Look at the beautiful silver flanks of the June caught river Tay fresh run salmon which was hooked and landed at the Ash Tree Pool on The Lower Kinnaird Beat of The River Tay on this bright light early June fishing day. Note the salmon fishing trip guest is wearing eye protection and a life jacket as safety always comes first on the salmon river.

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.

This zoomed in shot was taken by me from the Rock Pool on Upper Kinnaird looking downstream to a party of 2 fishers accompanied by their professional salmon guide the moment a perfect 12lbs Spring salmon was landed which is barely visible in the landing net in this shot. The River Tay is a great Scottish salmon river even in low bright water conditions and this guest went on to land another salmon of similar size moments after this fine river shot was captured.

Here's Jock Monteith powering upstream in a traditional larch built River Tay salmon fishing 'coble' boat at the confluence of the River Tay & River Tummel during the month of May. Jock has his cold weather clothing on and Tweed cap in addition to his life jacket which is essential for all boat or riverbank duties.

This Ally's Shrimp salmon fly hybrid with it's green pearlescent body is an absolute salmon magnet during duller salmon fishing days and especially if tied with Artic fox fur in the tail & wing as you see here. On an overcast day this fly has serious presence in the stream and often cannot be ignored by salmon.

This River Tay gravel tapered riverbank is a very popular venue for teaching salmon fishing guided guests how to fish from. Look at the perfect line of oak tress on the opposite side of the river. The Tay is located in Perthshire which is in central Scotland and not too far from Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Successful Salmon Fishing

By Jock Monteith 10th March 2026

There are various important components that assist greatly with success in Scottish salmon fishing and the next few paragraphs will focus in on a few of the more important points that go a long way to achieving the desired objective in this highly popular Scottish rural pursuit.

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.

Understanding Salmon Fishing

Understanding the game you're playing and managing your own expectation levels to achieve a thorough full water coverage day is probably the most important factor for success in this business. It is so important that your excitement and expectation levels are kept in check and don't burn you out in the first few hours when a slow start to the day is experienced which happens more often than not.

Pacing Yourself On A Salmon River

You need to channel your thoughts and engergies to last the entire day as this is a business of opportunities that will appear throughout the course of the fishing day on any salmon beat and often when you're least expecting it so 'consistency of approach' that will last the entire fishing day is very important. Don't let your head go down at any point and making sure you're fly is in the water and fishing properly is so important as 'effective water coverage' is indeed the business you are in.

Have Faith When Salmon Fishing

A deep underlying confidence with faith in your salmon fly and the pre-determined depth you've chosen to swim it at is what you must have along with an understanding that sooner or later that fly will find itself in front of a taking fish if you maintain effective water coverage. Emotionally you can be out on a limb in salmon fishing so a deep routed confidence is crucial to maintaining your consistency of approach.

The Best Salmon Fishing Mind Set

The most effective mind set I've found is to keep your persistency levels high and your expectations levels in check throughout the full course of the fishing day. The hours of searching for a salmon will be instantly erased from your mind with the first initial tug on your fly reel when you finally find a cooperating fish. The important thing up to that point is knowing that your faith levels in your fly (and the way it is swimming) are running high.

Take A Different Approach To The River

Instead of admiring the pretty swirling surface and beautiful scenery of the salmon river you're fishing look at it from a salmon's point of view and think where the likely holding areas would be. The real task in hand is getting a consistently 'spaced & paced' fly across the pool and swimming it back at the correct speed and depth. When you've finished fishing at the tail of each pool you should know beyond doubt that you've methodically covered every square yard of likely water with total fly control to match your chosen speed and depth of presentation.

Salmon Take When You Least Expect It

Salmon are true masters at sneaking up on you when your mind is a million miles away so don't think too much about the true objective and just let your mind wander as often as you like which it will do naturally when you're captivated by the beautiful highly scenic environment of the Scottish salmon river. It only takes one split second decision from a salmon somewhere during your consistent methodical water coverage to truly cap a highly memorable day on any river so pursue that amazingly potent moment with quiet confidence all the way to your last cast of the day.