Here's a group of salmon fishing holiday guests testing out their newly learned Spey casting and riverbank movement techniques on the left bank of the River Tay's Cottar Pool on the Newtyle Beat. This perfect green grassy bank makes a perfect salmon pool for teaching salmon fishing guests.

Here's some anglers receiving expert Spey casting tuition at Dunkeld on the River Tay. Learning to use a double handed salmon fly rod is easy when instructed by a professional salmon fishing guide who's fully tuned in to the traditional Scottish Speycast. This was a group lesson that was being given to a team of salmon fishing holiday guests who wanted to learn how to fly fish for salmon. Learning to fly fish for salmon is easy when you have the best salmon fishing guide instructors.

Here's professional Scottish salmon guide Jock Monteith with a salmon fishing tour guest at the neck of the famous Kinnaird Beat's Ash Tree Pool. You can clearly see the beautiful Perthshire hills behind Pitlochry in the distance and Jock carrying his favourite salmon landing net over his shoulder.

Here's Scottish salmon guide Jock Monteith showing a group of Canadian salmon fishing holiday guests how best to tie on a salmon fly. Much salmon fishing technical information is delivered to the fishing guests on a guided salmon fishing day including Spey casting lessons, how to move effectively between each cast and how to set the hook when a salmon takes the fly.

Here's a lovely Tay Spring salmon that fell for the deadly Jock's Shrimp tube fly near the River Tummel mouth where it enters the River Tay. Fly fishing in Scotland is great fun and is highly satisfying when salmon are outsmarted. This fine salmon took the Jock's Shrimp salmon which you can see in the photograph.

Salmon Fishing School

By Jock Monteith 13th November 2017

Studying all the key points that are required in order to become a great salmon fisher is well worth doing.

This 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.

This was my first fish of the 2024 River Tay salmon fishing season and a fine fish too as you can clearly see here in this photograph. Look at its beautiful oceanic colours as they highlight against the dark browns of the river environment. I caught this fine at the Rock Pool on Kinnaird Water which has always been a good Spring salmon fishing area.

Salmon River Experience

The real skills involved in salmon fishing are not the self serving egotistical ones that come from delivering a long elegant tight looped fly line to the river when you know you have an audience. The 'real' skills are understanding how to maximise your water coverage, effectively react to a take from a fish and identifying areas of a pool where salmon are likely to be present.

This perfectly timed photograph was taken by professional photographer Louise Bellin on the Kinnaird Beat of the River Tay at the famous Junction Pool which is directly where the River Tummel enters the Tay. Jock, dressed in traditional Tweeds and waders holds his fishing rod, demonstrating the perfect Spey cast required in this salmon fishing hot spot for maximum water coverage of the lovely Tay salmon pool.

Book A Salmon Fishing Course in Scotland

A good source of information to optimise your salmon fishing skills can either be delicately drawn out of the professional 'full time' river staff of the Scottish rivers or on occasion it can be obtained through a professional ghillie's 'fishing' course. Notice I deliberately used the word 'fishing' and not 'casting'.

This salmon fishing tour guest keeps his lucky flies in his fishing cap as you can see here. Most of the old school Scottish salmon ghillies used to do the exact same thing. This perfect Spring salmon was caught on the River Tay near Pitlochry and I took this fine shot as his personal salmon fishing guide that day.

Salmon Fishing Tuition

On ocassion in the past I've had guests come to me that have been with some of the known casting instructors and subsequently watched their blank faces when I've asked them about how they liked to space each swing of the fly. Even more horrific I watched an angler blow 2 fantastic takes from a salmon that clearly wanted his fly because he hadn't been taught how to set a hook by his casting instructor which is the most important skill of all.

Here's a lovely upstream shot of the Lower Tummel salmon beat near Pitlochry with a salmon fishing tour guest trying out his newly taught Spey casting abilities. This lovely upstream shot was taken during early June which is a beautiful time of year to fish the Tummel. Moments after I took the shot this guided salmon fishing guest Martin Hunter hooked and landed his first ever salmon.

Fishing The River Tay For Kids

When I flash my mind back to the 70's when I was a young boy learning this game my late Tay ghillie mentor spent the least amount of time demonstrating how the fly rod functioned. His teaching involved great detail on boat & riverbank approaches and movement, how to set the hook and as importantly how to play & land a fish. Of all the things taught 'reading the pool' was number one on his list of priorities and rightfully so.

Here's a guided River Tay salmon fishing guest out learning the basics of how to fish for salmon. You can see the beautiful oak tree to the right of frame which are numerous on the riverbanks of the Tay Valley. This fast flowing water is opposite the mouth of the River Tummel on Kinnaird.

Learn How To Fish For Salmon

Fishing courses these days don't properly teach any of these skills from what I've seen as the instructors are usually too busy demonstrating their own personal and often 'switch board' jamming techniques with all the latest fad casts they've created. Much of these newly formed associations are just money churning opportunities for new anglers to feel part of a club which is fine if it's the association you seek.

Here's a few of my professional salmon guide friends from the famous Ballathie Beat of The River Tay near Stanley. The man with the green jumper is Geordie McInnes would I first met on the Tay back in the 70's on the Newtyle Beat. Geordie went on to be a famous Tay ghillie and before he retired a few years ago he was one of the Ballathie Beat ghillies.

Career Ghilie Salmon Fishing Tuition

If you want to really take a degree in this sport get yourself some consistent 'one to one' time with a 'true' career professional who will quickly re-align your salmon fishing thoughts to those that are 100% sub surface. This association and good old practical time spent on the Scottish salmon rivers will provide the true education you seek and one that will keep you in this fine pursuit for life as was the case with myself.