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's a guided River Tay salmon fishing guest fishing his way methodically down through the Meetings Pool on the Upper Kinnaird salmon beat which is a perfect holding area for salmon in medium to low water levels from mid March through to October each year. Look at the beautiful fully leafed oak trees on the far side of the river.

This is one of the salmon fishing middle River Tay hot spots. This stretch of water is known as the Ash Tree Pool which accounts for 40% of the salmon caught on the Lower Kinnaird beat. This salmon fishing guest is fishing the tail of the Ash Tree pool with a professional River Tay salmon guide who took this photograph.

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.

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.

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.

Knowing how and where to wade through a salmon pool like this fisher is doing for minimal disruption is a vital skill to master in Scottish salmon fishing. Most anglers think that wading deeper is better but the true facts about wading are quite the opposite. Observe that this salmon fisher is only at knee depth so as not disturb the salmon pool which is essential for salmon fishing success.

This is the neck of the famous Ash Tree Pool on the Lower Kinnaird salmon beat which has a lovely fly fishing stream that you can see where many salmon hold up during late Spring through to early Autumn each year. This side of the river is the easiest side to fish from and this salmon fishing trip guest was accompanied by his professional salmon guide.

Here's a group of new fly fishers testing out their newly taught skills with a double handed salmon fly rod during the Summer. Many larger groups come to me for a crash course in salmon fishing and this was one such party that I guided for on the River Tay near Pitlochry.

Weaponise Your Wading Boots

By Jock Monteith 30th June 2026

When I study all of the important salmon fishing skills that are vital for ensuring the best chance of success and especially on the bigger salmon rivers of Scotland.

I'd state without doubt that 'riverbank movement' if mastered correctly (which equates to colossal daily water coverage) is the number 1 key element for ensuring the best chance of placing your fly in front of a cooperating salmon on all fishing days.

Why Salmon Fishing Water Coverage Is Vital For Success

There's generally been ineffective management of the wild Atlantic salmon resource over the last 4 decades across the entire Northern Hemisphere so it's vital to stay on the move to seek out salmon as every pool you fish through may or may not be holding fish. Personally I'd say the challenge and success of catching salmon these days requires much more tactical awareness but is much more rewarding when a fish is landed than what I witnessed as a youngster in the 70's when there were many more salmon about.

Here's an angler out fly fishing the renowned Meeting Pool on the River Tay's Upper Kinnaird salmon beat which is a perfect salmon fishing hot spot and one where many new salmon fishers are launched into the sport each year. This is the confluence of the rivers Tay & Tummel and the Tay is the river that goes up to the left hand side of frame. Look at the beautiful big riverbank oak tree to the left of frame.

What Are The Basic Required Salmon Fishing Skills

For success in this business you need a solid grounding in various different skills from being able to deliver a consistent & reasonable length of line with a double handed salmon fly rod to knowing exactly how to deal with the take from a salmon when that hard earned take eventually occurs. Having an understanding of the kind of pool flows and depths that salmon like to hold up in and exactly where in the water column to be targetting through the fluctuating river water temperatures of Spring, Summer & Autumn is also very important.

This salmon fishing trip angler is wading down through the shallow water bar in the centre of the River Tay at the neck of the Rock Pool on the Kinnaird salmon beat near Dunkeld. This salmon fisher was taught to wade with stealth by his salmon fishing instructor which is an important salmon fishing skill to master.

Clearly Define Your Daily Water Coverage Plan

At the commencement of you salmon fishing day and once you know exactly what salmon beat pools you've been allocated by the beat ghillie it's vital you define that entire section of river in your own mind into a grid made up of 1 yard boxes. Your objective once you've adopted this tactical mindset is to make sure by the end of the salmon fishing morning or day that you've swum your salmon fly through everyone of those boxes. To achieve this type of thorough water coverage your wading boots need to be 100% synced with this exact tactical battle plan mindset and moving in perfect harmony.

How To Precision Measure Your Salmon Fly Coverage

To avoid guesswork here's the easy way to achieve this and regardless of whether your salmon fishing day has yielded one of Neptune's finest it will allow you the self satisfaction of leaving the river knowing you've been a clinical 'water coverage' machine and had there been a cooperating fish present you'd likely have interviewed it! As most 14ft/15ft salmon fly rods typically have 1 yard (3 feet) between butt ring and the end of the cork handle you already have the water coverage measuring tool at hand. So once your salmon fly has swum to a downstream position (prior to recasting) pick an exact riverbed or riverbank marker directly under your rod's butt ring with the rod's butt directly in front of your body and simply move to that exact marker after your next cast is made.

Spring salmon are the real prize in Scottish salmon fishing due to their perfect physical condition and powerful fighting qualities. The river Tay, Tweed, Dee & Spey all have a run of these special creatures between March & June so if you're planning a salmon fishing trip to Scotland try to make it while these Spring salmon are in the river. This perfect example of a Spring salmon was caught by one of our River Tay salmon fishing guide team members.

Don't Underestimate Good Riverbank Movement

Over my career I've seldom seen good riverbank movement being consistently deployed by visiting anglers which is understandable as most salmon fishers are self taught and focus more on the elegance of their Spey cast. On the River Tay the harling boats are effective due to the simple fact they deliver massive water coverage via typically 3 lures that are fished behind the boat at different fishing lengths as the boat constantly drops downstream 1 boat length between each turn therefore creating massive & thorough water coverage. From a riverbank you can achieve something similar with the often more deadly stealth of a salmon fly if your wading boots have been trained effectively!