations

You can often learn more about a salmon river when you're not fishing it than you can do with a rod in your hand. On a personal basis I always used to love walking up a salmon beat at dusk observing the river and all of its subtleties.

Jock Monteith

17th June 2026

Focus On Your Salmon Fly

If you want to become fine tuned in the art of Scottish salmon fishing the process extends way past being able to 'look the part' on a riverbank by throwing a nice long tight looped salmon line. A wild Atlantic salmon cares not a jot about the arial performance of a fly line.

Jock Monteith

16th June 2026

Composure Through The Salmon Take

As long as I can ever remember most salmon anglers work fairly hard for a take on the fly on the vast majority of Scottish salmon beats so it's crucial you make all hooking opportunities count. Just because a salmon pulls on your fly doesn't mean it wants you to quickly return the compliment!

Jock Monteith

15th June 2026

Salmon Pool Water Coverage Consistency

If catching fish is important to you when you're out on the salmon river then after the ghillie has briefed you on the pools you've been allocated it's equally as important that you 'consistently' deploy an effective salmon fishing plan to give you the best chances of success.

Jock Monteith

14th June 2026

Stealth & Salmon Lies

There are many good opportunities to catch salmon blown each year in Scotland by salmon anglers who rush straight into a salmon pool far too quickly and without much thought. Salmon are often found near the margins of the river where the slacker pockets of water are located.

Jock Monteith

13th June 2026

Book A Professional Salmon Fishing Guide

You don't have to be a brain box to understand exactly how to gain the fishing advantage on your day out on the Scottish river. Hiring a professional salmon guide who knows a salmon beat intimately is always going to provide an advantage when it comes to catching salmon.

Jock Monteith

12th June 2026

Fly Leader Length & Strength

I've heard much interesting nonsense spoken about this topic so I just want to clear a few things up as this was always a question asked by fishing guests on a near enough daily basis when working as a professional salmon guide on the River Tay.

Jock Monteith

10th June 2026

Salmon River Dusk

While most of the Scottish salmon fishing ends at around 5pm on the fishing day it's always worth running past the beat's Head Ghillie the viability of an evening cast and especially in late Spring or during the long hot days of Summer. Like all forms of wildlife the fading light brings excitement to fish too.

Jock Monteith

9th June 2026

Properly Fishing A Salmon Fly

The biggest area I see where the vast majority of salmon anglers could improve there salmon 'hit' rate is through fly control. Get your brain fully tuned into your salmon fly to a point where you can sense its movement in the stream before it gets close enough to see it and bin any useless thoughts of what's going on above the waterline!

Jock Monteith

8th June 2026

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.

Jock Monteith

7th June 2026

Targeting Deep Lying Resident Salmon

How to visualise and target salmon in a deep Summer holding pool and pair that with you fly's depth and annoyance levels to force stubborn resident fish to have a go.

Jock Monteith

6th June 2026

Salmon River Wading Safety

There's much more to successful salmon fishing wading techniques than just pulling a pair of chest waders on and charging into the river. Just because a pair of chest waders goes all the way up to your chest there are many logical good reasons why a salmon angler should never consider doing the same.

Jock Monteith

5th June 2026

Summer Salmon Fishing

The Summer months have always represented a great time of the year to be out on the Scottish salmon rivers with your fly rod searching for one of these special creatures. June, July & August were always attractive to me due to the often lower rod pressure experienced on many Scottish beats during these prime salmon fly fishing months.

Jock Monteith

4th June 2026

Waiting For The Salmon Take

The River Tay during the early Spring months has heavyweight fresh run Spring salmon present which often turn up on a daily basis even though the vast majority of anglers don't. I think it's important to recap on the vital aspect of setting the hook for those who do venture out in the early months for that chance of the 'fish of a lifetime'!

Jock Monteith

3rd June 2026

Landing A Salmon

One of the important skills to master other than being able to make a salmon take your fly is being able to play the fish correctly all the way to the landing net. This is always going to be a difficult skill to actually teach unless you're with a salmon guide who knows exactly how to demonstrate how to hook a fish in the first place.

Jock Monteith

2nd June 2026

Lifelike Salmon Fly Movement

When you're fishing your salmon fly in most fast moving streams there will be a certain amount of natural movement as the fly arcs around from it's initial casting angle starting point to the riverside edge downstream of you.

Jock Monteith

1st June 2026

The Magnificent Salmon Adventure

It can't just be me even though you never hear anyone talking about but here goes anyway! What is this magical pursuit all about when it can keep you awake at night and make you desperate to get moving in the direction of the salmon river way before sun up!

Jock Monteith

31st May 2026

Successful Salmon Spin Fishing

Here's a few paragraphs on how to set a spinning lure hook based on practice not theory. Nothing beats professional time spent on a Scottish salmon river for observing the various aspects of this glorious pursuit.

Jock Monteith

30th May 2026

Watch Your Spey Casting Anchor Point

If you take the time to study 90% of UK Spey Casters you'll see that they are only focussed on the target area when their forward power stroke is being applied and not the critical anchor point 'release' timing which is the catalyst for optimal power and salmon fly turnover.

Jock Monteith

29th May 2026

Fishing The River Tay

Of all of the Scottish salmon rivers the mighty River Tay is the most majestic and is renowned for often producing big fish. It's normal on the Tay to connect with salmon in the 20lbs class and on occasion much heavier fish than that are caught.

Jock Monteith

28th May 2026

Salmon Fishing Events

There's no other pursuit in the natural world that can generate the same excitement and anticipation levels as what a trip to Scotland's famous River Tay can do.

Jock Monteith

27th May 2026

Effective Salmon Hooking

The inside of a salmon's mouth is made up of mainly tough tissue which means a salmon hook needs a fair bit of pressure applied to the hook point to set it properly or it will often result in a quick bye bye! Here's a few points to bear in mind the next time 'Old Sam' visits your fly!

Jock Monteith

26th May 2026

Catching Scottish Salmon

It is one thing to understand how to consistently hook salmon on the fly when the opportunity arises but it's a completely different dimension understanding the value of the correct mindset to get to that exciting moment of the fishing day. The following paragraphs will give you a few of my own thoughts on this when salmon fishing in Scotland.

Jock Monteith

25th May 2026

Fly Fishing For Salmon

There's not much any area of angling that compares to catching a wild Atlantic salmon on the fly which is a very rewarding experience. There's so much information pushed in the direction of those who are relatively new to the sport it often becomes a maze of irrelevance as I'm about to explain.

Jock Monteith

23rd May 2026

Salmon Fishing Guests

As a professional Scottish salmon fishing guide it's amazing who you can meet on the riverbanks of Scotland. This fine shot which was taken in the beautiful Glen Tilt is of the brilliant and original Batman actor Michael Keaton.

Jock Monteith

22nd May 2026

Make The Salmon Take Count

Having been involved in Scottish salmon fishing since 1970 one of the most important parts for success is knowing how to set the hook when a salmon takes your fly. This vitally important & 'logical' discipline has always completely baffled me as even experienced salmon fishers today still fall 'well short' in this area of their game.

Jock Monteith

21st May 2026

Salmon Fly Selection

There's been millions of words written on this fascinating subject over the decades by many serious salmon fishers who all have their own take on what the best patterns are. At the end of the day it boils down to faith as we will never truly get permanently inside a salmon's mind.

Jock Monteith

20th May 2026

Salmon Fishing Sink Tips

Salmon fishing these days has become an exacting science of grains & grams and specific cut lengths of exacting tungsten impregnated PVC or polyurethane sinking tips. This often makes me wonder how on earth we used to catch salmon at all in the old days!

Jock Monteith

19th May 2026

Atlantic Salmon Individuality

One of the fascinating things in Scottish salmon fishing is getting a close up look at these amazing creatures before the buzz of setting them free. All salmon are individuals and even if from the same shoal as they all have their own individual markings and shape variances.

Jock Monteith

18th May 2026

Salmon Fly Movement

When you're fishing your salmon fly in most streams there will be a certain amount of natural movement as the fly fishes around from it's initial casting angle starting point to the riverside edge below you.

Jock Monteith

17th May 2026

Become The Salmon Fly

Who's that chap in the tweed jacket holding the big Tay springer you may ask! That's not professional salmon guide Jock Monteith that's a reincarnated blue bottle in the shell of a human being just like that old horror movie from 1986 with Jeff Goldblum called 'The Fly'.

Jock Monteith

16th May 2026

Life On A Salmon River

If you've chosen the ghillie route in life then thank your lucky stars you can spend your days in such beautiful natural surroundings and in such an amazingly natural pursuit. There's huge 'life value' in turning up on a salmon river each day compared with what most people have to endure.

Jock Monteith

15th May 2026

Successfully Landing Salmon

For those of you who are relatively new to Scottish salmon fishing here's a few pointers to assist you with what you should be focussed on after you've hooked a salmon. A salmon landing opportunity is best achieved if you follow this basic advice.

Jock Monteith

14th May 2026

Playing A Scottish Salmon

Once you've mastered the art of how to fish effectively down through a salmon pool it is very important that you master the art of effectively playing a salmon too. Playing a salmon correctly is an important part of learning how to be successful in this pursuit.

Jock Monteith

13th May 2026

Releasing Your Salmon

The theme of 'catch and release' has been widely accepted by the global salmon fishing community as best practice due to the limited financial capacity that much of the wild salmon fishing management is hindered by.

Jock Monteith

12th May 2026

The Perfect River Tay Salmon

Catching a salmon at any time of the year is a truly amazing experience and regardless of how you've caught it and its condition. However nothing comes close in my opinion to an encounter with a super fit pristine conditioned Atlantic salmon in the cold Spring water of the Scottish rivers when lured on the fly.

