When you hook a salmon it's important to know how to play the fish properly to gain control of proceedings. This perfect Spring salmon was caught on the middle area of the Tay during early June and is typical of the quality of fish found in the Scottish rivers at that time. The fly in this salmon's mouth is the deadly Jock's Shrimp salmon fly pattern.

During higher water levels like this you don't have to wade into the river as the river can be fished from the numerous and safer grassy riverbanks liuke this salmon angler is doing. Salmon are located close to the river edge in high water so your fly should be fished right into the edge before recasting. This green grassy bank is on the tail of the Cottar Pool on the Newtyle Beat looking down to the Boil Pool in the distance.

This is a great salmon pool on the middle River Tay at Kinnaird and is exactly positioned across from the confluence of the river Tay & Tummel. This Upper Kinnaird salmon beat is one of my most favourite beats on the River Tay I recall many special fishing memories here. This is the March Pool the salmon fishing angler is fly fishing and in the distance the Junction Pool and Ferry Stream Pool can also be seen.

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.

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 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.

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.

Stealth On The Salmon River

By Jock Monteith 27th August 2025

Wouldn't it be fascinating 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 wading approach!

Ghillie Salmon Pool Approach 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 salmon pool approach instructions or not as the case may be. All too often in this game the professional advice from the 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 ignorance. The excitement of the salmon river often blocks quality professional ghillie salmon fishing advice and seems to often disrupt the ear's nerve connections to the human brain!

Salmon Are Highly Sensitive

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 often become experts at salmon fly avoidance techniques! It's the same on the River Tay where you'll also often 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 up the river away from the likely salmon holding areas. At night thankfully salmon pools get 'reset' but what's the point of churning up the pool unnecessarily to unsettle or scatter it's inhabitants and reduce the chances of success when you're just about to fish back down through the pool!

I took this shot at the famous Ash Tree Pool of the Kinnaird Beat which is a must fish salmon pool for any salmon angler who's visiting the River Tay. This pool holds many Atlantic salmon from mid March through to mid October each year. This salmon angler was fishing the tail of the pool in this photograph.

A Cautious Salmon Fly Only Approach

To catch a salmon it is imperative that the very first thing you engage the fish's '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 in 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 conducted from the margins and your riverbank approach to the neck of the pool starting position should be a slow moving and as 'wide berthed' one as possible!

Salmon Fly Fisher Mind Sets

Most 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 artistic 25 yard consistent fly controlled shin depth fly fisher any day over the deep wading 40 yard plus WMD 'salmon dispersing' specialist who has zero fly control awareness or thoughts on how close salmon could be holding or the damage his body turbulence wake has done to his chances of success!

The First Run Through A Salmon Pool

No matter how hard the studs on your wading boots are 'wheel spinning' to get out into the chest wader 'test' zone keep back for at least your first run through the pool. Remember that there's much more chance of a salmon having taken up its holding position at the edge of the stream and not necessarily out in the faster flowing mid stream area. Treat the margins of any salmon pool with respect and be aware at all times of what a salmon may be seeing! Take a fascination in short range salmon fly control to effectively cover those calmer smooth gliding areas at the edge of the stream before even getting into the river. If you learn how to properly lift & control your Spey cast 'swing' and 'anchor point' you can fish these areas without even getting into the river and you'll likely be amazed at what you'll find!