Dee opening

[zeolite]

Televised on BBC news with Paul Young emptying a quaich and then throwing a willie gunn into the icebergs.
So who was out then?

[salmonfly]

Zeolite do you have any picture?

[salmonfly]

Thanks for the link Graham.

I will be fishing the Dee from the 22nd to 25th of this month,
Any forecasts about this years fishing.
Will any of you guy be fishing the Dee around this time?

[diverdave]

I tried Maryculter and Banchory Devenick, but the river was too thick with ice. A number of souls out but really impossible to get a line to fish around. About 20 fish, probably kelts though difficult to tell from above, could be seen between icebergs, above and below the Crathes bridge, so when the ice clears we should have some sport

The BBC news used a small clip of the video we took in the Pumphouse pool last september, only perhaps 5 seconds of it and it did not convert to TV too well but gives an idea of what the Dee is capable of. The full video is 35 minutes long and is a magnificent site. We saw many thousand fish. Visability was only perhaps 6 - 8 feet and at any point in time we could see over a dozen fish! One 60 second has over 500 counted fish. Most were typical 7 - 10 lb fish, but some were giants. We have a poor quality clip of a giant estimated by the bailifs to be 45 lb plus, certainly biggest salmon i have seen and we saw perhaps half a dozen 30lb monsters

I am hoping a well known local website will feature a longer clip in the near future.

dave

[salmonfly]

Yes Graham, I am fishing with the bloke organized trip.
How well do you know this bit of water? What can I expect from Little Blackhall at this time of the year?

Graham if you or any other forum member is around at that time, can you come and introduce yourself, it would be great to meet some of you guys.

[storlaks]

I fished little Blackhall a few years ago (before it merged with Inchmarlo on the opposite side) and enjoyed it a lot. It's not the biggest beat, but has some nice pools. The best pool is Kinneskie which is a lovely big pool. Also, the new Fawn is a good pool if the height suits. If I remember correctly, in higher water the fish tend to move up the Inchmarlo side, but in lower and medium heights you can wade the New Fawn quite easily and take fish on the LB side. Never had any fish from the top pool (can't recall the name), but it did look fishy. There's a few other smaller pools which fish at different heights but again had no success there.

All pools will fish a sunk line well, which is what I'd be doing at end of Feb.
There won't be numbers of fish about, but given decent conditions, you'll have a good chance of a Springer.

Good Luck, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[salmonfly]

Thank for the reply Storlaks, I plan to enjoy every day that I fish there. ;D

[fishingd0]

Very low down Graham. Not surprising considering conditions. I was speaking to Grant Mackenzie last night, we are planning blairs for a day if the water stays low/cold. What do you think the chances would be?

[tyneandrew]

Presume it was still full of grue today given the lack of catches?

[storlaks]

Thanks for correcting me Graham. Must be old age setting in (-:

[salmonfly]

Graham what is the latest new on the Dee?

[glisters]

It looks as if there were quite a few fish caught on Monday up as far as Aboyne. See Fish Dee

[tyneandrew]

Graham,

Is it not the case that the vast majority of beats above Aboyne are not fishing at this time of year, is it 01/03 most start to fish?

[woburn]

Hi Graham and All,

Correct as usual Graham. Archie (gillie) fished at Crathie on opening day but the ice was too thick. He fishes occasionally during feb and early march but only if conditions are right, or if he sees a fish move while doing bank work etc. Ian Murray has the fishing on Lower Invercauld and Monaltrie and also casts an occasional line in Feb.

This low water early in the season and lack of snow can have some funny effects apparently. Archie was saying it was similar in 2003 when they had a dry spring and summer and the upper river had their best April and May for years. The fish all ran early. (Hope its the same as 03, I had 7 in 3 days!).

Be interesting to see how it pans out this year.

Sam

[tyneandrew]

I've got to say the spring season on the Dee 03' still fascinates me. Park had c30 for f/m/a when they usually score well over 100. Whereas Crathie had an absolute beano in May - 74 (fishdee).

Does anyone have a theory why this happened? As you say the fish must have just blasted through the system to the headwaters.

BUT WHY!!!

[woburn]

Who knows, maybe they can sense that a hot dry summer is on its way. Later in the summer of 03 there were fish dying in the warm water in Aberdeen, so maybe they head up early and sit it out in the cooler fast flowing well oxygenated water upstream.

The weather is so unpredictable these days it wouldnt surprise me if we get up there in April and find a foot of snow on the banks. April 03 it was 65 degrees and I was fishing a size 12 fly and wearing a t shirt.

I guess thats why we do it, you just never know.......

[zeolite]

I was on Commonty in March 03 (first time on the Dee proper) and I was in a t-shirt with a floating line. Not what i had expected at all.