Once you've got your salmon sufficiently played out they'll sometimes sit still while you capture their astounding physical beauty with your camera. This was one such salmon that behaved itself after we captured it on the River Tay near Dunkeld while working as a salmon fishing instructor for some fishing trip clients.

This perfect River Tay Springer was caught by myself on the 23rd of February from the Kinnaird salmon beat near Pitlochry. These early run Scottish salmon are perfect specimens and are guaranteed to get your heart racing. This fish was quickly returned and swam off strongly to continue its upstream migration to the upper reaches of the Tay. You can see the gold ABU Toby lure, Bruce & Walker Hexagraph spinning rod and Van Staal spinning reel used in the capture of this fine Spring run salmon.

Look at this and tell me you cannot see the nose of an astute marine predator. This is a River Tay Spring salmon that was captured near Dunkeld during the Spring month of May which is a great fishing time on the Tay. I caught this salmon opposite the mouth of the River Tummel where it enters the Tay while I was off duty as a River Tay salmon guide.

What a perfect fresh run Spring salmon this one was which I captured directly outside the Upper Kinnaird fishing hut near Logierait on the River Tay. Look at its perfect ocean hunting colours and how it shows up so magnificently against the dark Spring water of the Tay. Note the landing net being used to stabilise the fish for this fine salmon photograph.

Here's a perfect example of God's finest marine creature the Atlantic salmon. These fish are amazingly powerful and awesome to look at once your skill levels are high enough to place one in the landing net for a close up inspection. This fine specimen was caught near Pitlochry on the River Tay by one of my salmon fishing trip guests.

Here's a perfect fresh run February Spring salmon which was caught in front of the Park North Beat fishing hut during February by my colleague Russell Kay. Early Spring fish like this can be a real challenge to get your fly in front of but if you do they're always keen to take a fly like this fine specimen. You can see the Park Beat water gauge behind Russell in the shot.

The Scottish Salmon Diamond

By Jock Monteith 20th December 2017

I am about to hopefully destroy any form of negativity that you could possibly have been brainwashed with via recent STV or tabloid 'sensationalism'.

Whether from a completely clueless newsreader or from the 'natural' negativity from a 'cup half empty' ghillie. I'm also hopeful to assist in setting your mind free to a degree where your gut, eyes and good old common sense form the basis of your assessment of this truly amazing Scottish pursuit.

Here's a fine Spring salmon which was landed by this happy salmon angler after a full day of searching. This salmon was landed during May at Dunkeld which is a popular Spring salmon fishing area of the River Tay in Perthshire. You can see the new leaves that have appeared on the riverbank trees behind this fisherman.

Improve Salmon Fishing Presentation

To be perfectly frank with you Scottish salmon fishing as far as I've ever seen has to date been a completely wasted opportunity to 'show case' one of the most visual & naturally fascinating pursuits in the entire world. Why this fabulous business has been allowed to be represented by extremely low grade presentation by our Scottish Government is completely beyond me but then again respect for politicians has always been something I've personally struggled with as none of them seem to have a 'genuine' interest in anything other than your vote.

If you look closely at this perfect Spring salmon you'll see the little piece of arctic fox tail that was responsible for luring it from the depths of the River Tay. If you choose the correct salmon fly pattern and learn how to fish it effectively this is the end result. I caught this perfect Spring salmon while working as a salmon guide on the Tay.

Atlantic Salmon Stock Position Management

They say we are in a salmon stock level downturn but I'm not convinced as the only measure we have of Scottish wild salmon stock numbers are by how many salmon anglers show up on the river to attempt to catch one! How can this be the only measure you may ask for something that's of such huge importance to Scotland and its rural economies. This may well be the only business in the world where if an audit was conducted no one would ever be able to quantify the true stock position.

Here's a late May example of a fresh run River Tay caught Spring salmon which was captured on the Kinnaird salmon beats near Dunkeld. This is the most sought after salmon of all and it's a delight to land a fish like this on a 15ft salmon fly rod.

Zero Salmon Stock Data

These days salmon anglers come to the rivers of Scotland with varying degrees of salmon fishing skill so obtaining a stock position when many beats are only 25% let each year is a seriously flawed measurement tool indeed. As a boy fishing on the River Tay one of the most frequently used words I heard from my late mentor was 'cyclical' and I was assured that during periods in the 1930's there were periods where few salmon were present in the Tay.

Earn a close up inspection of one of Neptune's finest creatures via some astute professional salmon guide input on one of Scotland's finest salmon fishing venues. Look at the lovely head markings of this fresh run River Tay salmon as it lay in the landing net.

Salmon Fisher Skill Levels

A big part of the attraction of catching a wild salmon is the challenge of doing so but if you add in the dented ego of an unsuccessful salmon fisher who maybe hasn't even bothered to take a lesson on pre proven salmon fishing tactics then you could easily understand a negative knock on effect. As an example of the other side of the coin one of my professional guide team this year had over 120 salmon to his own rod for the season!

Look at this perfect Spring salmon lying on the rubber mat on the floor boards of this River Tay salmon boat. This fine salmon is lying in the landing net after being hooked and landed by one of our salmon fishing holiday guests before the fish was released back to the Tay.

Increasing Your Chances Of Catching Salmon

Just supposing the guesswork of salmon fishing ghillies and fishery management who cannot see what sea or river stock there is were correct and that the Autumn run this year just didn't even appear in the closed season as it's been doing since ice stopped forming on our rod rings in September many decades ago. This dip in salmon stock numbers should increase the value of the pursuit as this industry has never been able to guarantee the capture of one of these fine fish from what I've ever seen. A guided salmon fishing package including the services of a top professional who rarely blanks should be marketable at an absolute premium.

I caught this perfect River Tay Spring salmon in February on the Kinnaird salmon beat near Pitlochry. These fish are in a true class of their own and are the objective of most knowledgable salmon fishers who appreciate their brilliance. February isn't generally regarded as a prime Scottish Spring salmon fishing month but experienced Tay fishers know better. I was resting this lovely fish in the landing net for a few minutes when I took this shot before releasing it back to the river.

Scarce Salmon Commodity Marketing Strategy

Marketing Scottish salmon fishing should never have morphed into being all about fluctuating & flawed 'catch statistics' as turning up on a river where every salmon fisher was catching too many fish each day would surely lose its appeal very quickly. Debeers do not release their vast diamond stock piles to the market place but instead feed these little pieces of carbon out in carefully considered quantities in order to preserve 'perceived value' which this tactic achieves.

Here's a River Tay Spring salmon that was aught on the fly near Dunkeld during the first week of June. Although caught in June this is a Spring salmon that's been in the river for a few weeks so still technically a Spring run salmon. The silver salmon fly reel you can see is a Van Staal C-Vex 9-11 Combo model which is my favourite salmon fly reel.

The Truth About Scottish Salmon Fishing

Get a grip ghillies and fishery management and see the potential upswing like Debeers did of a naturally or unnaturally occuring dip in stock numbers. At the same time self assess your own marketing contribution to the industry that supports you and ask yourselves the question have you done your best to promote it or nothing at all. A team of wild horses couldn't drag thousand of us away from the Scottish salmon rivers even if we knew there was only one salmon there to be caught!