Jock Monteith

11th May 2026

Landing Net Mesh

With the importance of 'Catch & Release' well and truly embedded and adhered to by the vast majority of Scottish salmon fishers these days it's obviously equally as important that salmon care is also considered.

Jock Monteith

10th May 2026

Salmon Fishing Tactics

Professional Scottish salmon fishing guide advice on how to best approach the salmon rivers of Scotland during high water conditions are where salmon are likely to be located in the salmon pools.

Jock Monteith

9th May 2026

Avoid Common Casting Errors

Look at this picture of a completely 'botched' forward delivery power stroke where the powerless belly flopping head section of the fly line comes splashing down with barely enough energy to 'turn over' the salmon fly.

Jock Monteith

8th May 2026

Salmon Fly Control

On a football park some of the most exiting and effective players have been true masters with the ball at their feet and able to weave through the best defences en route to scoring. On a salmon river there's also a direct correlation between 'fly control' and putting a salmon in the other net!

Jock Monteith

7th May 2026

Salmon Fishing Advice

If you're going to book Scottish salmon fishing or are in need of some good old solid advice on any aspect of the fascinating world of Scottish salmon fishing then ask the boys that have been at the 'coal face' and not those who think they know what they're talking about.

Jock Monteith

6th May 2026

Sensing A Salmon

If you want to achieve real success in Scottish salmon fishing you need to start looking at the river like a big hungry dog otter! I don't mean for one minute you should grow thick whiskers and practice holding your breath in the bath.

Jock Monteith

5th May 2026

Control Your Salmon Fly

I'll keep this daily salmon fishing article simple, understandable and to the point. If you're not fully in control of your salmon fly throughout the morning and afternoon fishing sessions you're wasting a huge percentage of your salmon fishing day!

Jock Monteith

4th May 2026

Special River Tay Moments

While fantastic moments appear on the salmon rivers of Scotland on a daily basis when any fisher hooks and lands and perfect salmon it's always even more special as a ghillie when you've assisted guests in landing their first ever fish or when the TV cameras are running!

Jock Monteith

3rd May 2026

The Scottish Salmon Fly

There are so many different salmon fly patterns available these days it can truly make your head spin. From what I've seen from decades of professional involvement is that effective salmon fly selection is of similar importance to the depth and swim speed of your fly.

Jock Monteith

1st May 2026

Catching Spring Salmon On The Fly

It takes a fair degree of skill & preparedness to catch a perfect Spring salmon on the fly so over the next few paragraphs I'll zoom in on a few of the basic points that often mean the difference between success and failure.

Jock Monteith

28th April 2026

A Seat Beside The River Tay

There's no better place to be in the world than overlooking one of Scotland's finest salmon rivers on a salmon fishing tour if an infusion of 'natural & spiritual' brilliance is what you seek. Don't take the Scottish salmon rivers for granted and think think deeper about their magnificent prowess whether you've a fishing rod in your hands or not.

Jock Monteith

26th April 2026

The Spey Cast Power Stroke

Today's article is dedicated to the third and final section of the Spey cast which is known as the 'power stroke'. This completes my in depth career based breakdown of this 'timeless' and magnificent traditional Scottish art form cast.

Jock Monteith

25th April 2026

Salmon Behaviour Observations

Having a good logic based understanding of how salmon behave after they have been caught is always going to be worth knowing whether you're a ghillie or a fishing guest. Here's a few of my river life career observations for you to chew on!

Jock Monteith

24th April 2026

Salmon Fishing Advice

Here's a few wee thoughts to consider the next time your out on your favourite salmon beat swinging your fly over the known salmon lies. They say it's the little things that can make a big difference and in salmon fishing it's no different.

Jock Monteith

23rd April 2026

Lifting Your Salmon Spey Line

The Spey cast is the most amazing logic based cast of all salmon fly casts. The problem is obtaining the correct logic based information as to why the beautiful and traditional Scottish Spey cast is the 'true King' of the casting world and what makes it effortless to perform.

Jock Monteith

22nd April 2026

Stay On The Salmon Pool Move

On our big Scottish salmon rivers like the Tay where your 'water to fish ratio' is is always going to reduce your odds of locating a taking fish don't waste too much time trying to force a salmon to take that's continually showing and not responding.

Jock Monteith

21st April 2026

Spinning And Fly Reel Tips

For anyones who's reasonably new to this business here's a few tips to make the spooling up of either your fly line or spinning line easy to get it perfectly right on the first attempt without guesswork or line twist issues.

Jock Monteith

20th April 2026

Early Spring Salmon Fishing

This is indeed the time of the year when all eyes turn towards the renowned Spring salmon run that the Scottish rivers are fortunate to benefit from. Spring fishing has been increasing in popularity over the last 10 years and if you look at the pristine condition of this perfect fish you understand one of the many reasons why.

Jock Monteith

19th April 2026

Stay Under The Salmon Radar

Wouldn't it be amazing if just for one day we could get salmon to swim upside down exposing their white bellies in the dark river water to show us exactly how they react to a clumsy riverbank or wading approach!

Jock Monteith

19th April 2026

Wading A Salmon River

There's much more to successful wading techniques than just pulling a pair of chest waders on and charging into the salmon river. Just because a pair of chest waders go all the way up to the chest there are many good reasons why a salmon angler should not.

Jock Monteith

18th April 2026

Salmon Fisher Individuality

After a good healthy fresh air day out on a Scottish salmon river 5 o'clock always brings about a 'deep felt' sense of satisfaction whether your memory banks and phone camera are full of salmon shots or not! This sense of satisfaction should be felt by all types of salmon fishers at the end of their day if they've put in a reasonable shift.

Jock Monteith

17th April 2026

Setting A Spinning Lure Hook

If you're a salmon spin fisher and think that salmon are just taking short when they continually drop off then you're kidding yourself on and will continue to squander hooking opportunities while spinning. Most of the time that happens is because the spinning reel clutch is far too loosely set.

Jock Monteith

15th April 2026

Famous Tay Salmon Pools

When it comes to famous Scottish salmon pools nothing tops the Glendelvine Beat's Boat Pool on the River Tay thanks to the late Georgina Ballantine's fine efforts on the 7th of October 1922. Glendelvine is still however a big fish River Tay venue and make no mistake about it.

Jock Monteith

13th April 2026

Water Gauge Mentality

While all ghillies should have a nice 'easy to read' water gauge near their fishing hut that can be used to specify water heights when recording salmon catches I personally believe that far too many Scottish anglers go into 'over think' mode when watching the heights of a river.

Jock Monteith

12th April 2026

Salmon River Sunlight

One of the biggest misconceptions I've heard from salmon anglers over the decades is that most of them relate sunlight as being bad for catching salmon. The reality of this is that the presence of sunlight can often be a 'polar opposite' of that misconception if you apply a bit of good old common sense to your thought processes.

Jock Monteith

10th April 2026

Fine Tune Your Speycast

The vast majority of Scottish Speycasters tend to cast like 'racehorses with blinkers on' with their heads only aligned to the target area and not to the crucial mid cast 'anchor point' which is vital for a perfectly timed power stroke delivery.

Jock Monteith

9th April 2026

Playing A Salmon

There are many important skills required in various aspects of salmon fishing but the often forgotten topic is how to play a salmon once you've managed to hook one and how that applies to a big fish when a heavyweight shows up.

Jock Monteith

8th April 2026

Salmon Beat Operating Standards

There are many operational attributes that make a salmon beat function well for enhancing the client experience and for catching salmon. In the next couple of paragraphs I'll elaborate on my take on a few of these factors.

Jock Monteith

5th April 2026

Salmon Fishing Light Conditions

On a personal basis I much prefer the fishing days where there's a glimmer of sunlight to illuminate your salmon fly as opposed to fishing days when there's a dull flat light on the water. If however you were able to ask a fresh run salmon what it prefers you'd more than likely receive a different answer.

Jock Monteith

4th April 2026

Salmon Fishing Introductions

There's nothing that I've ever witnessed that even comes close to the natural pleasure and visual magnificence of a day beside one of Scotland's beautiful salmon rivers.

Jock Monteith

1st April 2026

Grinding Out Salmon Catches

Salmon fishing in Scotland has always been the ultimate fishing challenge and much of the moaning & groaning I hear today about diminished catches in my opinion has often as much to do with a lack of angling ability & rod pressure than in many cases a lack of fish.

Jock Monteith

30th March 2026

How To Combat The Scottish Rain

There's no other Scottish pursuit that produces the excitement levels that contact with a perfect hard fighting wild Atlantic salmon will do. Even the wettest of weather conditions are quickly forgotten when one of God's finest marine creations makes an appearance and especially immediately after some high quality salmon fishing instruction is delivered!

Jock Monteith

28th March 2026

River Tay Spin Fishing

If you're going to the expense of booking a salmon fishing trip for a day's spinning on the River Tay make sure you're well prepared as often the little adjustments to your spinning tactics can be the difference between an interview with a heavyweight Tay salmon or not!

Jock Monteith

26th March 2026

Early Spring Fly Fishing

The early Spring weeks of the Scottish salmon fishing season have always been fascinating to me and salmon movement observations over the years have made me realise the value of these traditionally quieter early Spring fishing months.

Jock Monteith

25th March 2026

Covering A Salmon Pool

On the big Scottish salmon rivers like the Tay don't waste your day trying to force a salmon you've seen to take your fly as normally if a take is going to occur it will happen fairly quickly after a salmon sees your fly for the 1st or 2nd time.

Jock Monteith

23rd March 2026

Favourite Salmon Flies

I'm going to briefly touch on a subject over the next few paragraphs that for most part is completely unexplainable with salmon flies and sometimes even River Tay 'harling' lures regarding their effectiveness in the stream. Complete faith in a specific individual fly or lure is a rare commodity which is well worth treasuring.

