Tay

[zeolite]

tyneandrew...I am more than pleased to correct you. Coupar Grange is as well controlled as any other Tay beat I have been on. Most of the fish are caught on the fly although many are caught on spinner. The tay recommendations are followed and most fish are returned.
The gillie, Johnnie Muller is the most enthusiastic character you will ever hope to meet and he runs the beat with an iron fist.
The beat is incredibly prolific and I don't know the reason for that but reasonable prices and open water mean that it is very well let.
why don't you give it a try and see for yourself?

[tyneandrew]

I think that would be the best way of deciding, i might try and get a couple of days in this season up there.

Sounds like i have been given some phoney info...

Thanks

[kercock]

Zeolite is bang on the button. What people do not realise is,that Islabank is what we call a new beat, for years it was a syndicated beat,now it is organised by someone trying to make a name for the beat,at whatever cost,including badmouthing other beats and perhaps ghillies too.. Coupar Grange has been established, for a good number of years and since John took over it has improved by leaps and bounds.I fear it may become a victim of its own success,the more fish you catch the bigger the levy ! Islabank on the otherhand is best described as being,well,being generous,mediocre,
IT is not genarally known that although the Isla/Ericht system is within the Tay system it does not within the Tay Protection order ,where on the Tay,by law you must have a written permit to fish ,that is not the case on the Ericht and Isla,but I digress.Both beats are on the Isla not on the Tay. Fishmongers appear on any beat,they don't look any different,I am not keen on those people and let me say they would not be encouraged to come to my place of employ!Try Coupar Grange,form your own opinion,it may not be your cup of tea but at least you tasted the bloody thing.

[kercock]

This mornings paper gives the result of last weeks catch at Coupar Grange,they had 55 for the week of which 46 were taken on the fly of the total 36 were returned," and there is NO worming allowed until the 1st of June " said Bruce Reid who in fact is the owner. It is easy for people who fish rivers which have a release only policy to be critical of rivers which don't. Be fair,it is only a very few years since all salmon were knocked on the head,things ARE improving on a voluntary basis. On the Dee when the return all fish rule was put on,on MOST beats,anglers left in droves,now they are back and rightly so but it must also be borne in mind that there are beats on the Dee which still retain fish,please correct me if I'm wrong. Morning all.

[jimthefish]

The only beat on the Dee with a killing policy is Invery ( the private owner, not Linc. Holdings the other owner who are C & R ). There may be other examples but they do not admit it.
This means that on every alternate week on Invery the policy is that one fish per week may be killed per angler ( ie a max of 6 in the week.) Even here the trend is not to kill. As an example in my party last week only 3 were killed out of 16 and 2 of these were absolute bleeders that had engulfed the fly and would have died anyway.

[kercock]

Graham, and other Dee anglers, I applaud you. That is tremendous,wish I could say the same of the Tay.

[johnmac]

i think its good to hear of so many fish being returned.... and so many just through the anglers choice. I hear good things about the Coupar grange beat and the ghillie! I was down on the Ericht last Saturday for three hours in the morning, i saw one fish and in one pool a guy who was spinning said he had seen five or six fish in a couple of hours but none were interested! He was moaning about the Coupar Grange beat jagging all the fish and then returning them, thus making them hook shy?? I doubt this is the case?? but im new to this game? Im sure that they just aint in the mood? Anyway, the rivers well low up here and still falling. I assume most of the snow has gone if not all of it..... but there is a bit of rain forecast for the weekend i think? but im working anyway, so will have to wait until Monday night at the earliest! Anyway, i hope to keep my first fish, assuming i catch one! And then after that i'll operate a mostly catch and release, bar the odd fish to get smoked! Maybe the fish know im looking for my first! hence they avoid me..... but with a bit of luck!??! then hopefully they'll come thick and fast cos they know they will be returned?? here's hoping!

[kercock]

It took a while but one of the lads managed to actually land an 8lb fish today..! After what seemed like months of nothing being landed with the normal hard luck stories "at my feet "was a worthy champion. Perhaps this is the beginning of a catching session.

[iainjay]

Hope so Dennis.

[johnmac]

Glad to hear a fish has come off Dennis.....did it fall to the cutlery?? Im sure your delighted to have a return after a few quiet weeks...... maybe its the start of things to come? good luck anyway!

[Fruin]

It'll be good to see another few fish coming off Kercock, and hopefully it continues right through the first two weeks of May

[Fruin]

I fished Kercock on the Tay yesterday and had no success with the fish. There was a fish off the lower beat in the morning on a Garry Dog tube tied with arctic fox.
There were another two forum members fishing - Owen and Iainjay. I had met Owen before, but I never had much chance to speak to him this time, as we were at opposite ends of the beat.
I did manage to talk with iainjay and thoroughly enjoyed his company through the day.

[iainjay]

Ditto that Fruin,really enjoyable day with good company.Nice to meet forum members and put faces to names.Pity we couldn't entice a fish between us.Next time though....

Cheers

[kercock]

Would the two gentlemen from the two above posts please refrain from bringing the strong winds with them on future visits,imagine four members on one beat,great.and one of them caught a salmon,( He was the one who wasnae bletherin')

[Fruin]

I didn't realise that he was a forum member. I'll know next time.

See you Saturday.

[tyneandrew]

Did Couper Grange really have a total blank June?

[johnmac]

nae chance! i think they are keeping it a secret... but i'm sure they will have had a good return!

[madkeen]

from what i have heard they are not going to post catch numbers on fishtay anymore for what reason i dont know.
alan

[tyneandrew]

Shame...

[kercock]

Not all owners agree with publishing their catches,perhaps it's a case of Coupar Grange no longer need to boost the bookings.Everyone knows of the beat and word of mouth is the best salesman.There are often people who will critisize beats,that's life.