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

When the weather worsens on the rivers of Scotland it's always good to have a reliable waterproof jacket to hand to keep you bone dry while fishing. Look at the heavy rain bouncing off the surface of the River Tay in this shot from the Daffodil salmon lie pool on Kinnaird.

When you're out fishing the River Tay for salmon it's vital you carry a good 100% waterproof jacket just in case a heavy rain shower appears during the course of the fishing day. Look at this for torrential rain bouncing off the surface of the Ash Tree Pool on Kinnaird. When you book a guided River Tay salmon fishing experience all equipment and a quality waterproof jackets will be supplied to keep you warm & dry.

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

Look at this shimmering River Tay fly water perfection and think about what could be lying up in here and ready for a careful salmon fly presentation. This is the perfect March Pool on Scotland's famous River Tay which is one such perfect fly pool in this middle River Tay fishing area between the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld.

Here's the freezing conditions of January on the River Tay in Perthshire. Salmon at this time of year are found in the slightly milder upper water column thermals and not down deep as per popular belief. When the Scottish rivers are running cold like this you need to think outside of the box and let logic be your compass and not general hearsay as to where to target cold water salmon.

Here's a perfect shot of the River Tay near Dunkeld which is a super popular salmon fishing location for visiting salmon anglers. Many salmon are caught each year by our salmon fishing trip guests on the fly and with the spinner in this area of the Tay from early Spring to late Autumn each year.

This is the Rock Pool on the River Tay slightly upstream of the River Tay & River Tummel confluence which is just visible in the background. This is a very good salmon fishing area in Scotland and worthy of a salmon fishing trip. I took this beautiful shot in low water conditions during June after commuting down in this traditional Tay salmon boat.

A River Tay salmon guide will take you to the best fishing areas and will make sure you're fishing through them optimally. If you are new to the sport a guide will teach all of the basic fly fishing skills and will supply all of the required fishing equipment and permit access. This is an upstream shot of the March Pool on the River Tay opposite the River Tummel mouth. Look at the perfectly strimmed riverbank I completed for the benefit & safety of our many visiting River Tay salmon fishing trip guests.

Salmon River Conditions

By Jock Monteith 28th July 2026

If you're waiting for perfect river conditions for your salmon fishing trip you can wait a long time and still have zero guarantee of a fish or two!

Many anglers these days pay far too much attention to digital 'catch stats' and water level gimmickry which most definitely will have cost them plenty of salmon!

I took this photo of the stone build Newtyle Beat jetty which dates back to 1970 when it was constructed by Willie Laird who was the Newtyle Beat ghillie at that time. I served as Head Ghillie on Newtyle from 2001 to 2009 which was a fantastic period for me as a professional salmon guide. You can see the boathouse I built in 2008 on the opposite bank if you look closely. You can also see one of our traditional River Tay harling boats just upstream of this famous jetty.

Last Minute Salmon Fisher Bookings

These days many potential salmon fishing visitors wait until the last minute to see what the water is doing or what's getting caught before committing to a day on the river which is completely illogical as the 'only' Scottish salmon stock measuring tool are the anglers themselves! There are many factors that influence whether salmon are caught or not on any beat (and that even includes the angler's skill set ability) but one thing for certain is that no anglers will catch no fish and if no fish are being recorded then no anglers are coming and so this ridiculous poorly thought out self fulfilling marketing prophecy continues! Many salmon fishers are now last minute bookers which has 'amplified' the lack of fish being recorded by reducing their own fishing effort via holding back for their perception of perfect river conditions. The human mind also seems to favour the convienence of a negative thought rather than the buzz of positivite one when it comes to catching salmon which has never been consistently easy or guaranteed as far back as I can remember.

This is the old tail of the Ash Tree Pool on the Kinnaird salmon beat before the river re-diverted itself a few years ago and this entire run disappeared and re-routed itself way off to the left of frame. This pool at the end of the gravel riverbank was called New Pool and where the river turns left in the distance was known as Fir Trees Pool. The salmon rivers often re-route themselves like this requiring our salmon fishing instructors to re-learn them from time to time.

Salmon Think For Themselves

Salmon thankfully think for themselves and it often amazes me when I observe the most unlikely low water river conditions come alive when a run of fresh salmon cause commotion as they enter the pool. Often in the low water of Summer you'll catch fish with pink running marks on their bellies so these fish decided to run and not wait for a lift in the river or for the falling water levels on the back of a flood as they should have done! Don't be looking for river condition perfection in this business is what I'd suggest as salmon will often be present or will show up when you least expect them. There's way much more to enjoying this fine pursuit and at best catching salmon will only ever represent a small percentage of the hours you'll spend on the riverbank even when the river is full of cooperating fish!

Success In Scottish Salmon Fishing

Success in salmon fishing is about knowing tactically what you're doing coupled with high persistency levels over the full course of the fishing day. Focussing your thoughts on the speed and depth of your fly or lure are crucially important factors too. The real advantage you need is that often unpredictable bit of 'self manufactured' luck that positions you in front of a taking fish via effective fly swing spacings riverbank movement and all of the above has got absolutely nothing to do with a water gauge readings or the vast majority of other river conditions. Look at the damage 'over thinking' has done in the scientific research side of this business so if you're an angler 'use your loaf' and get a 'controlled' fly out across the river with well trained wading boot movement between each salmon fly delivery! If you zoom in on the picture above with the boat on the sandbank, you'll see a fellow salmon guide team member with 2 new salmon fishing guests on the right hand bank of the river with a 12lbs Spring salmon being weighed in the landing net which shouldn't have happened during those bright low water conditions! That fish was immediately followed by a 2nd of 11lbs!

This fish was caught neat the Perthshire town of Murthly with this fortunate salmon angler's very first cast of the fly while I was serving as his personal salmon fishing guide. Sometime salmon can surprise the angler and his guide by showing up at the very start of the fishing day. This fine fish was caught in the Cottage Stream Pool on the Kercock salmon beat of the River Tay.

The Seasoned Salmon Angler

Unpredictability in this sport is one of its big attractions and turning up on the river where the conditions are perceived to be less than favourable doesn't mean salmon are not present or cannot be caught. The skilled salmon fisher will be excited by this challenge and will be quietly eager to prove a point. Don't make the mistake of 'writing off' the fishing day as I've seen our 'Salmon God' appear in horrible flat grey light conditions when a rotten easterly wind was blowing and when the nastiest 'face biting' north wind was howling all day long down the river. Bright light, low light, high water, low water, driving rain, thick fog, freezing cold or roasting hot you should always be aware that there's always a chance as long as you believe there's one and you're actually there displaying some reasonable riverbank form to prove that fact to yourself. Also, I'm not understanding the logic during periods of lower catch recordings either and why the 'apparent' scarcity of salmon is not perceived the same way as gold, diamonds, Bitcoin or any other commodity where the scarcity is indeed the very 'value' driver itself! Imagine if a blind dog in a snow storm could catch a salmon on every outing and how boring the challenge would become!