Jock Monteith

22nd March 2026

Salmon Leaders And Sink Tips

This is a seldom openly discussed but important part of salmon fly fishing set up so here's my own analysis of the facts as far as I see it on weight and length of salmon leader, sink tips and which leader material will never let you down.

Jock Monteith

20th March 2026

The Spey Cast Swing

Understanding the value of a correct 'logical' line lift at the beginning of the Spey cast is crucial for negating the cast crippling 'water resistance' experienced by an incorrect line lift. Today I'll elaborate on what maintains this 'ease and smoothness' of cast through the middle section of the cast known as the 'swing' which is crucial for adequate rod loading in the D Loop.

Jock Monteith

17th March 2026

Salmon Fishing Equipment

There's little point in buying access to a good Scottish salmon fishing beat unless you're going to give yourself a fair chance of connecting to the underworld! The next few paragraphs offer some basic insight into what's needed on the River Tay.

Jock Monteith

15th March 2026

The Salmon River Sparkle

As a professional salmon fishing guide I've seen salmon caught in all conditions from a full coloured & debris ridden spates to complete thick fog 'white outs' the one condition I just know will result in salmon action is that sparkling glimmer of sunlight whenever it appears during the fishing day.

Jock Monteith

14th March 2026

Spin Fishing The Tay

On big Scottish rivers like Tay spinning for salmon is permitted and for those of you who think there's less skill involved in using a spinning rod then maybe this article will make you think again. Spinning a lure effectively involves real skill too and 'lure mentality' is 100% the name of the game.

Jock Monteith

13th March 2026

Salmon Fly Thoughts

If you're not completely in love with the fly you're fishing then don't fish it. A salmon fly needs to inspire your inner soul with her sexy stream movement, tantalising colours and real 'live' creature simulation. If a fly can do that to your mind then a salmon has got no chance of being able to ignore it!

Jock Monteith

12th March 2026

Successful Salmon Fishing

There are various important components that assist greatly with success in Scottish salmon fishing and the next few paragraphs will focus in on a few of the more important points that go a long way to achieving the desired objective in this highly popular Scottish rural pursuit.

Jock Monteith

10th March 2026

Catch A Perfect Scottish Salmon

There's nothing that compares to the thrill and excitement involved in catching perfect fresh run Scottish salmon. This angler caught this fine fish during the month of April near the River Tummel junction on the River Tay.

Jock Monteith

8th March 2026

Salmon Fly Waggle & Sparkle Is Important

There's a huge difference between a cast & hope specialist and a precision bomber when it comes to presenting a salmon fly. Here's a few basic fly movement thoughts to consider while presenting a salmon fly to the Scottish rivers.

Jock Monteith

7th March 2026

Salmon Fishing Guides In Scotland

A professional Scottish salmon fishing guide has to have a unique range of fishing and hosting skills to be able to effectively look after fishing guests on the rivers of Scotland from year to year. In the following paragraphs I'll detail a few of these necessary attributes which will highlight what makes a professional salmon guide excel.

Jock Monteith

6th March 2026

Important Riverbank Etiquette

For the daily operation of any salmon beat to run smoothly it is important that all fishing guests read & understand the beat rules which are there primarily for safety reasons and to ensure the enjoyment of all paying guests.

Jock Monteith

5th March 2026

Finding Spring Salmon

Actioning and sticking to an optimised daily fishing 'battle plan' is an important part of success in Scottish salmon fishing especially through the Spring months when locating salmon is sometimes not just as 'easy' as it is later on in the season.

Jock Monteith

2nd March 2026

Beautiful Spring Salmon

We'll soon be in the best period of the year for that 'once in a lifetime' encounter with the very finest and most perfect marine creature of all the Scottish 'Springer'.

Jock Monteith

26th February 2026

Spin Fishing The River Tay

While I've built my career on being successful at teaching the art of catching salmon on the fly I do on occasion like to go back to my boyhood River Tay days and have a proper go with a spinner. Spinning is just as much of an 'art form' as fly fishing and here's a few of the reasons why.

Jock Monteith

25th February 2026

Cold Water Salmon Fishing

With the vast majority of Scottish salmon fishers believing that deep and slow is the correct early Spring tactical salmon fishing approach it's no wonder few fish are caught during the early months of the salmon fishing season.

Jock Monteith

24th February 2026

Living Salmon Rivers

Have you ever arrived at a salmon river on a fishing day and the river has looked and felt completely alive. There is no doubt about it in my mind that all salmon rivers are living creations and when you sense they're awake normally their inhabitants are too.

Jock Monteith

19th February 2026

Spring Salmon Lies

There's a bit of thought and riverbank experience involved in making sure you're focussed in the correct areas of a salmon pool through the cold water period of early Spring. The next few paragraphs will give you a few of the pool attributes to look out for plus additional useful advice about salmon fishing in Scotland.

Jock Monteith

18th February 2026

Catch An Early Spring Salmon

The Spring run of salmon that enter the Scottish rivers are the most reliable of all the seasonal salmon runs these days. The physical condition and cold water fighting ability of a fresh run Spring salmon is superior to that of a Summer or Autumn fish. There's added excitement too in being back out on the salmon river after the Winter shut down.

Jock Monteith

9th February 2026

The Ides Of March

While it was very unfortunate for Julius Caesar the 'Ides of March' was traditionally a day for settling debts in the Roman calendar. In saying that it's always sensible to listen to your ghillie's advice and in Caesar's case his soothsayer!

Jock Monteith

8th February 2026

Salmon Landing Nets

While fishing for salmon it's very important that you have & carry at all times a suitable landing net that can be used to stabilise your salmon prior to releasing. Unfortunately even the very best landing net manufacturers are often found lacking when it comes to the choice of net bag that they fit to the frames of their salmon nets.

Jock Monteith

6th February 2026

Spring Salmon Flies

By all means experiment all you like as to which salmon flies work best in the higher cold waters of Spring however these two particular patterns have had all the 'research and development' experimentation done for you over decades of professional Spring salmon fishing on the Scottish rivers.

Jock Monteith

5th February 2026

Tales Of A River Tay Legend

The old Scottish ghillie were different class on all aspects of the game and I got lucky as a boy to fall under the guidance of this truly amazing chap and to see the way he operated and the traditional effective 'river husbandry' techniques he used to annually deploy to optimise smolt outputs from his own Tay beat.

Jock Monteith

1st February 2026

Daffodil Salmon Lies

If you're fishing a salmon beat during the Spring months and there's isn't a professional ghillie around to advise you where to pay particular attention look out for bunches of daffodils or snowdrops on the riverbanks and understand their probable significance.

Jock Monteith

31st January 2026

Learn The Spey Cast

This is truly the most amazing skill you can master in the outdoor world and far more interesting & satisfying than cleanly hitting a golf ball or dusting a clay pigeon. The Scottish Spey cast is the casting method we mainly use to present our salmon flies to the mystical salmon pools of the beautiful Scottish salmon rivers.

Jock Monteith

29th January 2026

Salmon Beat Ghillies

Having served my time as a professional ghillie on the River Tay the next few paragraphs highlight a few of the finer points that I personally believe that makes a resident professional salmon beat ghillie stand out from the crowd.

Jock Monteith

28th January 2026

Salmon River Conditions

If you're waiting for perfect river conditions for your salmon fishing you can wait a long time and still have zero guarantee of a fish or two! Many potential salmon fishing visitors these days pay far too much attention to digital 'catch stats' and water levels which I suspect has cost them many salmon.

Jock Monteith

26th January 2026

February's Salmon Fishing Mindset

Thank your lucky stars you're alive, fit & well enough to throw yourself out of the comfort of your warm house and TV distractions and into the natural arena of the spectacular and famous Scottish rivers in pursuit of a perfect Spring salmon.

Jock Monteith

23rd January 2026

Salmon Fishing Brilliance

There's nothing that compares in any sort of UK fishing to the capture of a wild salmon on a fly rod let alone a big fresh run Spring beast like this fine River Tay specimen. Over the next few paragraphs I'll elaborate on that statement via a few of my innermost thoughts when salmon fishing in Scotland..

Jock Monteith

16th January 2026

Early Spring Salmon Fly Selection

Here's a subject that I could truly write a book on as there are so many different permutations of colour and size that could work if your salmon fly is presented over a fresh run salmon that's in the mood to have a go. The most important component in salmon fly selection is faith!

Jock Monteith

15th January 2026

Spring Salmon Fishing Thoughts

While salmon are caught throughout the extensive Scottish fishing season in my professional salmon guide opinion it doesn't get any better than the period from mid February to the end of May for the sheer quality of fish.

Jock Monteith

12th January 2026

River Tay Harling

Traditional River Tay harling is the most amazing craft in Scottish salmon fishing and requires the utmost skill and attention levels to be carried out effectively by your boatman. Don't underestimate this salmon fishing method as the water coverage achieved from traditional harling on the River Tay is immense.

Jock Monteith

6th January 2026

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to each and everyone of you and may 2026 bring you all the joy & happiness you could have ever dreamed of. The 1st day of January always marks the start too of the new salmon fishing season as the big Scottish rivers prepare to open up over the next month or so.

Jock Monteith

1st January 2026

Salmon Lie Approach

Over the decades I've seen great opportunities for an easy 'early day' salmon completely blown by anglers who put on waders that go up to their chests and think they have to do the same while wading in the river!

Jock Monteith

29th December 2025

Merry Christmas To All Salmon Fishers

Merry Christmas to you and your families and I hope you have a fantastic time today and over the next week or so until work commitments re-commence. With New Year fast approaching there's definitely a buzz of anticipation in the air created by just knowing there are thousands of perfect Spring salmon heading our way.

Jock Monteith

25th December 2025

The Atlantic Salmon

The Atlantic salmon really is one of the world's most fascinating creatures for many reasons like the ability it has to make the transition from fresh water to sea water when nature sends it to the rich feeding grounds off the coasts of Greenland and the Faroe Isles.

