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.

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 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 Jock Monteith photographed with his black labrador dog 'Selkie' in the Cottar Pool of the Newtyle Beat during late Spring. This shot was taken by professional Scottish photographer Peter Sandground while Jock was in his tweed jacket and traditional River Tay salmon fishing boat near Dunkeld. You can almost make out the bluebells on the grassy slopes in the background.

Here's professional Scottish salmon guide Jock Monteith with a salmon fishing tour guest at the neck of the famous Kinnaird Beat's Ash Tree Pool. You can clearly see the beautiful Perthshire hills behind Pitlochry in the distance and Jock carrying his favourite salmon landing net over his shoulder.

Here's a group of Canadian salmon fishers who had come to fish the River Tay learning how we tie our salmon flies onto the leader. This photo was taken near Murthly on the River Tay in Perthshire while professional salmon guide Jock Monteith was teaching these salmon fishing holiday guests the basic salmon fishing skills.

The Scottish Ghillie

By Jock Monteith 13th August 2025

Of all the professionals you'll meet in any pursuit you choose to participate in the Scottish ghillie is the most likely individual you'll form a life long relationship with.

These men of Scotland's famous rivers are generally great souls with vast amounts of 'real life' experience relatability coupled with a deep routed love & fascination of salmon and their in-river habits.

The Salmon Beat Head Ghillie

The relationship you have with any professional salmon beat ghillie will form a major part of your thought process as to where and how often you fish the Scottish salmon rivers such is their importance to the industry. There's way more to Scottish salmon fishing than catching a fish and what I'm about to explain are a few astute thoughts on what to expect and how to handle a professional Scottish salmon ghillie.

Here's 2 of the salmon boats on the Kinnaird Beat of the River Tay near Dunkeld. The traditional larch built Tay boats are a work of art and great to fish for salmon from. These 2 boats I photographed at the neck of the Ash Tree Pool clearly visible in the background.

The Head Ghillie's Duties

A professional ghillie aside from his duties in maintaining the salmon beat and fishing hut fascilities he's in charge of is a 'true' ambassador for his venue. The Head Ghillie on any beat is the man who calls the daily shots and quickly assesses fishing guests and manages them into pool rotations that fit their fishing skills and requirements. Fairness and the personal safety of all fishing guests will always play a big part of his thought process.

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.

Assessing The Salmon River Conditions

A Head Ghillie's mind will be whirring like and overheated computer when his guests are arriving at the fishing hut each morning to quickly figure out how best to play the salmon fishing approach to gain the maximum advantage from the daily fishing conditions and to ensure the guest's enjoyment so you can normally forget the first half of the day to really get to know the ghillie when you're on a fully rodded salmon beat for the first time.

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.

Morning Salmon Beat Operations

It's better to wait until you know the ghillie has his salmon beat operations under full control and the fishing morning is well underway and he's has had a chance to dart around all his fishing guests before you start to strike up a more indepth lengthy conversation. Better still wait until lunchtime or during the afternoon fishing session when you'll usually find the ghillie to be much more relaxed and personal.

Look at these salmon beat operational standards. You can see the cut the riverbank grass and strimmed riverbanks that keep the salmon beat looking immaculate. These are tell tale signs that a top professional guide is running the salmon beat. This is the Daffodil LIe Pool on the Kinnaird Beat on the River Tay.

Understanding The Ghillie's Duties

Understanding what a professional ghillie is there to achieve each day and how his attention levels are contractually split between multiple paying guests will go a long way to ensuring a great ongoing relationship. Turning up late without a phone call or not understanding that the ghille will often have many other fishing guests to look after can put a strain on the initial introduction to any beat ghillie.

Here's one of our professional salmon guides about to give a riverbank talk to a party of new River Tay salmon fishing guests during the beautiful month of June on the Kinnaird Beat.

Salmon Ghillie Relationship Thoughts

Once you really get to know the professional Scottish salmon fishing men of Scotland you'll unlock a true 'treasure trove' of salmon fishing information gained via decades of watchful river eye observations that you'll seldom read in books so be patient and pick your moment to take the informational relationship to the next level. Although many professional ghillies like the taste of malt whisky many are also wary of this kind of gratuity and would often much prefer an appropriate monetary sum discreetly tucked into the farewell hand shake upon departure.

Look After Your Ghillie

Can you imagine what would happen to anyone if tanking whisky was a dailly ocurrance at their workplace and believe me when I tell you this that many salmon fishing professionals in Scotland have been there at some point in their careers! Remember that salmon fishing guests walk away to recover after their day on the river and a professional salmon beat ghillie usually starts all over again the following day with new guests so be thoughtful with your hospitality levels!