Here's my son Johnny spinning the neck of the Rock Pool on Kinnaird with his 10ft spinning rod. The use of a spinning rod is allowed on some of the Scottish rivers such as the River Tay in Perthshire. This lovely upstream shot was taken on the Tay near Logierait which is a salmon fishing hot spot that's close to the River Tay & River Tummel confluence.

It's important to know good spin fishing tactics to stand the best chances of success when spin fishing on the River Tay. This shot was taken on the Rock Pool near Logierait which is a very productive spin fishing area of the Tay. This fisher was on a guided River Tay salmon fishing day with me as his personal ghillie. You can see I've kitted him out in chest waders, a waterproof jacket, life jacket and fishing equipment.

Here's an angler spinning a fishing lure through the Kercock beat's main Gean Tree salmon pool during late morning in mid Summer. This salmon fishing guest was spin fishing from this steeper side of the river with an ABU Toby Salmo 30g in silver & copper lure.

These are a carefully designed, named & coloured range of perfect new style salmon lures created by renowned Scottish salmon ghillie & River Tay boatman Jock Monteith. Salmon lures in general are seriously outdated and with reduced Atlantic salmon stock levels across the entire Northern Hemisphere more intelligent lures are required to capitalise on angler's limited fishing time. These professionally designed spin fishing lures will significantly increase the chance of salmon action!

Spinning for Atlantic salmon Is allowed on some of the bigger Scottish rivers in certain water conditions. The River Tay however allows spin fishing throughout its extensive fishing season which runs from 15 January to 15 October. This lovely shot was taken slightly down of the Logierait Bridge on the Kinnaird salmon beat which is a great beat of the River Tay to fish for salmon. This salmon fisher is fishing the neck of the Channel Pool which is a great salmon spin fishing pool.

These are a carefully designed and coloured range of perfect new style salmon lures created by renowned Scottish salmon ghillie & River Tay boatman Jock Monteith. Salmon lures in general are seriously outdated and with reduced Atlantic salmon stock levels across the entire Northern Hemisphere more intelligent lures are required to maximise an angler's limited fishing time. These professionally designed 21g lures will significantly increase the chance of salmon action!

There's much skill and understanding involved in catching a Scottish salmon on a spinning rod and make no mistake about that fact. This visiting American salmon fisher was learning these spin fishing skills near Dunkeld on the River Tay during the low water of Summertime while under my supervision as his salmon guide.

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.

I took this shot of this salmon fishing guest spinning through the Green Bank pool on the River Tay near Pitlochry. You can see from the bare trees this shot was taken during early Spring. The spinner offers a salmon fisher the ability to cover much more water on a big river than what could realistically be achieved with a fly rod. This significantly increases the chance of a salmon take on big rivers like the River Tay in Perthshire but only if good riverbank cast spacings are added to the tactical spin approach.

How can clearly see the perfect iron Logierait Bridge behind this River Tay spin fishing guest. This area of the Tay near Pitlochry has some lovely deep holding water for salmon which can be perfectly targeted with a spinning rod & spinner. Look at the lovely green grassy riverbank which makes it easy for fishing guests to fish from.

Setting A Spinning Lure Hook

By Jock Monteith 15th April 2026

If you're a salmon spin fisher and think that salmon are just taking short when they continually drop off then you're kidding yourself on and you will continue to squander quality hooking opportunities while spinning.

Most of the time that happens is because the spinning reel clutch is far too loosely set.

Spin Fishing Hook Point Pressure

Don't think the big hook on a 30 gram Toby 'Salmo' is going to set itself when the salmon grabs it and pulls against an overly slack clutch. If you do then I've some bad news for you and I've watched this for so many years and even with ghillies who've continually dropped hooking opportunities whether 'harling' or allowing their guests to spin with lightly set spinning reel clutches. All hooks logically require sufficient pressure to be set and if they are not set fairly quickly while spinning you're guaranteed to get your lure back minus the fish!

I caught this fine 16lbs specimen Spring salmon in February on the River Tay near Dunkeld as hard proof that early run Scottish salmon certainly do exist. Look at the caliber of this perfect fish which is exceptional and easily caught too for those who know how & where to fish during the early Spring months in Scotland.

