This is the amazing Green Bank Pool on the Lower Tummel beat of the River Tummel near Pitlochry. In this medium level water height the main salmon lie is in the centre of the river right down at the tail of the pool which I've marked with a big red circle. These river bank stones require careful navigation by our salmon fishing holiday guests as they often move underfoot. Salmon fishing guides forewarn all fishing guess to make sure they get a proper footing between each riverbank step.

I took this River Tay salmon pool shot In low water conditions and many salmon hold in this perfect salmon stream which is directly opposite the mouth of the River Tummel. This pool fishes primarily from the opposite left hand bank but myself and many other salmon anglers prefer fishing this pool from this right hand bank. This shot was taken during early Spring looking down river from this right hand bank of the Tay.

This perfect Newtyle salmon pool is known as 'The Boil' due to a huge riverbed stone that's positioned in the middle of the river opposite this salmon fisher which creates a huge boiling effect on the river surface. You can see Birnam Hill in the distance.

Here's a photograph of myself out surveying the Meetings Pool on the Lower Kinnaird salmon beat of the River Tay at dusk. As a professional salmon guide I always like to watch the river during the last hour of daylight for any signs of salmon movement.

This superb Autumn cock salmon took me 50 minutes to tame on the fly rod on the Newtyle Beat of the River Tay near Dunkeld while I was serving as a professional salmon guide & Head Ghilie. With big salmon like this you just need to take your time as they cannot be rushed.

Here's an upstream shot of the neck of the Boatlands salmon pool with the Dunkeld Hills visible in the background which is typical of the perfect scenery on the middle area of the River Tay. This salmon fisher shot was taken by myself as I was this angler's salmon fishing guide for the day.

Here's a perfect fast water deep glide salmon pool on the River Tay near Dunkeld. This is typical of where salmon like to hang out during low warm water conditions. This low water Summer shot was taken by myself while working as a professional Tay salmon fishing guide.

Salmon Lie Identification

By Jock Monteith 30th August 2025

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.

This is a skill that needs to be developed due to the 'ever changing' water conditions you'll be faced with on all salmon rivers which can sometimes even move these salmon holding areas around.

Look Away From The Turbulent Water

Take a look at this photograph and you'll note that the 'red circled' salmon holding area is located well back from the turbulent water that's visible to the right hand side of frame. This turbulence is created by some large sub surface riverbed stones. Salmon don't like turbulent 'boily' water and much prefer a steady relaxed flow to hold up in. A salmon likes a steady water flow for its oxygen supply that's coming in through its mouth and out of its gills from one direction and not the inconsistent flow angles that is present in turbulent water.

Salmon Pool Holding Areas

If you can add into this steady relaxed flow pace some reasonable depth or at least close to an area where there's some pool depth for security should a predator show up then you've found an area that will potentially hold salmon. Other salmon holding areas will often be far less noticeable and especially in deeper pools where you'll only be able to evaluate the pool's true salmon holding qualities after studying the water far more carefully over all of the differing water conditions.

Where Big Salmon Lie

I recall a brilliant salmon lie on one of the River Tay salmon beats I used to work on. This particular salmon lie seemed to often produce heavyweight salmon and I recall a 36lbs & 31lbs salmon as 2 examples of this in addition to a 27lbs beauty caught only just a few fews ago on the 28th of March 23. Big salmon like the deepest pools to hold in when river water levels are running normal to low. They clearly feel safer in this type of holding water until the next spate encourages them to move on again. So if you're looking for a chance of a heavyweight salmon in regular or low water conditions go to the deepest pool on the beat you're fishing as that's exactly where that fish will be.

Salmon River Observations

This above particular square metre salmon lie I'm referring to (at the Plain Tree pool on the Newtyle Beat of the Tay) is only identifiable if you sit on the riverbank and patiently study the surface of the river at certain water levels. Although a deep slow moving pool if you really tune into it visually you'll see a tiny dimple like swirl appear on the river surface every 90 seconds or so but so subtle it would be very easy to miss it and completely invisible if there was any surface wind riffle present. Subtlety is a key word in salmon lie identification so don't cast your eye over a salmon pool too quickly as you'll likely miss the little clues that will often be visibly present.

Subsurface Salmon River Features

That little occasional swirl of water mentioned above marks the presence of a big single riverbed stone that is positioned approx 25 feet upstream of where this subtle water displacement was occurring. Beside this big deeply positioned sub surface stone is where all these heavyweight salmon have been hooked. It really is a fascinating aspect of salmon fishing as to the subtlety of where salmon prefer to hold and one that merits much thought and observation. Once you gain a subsurface blueprint in your mind of the salmon beats you're fishing your fishing thought processes will separate from the pack and so will your rod day to salmon take ratio!

The Eye Of The Osprey And The Nose Of An Otter

Developing the 'eye of an osprey' and the 'nose of an otter' in Scottish salmon fishing is far more important than being a great caster with the best of kit as while the expert caster will be self gratifying themselves with the beautiful finish of their fly rod and the arial performance of their fly line the real salmon fisher who's 'reading the river' correctly will often likely have a bent rod! There's way way more core self satisfaction in creating a 'buckling' fly rod via effective river observations than there will ever be in a tight looped 40 yarder!