Here's one of our River Tay salmon fishing trip guests moments before a Spring salmon took his fly at the Green Bank Pool of the River Tay at Kinnaird. Careful salmon lie approach often pays off when fishing any salmon pool especially when salmon are suspected of lying close to the riverbank like this scenario. This fisher had come from California to fish the Tay and departed with a very special memory.

This lovely shot was taken at the Ash Tree Pool on the Kinnaird Beat of the River Tay which is located between the Perthshire towns of Dunkeld & Pitlochry. This perfectly tapered gravel riverbank makes wading safe & easy for visiting salmon fishing guests.

The River Tay's Newtyle Beat has many good salmon fishing pools that can be fished with a fly or a spinner. This fly fishing angler is just approaching one such hotspot at the tail of The Trap Pool. I took this shot while working as a salmon fishing guide for this salmon fisher. This fine photograph was taken during August when many fish are present in this lovely Tay salmon pool.

If you're serious about your salmon fishing you'll learn how to separate each swing of the fly effectively to achieve maximised water coverage over the full course of the fishing day. This lovely shot was taken of a guided salmon fishing guest on right hand bank the River Tay Kinnaird Beat's March pool while learning how to fish for salmon..

This is the gravel riverbank at the Meetings Pool on the River Tay where the River Tummel meets the Tay near the Perthshire town of Pitlochry. This type of salmon pool is every professional salmon guides dream to fish through due to this gently tapered riverbank terrain.

Exactly where this River Tay salmon fisher is positioned is a very good salmon lie as the stream slows up here and deep water begins so perfect for resting salmon to hold up in. This is the Meetings Pool tail at Kinnaird which is between the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld. The angler is a salmon fishing guide team member from Monteith guided salmon fishing services.

Salmon River Stealth

By Jock Monteith 13th December 2025

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.

Over fishing & a lack of salmon fisher stealth will no doubt have much to do with the above scenario.

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.

Don't Overcook A Salmon Pool

'Little and often' is the best approach as far as the fishing effort pressure goes in the above scenario but that is seldom actioned as the majority of salmon anglers and ghillies don't think like that. If you bombard salmon too often they will completely switch off and the best chance will lie with the first angler through the pool each morning then it will become fairly difficult thereafter for anyone else with normal fishing skills. Halving the angling pressure in situations like that will double the catch return which I've personally witnessed on many occasions over the decades.

This Steps Pool on the Newtyle Beat is a productive salmon holding pool on the River Tay many salmon hold up here due to the series of giant riverbed stones that span right across the Tay in this pool hence the pool's name. The salmon fisher you see is fishing this easy side of the pool where the riverbed is gently tapered and therefore easy to wade through.

Robotic Salmon Pool Rotations

Salmon pool rotations on many Scottish salmon beats are robotic and don'tusually go much further than "you're here until 11am then walk down to the next pool and fish there until lunchtime". When salmon are present and proving 'tricky' the last thing you want is to hit them too hard and one properly spaced swing through the pool is always going to produce better results than multiple runs through just because an angler has the time on that pool to do so.

Don't Be A Careless Gravel Cruncher

Look at this photograph of the beautiful middle River Tay salmon pool where most approaching salmon anglers would just crunch their way quickly straight up the side of the river eager to get to the neck of the pool before fishing back down to the tail of the pool. That little dark seam of stream you see that's located 5 yards from the edge of the riverbank would be completely compromised and that type of stream is exactly where a few running fish that are eager to take a fly could be temporarily holding had a more stealthy and thoughtful approach been deployed.

Switch Yourself Into Stealth Mode

A slow wider berthed walk up to the neck of the pool in a big half circle route away from the river margins would keep your pool intact and not diminish your chances of moving on some shallower stream holding salmon that could have been fairly easily connected with. On the riverbank I'm personally a complete 'fanatic' for stuff like this and every movement and shadow I make is carefully considered. If you adopt this riverbank approach mindset you'll experience your fair share of additional salmon takes and nothing beats a sub surface 'stealth' endorsement from the underworld!

Learn Tactical Salmon Fishing Skills

The best way to get to grips with these types of advanced salmon fishing skills is to book a professional salmon guide who's spent a career on the Scottish rivers and who fully understands all angles of approach learned via decades of daily riverbank observations. In Scottish salmon fishing there are many tactical subtleties that can make a significant difference to the outcome of your salmon fishing efforts and especially if you short circuit the learning proccess and fast track these 'specialist' salmon fishing skills from a 'career' salmon guide.