Sufficient Hook Set Pressure Is Vital

The majority of the inside of a salmon's mouth is fairly tough tissue therefore those bigger spinning lure hooks are not going home properly unless a good firm bend on the rod is administered where that vital early 'hook set' energy is not negated by the sound of a light clutch setting. Tightening your clutch up to set the hook should make perfect sense and then once you know that salmon hook hold has been properly achieved (after 5 to 10 seconds of firm contact) then loosen the clutch off slightly to play the fish. You want the initial clutch setting on your reel not full on but not far away where line can be pulled off the reel spool but only with a reasonably 'strong' pull. Remember at 20 to 50 yards there's stretch in your mono line and the action of your rod (if using braid) to counteract hook set pressure so don't diminish hook set pressure further via a slack clutch.

This is the twin pack set of these deadly salmon spin fishing lures that have been expertly designed by leading Scottish professional salmon fishing expert Jock Monteith.

The Monteith Copper Sprat Spinning Lure

I've always been a huge fan of the ABU 'Salmo' 30g spinning lure and I only ever used to use 2 colours and they were firstly the silver & copper and secondly the black/gold/red & copper. I'll fish down through a pool with one colour then switch and fish back up through the pool with the other (when there's no other anglers to consider) and I know salmon are present. The upstream effort salmon will not see coming until it's right on them and in a different colour which usually upsets stubborn fish enough to have a go! Having been frustrated for decades that professional salmon anglers have to take what they're given by the tackle manufacturers I decided to creat my own version of the old ABU Salmo in the 27g (livelier action) Monteith Copper Sprat. There is/was however an unfair stigma attached to these salmon lures about being bad hookers which is nonsense and only due to anglers fishing them with too slack a spinning reel clutch setting for the hook to be set effectively early into contact. Ridiculously, the old tackle dealer (non professional ghillie) remedy was to recommend adding an additional split ring to the hook (to counteract leverage!) but think of the logic of that codswallop which actually moves the hook further away from the target! Here's more info on my revolutionary Monteith salmon lure range.

This shot was taken on the River Tay near Pitlochry during the Summer while I was the salmon guide for this fishing trip fisherman. Many anglers think salmon fishing is mainly about how well they can cast a fly but the truth of the matter is that the important thing to learn is how to move properly between each cast of the fly as that's logically what will place your fly in front of a cooperating salmon if your water coverage is good enough.

Listen To Fishing Logic And Forget Preconceived Notions

I've seen it so often on the River Tay where great salmon hooking opportunities were missed by anglers who repeatedly loosened off their clutches even after being properly briefed. Personally I get frustrated when anglers turn up on a beat and don't listen to the Head Ghillie's instructions as professional 'time on the river' and river observation experience would suggest the angler should be listening. Any big salmon hook needs set properly and any thoughts of a salmon taking off like a bonefish on an instant powerful & unstoppable 100 yard run when hooked are not relevant to salmon fishing as there's always time to set the hook then loosen off the clutch before the fun & games of battle commence.

These Arabian guest had a great day out on the River Tay with me during August and all mastered the Scottish Spey cast and other important salmon fishing skills very quickly. When you live in London I guess coming to the Tay Valley for some salmon river therapy is a polar opposite to daily London life. This was one of the fish caught from the Tay salmon boat in the picture.

Raising Salmon Fishing Skill Set Levels

Atlantic salmon fishing in Scotland is one of these rural pursuits where anyone can just buy the equipment & a permit and go out there which is great however there needs to be a good understanding & ability for true fishing day value to be achieved so any logical tactical assistance should in my opinion be grasped & appreciated by any angler who's given these little gem snippets of information that can assist them to hit objective and stay in the game! You'd never be allowed on the hill with a stalker and .243 rifle without first demonstrating your ability to hit a target. In Scottish salmon fishing there's no basic skill test so most anglers operate on hearsay which can often be complete misinformation.

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..

Setting The Hook & Riverbank Movement

Overall, from what I've seen over the decades there's a definite minority of really tactically aware spin or fly fishers on the salmon rivers of Scotland who have consistent hook setting procedures or good & thorough riverbank movement techniques. To my mind those two attributes are the two most important points in salmon fishing and far more important than the aerial elegance of a fly line as a salmon is less bothered by that than fishers may think! Ultimately catching salmon on most salmon beats in Scotland takes patience, understanding & a consistent effort so it's always much better if there's a positive outcome where often hard earned salmon 'take' opportunities are converted into landed salmon which keeps all parties happy including the local economy!