Here's a picture of River Tay professional salmon fishing ghillie legend Willie Laird in a pondering pose beside the river. Willie was a career ghillie and boatman on the Tay for 50+ years before his retirement in 1986. Willie was the Head Ghillie on the Tay's Newtyle Beat near Dunkeld for all of his adult life.

Here's 3 River Tay salmon fishing professional ghillie legends. Willie 'the ghillie' Laird, Ian Redford & Calum Gillies were 3 of the most renowned salmon fishing men in the 70's on the Tay. This was a 15th of January opening day picture taken at lunchtime in front of the Newtyle Beat fishing hut in Birnam.

Here's a picture of River Tay legend Willie Laird ready for action in his traditional Tay coble boat. Willie was a career ghillie on the Tay for 50+ years before his retirement in 1986. Willie was the Head Ghillie on the Tay's Newtyle Beat near Dunkeld and Willie was an exceptionally talented and renowned salmon fishing guide in Scotland.

Here's a picture of River Tay legend Willie Laird with a perfect 36lbs Spring salmon. Willie was a career salmon ghillie on the Tay for 50+ years before his retirement in 1986. Willie was the Head Ghillie on the Tay's Newtyle Beat near Dunkeld and over his lifetime he inspired thousands of salmon fishers.

Here's a picture of River Tay salmon guide legend Willie Laird out in the boat on the river. Willie was a career ghillie on the Tay for 50+ years before his retirement in 1986. Willie was the Head Ghillie on the Tay's Newtyle Beat near Dunkeld which is still a very popular Tay salmon fishing beat.

Here's a picture of River Tay legendary salmon guide Willie Laird with a perfect February caught 42lbs Spring salmon and happy student fishing guest! Willie was a career ghillie on the Tay for 50+ years before his retirement in 1986. Willie was the Head Ghillie on the Tay's Newtyle Beat near Dunkeld.

This beautifully conditioned brown trout had just been caught on a big salmon lure which it clearly thought was a juvenile salmon smolt. These big wild brown trout are juvenile salmon's biggest predator on all of the Scottish salmon rivers even though this fact is generally unknown amongst ghillies and river management.

Salmon fry are often abundant in the margins of the River Tay during late Spring when the eggs hatch from the gravel. This shot of these fry on the gravel riverbed was taken near the Perthshire town of Dunkeld while I was working as a salmon fishing guide.

Wild brown trout like this are over abundant on most Scottish rivers and absolutely decimate juvenile salmon stocks. Fishery management are mainly oblivious to this centuries old hard predation fact. This one was caught by accident by a salmon fishing guest on the River Tay while fishing near the Perthshire village of Logierait.

Tales Of A River Tay Legend

By Jock Monteith 1st February 2026

Here's some fantastic memories from the 70's involving my late mentor & great River Tay ghillie friend Willie Laird which always come to mind when I think about the Tay.

The old Scottish ghillie were different class on all aspects of the game and I got lucky as a boy to fall under the guidance of this truly amazing chap and to see the way he operated and the traditional effective 'river husbandry' techniques he used to annually deploy to optimise smolt outputs from his own Tay beat.

Traditional River Tay Juvenile Salmon Stock Management

Willie was a true lover of nature and had been taught by his father (50 year career on the River Tay) how to maintain & protect juvenile salmon on the Tay which was basic salmon beat 'river husbandry' back on the Scottish rivers 100 years ago. I recall Willie telling me that there had been lean stock times on the Tay through the 1930's and the juvenile salmon stocks needed carefully managed on every Tay beat. Traditional salmon redd gravel raking paired with consistently thinning out predatory trout were prioritised annual tasks. I recall many nights out in the boat with Willie taking out big cannibal trout and Willie being physically in the river margins with his old iron rake during late Summer loosening up the gravel for optimised salmon spawning bed conditions.

A Real River Tay Opening Day

In previous decades the 15th of January River Tay opening days were more than what you'll experience on the vast majority of Tay beats these days although there are always exceptions who still know how to hold a party! When I was young the opening day fishing was over by lunchtime as usually half a dozen fine Spring salmon were landed on each beat before lunch and the afternoon fishing session abandoned which was probably best as the salmon would have scattered anyway from the echo of 'clinking' glasses!

Labrador Swimming Lessons

These River Tay opening day lunches were brilliant occasions as all of the fishing guest's wives would have cooked up something fantastic for the men coming in off the river at 1pm. The selection of food & alcohol on offer in a Tay fishing hut with the smell of wood burning, the hiss from the old gas lamps and the amazing riverbank banter was simply unbeatable. It was the 16th of January during the early 70's following one such opening day party where my late colleague decided he would teach his loyal team of labrador dogs how to swim the Tay!

Follow Me Across The River Tay

Willie told me that he'd been down at the hut the day after a huge opening day party and after tidying up the hut and bagging all the empties he was still feeling a bit shaky. The Tay was running big and there was a fresh covering of snow on the riverbanks. He said he just took the notion to show his loyalty to his labradors who had followed him across the Tay on hundreds of occasions when Willie was in the boat and he thought it was time to show the dogs he was just as good as them at swimming the mighty Tay!

Naked In The River Tay Snow

Being a River Tay ghillie and understanding the currents he walked up a hundred yards upstream of his fishing hut and stripped off naked, looked at his dogs and shouted 'come on' as he plunged into the icy Tay! I recall him telling me that he was instantly sober and within a few minutes he realised he was in serious trouble and literally 'fighting for his life' out in the middle of the Tay a few hundred yards downstream of his entry point. He eventually managed to haul himself out of the river on the other bank although well downstream of where he was hoping to be and in a state of hypothermic shock and total exhaustion. Needless to say his dogs were still on the far bank and had chosen not to follow him!

How To Recross The River Tay

The situation now turned into even more panic as Willie realised that all of his clothes were on the other side of the river. There was no way he was going to attempt a re-crossing which would definitely have killed him so the only thing he could do was break into a jog to try to heat himself up a bit and head off a mile or so upstream to Dunkeld Bridge to get back onto the Birnam side of the Tay again. Because he was completely naked he found an old sack on the riverbank to cover himself with as he crossed the bridge at Dunkeld to avoid being arrested!

Old Tay Ghillies Were As Hard As Nails

As a boy I recall being out in the boat on the Tay with Willie through the early Spring months in freezing air conditions which were often assisted by a biting North wind. I'd be sitting on the boat seat freezing with as many layers of clothing on as I could walk up right with. Willie would be at the stern with a light open neck shirt and regular tweed jacket completely oblivious and resilient to the freezing conditions. Probably if he had not been as hardy that attempted labrador River Tay swimming lesson would most definitely have killed him!