Here's the Dunkeld traditional larch built salmon fishing boat moored up for the night as dusk approaches. The dusk is a magical time of the day to observe a salmon river as the fading light and general calming of the river magnifies your sensory perception.

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.

Here's a close up shot of the head of the most sought after marine creature otherwise known as a fresh run Spring salmon. This fine fish was caught in May on the River Tay near the Tummel & Tay confluence which is a renowned holding area for Spring salmon near the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld.

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.

This Tay 'coble' boat was hand made by famous River Tay boatbuilder John Ferguson who's based in Stanley in the Tay Valley. These traditional salmon fishing boats serve many different fishing applications and are a pleasure to be out on the Tay in one for the day. This photograph of me in the boat with my fly rod & my labrador dog 'Selkie' was taken in the Cottar Pool on the Newtyle Beat of the River Tay by professional photographer Peter Sandground.

Scotland's Best Kept Secret

By Jock Monteith 28th April 2018

Why the commercial gain from Scottish salmon farming aquaculture has been allowed to flourish despite the massive ecological destruction of Scottish sea lochs and coastal areas.

The decimation of wild Scottish salmon and sea trout stocks over the last 40 years has been allowed to happen even with the predicatable destruction of our precious wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout stocks.

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.

Aquaculture Or Wild Atlantic Salmon

The word aquaculture makes me want to vomit as that word they've dressed up their 'salmon simulation' production industry which actually translates as carcinogenic garbage at the expense of the systematic destruction of Scotland's once amazing West Coast sea loch ecologies. The pollution from the current Scottish West Coast salmon farming industry equates to the same raw sewage as a population of 9 million people would produce on a daily basis!

Look at this and tell me you cannot see the nose of an astute marine predator. This is a River Tay Spring salmon that was captured near Dunkeld during the Spring month of May which is a great fishing time on the Tay. I caught this salmon opposite the mouth of the River Tummel where it enters the Tay while I was off duty as a River Tay salmon guide.

Why Are Wild Salmon Being Ignored

Mankind is highly intelligent as we all know and look at the mind boggling technologies that exist today and man's ability to successfully accomplish whatever it wants to achieve. Why therefore is completely jamming the Scottish salmon rivers with massive stocks of wild Atlantic salmon not been achieved you may wonder or been even attempted for that matter! The reason is simply that they don't want to as the orders from above are to keep the emphasis on the farmed equivalent as that serves their pockets best.

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.

The Easy Solution To Develop Atlantic Salmon Stocks

I 100% believe we have officials within salmon fishing management who are only there to make sure this amazing wild resource is kept down as nothing else could ever explain their lack of accomplishment or ignorance in regards to the fairly straight forward wild resource stock enhancement task in hand which amounts to nothing more than 'logical' large scale annual wild smolt outputs and effective oceanic protection.

More Salmon Fishing Articles

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.

Fine Tune Your Speycast

Jock Monteith

14th August 2026

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.

This perfect River Tay Springer was caught by myself on the 23rd of February from the Kinnaird salmon beat near Pitlochry. These early run Scottish salmon are perfect specimens and are guaranteed to get your heart racing. This fish was quickly returned and swam off strongly to continue its upstream migration to the upper reaches of the Tay. You can see the gold ABU Toby lure, Bruce & Walker Hexagraph spinning rod and Van Staal spinning reel used in the capture of this fine Spring run salmon.

Successful Salmon Spin Fishing

Jock Monteith

13th August 2026

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.

This is the Steps Pool on the Newtyle Beat of the River Tay and I've drawn the optimal wade line in red which allows anglers to fish through the pool safely and effectively without spooking any salmon that may be present. I took this downstream shot while working as this guest's salmon fishing guide for the day.

Salmon Lie Approach

Jock Monteith

12th August 2026

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!

Here's Jock Monteith amidst a Spey casting lesson on the River Tay under the historic Telford Bridge demonstrating perfect D Loop loading with the single Spey cast. The traditional Spey cast is the most effective and satisfying casts. This photo was taken by local Dunkeld photographer Charlie MacDonald. Jock is wearing his Graham of Menteith tartan kilt while demonstrating Spey cast with his 15ft Monteith salmon fly rod.

The Spey Cast Swing

Jock Monteith

11th August 2026

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.

I designed this deadly salmon fly pattern 20 years ago while working as the Head Ghillie and salmon fishing instructor on the River Tay's Newtyle Beat. Here's the exact dressing before anyone asks;
Hook: 1

Salmon Fly Selection

Jock Monteith

10th August 2026

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.

This guest was fishing with me on the River Tay near Dunkeld. This pool tail is a renowned hot spot for running salmon so I waded out to this fishing position to make it easier to fish the main salmon lie between the fisher and the far riverbank. Directly in front of the big tree that you can see on the opposite riverbank is the main salmon lie hot spot.

Important Riverbank Etiquette

Jock Monteith

9th August 2026

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.

Here's myself with a fine Spring salmon in the landing net immediately prior to its release. A good landing net with fish friendly mesh is an essential piece of salmon fishing equipment. I caught this fine salmon at the Daffodil Lie Pool on the beautiful Kinnaird Beat of the River Tay in Highland Perthshire.

Spin Fishing For Tay Salmon

Jock Monteith

8th August 2026

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.

Here's the bow section of a hand built River Tay 16ft salmon fishing 'coble' boat with a Brady fishing back and Bruce & Walker salmon Spey rod fitted with a Van Staal salmon fly reel. Professional salmon guides in Scotland take their personal salmon fishing equipment seriously too!

Salmon Beat Ghillies

Jock Monteith

7th August 2026

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.