Tay

[zeolite]

The Tay opens on monday and I am out on Tuesday at Pitlochrie and Catholes with Bob White.
never fished the main part of the tay before so I am getting all excited. Does anyone know the beat?

[madkeen]

Fished it a couple of times big river down at stanley they favour devon minnows on this beat.Youll find Bob helpful and he will sell you the killer lures.

[zeolite]

I talked to Bob on the phone and he said we would most likely be spinning. I have no objections to this but I would like to get my fly rod out as well.
Never harled before either.

[sagefly]

any news for Tuesday?

[zeolite]

Just woken up after a hard days spinning. The river was 6 ft up and big devons were the order of the day.
Anyway, no salmon but a 12 oz brownie and a 1lb sea-trout. Both on a yellow-belly. the other rods had a couple of kelts.
If the river keeps falling the fishing should be good tomorrow.

[zeolite]

Some pics





Did a bit of harling out on the boat with kynochs.

[Fruin]

Not long home after a day on Kercock. Never had anything this morning, however, another angler had two kelts to the fly.

After lunch I managed two kelts on the fly. Sink tip, with a large black, yellow and silver conehead(tungsten).

The water was sitting around the 5ft mark, so it was probably too high to hold any running fish back in the pools.

Thoroughly enjoyed my day on this beat, as I always do. It is a beautiful beat with a bit of everything, from slow water to very fast water and shallow water to water that is at least 40ft in depth.

Even though I fish it on the Perth and District Angling Association ticket, the ghillie(Dennis Buchan) always has time to spend with all the guests and PDAA members alike. Always full of good advice and makes everybody feel welcome. A great beat with a great atmosphere.

Bill, the unofficial ghillie was also excellent company.

[kercock]

Waulkmill had a field day today with eight fish,that has to be their best spring day in many many moons Taymount had two ,Murthly 2 had one Islamouth had one and Kercock had their first of the season today as well, The river had dropped 1ft 9" since Saturday,the warmer day would have been a significant factor.

[Fruin]

Kercock,

I noticed that Waukmill had eight fish for the day. Jim must be over the moon with that one, as they have really been struggling for spring fish lately.

[wilbert]

I saw that Waulkmill had 8 yesterday but today it is only showing as 1 fish. Think the Ghillie may have entered 8 1lb fish instead of 1 8lb fish on the automated phone line.

[Fruin]

Wilbert,

Waulkmill used to boast good catches of spring fish, but with the spring run diminished, it has not recorded great catches over the last few years.
However, with the right anglers in the right places and a good number of running fish going through the beat it would not be surprising for eight fish to be caught.

I've fished beats on the lower Tay in high water during springtime, where you think the chances of a fresh fish might be slim as fish will race through. However, it can all change in an instant and I've seen every angler hook a fish within half an hour and then nothing after that.

I think this happens when the fish are racing through, but it is a particularly large run of fish all working their way up one bank.

[wilbert]

Fruin I am not saying the beat is not capable of producing a bumper spring catch but just going off what it says on the fish tay web site. Yesterdays figure of 8 fish has been corrected to 1 fish, maybe the more expensive beats have complained by being shown up by a cheep spring time beat.

[kercock]

Waulkmill last year had their first fish in June last year ! I agree with wilbert

[Fruin]

I didn't realise the website had been amended. Maybe they had logged the kelts

[kercock]

I see Catholes /Pitlochrie had one of 11 lbs today, Stobhall had 2 and Ballathie had one in todays report

[Fruin]

I fished Cargill today but was unsuccessful. The guys in the boat lost a springer in the bottom pool this morning.

Unfortunately the low water limited the fly fishing possibilities to the top of the beat, from the bridge down to the hut. I fished this section all day in the hope of connecting with any fish running through, but no joy

[kercock]

The area you were fishing,in this height of water is generally the most productive part of the whole beat. It certainly produces a lot of fish,right place,wrong time.Nae luck !.

[sealicer]

According to the fishtay website, cargill had a fish today, was it the lost one or was it a late one?

[Fruin]

Sealicer,

I was, as usual, still casting while everybody else was on their way home or sitting in the hut getting cosy, so it must be the lost one that was reported.

Cargill has a lower and upper beat and alternates with Ballathie. Maybe a fish was caught on the lower beat by a Ballathie rod and it has been reported as a Cargill fish in error.

[sealicer]

Fruin, it could also have been a late one from the day before, i know late fish often get reported on the following day's report on other beats & rivers.