This is the Rock Pool on the River Tay slightly upstream of the River Tay & River Tummel confluence which is just visible in the background. This is a very good salmon fishing area in Scotland and worthy of a salmon fishing trip. I took this beautiful shot in low water conditions during June after commuting down in this traditional Tay salmon boat.

This perfect Newtyle salmon pool is known as 'The Boil' due to a huge riverbed stone that's positioned in the middle of the river opposite this salmon fisher which creates a huge boiling effect on the river surface. You can see Birnam Hill in the distance.

I took this photograph of this salmon fisher on the River Tay while serving as his salmon fishing guide. The former legendary Kinnaird Beat ghillie Bob Grant always described the Guay Pool as his favourite and most productive salmon pool. Having personally steered many fishing guests to salmon in this lovely pool I can only agree with Bob's evaluation. Nothing has changed in recent years as the Guay Pool is still the most productive Lower Kinnaird Beat salmon pool.

Look for unusual riverbank markers like a pile of stones as sometimes these are placed there by anglers to mark the location of salmon that have been showing. This shot was taken on the Meetings Pool of the River Tay near the Perthshire town of Pitlochry which is a popular salmon fishing location for anglers.

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.

Here is a traditional River Tay harling boat moored on the lovely sandbank at the Kinnaird Beat Rock Pool. The 2 salmon anglers on the right hand side of the river with their professional guide had just landed their 2nd salmon when I took this perfect shot. This fishing area of the Tay is between Pitlochry & Dunkeld where the River Tummel greets the Tay and is a renowned hot spot. The deep water to the right hand side of the boat is a serious salmon holding pool that our salmon guides love to take salmon fishing guests to.

A lovely elevated photo of a salmon fishing trip angler in wading gear in the river Tweed next to a long shingle bank. This lovely shot was taken in mid Summer near Galashiels where we host many River Tweed salmon fishing holiday guests. Our Tweed salmon fishing guides always bring clients to quality salmon water like this which the beautiful River Tweed has an abundance of.

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.

I took this shot of one of the most famous River Tay salmon fishing huts which dates back to 1970 when Willie Laird the ghillie and a few colleagues sited this local Victorian golf course hut on the banks of the Tay as the fishing hut for the Newtyle Beat. Look at the lovely woodland to the rear of the hut and the perfect grass bank in the foreground for salmon anglers and salmon guides to fish from.

The Eye Of The Osprey

By Jock Monteith 12th July 2026

Here's a few career observations relating to how to quickly 'time assess' your salmon pool fishing effort. Maximising your 'effective' fly swim time throughout the course of the fishing day will dramatically increase your chances of contact with the underworld!

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.

Knowing Where To Locate Resting Salmon

When you've been in this game long enough you'll start to easily ID exactly the type of river flows where salmon consistently hold up in with the briefest of glances. Being able to pin point these likely holding positions will provide you with a 'massive' salmon fishing advantage and this skill set if mastered, will give you the power and water coverage of ten salmon anglers. Knowing when to fish quickly through the less likely areas of a pool and slow up to the 'correct' fly swing spacings will increase your 'effective' water coverage significantly.

Here's an upstream shot of the River Tay which was taken from the shallow mid stream gravel bar at the neck of the Rock Pool. You can clearly see the salmon fishing boat moored upstream awaiting my return. I took this shot during a bright light day in March.

Fast Water Sub Surface Holding Areas

Salmon don't often hold up in fast water unless there's a riverbed pocket of slack water where they can get a break from the current. Often you'll never know salmon are lying up in fast water unless one is foolish enough to show! The one big exception to that rule is when the river is running warm in the heat of Summer when water oxygen levels are low and that's when you'll often find the resident fish sitting up high in the neck of a fast flowing pool but again only as long as it's not physically taxing them too much. Like many other creatures on the planet salmon will rest whenever they can to offset the exertions of migration.

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.

Look For The Steady Deep Pool Flows

In the vast majority of cases you'll locate resting salmon in the smooth slower moving glides where they can hold up with a steady flow of water entering their mouths and processed out through their gills. If there's some added depth for security then that adds another tick to the salmon's selection choice. Boiling turbulent water where the flow is coming at them from all angles is not attractive to salmon but 5 to 10 yards back where that turbulence smooths out again with the added break in the flow from whatever was causing the turbulence to begin with could easily be a great salmon lie so pay particular attention to the water immediately downstream, to the side or immediately upstream when there are any signs of the presence of a sub surface feature.

Scanning A Pool For The Salmon Lies

Scan for the calmer inside edge of a stream for a resting fish or that smooth deep glide near the tail or mid section of a pool. Look for the water that provides some respite for a fish to hold in without it getting knocked about by the power of the stream. When the old osprey appears look at the areas of the pool where he's hovering directly over or look for odd looking stones on the riverbank that have been placed there by other anglers to mark the position of a salmon that's been continually showing. All salmon pools are easy to work out once your eye has the ability to identify its likely salmon holding areas. Don't underestimate the value of thoroughly fishing the likely salmon beat holding areas and moving quicker through the less likely areas.

Here's myself with a fine Spring salmon in the landing net immediately prior to its release. A good landing net with fish friendly mesh is an essential piece of salmon fishing equipment. I caught this fine salmon at the Daffodil Lie Pool on the beautiful Kinnaird Beat of the River Tay in Highland Perthshire.

Think Outside Of The Box With Salmon Lies

If you spot an area of a salmon pool that ticks all of the salmon lie boxes then don't ignore it even if it's not been a well known 'hot spot'. I vividly recall fishing the lovely River Stinchar in Ayrshire with the river in perfect order and noticing what I was perceiving to be a perfect salmon lie boulder out in the middle of a fairly fast streamy area. The boulder was creating the most perfect turbulence which was tapering out into a deep smooth water channel approx 20 feet to the rear of it. I pointed this obvious salmon lie out to my fishing buddy who'd been fishing the same beat for 20 years and was advised that salmon never hold there and it was a waste of time. One well presented cast proved my theory correct as a powerhouse of a 15lbs cock fish seized my offering!