As promised, a wee report from my trip to the Tay. Before I start, please be aware that this report may go ever so slightly off topic
. If this type of behaviour offends, please click the back button on your browser now. ;D
Day 1. Findynate beat.
After trying for a while with the fly, it was decided that the downstream wind would not help someone of my limited casting abilty. Spinning presented itself as the best course of action. On went a medium sized toby which succeeded in landing a brownie of about a pound. Not quite the desired prize but enough of a confidence booster to keep spirits up for the rest of the day. The joy of being on this lovely beat turned gradually to frustration at not even seeing a fish (until 4pm when a decent salmon showed right at the bottom of the beat). Donnie did warn us that fish tend not to show on this beat.
Salmon catching was sadly not to be on the agenda for us on the day though
. Tomorrow was a different day, with the option of an early start on the Sawmill beat of the Tummel, followed by a short afternoon on the Clochfoldich beat of the Tay, followed once again by the Sawmill.
Day two. Sawmill (Tummel) and Clochfoldich (Tay).
Sorry no pics, too busy fishing
5.30am came all too quickly for my liking but copious amounts of coffee and cigarettes soon put things in perspective.
The first wade down the Sawmill was rather an enlightening experience (for me at least, I've never been the most confident of waders), the last few steps in particular really woke me up. A misunderstanding of Donnie's wading instructions was enough to see me stood helpless in a strong current unable to move. One leg in just below the knee, the other (downstream) leg had slid down the side of a sloping rock into a hole, my foot going under said rock in the process. To try to remedy the problem alone would have meant a sure fire swim seawards, luckily for me, I was not fishing alone. Cheers Donnie, phew.
After a pluck or two and further fishless wades down, lunch and Clochfoldich beckoned.
Once on Clochfoldich, the fly was again abandoned due to the nasty downstream gusty wind, I really must learn the left shoulder double spey
. Spinning rod and toby presented another nice trout after a very short while, again nice but not welcome. Two or three casts later I somehow managed to hit a snag in the deepest part of the pool
. "Jees, can it get any worse? FFS" I thought. Until the snag decided to bugger off rapidly downstream!!!
"Another bloody brownie probably" I thought. Until it jumped, showing not brown but bright silver. "GNNNN.....F N HELL....IT'S A SALMON" I said.
This was unknown territory. Will it stay on? How the hell am I supposed to do this? Will anyone believe me? I then proceeded to take this pic just to prove (to myself really) that I had a fish..and not just any fish, my first salmon. Doesn't really show my case due to a slow shutter speed and shaking hands.
As far as it goes, my worry soon turned to delerium as the fish did stay on, was beached, unhooked, photographed and released. Being witnessed by Donnie, whose arrival on the beat was timed to perfection, him being just in time to see the recovered fish swim back to continue his journey upstream.
Twenty minutes later, once the hands had stopped shaking (my sincere thanks to Benson and Hedges), the toby was again cast across the Tay. After a few casts, I hit another snag which again turned out to be a fish. This time the camera was on hand to capture the action properly. See photo in Donnie's post above. A similar fish to the previous one was landed, just over 3lb of sea liced grilse. Unfortunately this one was injured and bleeding from the eye, probably due to his thrashing on the bank and was put out of his misery.
Overjoyed salmondan with fish seen below
After all this excitement, the wind had dropped sufficiently to attempt the fly rod again and go for the hat-trick. The spanish armada soon put paid to our chances and we headed for the Tummel once more. Fish were showing here but none were interested in my flee, sadly no hat-trick was to be had and proceedings drew to a close. Beer and sleep were calling in a most inviting way.
Saturday morning saw a few casts on Newtyle with Jock and some excellent casting instuction which has now been ingrained on my mind forever. Many thanks Jock.
Thanks to everyone on here who has given me advice and help over the last few months. I'm overjoyed to catch not just one, but two salmon in the space of half an hour to break my duck. I hope I don't have to wait as long to catch the next one. I'll do that on the fly just to show it wasn't a fluke ;D.
.
. If this type of behaviour offends, please click the back button on your browser now. ;D
. Tomorrow was a different day, with the option of an early start on the Sawmill beat of the Tummel, followed by a short afternoon on the Clochfoldich beat of the Tay, followed once again by the Sawmill.
. Spinning rod and toby presented another nice trout after a very short while, again nice but not welcome. Two or three casts later I somehow managed to hit a snag in the deepest part of the pool 
. "Jees, can it get any worse? FFS" I thought. Until the snag decided to bugger off rapidly downstream!!! 
