Look at the shape and colours of this perfect marine feeding machine! This is a Scottish Spring salmon which was captured on the River Tay near Dunkeld during January. This fish fell to a carefully presented tube fly in the higher Spring water level even though most Tay fishers wrongly think spinning is the best method at that time of year. This fishing was captured by one of my salmon fishing holiday guests while I was assisting him as his personal fishing guide for the day.

What a perfect fresh run Spring salmon this one was which I captured directly outside the Upper Kinnaird fishing hut near Logierait on the River Tay. Look at its perfect ocean hunting colours and how it shows up so magnificently against the dark Spring water of the Tay. Note the landing net being used to stabilise the fish for this fine salmon photograph.

This fish had only just entered the River Tay when it was caught by myself near Dunkeld while I was working as a salmon fly fishing instructor. This fresh run salmon was covered in long tailed sea lice which are acquired in the ocean and then drop off the fish within 48 hours of being back in the fresh river water. This fine Spring salmon had swum from Perth up to Dunkeld within that 48 hour time frame which is good going against the powerful flows of the Tay.

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.

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.

Look at this shape of a salmon for total marine predator hunting finesse. This is a River Tay Spring salmon which was caught by myself while working as a River Tay salmon fishing guide near Dalguise in the Tay Valley. These are the most prized salmon of all to target and thousands of salmon fishers come to the Scottish rivers each Spring for a chance of one.

Setting The Salmon Fly Hook

By Jock Monteith 21st July 2026

Catching salmon on a fly rod is the most satisfying and exciting method you can use and there's nothing that beats the sound of a fly reel under strain from a lively 'powerhouse' of a fish.

Here's a few pointers well worth bearing in mind when you receive your next 'tug' from the underworld!

Here's a lovely Summer salmon which took a fly in the neck of the Mike's Run Pool of the River Tummel which is a tributary river of the River Tay in Highland Perthshire. Look at the perfect proportions of this fine fish. This shot was taken moments before the fish was released from the landing net.

Effective Salmon Fly Fishing Hooking

The key to being effective at catching salmon on the fly is that you don't react to the initial tug or nudges on the fly reel. This can be particularly hard to do if you've come from a trout fishing background and are fully trained to immediately lift the rod to set the hook. In 99% of cases salmon must be given enough time to turn on the fly and start consistently drawing line off the reel (as they return to there original holding position) before the time is right to tighten on them to set the hook. The only 'rare' exceptions to this rule are when you're stripping a high speed fly or old resident salmon aren't taking the fly properly and only 'snapping' at the fly where tightening immediately is your only chance of hooking them.

Here's a fresh run Summer salmon displaying red running marks on its belly. These marks are due to the salmon powering up over shallow gravel during periods of low water which are common in Scotland in Summertime. Salmon fishing guides and experienced salmon fishers know that salmon tend to move through the hours of darkness during the low water Summer months of June, July & August.

Do Not React To Initial Salmon Contact

With 'normal' taking behaviour in mind it's crucial you have the composure to wait until you're at least several 'slow' seconds into the steady draw of line from the fly reel after the initial tugs have ceased before you attempt to set the hook. These seconds will feel like minutes but it's crucial you give the salmon plenty of time to turn and pull away. Wait for the steady line draw off your reel before simply clamping the face of the fly reel with the rod tip pointing down to briefly feel the weight of the fish which will tell you a successful hook hold has been achieved. This 'logical' hook point pressure procedure allows the salmon's bodyweight and forward momentum to squeeze the hook home properly when 'you put the brakes on' which then makes it very difficult for the fish to get rid of the fly.

Hooking one of these muscle bound Spring salmon is one skill but knowing exactly how to play the salmon correctly is a completely different discipline. This perfect 'Springer' was captured and quickly released on the River Tay by one of our salmon fishing holiday guests during late May near the Perthshire town of Dunkeld.

Applying Effective Salmon Hook Pressure

Logic should tell you that the above hooking method will be far more effective than the normal 'lift into the fish' approach which engages the soft action of the fly rod & lightly set reel clutch which 'logically' exerts little or no effective pressure on the hook point. This just 'lift into it' approach accounts for the loss of thousands of salmon hooking opportunities on the Scottish rivers every year. If you don't set the hook properly a salmon will usually always demonstrate how good it is at getting rid of any unwanted object from its mouth and normally only a few seconds or minutes after contact. Spare yourself that dreadful feeling of loss and daunting thoughts of what could have been and deploy the above rod tip down clamping method at the correct time during the take to ensure your water coverage skills and patience isn't wasted! Remember that when you put the brakes a salmon with the rod tip pointing down in the direction of the fish by momentarily clamping you fly reel face the only thing 'logically' between your hand and the hook point(s) is the 'negligible' core stretch of your fly line.

It's always a good indicator of future salmon stocks when you get a visual on the fry density following a Winter spawning season like you can see here. This shoal of fry is approx 20% of the density we used to see 5 decades ago when salmon spawning gravels were in much better silt free condition. I took this shot during early June on the River Tay near Dunkeld.

The Future Of Scottish Salmon Fishing

Wild Atlantic salmon stocks have been on a generally steady decline across the world for the last 40 years as internet & social media reporting has come of age therefore the lack of salmon caught is often inaccurately assessed via a lack of angling pressure and then over exaggerated creating a doom 'lets not go fishing' atmosphere amongst the angling fraternity. It has never been consistently too easy to catch salmon as far as I can remember and these days are no different yet there's zero or very little effective qualification or training of salmon anglers who come into this sport which doesn't help matters if you think about it. Salmon numbers are what they are and I've witnessed an ongoing increase in the numbers of fishers who wish to be properly taught how to fish and not just cast!

Here's a perfect fresh run Summer salmon which one of my fishing trip guest's caught near Pitlochry on the River Tay while I was working as his salmon fishing guide. This fish took a small deep fished salmon fly and put up a great fight before being drawn to the fine green meshed landing net that you can see behind the salmon.

The Scottish Salmon Stock Decline Mindset

Don't hold your breath waiting for fund restricted & vision deficient river management or our sea loch 'ecology destructive' commercial salmon farm supporting Government to do anything about protecting or dare I say even boosting wild Atlantic salmon stocks as their track record with wild salmon stock management is somewhere south of appalling. Instead, celebrate and focus on what we are still fortunate to have coming into our amazing rivers, up your tactical approach and bathe in the absolute buzz of that close up Atlantean adrenalin induced inspection assuming your salmon fishing skills are (or become) good enough to ensure that happens from time to time!