Jock Monteith

18th December 2025

Make Your Own Salmon Fishing Luck

Regardless of how brilliant you are with a fly rod or how good a beat you're fishing there's always an element of luck involved in catching a salmon. Hooking opportunities are like moving targets that appear and disappear throughout the full course of the fishing day.

Jock Monteith

17th December 2025

Selecting Salmon Fly Sink Tips

The depth of your salmon fly is an important part of success in salmon fishing so in the next few paragraphs I'll give you a few of my own thoughts to hopefully clear up a few misconceptions on this fascinating topic.

Jock Monteith

16th December 2025

Salmon River Stealth

We have all on occasions been in or on salmon pools in our careers that are simply stuffed with salmon albeit totally unresponsive ones unless you're a complete sub surface salmon fly fishing specialist who knows exactly how to unlock the safe in such situations.

Jock Monteith

13th December 2025

River Tay Harling Lures

As a former professional River Tay boatman there were certain lures at certain times of the salmon fishing season where I just didn't ever have to doubt their effectiveness. The next few paragraphs will give you my take on the highly successful 'pearly pink' 4 inch Tomic 'Classic' lure.

Jock Monteith

10th December 2025

Spring Salmon Fishing

There's simply nothing that compares to the excitement of connecting with a fresh run Scottish Spring salmon. Natural cycles have always truly governed the annual stock levels of Atlantic salmon across the the entire northern hemisphere and currently the Spring stock levels in Scotland have been consistently healthy.

Jock Monteith

9th December 2025

The King Of Fish

Here's a close up of Neptune's finest and most astute fish of them all which is globally regarded as 'The King Of Fish'. These are precious natural commodities which have amazingly survived the ecological changes of the ocean & river glens to still appear each year in the Scottish rivers.

Jock Monteith

7th December 2025

Salmon Fishing Expertise

In whatever business or trade you've chosen in life you've either established a credible and thorough education in your field of expertise or you simply have not. In Scottish salmon fishing the same logical rules apply where 'time in' experience is just as crucial.

Jock Monteith

12th November 2025

The Best Salmon Fishing Approach

There's nothing in the natural world that comes close to the magic & brilliance of a Scottish salmon river that's in good order especially if you're on it 'tooled up' with enough tactical intelligence to be in with a fair shout of success.

Jock Monteith

9th November 2025

Effective Salmon Fishing

The moments leading up to a picture like this are some of the most exciting you can experience in the natural world. From the initial tug on the fly reel indicating the presence of a fish you'll receive a shot of adrenalin which will enhance your focus on the magnificence of what's occurring.

Jock Monteith

8th November 2025

Salmon Predation Control

Before I enlighten you on what I personally witnessed in the early 70's I do not condone the illegal killing of salmon parr or the killing of wild brown trout. As a young boy spending time through the Summer holidays on the Tay I was fascinated to gain an insight into traditional salmon beat management.

Jock Monteith

6th November 2025

Fresh Run Early Spring Salmon

The early months of the Scottish salmon season gives you the chance to see an example of what silver should really look like on the flanks of God's finest marine creation. This is the most exciting time of the salmon fishing season if you understand the caliber of fish that are present and that you'll most likely have the salmon beat to yourself!

Jock Monteith

2nd November 2025

Salmon Fishing Reflections

For those of you who are old enough, do you remember the days when the newspaper used to run a 'Place The Ball' competition where you could win a prize for placing an X on the position of a hidden football during a live game scene. I think we should do something similar with salmon.

Jock Monteith

1st November 2025

Speycasting Tips & Advice

If you've taken a casting lesson and been taught with a short floating shooting head with no sink tip attached best ask for your money back! Seek out a ghillie who'll teach you exactly how to 'time' the release of your Spey cast anchor point correctly to force you to bring your peripheral vision into play.

Jock Monteith

25th October 2025

Salmon Fishing Luck

In Scottish salmon fishing regardless of how technically gifted you are with a fly rod or how good a beat you're fishing there's always an element of luck involved in catching a salmon. Opportunities to hook and land salmon are like moving targets that appear and disappear throughout the course of most fishing days.

Jock Monteith

19th October 2025

Salmon River Religion

The answer to the question of whether God is a fanatical salmon fisher or not lies in a few of the following River Tay photographs of the big man's finest salmon river landscapes! Isn't it also more than a coincidence that Scotland has always been referred to as God's country.

Jock Monteith

16th October 2025

Hooking A Salmon

One of the most important parts of Scottish salmon fishing is knowing exactly how to hook a salmon when it comes to inspect your salmon fly. If the entire Scottish salmon fly fishers fully understood this 'logic backed' procedure I've no doubt Scottish fly fishing rod catches would increase significantly.

Jock Monteith

15th October 2025

A Bar Of Silver

There's very little in this world that can stimulate your adrenalin glands as much as hooking a super fit Atlantic salmon on a fly rod. When that gentle initial tap on the fly develops into an all out 'screaming reel' war there's no way your heart will escape the accelerator pedal.

Jock Monteith

9th October 2025

Big February River Tay Salmon

I've been 'bleating' on for a long time on the subject that some of the best & most accessible salmon fishing on the River Tay is to be found during the month of February and this is nothing new. The problem is most of the Tay anglers are brainwashed by traditional 'catch stats' nonsense while these big beasts slip by unnoticed!

Jock Monteith

8th October 2025

Prepare Your Salmon Fly Box

Your own personal collection of salmon flies that you carry about on the Scottish riverbanks should inspire you for choice every time you open it. Personally I love to tie a specific fly pattern that I have complete faith in like a few of the 'wee beasties' you see here.

Jock Monteith

2nd October 2025

Master Your Left Hand Spey Cast

If you're a salmon fly fisher there's a massive tactical fishing advantage in learning to Spey cast. As the vast majority of the population are right handed learning to use the less favoured left hand will open up a completely different dimension to your salmon fly fishing approach.

Jock Monteith

1st October 2025

The Brilliance Of A Ghillie

There's loads of different things that make up the excitement & thrill of being a professional ghillie aside from connection with the world's most 'treasured' gamefish. Here's a few of my own personal thoughts on what did it for me while working on the Tay.

Jock Monteith

26th September 2025

Salmon Fishing Assumptions

You know what they say about assumptions being nine tenths of all errors! I can tell you for certain that assuming there's no chance of a salmon is a direct line call to our 'Salmon God' who's always tuned into careless words on the riverbank!

Jock Monteith

13th September 2025

Spin Fishing For Tay Salmon

If your effective hooking rate with a spinner on the River Tay isn't close to 100% then there's a few different angles of thought to consider the next time you're out slinging cutlery across Scotland's biggest & deepest salmon river.

Jock Monteith

10th September 2025

Salmon River Fly Fishing

Catching a salmon on any river anywhere in the world requires a reasonable level of skill and understanding of the task in hand. It's very rare for a salmon fly fisher to experience immediate success in this sport unless accompanied by an experienced professional salmon fishing guide.

Jock Monteith

7th September 2025

Consistently Catching Salmon

It always amazes me when I look at a photograph of any salmon I've played a part in the capture of and how easy it is to replay almost the entire fight in my head without the assistance of Youtube! This was one such perfect Spring salmon from the Tay which was caught during the month of May.

Jock Monteith

5th September 2025

Never Say Never In Salmon Fishing

Unless you wish to set yourself up for the inevitable fall never use the word 'never' in Scottish salmon fishing. If you're a 'negative' ghillie or a 'negative' type of occasional salmon fisher the same applies if you're ever advising other fishers it's a waste of time.

Jock Monteith

4th September 2025

Salmon Lie Identification

It's important you develop the skill of being able to 'read' a salmon river to determine exactly where the areas of a pool are that would suit salmon to 'hold' in.

Jock Monteith

30th August 2025

Deadly Salmon Flies

The problem today with Scottish salmon flies is that there are far too many choices! If your water coverage is good and you've worked out the optimal depth for the swim of your fly the most important component you can have tied into any salmon fly is faith!

Jock Monteith

28th August 2025

Stealth On The Salmon River

Wouldn't it be fascinating if just for one day we could get salmon to swim upside down exposing their white bellies in the dark river water to show us exactly how they react to a clumsy riverbank wading approach!

Jock Monteith

27th August 2025

Salmon Beat Satisfaction

From years of personal experience operating as a Head Ghillie on the Tay there's huge self satisfaction in getting your salmon beat riverbanks just right in addition to the nice surprise visiting salmon fishers will receive when they turn up for their special day on the river.

Jock Monteith

26th August 2025

Learn The Speycast

The Spey cast is the most amazing logic based cast of all the different salmon fly casts. The problem is obtaining the correct logic based information as to why the beautiful and traditional Scottish Spey cast is the 'true King' of the casting world and what makes it effortless to perform.

Jock Monteith

17th August 2025

The Scottish Ghillie

Of all the professionals you'll meet in any pursuit you choose to participate in the Scottish ghillie is the most likely individual you'll form a life long relationship with. These men of Scotland's famous rivers are generally great souls with vast amounts of 'real life' experience relatability.

Jock Monteith

13th August 2025

Re-align Your Salmon Fly Fishing Thoughts

The biggest area where the vast majority of salmon anglers could improve their salmon 'hit' rate is through fly control. Tune your focal point into your salmon fly via the pace and angle of the front end of your fly line to a point where you can sense the fly's movement in the stream even though you won't be able to see it.

Jock Monteith

9th August 2025

The 5pm Salmon Fishing Blues

After the elation & excitement of a brilliant day on a Scottish salmon river do you ever get to the end of a blank day when you're content but you just have that niggling inner feeling of what could have been! Sadly that feeling is felt by too many salmon fishers who've not been shown how to make a salmon take truly count!

