Here's a shot of myself while serving as a professional River Tay salmon fishing guide with my black labrador dog 'Selkie' out in the Cottar Pool of the Newtyle Beat near Dunkeld. This shot was taken by professional Scottish photographer Peter Sandground for the Glasgow Herald Magazine.

This man has been one of my best most loyal salmon guide colleagues over the last 20 years. Martin worked with me on the Newtyle Beat in 2004 & 2005 before I assisted him in getting started on the Kinnaird salmon beat where he's thrived ever since. Martin is in one of his Tay salmon boats in this shot motoring up through the Channel Pool on his Kinnaird Beat.

Here's Scottish salmon guide Jock Monteith showing a group of Canadian salmon fishing holiday guests how best to tie on a salmon fly. Much salmon fishing technical information is delivered to the fishing guests on a guided salmon fishing day including Spey casting lessons, how to move effectively between each cast and how to set the hook when a salmon takes the fly.

Here's professional River Dee salmon guide John Fyfe holding 1 or 3 salmon that he landed on the River Tay near Dunkeld during the month of August. I personally guided him this day to eliminate him guessing where the salmon were holding and his professional salmon fishing presentation expertise did the rest. This Summer salmon was landed at the Green Bank Pool on the Kinnaird beat and you can see the Tay salmon boat in the background.

Here's a few of my professional salmon guide friends from the famous Ballathie Beat of The River Tay near Stanley. The man with the green jumper is Geordie McInnes would I first met on the Tay back in the 70's on the Newtyle Beat. Geordie went on to be a famous Tay ghillie and before he retired a few years ago he was one of the Ballathie Beat ghillies.

The Brilliance Of A Ghillie

By Jock Monteith 26th September 2025

There's loads of different things that make up the excitement & thrill of being a professional salmon ghillie aside from connection with the world's most 'treasured' gamefish.

Here's a few of my own personal thoughts on what did it for me while working on the Tay.

Being out on the River Tay fishing for salmon at sunrise is a glorious experience through the warmer low water months of the salmon fishing season when an early morning approach is appropriate. This perfect 7am sunrise shot was taken at the Tummel/Tay confluence near Pitlochry in Perthshire.

An Early Morning Start On The River

As a former professional River Tay beat ghillie my task was not just to set each individual fishing guest off with the right advice on how to approach each likely taking spot on the beat. My work always started more than an hour before any guest would even arrive at the fishing hut. As a professional ghillie who eats, sleeps & breathes this business for me the preparation of each fishing day was paramount for the guest's enjoyment of their visit to the river.

It's amazing how a salmon fishing hut can be transferred into a restaurant for salmon fishing event guests when a professional caterer is brought in. This fisher's lunch was prepared in the Meikleour salmon fishing hut on the River Tay near the Perthshire village of Stanley.

Satisfaction From The Fishing Hut Being Organised

I used to take great satisfaction in getting the 'little things' just right like the hut floor swept and mopped out, the hut windows clean and the water cans refilled and cleaning the cups and glasses. Lighting the fire even on the warmer days for me always added a professional touch to the fishing hut when a guest entered. Making sure the kettle was at or near to 'boiling point' for guests arriving along with plenty fresh milk, tea & coffee to hand along with a quality bottle of malt whisky for those who were in need of a small but 'swift' early morning taste of Scotland!

Look at this perfect early morning River Tay salmon fishing hut perfection which I took after preparing the hut for a group of salmon fishing holiday guests. It's always great to get down to the fishing hut early to prepare all of the fishing kit for the guests and light the fire. This is the Kinnaird Beat fishing hut which is located between the Perthshire towns of Pitlochry & Dunkeld.

Salmon Hut Area Preparation

Having all the rods built up and the boat engine warmed up or on 'tick over' with the content of the boats spic & span was important to my eye too. The outside table early morning drew wiped off and a good feel of total organisation about the place I always felt showed respect to the visiting anglers who had managed to 'shake free' from work commitments for a day or two on the Tay. I knew my efforts were always noticed and it was always a fast moving hour before the guests arrived to get things into a proper state of preparedness.

This photograph of professional Scottish salmon fishing guide Jock Monteith was captured by TV producer Chris Webster outside Ferry Cottage on the Kinnaird Estate of the River Tay in Perthshire. You can see the snow clad hills and riverbanks in the background.

The Computing Mind Of A Professional Ghillie

Instantly assessing each guest on arrival from a salmon fishing point of view was also a skill I developed where I could more or less instantly tell what pools were going to suit each different angler to fish. Pairing that with their own individual requests for fly or spin fishing then coming up with an effective battle plan to play all guests to their strengths was always at the forefront of my thoughts in order to have all the salmon lies covered effectively each day and to keep each individual guest happy.

Here's the Newtyle salmon fishing ghillie ferrying anglers across to the popular left hand bank of the Cottar Pool which is a very productive pool on this lovely middle Tay salmon beat. This early morning photo captured the mist rising off the Tay Valley.

Positivity Throughout The Salmon Fishing Day

The entire salmon fishing experience is what matters the most in Scottish salmon fishing and a ghillie or guide who goes that extra distance for his guests is always appreciated. Keeping positivity about the chances of action was always a good thing too and personally I've seen some great fishing results from days where the guests kept going when logic was saying chuck it! A good blend of professional preparedness, salmon beat fishing knowledge and a sprinkling of 'positivity' for motivational purposes seemed to me to always be a winning combination!

If you're in charge of a Scottish salmon beat then you should have a natural desire to maintain your riverbanks in top condition for your visiting salmon fishing guests. This pool is The March Pool on the River Tay near Pitlochry which I had just strimmed when I took this photograph. The tree on the left hand side of frame is a beautiful oak tree and you can just about see the dark coloured fisherman's bench 50 yards down the riverbank.

Riverbank Maintenance And Salmon Beat Upkeep

During each season some carefully timed but completely thorough bank strimming sessions would be conducted to minimise the disruptive sound of a strimmer. I'd seldom do that when guests were on the beat as it shattered the ambiance which to my mind was a big part of the client's fishing day enjoyment. Riverbank sapling pruning would be timed just prior to expected high water levels and grass cutting around the hut would be done on a Sunday along with refilling fuel cans for the boat engines. Bigger branch tree work I'd usually leave for the closed season and let the high Winter water levels deliver them to Norway!

Here's Jock Monteith out in a traditional River Tay salmon boat in the Cottar Pool of the Newtyle Beat. This lovely shot was captured by top Scottish photographer Peter Sandground during late Spring. You can see 'Selkie' Jock's black labrador dog at the bow of the boat.

A Brilliant Life On The Salmon River

Although a professional salmon ghillie's job is not the most financially lucrative career anyone could choose there's much more to life than money. A professional beat ghillie who's in love with his work is a true 'billionaire' in lifestyle and make no mistake about how easy it is for him to leap out of bed each morning! The fascinating and brilliant guests a professional ghillie will meet on the naturally 'glorious' Scottish salmon rivers who all have a mutual 'obsession' in pursuing these most amazing creatures that migrate home from their feeding grounds to the famous salmon rivers of Scotland creates the most amazing lifelong personal friendships.