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.

Knowing how and where to wade through a salmon pool like this fisher is doing for minimal disruption is a vital skill to master in Scottish salmon fishing. Most anglers think that wading deeper is better but the true facts about wading are quite the opposite. Observe that this salmon fisher is only at knee depth so as not disturb the salmon pool which is essential for salmon fishing success.

Here's an angler out fly fishing the renowned Meeting Pool on the River Tay's Upper Kinnaird salmon beat which is a perfect salmon fishing hot spot and one where many new salmon fishers are launched into the sport each year. This is the confluence of the rivers Tay & Tummel and the Tay is the river that goes up to the left hand side of frame. Look at the beautiful big riverbank oak tree to the left of frame.

Here's a salmon fishing guest fly fishing their way down through the Gean Tree Pool of the River Tay's Kercock salmon beat. This guest was under the supervision of a professional salmon guide resulting in 2 salmon being caught by this fisher that day even though it was a very bright July day. Look at the lovely sunlight sparkle coming off the water.

This is one of the salmon fishing middle River Tay hot spots. This stretch of water is known as the Ash Tree Pool which accounts for 40% of the salmon caught on the Lower Kinnaird beat. This salmon fishing guest is fishing the tail of the Ash Tree pool with a professional River Tay salmon guide who took this photograph.

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.

Stay Under The Salmon Radar

By Jock Monteith 31st July 2026

Wouldn't it be amazing if just for one day we could get salmon to swim upside down exposing their white bellies in the dark river water to show us exactly how they react to a clumsy riverbank or wading approach!

I took this shot of a traditional River Tay salmon fishing boat coming in for lunch with a salmon fishing guest and his professional ghillie. This shot was taken on the lovely Dalmarnock Beat near Dunkeld in Perthshire during the month of June. This sandy bay is a great low water location to keep the boat at.

Stay Composed And Take The Ghillie's Advice

From my own personal daily riverbank observations I've often known before a fly is even cast whether an angler has blown their chances or not just by the way they've followed instructions or not as the case may be. All too often in this game the professional advice from the beat ghillie is not taken on board for whatever reason but probably more to do with the sheer excitement involved in being back on the salmon river than rudeness. The excitement of the salmon river often blocks quality professional ghillie salmon fishing information and seems to disrupt the ear's nerve connections to the human brain!

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.

Salmon Are Highly Sensitive Creatures

Salmon are far more wary of us than we give them credit for and sometimes after they've been spooked they'll still show in a pool even after being moved off their lies to a different holding area by a careless angling approach. Once salmon have been rattled like that they become experts at salmon fly avoidance techniques! It's the same on the River Tay where you'll also sometimes encounter professional boatmen 'full throttling' their way right up through a salmon pool that they are about to fish back down through instead of 'carefully & logically' commuting on low revs slowly upstream on a pre-selected flight path away from the main salmon lies. At night thankfully salmon pools reset themselves but there's no point churning up the pools unnecessarily to unsettle its inhabitants which will only massively reduce the chances of success.

A Cautious Salmon Pool Approach Is Best

To catch a salmon it is imperative that the very first thing you engage is its 'naturally' cautious mind upon is your salmon fly and not some gravel crunching lateral line 'rattling' careless pool approach or the water flow displacement you've just caused by wading far too deep down through the pool. When many salmon anglers put a pair of chest waders on there seems to be an irresistible urge to go in as deep as possible but maybe that's just our salmon protection God at work! Your first swing down through any salmon pool should always be from the margins and your approach to the neck of the pool starting position should be a slow moving 'wide berthed' one!

I took this beautiful downstream shot of the River Tay in Perthshire which is a famous Scottish salmon river. This lovely shot was taken a few miles upstream from the Perthshire town of Dunkeld. You can clearly see my salmon fishing guest a few hundred yards below me. The dark shadowy water just off the main current is a great Tay salmon holding area and is always worth fishing through.

Become Invisible & Thoughtful On The Salmon River

When you're approaching a salmon river with a rod in your hand keep a permanent sense of awareness as to how you are 'profiling' yourself and to the 'commotion' levels you may be creating. Personally I always fish with far more faith if I'm certain my wading or boat approach was perfect with minimal disturbance to the salmon pool. This aspect of salmon fishing is another often unspoken one as many fishers just go into 'autopilot' when on the salmon river without much thought about this important topic. When you're salmon fishing let your mind flicker between salmon fly control behaviour and how carefully you're fishing down through a salmon pool but still deploying the correct swing spacings for optimal water coverage as these 3 disciplines combined will bring you a far greater chance of success.

This was one of my fishing guests fishing the River Tay in June after being taught to Speycast with this 15ft double handed salmon fly rod. The Tay is Scotland's biggest salmon river which is popular for salmon fishing trips. Look at the lovely riverbank and wooded Perthshire hillside on the far bank.

The Salmon Fly Fisher's Mind Set

Many salmon fly fishers are under the completely wrong impression that salmon will always be found in the deepest most furthest away point in the salmon river. This is mainly only ever the case when salmon anglers from both banks have herded the fish there! I've been completely shocked on numerous occasions over the decades by just how close to the riverbank undisturbed salmon will take up their lies. As a professional salmon ghillie, give me the 25 yard consistent 'fly controlled' shin depth fly fisher any day over the deep wading 40 yard plus distance orientated 'salmon scattering' specialist who has zero fly control thoughts or actual basic salmon fishing awareness.

Here's Jock Monteith photographed with his black labrador dog 'Selkie' in the Cottar Pool of the Newtyle Beat during late Spring. This shot was taken by professional Scottish photographer Peter Sandground while Jock was in his tweed jacket and traditional River Tay salmon fishing boat near Dunkeld. You can almost make out the bluebells on the grassy slopes in the background.

The Salmon Fishing Information On This Website

All the information printed on these ongoing daily newsletters has been learned over a 45+ year involvement in this sport with much of that time being spent in a professional daily riverbank capacity. For those who know me personally or have fished with me as guests you'll know I have an ability at hooking salmon and especially when the going is tough. I don't profess to know it all in this field (as no one truly learns it all) and my objective here is to 'share' much of what I've learned as an 'all rounded' professional salmon fishing guide with fellow anglers in the off chance that something 'tactical' written here is adopted which goes on to help fellow anglers become more effective at catching salmon.