Jock Monteith

7th August 2025

Summer Salmon River Tactics

This is the time of the salmon fishing season where switching into careful stealth mode will often be the different between success and a blank. In Scottish salmon fishing tactical astuteness often represents a game of opposites.

Jock Monteith

29th July 2025

Speycasting Tuition Tips

Jock Monteith

13th July 2025

Salmon Fight Videos & Photographs

While a few of us on the Tay are 'would be' camera men and have been consistent with capturing salmon video & photograph shots for 10 years plus the majority of anglers & ghillies don't currently contribute consistently enough on this important front and therefore missing great River Tay marketing opportunities when salmon are caught.

Jock Monteith

19th May 2025

Salmon Landing Net Mesh

While fishing for salmon it's very important that you carry at all times a suitable landing net that can be used to protect and stabilise your salmon prior to releasing. However even the very best landing net manufacturers are often found lacking when it comes to the choice of the net bags they fit to the frames of their salmon nets.

Jock Monteith

15th May 2025

Scottish Salmon Flies

The entire topic of Scottish salmon fly selection and what makes a great salmon fly is definitely one of the most interesting in the entire sport. The next few paragraphs will zero in on a few different aspects of this topic from what professional ghillie riverbank experience has taught me over the decades.

Jock Monteith

26th April 2025

Common Sense Salmon Stock Management

For the last 40+ years wild Atlantic salmon stocks have been on a gradual decline across the Northern Hemisphere for various different reasons. Given the extremely tough, smart nature of a salmon as an 'escape & evasion' survival specialist it doesn't take a huge amount of brainpower to give them a helping hand.

Jock Monteith

19th March 2025

Salmon Fishing Tuition

As a professional ghillie I always love to see anglers catching salmon and especially when someone's fishing for the very first time. We are there to assist when & where possible and even a one liner from a professional ghillie can often be the difference between catching a salmon or not.

Jock Monteith

19th February 2025

Fishing A Salmon Pool

There's loads of important information and skills to pick up when on a salmon fishing trip and over the next few paragraphs I'll highlight a few of the more essential ones as ownership of a salmon fly rod on its own does not assure success in this sport.

Jock Monteith

18th February 2025

High Water Salmon Fishing Tactics

Even in normal water conditions never underestimate just how close to the riverbank salmon will run & hold. This becomes even more relevant during high water conditions where the only break from the higher water pressure for a salmon is often right in tight to the riverbank.

Jock Monteith

10th February 2025

The Scottish Ghillie Career

Have you never wondered why someone would choose to earn a lowish basic wage throughout their full working career in a society where cash is king? A career on the salmon river is often not fully understood by fishing guests so here's a few angles to consider about the man who's hosting your day on the river.

Jock Monteith

27th January 2025

The Copper Sprat 27g

This salmon lure was designed to replicate the North Sea sprat’s ‘live’ scale pattern which is a target species for Atlantic salmon while feeding at sea. The effectiveness of the copper side was learned by Jock Monteith via tactical advice from his late mentor Willie ’the ghillie’ Laird on the River Tay during the 70’s

16th January 2025

Salmon Fishing Experts

Have you ever truly wondered why a small minority of Scottish river salmon fishers just about always come up with a fish even though the normal batting average is nothing like that.

Jock Monteith

25th December 2024

Fishing Gifts Scotland

With Christmas fast approaching so does the dilemma of what to buy a loved one from the vast array of gifts on offer. Consider a quality introduction to the exciting world of Scottish salmon fishing which could inspire the uptake of this amazingly 'natural' recreational activity that could easily last a lifetime.

Jock Monteith

28th November 2024

Corporate Salmon Fishing Events

If you're looking for a different and fascinating day out of the office with your key business team players then nothing beats a River Tay salmon fishing event day except of course two days! The River Tay with its perfect natural surrounding provides a natural day away from the office environment

Jock Monteith

13th November 2024

Playing A Salmon

It's important that your efforts to land a salmon are fulfilled after being successful with the tact required to make contact with one. There's a great deal of nonsense that's been spoken about exactly how to play a salmon so I'll explain clearly and logically here.

Jock Monteith

26th July 2024

Salmon Fishing Dreaming

There's no better place to go into a 'dream like' state of mind than in the wilderness of a Scottish salmon river with a fly rod in your hand. Here's a picture from a 'recurring' River Tay dream of mine!

Jock Monteith

11th April 2024

Salmon River Spirits

Some fantastic experiences have happened to me on the riverbank throughout my professional career which could only be described as paranormal but never in a scary way. Over the next few paragraphs I'll enlighten you of only a few of them which I dare say a few of you will be able to relate to.

Jock Monteith

7th April 2024

Endangered Species Via Ineffective Overwatch

With Atlantic salmon now recently added to the Endangered Species list is this really due to salmon being unable to fulfil their biological objectives or is it a careless, ineffective & outdated stock management style that's gradually allowed salmon populations to reduce over the decades.

Jock Monteith

5th April 2024

The Call Of The Salmon River

You can bet your life on the fact that there will be plenty Spring salmon ready to run the Scottish salmon rivers during the following weeks. While not that many years ago the bulk of the Spring run on the River Tay appeared in May it looks like this head of fish are showing up a month earlier these days.

Jock Monteith

30th March 2024

Fishing Your Salmon Fly

If you want to become fine tuned in the art of Scottish salmon fishing the process extends way past being able to 'look the part' on a riverbank by throwing a nice long tight looped salmon line.

Jock Monteith

22nd February 2024

Salmon River Light Changes

For those of you who are new to this game pay particular attention to light & weather changes throughout the course of the fishing day as they are definite 'triggers' for salmon movement & taking behaviour especially when they've not been cooperating as much!

Jock Monteith

9th February 2024

Salmon Fly Confusion

If salmon fly selection was so vital for catching fish then I doubt they'd be thousands of different fly patterns out in circulation. In saying that we all have developed firm favourites for certain times of the year and here's an insight into what I've personally done well with.

Jock Monteith

19th January 2024

Salmon Fishing Advice

If you're booking salmon fishing in Scotland and want to truly 'cut to the chase' for not only obtaining the best professional advice on where, when and why to fish a particular salmon beat but also receive a few valuable salmon lie insights before you even arrive at the river then look no further.

Jock Monteith

15th November 2023

Salmon River Traditions

There's some lovely traditions that add to the magic of Scottish salmon fishing that makes it even more appealing than other types of fresh water angling. The fishing effectiveness from a traditional River Tay salmon boat with a professional boatman is without doubt one of them.

Jock Monteith

19th September 2023

What Makes A Great Salmon Fishing Day

Many would obviously instantly answer the above by saying that catching a salmon would make the salmon fishing day special but from my point of view as a former professional beat ghillie that was only a part of the icing on the cake when it comes to the fishing guest's enjoyment of their day.

Jock Monteith

2nd August 2023

Learn To Tie Great Salmon Flies

If you want to start building up a salmon fly collection that'll work for you on the riverbanks of Scotland then the patterns you need to pay close attention to are the ones the professional Scottish ghillies are mostly using!

Jock Monteith

1st August 2023

Scottish Salmon Pools

Have you ever truly thought about all the different components that create a really good salmon fishing pool and why salmon will congregate there in numbers. The following paragraphs will give an insight into how a professional salmon guide's mind works on this frequently pondered topic.

Jock Monteith

22nd June 2023

Famous Salmon Fishers

It never ever fails to amaze me of who you'll meet on a Scottish salmon river. Here's footballing legend Graeme Souness the former Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers player & manager who carved a fantastic reputation in the footballing word at home and abroad.

Jock Monteith

7th June 2023

How To Treat A Ghillie

There much to be learned in Scottish salmon fishing to bring any angler to a level of water coverage skill that will allow them to go onto most salmon beats and at least make a salmon have a dunt at their fly. There's another set of skills that are required when dealing with any professional ghillie to make sure you get the best possible attention & advice.

Jock Monteith

26th May 2023

The Scottish Salmon Game

The Scottish salmon fishing game is a fascinating business without a doubt as it's unbelievably multi faceted from the psychology & preparedness of the visiting salmon fishers to the subtle 'nudges' the river environment will give you if you listen to your gut feelings.

Jock Monteith

4th May 2023

Talent Compensator Fly Lines

I often think to myself what on earth has happened to our traditional 'art form' Spey cast and the aerial elegance of a Speyline that was always designed to fly and not 'belly flop' like what we see with the shorter heavy belly shooting heads.

Jock Monteith

31st December 2022

The Salmon River Highs

There's way much more to the magical salmon rivers of Scotland than we'll ever fully understand with their ability to continually lure you in for their private show of magnificence. Having spent too much time in God's finest playgrounds my thoughts go deeper than most on this fascinating topic.

Jock Monteith

29th December 2022

Salmon Fishing Gift Vouchers

While there's a vast selection of things you could buy for a loved one or colleague to make a 'special gift' there's little that compares to giving a quality introduction into the naturally beautiful & fascinating world of Scottish salmon fishing.

Jock Monteith

26th December 2022

The Lower Kinnaird Guay Pool

Having spent several years working on the Upper & Lower Kinnaird beats of the Tay I learned much about many of the salmon pools. None more so than what I personally now regard as the finest high, medium or low water pool on the entire middle Tay.

Jock Monteith

22nd December 2022

Salmon Fishing Trips in Scotland

There's nothing in the natural world that comes close to the majestic brilliance of being beside one of Scotland's famous salmon rivers with a fly rod in your hand. Pull yourself away from the concrete and computer screen nonsense that our species has been afflicted with and get some natural reality back in your life.

Jock Monteith

7th April 2022

Salmon Fishing Friends

Salmon fishing is indeed a truly amazing pursuit and it's brilliant to be out on your own on the river searching for another addition to your own personal scoresheet. What betters the above is having a great fishing friend to share these fantastic salmon encounters with.

