Here's the shimmering sunlight dancing across the River Tay near Pitlochry during early Spring. Even early Spring has some amazing scenery like this well before the leaves appear on the riverside trees. There's much more to Scottish salmon fishing trips than just catching salmon.

This perfect Spring salmon was caught by myself on the River Tay during late February after hours of searching the river for a fish. When you go salmon fishing it requires a solid logic backed fishing plan at the start of the day to catch salmon and this fish was the result of that type of detailed planning. Look at the perfect shimmer from this early Spring salmon's silver flanks lying beside my salmon fly reel & Spey rod.

This was a perfect River Tummel salmon of 11lbs caught that I caught while working as a salmon guide in May near the mouth of the River Tummel. You can see the light blue floating fly line on my fly rod which was fitted with a 15ft sinking tip just to get the fly down a foot or two in the water column. Note the fine meshed landing net bag the salmon is lying on.

Here's one of my favourite Copperass tube flies not long after it produced a perfect 18lbs Spring salmon for me while working as a professional River Tay ghillie. This pattern of salmon fly is 1 of 2 that I swear by and have built a professional salmon fishing guiding business on the back of.

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.

Here's an upstream early Spring view of the River Tummel & River Tay confluence. You can see there's no foliage on the trees nor has the grass started to grow again after being cut during late Summer the year prior. The bench you see to the left of frame I sited in this perfect elevated riverbank position several years ago when I was the ghillie on this beat.

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.

Spring Salmon Lies

By Jock Monteith 18th February 2026

There's a bit of thought and riverbank experience involved in making sure you're focussed in the correct areas of a salmon pool through the cold water period of the early Spring.

The next few paragraphs will give you a few of the pool attributes to look out for to increase your awareness and chances of early Spring salmon fishing success.

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 Stealthy Spring Salmon

Spring salmon in the cold water of early season can be a very stealthy creatures who won't necessarily show themselves and give away their holding position like they often do in the warmer waters of late Spring. You need to always fish on the assumption that fresh run Spring salmon are present and in my professional experience that is usually always the case whether they are caught or not.

Where To Look For Early Spring Salmon

Normally through the early Spring months of the fishing season the Scottish rivers will be running high following recent rainfall or snow melt. The high cold water searching procedure becomes a polar opposite to where and how you'd be searching for a salmon in the low warmer water of late Spring or Summer. The deep slow moving areas of the salmon pool away from the fast turbulent water areas are the likely areas to locate resting early Spring salmon.

Here's the perfect end result of a carefully presented River Tay salmon fly in the middle area of the Tay Valley near Dunkeld during May. Look at the physical perfection of this salmon and it's no wonder these Spring run fish are the most highly regarded of all the Scottish salmon runs. The fish is in the landing net beside my salmon fly rod & reel.

Close Lying Spring Salmon

The higher the river is running the more likelihood that these deeper slower moving river holding areas will be fairly close to the riverbank and on all Scottish rivers and these areas can often be right under your rod. With this in mind be cautious how you approach the pool as spooking 'close lying' early Spring salmon is easy to do in the high water where salmon have other holding area options they can move to. With this in mind you need to drop the all too popular distance casting concept and target only the obvious holding areas of the pool or you'll likely miss the chance of catching a Spring fish.

Slow Moving Glassy Surface Areas

A great thing to look for on any river at any time of the year is where you see dark 'glassy' areas appearing constantly or periodically on the surface of the river which is always indicative of a sub surface feature and smooth flowing water where salmon love to hold. I recall fishing the River Stinchar many years ago and walking between pools with a great fishing colleague. I noticed what looked like to me a perfect slow water salmon lie out in the middle of a faster flowing area of the river. My fishing colleague said it wasn't worth fishing as in 15 years it had never produced a salmon. I took one cast and my line was tightened instantly by a 15 pound hard fighting cock salmon so follow your nose when you see a potential salmon lie.

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.

The Fast Water Salmon Lies Of Summer

Throughout the year salmon will not lie in fast water unless they are forced to go there when oxygen levels are lower during periodic very warm water conditions of Summer but even then they'll be lying in an area close to the bottom where there's a break in the current which will be completely invisible to ourselves. In the Spring when there's plenty oxygen present in the cold water forget the fast water areas as they will only be used when a salmon is on the move and is needing to power up through them.

Spring Salmon Fly Presentation

During the cold water of Spring your salmon fly should be fished slowly and at approx one foot under the surface of the river as salmon will be holding no deeper than 2 feet down. This is where the warmer thermals are to be found and no different from you or I sitting beside the fire! If you fish your fly at 1 foot via a fast or extra fast 10ft or 15ft sink tip your fly will be right on target and make no mistake about that fact as I've seen it on hundreds of occasions over the years. Most salmon fly fishers are completely unaware of where their salmon fly is in the water column so it is always worth spending some time studying this important part of salmon fly fishing. A long sink tip and heavy fly doesn't always mean your fly is fishing way down deep on a big river like the Tay even when a big mend is applied so studying this aspect of fly fishing will greatly assist you in positioning your fly exactly where you need it to be operating.

This is a cold water weir stopper for early run River Tay Spring salmon at the lower end of the River Tay near Stanley. Salmon fishing enthusiasts often wait here like like fisher for the arrival of Spring salmon knowing fine well the concrete weir will stop these fish for a while. Good ambush tactics often pay dividends as was the case here on this bright early Spring salmon fishing day.

The Cold Water Salmon Take

Whatever you do keep the words 'do nothing' repeating in your mind while you're fishing for salmon at any time of year. Even more so in the early Spring when the river is running very cold as the take from a salmon can be very slow to start with and it is crucial that you give the fish plenty time to turn on the fly before you tighten to set the hook properly. In the cold water this is normally drawn out between 10 to 15 seconds before clamping your fly reel's face with the rod tip down to tighten the line for a few seconds to pull the usually heavier gauge tube fly hook wire home properly.

If you get rid of the soft rubber sleeves that most tube flies come with and replace them with rigid plastic sleeves they will result in more solid hook sets as the hard version don't pivot and keep the hoof straight while being set by the angler. It's fairly tricky to fit a hard plastic sleeve but some patience and a bit of heat will do the job. This is a Jock's Shrimp tube fly which I tied on a copper tube fly body.

Replace The Soft Plastic Tube Fly Sleeves

Bin the soft plastic sleeves that most tube flies come with and replace them with stiffer versions so they cannot 'hinge' in the salmon's mouth at the critical hooking moment therefore dragging the hook point right out of the salmon's mouth. When tightening on a Spring fish if you don't feel the early 'hook set' weight at the right moment with a direct pull at the optimal & true hook pull angle you'll likely leave the river that night troubled as to whether or not that was a 'Springer' or a 'kelt' hooking opportunity you worked hard for and it's always better going home with the satisfaction of knowing for certain it was indeed a 'Springer' and with a few great shots too!