Jock Monteith

26th October 2021

Where Salmon Lie

Having the ability to recognise a salmon lie just by the movement of the water through all the varying river heights will give you a huge advantage in salmon fishing. Once you understand the subtleties of this and observe and test your salmon lie recognition abilities out while on the river then you'll move into a different dimension with your effectiveness in this sport.

Jock Monteith

4th June 2021

Salmon Fishing Facts

It's always a great moment when you arrive at any salmon beat in the morning whether you're a guest or a professional ghillie and far superior than checking into an office unless of course the fishing hut is your office!

Jock Monteith

6th March 2021

Changing Salmon Pools

Over the years I've seen many adjustments to various salmon pools on many Scottish rivers after the Winter floods which is a naturally occurring phenomenon but none more so than the ever changing River Tummel mouth which has been on the move for the last ten years.

Jock Monteith

4th March 2021

Salmon Fly Fishing In Scotland

There are many skill sets required in order to be successful in salmon fishing anywhere in the world and salmon fly fishing in Scotland is no different. Freedom of thought and good old common sense play a big part of success in this amazing pursuit.

Jock Monteith

18th August 2020

Scientific Research Versus Common Sense

We are such an interfering & hypocritical species it's no wonder planet earth and it's divisive human populations are in so much turmoil. At what point did the big man upstairs ask us to to stick our ignorant noses into his planetary designs and wonderful wildlife assets!

Jock Monteith

9th March 2020

Colossal Scottish Salmon Runs

At what point does our wild Scottish salmon resource start attracting significant funding like we see was pumped into the superb new £140 million pound Macallan Distillery on Speyside or other investments in the past like Billy Connolly's cartoon movie 'Brave' which attracted several million from Visit Scotland or the £4 million plus for re-introducing native tree destroying beavers back to Scotland.

Jock Monteith

10th February 2020

River Dee Salmon Fishing

If you ever feel like some serious salmon fly fishing 'therapy' then the Aberdeenshire River Dee has got to be Scotland's most precious jewel in the crown. This beautiful Cairngorm Mountain fed 87 mile stretch of riverine brilliance just has to be experienced to be truly believed!

Jock Monteith

8th February 2020

River Tay Opening Days

The 15th of January is indeed a highly monumental day in the Scottish salmon fishing calendar as it marks the opening of the River Tay salmon fishing season. Thousands of salmon fishers will ascend on the Tay next week for this special occasion and in pursuits of Scotland's finest gamefish.

Jock Monteith

10th January 2020

Protecting Riverside Woodlands

For those of you who know your salmon fly reels you'll understand that the Hardy 'Perfect' is only really perfect when it's singing its favourite song while unwinding rapidly! A comparable scenario exists when salmon anglers are fishing on a Scottish river made perfect by its beautiful natural native woodlands.

Jock Monteith

31st December 2019

Fishing On The River Tay

The River Tay is a 'unique' Scottish salmon river based on the fact that multiple salmon fishing methods are used due to its much larger than normal depth and width. A Tay ghiilie needs to be well grounded in various salmon fishing tactical approaches to effectively advise his fishing guests.

Jock Monteith

9th December 2019

Salmon Fly Line Design

If a salmon Spey line is to do its job properly and 'stand the test of time' then much thought, care and attention will have gone into prototyping at the 'R&D' stage than you could possibly ever imagine. For me it was virtually a daily obsession over an 18 month period to make this Spey line design perfect.

Jock Monteith

26th November 2019

Spey Actioned Rods

What ever happened to the lovely 'made in the UK' rod badge with a 'original owner' lifetime warranty issued 'confidently' based on the build quality of a rod and not from the excessive margins from low cost overseas manufacturing allowing big brands to simply throw new rods at their often 'frequent' warranty claims.

Jock Monteith

27th October 2019

Salmon Fishing Catches

The biggest injustice I've seen in Scottish salmon fishing to date which supersedes the damage done to the ecology of Northern Hemisphere rivers via expanding populations is without doubt the introduction of 'catch statistics' as the main marketing driver for Scottish salmon fishing.

Jock Monteith

21st October 2019

Upper Kinnaird Hot Spots

Here's a booking confirmation email addition I sent to a spin fishing client who booked a day during early September on the Tay's Upper Kinnaird beat. I was later informed by the Head Ghillie that he landed 2 salmon!

Jock Monteith

24th September 2019

Salmon Beat Terms & Conditions

If you're new to salmon fishing in Scotland it is imperative that you read a beat's Terms & Conditions thoroughly prior to booking your salmon fishing. These T &C's are in place for your own personal safety first and foremost and the enjoyment of your (& other guests) salmon fishing day.

Jock Monteith

17th September 2019

Scottish Salmon Fishing Facts

The entire Scottish salmon fishing scene in my professional opinion has to date been massively under presented where catch statistics figures and water levels have become the main industry drivers instead of the bigger attributes like visual presentation which has been and still is sadly lacking.

Jock Monteith

12th September 2019

River Tay Harling

There's not much that beats a day out on the River Tay in a traditional hand built 16ft coble boat with a highly skilled and astute Tay boatman. The next few paragraphs will give you an insight as to what creates salmon fishing success from this approach.

Jock Monteith

25th August 2019

Lunch On The River Tay

There's way much more thought and coordination that goes on in preparing a River Tay salmon fishing hospitality day that most would imagine. Getting everything just right and over worrying is the only approached for a perfectly delivered salmon fishing event day.

Jock Monteith

19th August 2019

Salmon Fishing Reality

Where on earth did this new catch 'demand' concept come from that seems to have quietly crept into this magnificent pursuit. I never ever recall guarantees being given in Scottish salmon fishing and it always took skill and perseverance to make a salmon take a fly in fresh water.

Jock Monteith

23rd July 2019

Fishing In Scotland

Far too much focus has been put on international rivers in the middle of foreign wilderness where you pay a fortune for your fishing and in many cases you will be stuck in a camp for a week with people you are not likely to know and have to fit in with.

Jock Monteith

22nd July 2019

Catching Scottish Salmon

There's more involved in catching a perfect fresh run salmon like this than simply turning up on a 'least course of resistance' salmon fishing permit with a rod on the riverbanks of Scotland. Long gone are the days where catching salmon was easy from rivers that were once absolutely stuffed with fish.

Jock Monteith

21st July 2019

Tactical Salmon Fishing Skills

There's plenty Summer salmon that have now appeared in the Tay so there's a great chance of salmon action for those who can awake from their slumber and brush the cob webs off their fly rods!

Jock Monteith

18th July 2019

Small Summer Salmon Flies

One of the most common salmon take hindering factors I see is the inability of many salmon anglers to change down to the smallest of salmon flies during the warm low water levels of Summer.

Jock Monteith

29th June 2019

Book Salmon Fishing

When you're booking your Scottish salmon fishing support the guys that have gone that extra mile to 'select' & present the best salmon fishing venues in an 'informative & visual' manner for your benefit. Support also those who have played a part in professionally promoting Scottish salmon fishing over the decades via positive daily internet content and lifetime 'career' application on the rivers of Scotland.

Jock Monteith

15th June 2019

Book A Professional Salmon Fishing Guide

If your ever think that salmon fishing is too difficult or your success ratio is 'non existent' then don't right this game off unless you've taken the time to be shown how to 'effectively' catch salmon. Far too many anglers 'blunder' into this business on the back of an 'detached' agent permit sale and wonder why success continually evades them!

Jock Monteith

8th June 2019

Scottish Salmon Fishing Guides

There's a big difference between a Scottish beat ghillie's role and that of a professional personal salmon guide. The next few paragraphs will focus in on exactly what the general roles of each are so you know what to expect and you don't turn up on a salmon beat with an inaccurate picture of things.

Jock Monteith

6th June 2019

Salmon Fishing Instruction

I'm going to get straight to the point on this subject as you'd expect from a direct talking River Tay ghillie and successful promoter of Scottish salmon fishing. Like any field in life if you search about enough you'll find those professionals who are operating on a much higher frequency than others.

Jock Monteith

3rd June 2019

Salmon Fishing Hot Spots

There are many beautiful salmon pools on the River Tay but few as perfect as this particular salmon lie which stops running fish & holds resident fish throughout the Tay's extensive salmon fishing season. This fine salmon pool shot could easily creep into your fishing dreams!

Jock Monteith

1st June 2019

Salmon Fishing Medicine

The 'highs & lows' of Scottish salmon fishing add to its unpredictable fascination and ever since I can remember that has been the case. While many Scottish rivers are experiencing a down turn on returning adult salmon numbers some rivers are enjoying the return of much bigger fish.

Jock Monteith

27th May 2019

Scottish Salmon Beats

As a boy I recall fishing the Tay on numerous occasions and never once were the catch statistics discussed nor did that deter from the sheer excitement and exhilaration of going to the salmon river.

Jock Monteith

25th May 2019

Book A Salmon Fishing Guide

When you've been in this business long enough you'll start to be aware of a rare breed of salmon guides who have a special skill set when it comes to catching salmon. Just because someone is a professional guide does not guarantee the presence of this rare skill set.

Jock Monteith

11th May 2019

Salmon Fishing Conditions

I'll start this article by stating that due to the short comings of salmon fishing agents who have no professional 'hands on' experience in the industry watching river gauge water heights has sadly become an obsession with many Scottish salmon fishers.

Jock Monteith

29th April 2019

Professional Salmon Guides

If you're planning to come to Scotland on a salmon fishing trip and don't fully understand Scottish salmon fishing tactics or have the correct salmon fishing equipment levels it is best to book a professional guide to set you off on the right footing.

Jock Monteith

28th April 2019

Salmon Fishing The River Tay

Scotland is fortunate to have many fine salmon fishing rivers but none more so than the mighty River Tay. This big Scottish salmon river starts it journey high up on the slopes of Ben Lui in the West and continues its 100 mile journey down through some of Scotland's most beautiful landscapes.

Jock Monteith

16th April 2019

Scottish Salmon Rivers

When it comes to global thoughts on salmon fishing there's nothing that really compares with Scotland and its 400 salmon rivers which are all in relatively close proximity to one another.

Jock Monteith

12th April 2019

Salmon Fishing Agents

In any form of business if there's no competition things tend to get stale and boring and the salmon fishing business is no different as for over a decade presentation levels have sadly not moved forward to a degree where I personally believe it has seriously hurt the industry.

Jock Monteith

11th April 2019

River Tay Boat Fishing

The use of a traditional River Tay 16ft coble salmon fishing boat on the Tay offers several distinct salmon fishing advantages on big rivers where there are often an abundance of long distance salmon lies.

Jock Monteith

2nd April 2019

River Dee Salmon Fishing

When you're fishing for salmon on any river often you'll get no visual signs that fish are present until there's a tug on your fly. With this in mind stay consistent and operate on the assumption that salmon are there and in the mood to take your fly.

Jock Monteith

22nd March 2019

Fishing Scottish Rivers

Fishing for salmon on the Scottish rivers is much more than just another outdoor pursuit. The Scottish salmon river can easily take full command of your mind with its hypnotic flow and beautiful ever changing light shows.

Jock Monteith

23rd February 2019

River Dee Salmon Fishing

The beautiful Aberdeenshire River Dee opened its doors recently for the 2019 salmon fishing season. Already 15 perfect Spring salmon have been caught in the middle & lower river despite frozen river conditions so over all a good enough start to the new season.

Jock Monteith

12th February 2019

Salmon Pool Perfection

Of the many quality salmon pools on the middle River Tay the Gauge Tree on Dunkeld House has to one of the most beautiful and tactically positioned 'stoppers' for running salmon at the upstream end of several hundred yards of faster streamy water.

Jock Monteith

28th December 2018

Scottish Salmon Management

As a nation Scotland is very fortunes to have over 400 salmon rivers that all have varying salmon run timings and are of differing sizes from the smallest head water tributaries to the largest main stem rivers. Knowing roughly where and when to fish each river is half the battle for success.

Jock Monteith

24th December 2018

Early Spring Salmon Fishing

As we are now fast approaching the 2022 Scottish salmon fishing season I've written a few paragraphs regarding my career based thoughts and observations as to what the best salmon fishing tactics are for this early Spring cold water period from mid January through to the end of March.

Jock Monteith

21st December 2018

River Tay Salmon Fishing

The River Tay is one of Scotland's finest salmon rivers and is fortunate to benefit from an extensive salmon fishing season that runs from the 15th of January to the 15th of October each year. The Tay is known as a big fish river and often produces huge specimens.

Jock Monteith

13th December 2018

Scottish Salmon Stocks

It truly amazes me that after decades of largely ineffective Scottish salmon fishing management that these fine 'God given' creatures still make it back to the Scottish rivers at all. My hat is off to the Atlantic salmon even though a good 'shake up' is clearly needed within Scottish salmon fishing.

Jock Monteith

26th November 2018

Salmon Fishing PR

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.

Jock Monteith

20th November 2018

Salmon Fishing Guests

Over the decades I've personally experienced hundreds of special days & moments with fishing guests on the River Tay and other Scottish salmon rivers. Here's a wee story of one such day where everything quickly went according to plan.

Jock Monteith

19th November 2018

Future Salmon Stock Positions

Imagine fast forwarding to the year 2028 and the headlines are reading 'Scotland has been officially declared the number one global salmon fishing destination' and the advice being given to the huge global salmon fishing market is to make sure you book your flights, fishing, guides & accommodation well in advance!

Jock Monteith

15th November 2018

Salmon Fishing Tackle

As we're now all approaching the start of the 2019 Scottish salmon river openings this time of year usually brings about the checking, cleaning and preparing of equipment if you've not already done so at the end of last season. Here's one or two thoughts on different aspects of kit & fishing preparation.

Jock Monteith

12th November 2018

Salmon Fishing Excitement

It never fails to amazes me how much 'real' power the salmon rivers of Scotland possess and I'm not talking about hydro power here even though that's a big topic that we'll keep for another day! I'm talking about the 'lure' power of the salmon river and how it affects us all.

Jock Monteith

3rd November 2018

Salmon Fly Fishing

Fishing your way down through one of Scotland's fine salmon fishing rivers with a double handed salmon fly rod searching for one of the world's most prized gamefish is a true joy to behold. This is one of the reasons why fly fishing for Atlantic salmon has increasing demand as more people turn to Scottish salmon fishing for their recreational pursuit.

Jock Monteith

13th October 2018

Book Spring Salmon Fishing

With the River Tay and River Dee 2018 salmon fishing seasons about to close the focus for thousands of Scottish salmon fishers starts to intensify towards the fantastic Spring run of salmon these 2 famous rivers are fortunate to benefit from. To my mind a fly caught Spring fish is worth 10 Autumn salmon.

Jock Monteith

2nd October 2018

Fly Fishing In Scotland

It's important when you're fly fishing on the perfect Scottish rivers that you tune you mind into all of the important fishing aspects that are crucial for success in this amazing pursuit.

Jock Monteith

18th August 2018

River Tay Salmon Fishing

Of all the Scottish salmon fishing destinations the mighty River Tay is one of the most accessible and reliable salmon rivers. This fact is primarily due to the sheer size and depth of the river which has fresh run salmon coming in off every tide.

Jock Monteith

17th August 2018

The Dunkeld Spey Casting Service

If you could use some salmon fishing tactical fine tuning please make direct contact and I will arrange a top professional salmon guide to assist you via a guided salmon fishing day.

Jock Monteith

11th August 2018

Fine Tune Your Speycast

How to gain Spey casting knowledge and advice from top professional salmon guides at Dunkeld in order to perfect your salmon fly rod Spey casting technique.

Jock Monteith

7th July 2018

Dunkeld Spey Casting

Hiring a professional salmon fishing guide will get you off the starting block qickly and effectively via career learned advice and instruction. Salmon fishing access on its own is really only intended for experienced salmon fishers who have their own equipment and who know exactly how to use it.

Jock Monteith

4th July 2018

Low Warm Water Summer Salmon Lies

As Scotland is being currently bombarded with a heat wave and the rivers are running on Summer low don't despair but simply readjust your thoughts as to where to look for a cooperator!

Jock Monteith

29th June 2018

Summer Salmon Fishing Prospects

While the vast majority of sickened Scottish salmon fishers are still delirious from the withdrawal pains of not receiving their Spring salmon fix this year there's some lovely fresh run salmon snooping up the River Tay and the River Dee right now!

Jock Monteith

24th June 2018

The Cathedral Stream Pool In Dunkeld

Having the ability to use your gut instincts in salmon fishing plays an important role in success. That's part of the reason why I went heavy on the Dunkeld House beat's beautiful Cathedral Stream a few days ago as my gut was telling me this pool was about to come into a class of its own.

Jock Monteith

21st June 2018

Dunkeld Salmon Fishing Tuition

Like anything worthwhile in life if you're going to do something then do it right or not at all. This same thought process applies to putting a fly through a salmon pool as there's little point or satisfaction unless it's done correctly.

Jock Monteith

18th June 2018

Scottish River Vision

The days of relying on unsubstantiated scientific guesswork to steer the management of wild Atlantic salmon stocks in Scotland are gone as are the days of salmon anglers and beat owners sitting back depending on this consistently failing system.

Jock Monteith

14th June 2018

Salmon Beat Predation Management

There's no point waiting for the unattainable & ever changing 'scientific evidence' to be produced from the cash sapping 'quangos' that are in charge of wild Atlantic salmon stocks in Scotland. If you're a beat ghillie and want to do some real good then you can do just that.

Jock Monteith

5th June 2018

Salmon Management Complacency

What a bunch of 'time wasters' our Scottish salmon rivers have been afflicted with over the decades on the scientific management side of things. Talk about 'pulseless' poke it with a stick wafflers and my goodness you wouldn't want any one of them on the other oar of your lifeboat!

Jock Monteith

2nd June 2018

Salmon Fishing Results

Now that the Spring run is drawing to a close and we enter the warmer weather patterns of Summer it's important that you understand the faster running Summer salmon and strategise your ambush points and persistency levels accordingly.

Jock Monteith

27th May 2018

Scottish Salmon River Vision

What an amazing 'God given' salmon river infrastructure Scotland is fortunate to have and how easy a task it would be to make our proud nation the global number 1 choice for the entire world's salmon fishing population.

Jock Monteith

15th May 2018

Salmon Fishing Perseverance

A big part of achieving success in salmon fishing is maximising your 'controlled' salmon fly swim time through consistent perseverance. This week was another classic lesson in what it takes for success when fishing for salmon.

Jock Monteith

12th May 2018

River Tay Salmon Boats

While many Tay beat owners have opted for the new fibre glass low maintenance salmon boats I personally think nothing beats the beauty of a brand new Tay coble handcrafted by the one & only John Ferguson in the Perthshire village of Stanley.

Jock Monteith

29th April 2018

Scotland's Best Kept Secret

Why the commercial gain from Scottish aquaculture has been allowed to flourish despite massive ecological destruction and the subsequent decimation of wild Scottish salmon and sea trout stocks over the last 40 years.

Jock Monteith

28th April 2018

Perfect Spring Salmon Fishing

There's only ever going to be one end result from placing a highly experienced River Tay 'precision' boatman armed with his favourite Spring lures along with an experienced salmon fisher on the back of a settling river during April. However in yesterday's case there were two perfect end results!

Jock Monteith

24th April 2018

Salmon Fishing & Spey Casting Tuition

If you want to fish successfully for Scottish salmon then there's no point turning up on a river without the right equipment and knowing exactly how to use it unless feeding the ducks is the reason you're there!

Jock Monteith

22nd April 2018

Scottish Salmon Fishing

When it comes to salmon fishing there's nothing that really compares with Scotland and its 400 salmon rivers which are all in relatively close proximity to one another compared to other countries. Add in a few international airports along with fantastic local accommodation options and you'll understand where I'm coming from.

Jock Monteith

13th April 2018

The Brilliant River Tay

The River Tay is currently doing very well for Spring salmon and there's not a safer bet in Scotland at this time for a 'tussle' with a 'Springer'. This doesn't really surprise me as there's nothing more predictable than a good Spring run of perfect salmon on the Tay these days!

Jock Monteith

11th April 2018

What Scotland's Rivers Need

I've spent many years as a professional ghillie observing the rivers and the political 'quagmire' before forming an accurate assessment of the state of affairs within Scottish salmon fishing. Here's a few of my innermost thoughts.

Jock Monteith

31st March 2018

Now's The Day & Now's The Hour

This is now without a 'shadow of a doubt' the big Spring fish zone on many Scottish rivers and make no mistake about that fact. This is the time of year more big multi sea winter 'clunkers' come quietly snooping up into the Tay and other Scottish salmon rivers.

Jock Monteith

23rd March 2018

Catching Educated Spring Salmon

Even just now during mid March there are a few salmon beats on the River Tay that are starting to hold fish in these lowish Spring water conditions. These fish have already seen it all from the 'stereo typical' Spring salmon fishers who don't or cannot think outside the box or from how a salmon is likely seeing things!

Jock Monteith

21st March 2018

The River Tay Soothsayer

I know this game like the back of my hand & I'm giving out sound advice which is probably going right over most people's heads. That aside on yesterday's newsletter I called it spot on again when suggesting mid March is always a turning point as more perfect Spring salmon were caught on the Tay.

Jock Monteith

18th March 2018

Dunkeld Spey Casting

The Vikings invaded Scotland between 800 & 1050AD causing much pillage & rape and general mayhem in the glens and ports of our great nation. Unknown to most historians we were invaded again in 2005AD with a 'Scandi' angle to our fine traditional Spey casting approach.

Jock Monteith

16th March 2018

Running River Tay Spring Salmon

Yesterday saw a run of the most perfect Spring salmon sail right up the River Tay in broad daylight even though the cold low water conditions said that shouldn't really have happened! Understanding the game you're playing in early Spring salmon fishing is half the battle for success.

Jock Monteith

8th March 2018

Huge River Tay Salmon

Here's a shot of me & my assistant ghillie in the Perth Museum paying rightful homage to the King 'of all' Fish. You need to see the girth & proportions of 'the beast' to truly appreciate Georgina Ballantine's 1922 British record salmon angling accomplishment.

Jock Monteith

7th March 2018

Salmon Fishing Marketing

In general Scottish salmon fishing has relied far too much on its global fame and history since the birth of the internet and still 'isn't truly at the races' as far as 'effective' internet marketing goes on the world wide web.

Jock Monteith

22nd February 2018

Salmon Speyline Perfection

There's been many things in Scottish salmon fishing that have caused me concern over the years but what I'm writing about today is how our Scottish Spey casting tradition has been completely hijacked by Scandinavian & American fly fishing technology.

Jock Monteith

18th February 2018

Ambassadors Of The River Tay

Life is an ever evolving process where we all initially make our decisions based on the information we receive so ultimately you're relying on the accuracy of that information to make these vital career decisions. Here's a few of my own personal observations & thoughts.

Jock Monteith

14th February 2018

River Tay Salmon Fishing Report

Here's the latest update for the Tay which is now for the first time this season coming into great fishing order. Forget the waffle & fluff of 'mince talk' as I'm about to get straight to the point as my ghillie hackles are now on 'red alert' for the coming week now that Jack Frost & the full flood are gone.

Jock Monteith

28th January 2018

A Perfect River Tay Springer

This salmon was the inevitable end result of a talented River Tay ghillie being 'set loose' on a river that's coming into good fishing order. I've seen salmon caught on all water conditions however some far less than others. l'll now give you a bit of insight into the capture of yesterday's perfect fish.

Jock Monteith

27th January 2018

River Tay Salmon Fishing Report

An interesting first week on the Tay which clearly indicates the presence of some perfect Spring salmon down at the lower end of the river. I'll give you my take on what happened this week over the next few paragraphs and an accurate assessment of the prospects for the coming week.

Jock Monteith

21st January 2018

River Tay Brilliance

Why would anyone not want to be out on the glorious River Tay bathed in this special kind of 'God given' sunlight & immense natural scenic beauty. Imagine the effectiveness with many human ailments if the NHS doctors had the authorisation to 'prescribe' a good natural dose of 'river therapy' instead of Big Pharma's 'toxic' poisons!

Jock Monteith

12th January 2018

The Telford Bridge In Dunkeld

It's always amazed me how individual landmarks on the Scottish salmon rivers can instantly fast track you back to a far distant era which replays in your head so vividly as if it were only yesterday.

Jock Monteith

8th January 2018

Learn Speycasting

As a continuation on yesterday's newsletter today's article is dedicated to the third and final section of the Spey cast which is known as the 'power stroke'. This completes my in depth professional based breakdown of this 'timeless' traditional Scottish art form cast.

Jock Monteith

6th January 2018

Learn To Speycast

On the 31st of December I explained the value of a correct & logical line lift at the beginning of the Spey cast which negates the cast crippling 'water resistance' experienced by an incorrect line lift. Today I'll elaborate as to what maintains this ease and smoothness of cast through the middle section of the cast which is known as the 'swing'.

Jock Monteith

5th January 2018

The Scottish Salmon Diamond

I am about to hopefully destroy any form of negativity that you could possibly have been brainwashed with via recent STV or tabloid sensationalism whether from a completely clueless newsreader or the 'hung over' negativity from a 'cup half empty' ghillie.

Jock Monteith

20th December 2017

River Tay Spring Fishing

The mighty River Tay is Scotland's longest and deepest salmon river and thousands of salmon fishing visitors come to its famous salmon beats each season. While salmon can be caught on the Tay anywhere from mid January to mid October the main focus for many is from mid March to mid June when the Spring salmon run is in full swing.

Jock Monteith

18th December 2017

Salmon Fishing Trips

Having the ability via a professional salmon fishing agent who can tailor your fishing trip to include additional services is always going to provide a far superior 'client experience'. Over the decades I've had many requests for extra riverbank services from 'grid references' for helicopter landings to distant pipers on the hill.

Jock Monteith

12th December 2017

River Tay Salmon Beat Management

Once you've fished the middle area of the River Tay a few times you'll soon work out where the best chances of a salmon are to be found. In addition to that you'll also see which beats are respectful to both the fly fishers and spin fishers via a bit of Head Ghillie 'pool segregation' common sense.

Jock Monteith

10th December 2017

Salmon Catch Statistics

Let's consider for a moment a few of the other relative factors that seems to have developed into such a hot topic in Scottish salmon fishing in recent decades. The entire 'catch statistics' theme has certainly become the 'thorn in the bottom' of something as glorious and naturally unpredictable as Scottish salmon fishing.

Jock Monteith

5th December 2017

Catch A River Tay Springer

There's many exciting aspects of Scottish salmon fishing but none more so than catching a fresh run 'fighting fit' Spring salmon on a fly rod. We're now fast approaching the start of the 2018 salmon fishing season and these fine Spring salmon will already be present in the bigger Scottish salmon rivers.

Jock Monteith

3rd December 2017

Dunkeld House Salmon Beat

The ancient Scottish town of Dunkeld has been base for hundreds of thousands of River Tay salmon fishing visitors over the decades and will no doubt remain as popular as ever going forward. Part of the attraction of Dunkeld is the close proximity of some of the best River Tay salmon beats.

Jock Monteith

1st December 2017

Salmon Fly Lines

There is so much more to this huge topic than most purchasers of salmon fly lines or even tackle dealers understand. Only those who are fully engaged in salmon fly fishing as a career will be aware of the following points I'm about to raise as they will also have likely been involved in prototype design and fly line testing at some point in their professional careers.

Jock Monteith

27th November 2017

Speycasting Tuition Scotland

There's way too much fuss made over learning this traditional Scottish salmon fly delivery cast in my professional opinion. The Single or double Spey cast can be spoken in absolute relevant detail reference points in under 10 seconds so how can this cast possibly take years to fully master.

Jock Monteith

25th November 2017

Christmas Fishing Gifts

If you're scanning for different gift ideas to get away from the normal boring stuff for a loved one this Christmas why not treat them to a highly informative professionally delivered introduction to the naturally exciting world of Scottish salmon fishing. One thing for sure is that when all other presents have long been forgotten this 'experience' will permanently remain.

Jock Monteith

18th November 2017

Salmon Fishing School

Studying all the key points that are required in order to become a great salmon fisher is well worth doing and goes far beyond learning how to use a salmon fly rod that represents most people's take on this topic. A wild Atlantic salmon cares not a jot about the arial performance of a fly line and nor will it ever.

Jock Monteith

13th November 2017

Summer Salmon Fishing

Summer salmon fishing can be a testing period of the Scottish salmon fishing season so it's important that you have a good grip of a few of the basics skills and thought processes that will significantly increases your chances of success. The following Summer salmon fishing thought process could be very different from the tactics you currently deploy.

Jock Monteith

9th November 2017

Speycasting Tuition

Learning the traditional Scottish Speycast is one of the easiest and most satisfying casts of all to perform. The important thing in mastering this cast quickly is that you're under the instruction of a professional salmon fishing guide who has a great understanding of the cast and who has excellent communication skills.

Jock Monteith

26th October 2017