[Birdog]

All,
My wife and I may be celebrating our 10th anniversary in Scotland next summer. I am trying to put together an itinerary and I would like to spend a day on the river possibly two. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as guides, rivers, accommodations, etc? Unless I win the lottery or have a rich uncle I don't know about, prices need to be kept reasonable as we are on a budget.
Thanks for your input.
Birdog

 

[sagefly]

Check out the www.fishscotland.co.uk website, they ahve infor on the Tweed, Spey, Dee, and Tay.

You can get pretty reasonable priced fishing in the summer but do some homework as a lot of the smaller rivers are "spate" rivers and only really fish after a decent flood of water.

I am certain the willie gunn can offer some more insight onto the smaller rivers, less famous rivers that abound in Scotland

 

[Birdog]

Scotland

Thanks for the info.
I had done a Google search and found all the usual suspects but was wondering if anyone had some solid leads. The websites all look great but it can be hard to determine who would be the best choice. I looked over Ian Neale's site; it's a nice site and looks intriguing. Anyone know about him?
Cheers!
Birdog

 

[sagefly]

Birdog your are right to be cautious, many rivers, even beats have favoured heights to fish at, fishing above or below those levels is almost a waste of time.

I will keep my eyes out for more info, when in the summer do you plan on coming over?

 

[paraflex]

guides

hi birdog
if you are intrested in fishing the river tay or maybe a nice spate river i guide on these and know of some good accomadation nearby both rivers,you can see me on fishnet web site,just let me know if you need any info and i will gladley help you
gary

 

[clyde olson]

fishing Scotland

In Sept/05 my retirement gift to me was a week's fishing in Scotland. Fished two days with a ghillie on the Knockando beat of the Spey and three days with guide Ian Neale on the Park beat of the Dee. Never seen so many jumping Salmon! The ghillie at Park said they were really moving---obviously--- 'cause in six days of hard fishing got one grilse and what looked like a salmon parr on the Dee. Only 7 fish were landed from the six beats at Park during my three days there for whatever consolation that might give me. Ian was an excellent, hard working guide and I recommend him. Be prepared: the trip was expensive but in all ways a very memorable one. I have no clue as to how successful you might be acquiring time on good public water.

 

[fishingd0]

If you are coming over in the summer, I presume it will be around June, July or August? This is a great time to be fishing in Scotland. The main runs at this time of year are grilse (salmon that have only spent one year feeding at sea, they usually range from about 3-7lb and are the most abundant runs of salmon we have). You are spoilt with choice as to where you fish. If I were you I would be looking at a river that doesn’t reliy too heavily on rain rainfall (spate rivers) to induce salmon into its system.

My own personal choice would be one of the following; the Spey (www.fishspey.co.uk) the helmsdale angling association (www.helmsdale.org) or the river findhorn (http://www.griffon.clara.net/faa/faa_guage.html) There are literally dozens of other rivers that would cater just as well as the above, but these would be a good starting point.

It would be worth giving Malcolm Newbould AKA-Willie Gunn a PM. He has started up his own guiding service, which covers some of the very best water in Scotland.

Gordon

 

[David Dornblaser]

Spey Rivers

Is there a good, current book which covers Atlantic Salmon fishing in Scotland?

Thanks,
David

 

[Willie Gunn]

Is there a good, current book which covers Atlantic Salmon fishing in Scotland?

Thanks,
David

Are you looking for a Where to book? or a how to book?
Plenty of the later but fewer of the former

 

[Gary W]

Birdog,

If you supply a firmer date, I am sure there will be more advice forthcoming from this side of the pond. Timing of runs of salmon varies from river to river and the weather/water level is even harder to predict. With a firmer date, picking a river and beat can be a little less of a lottery.

 

[David Dornblaser]

Book

Willie,

More of a Where to and the History and Culture of the River(s) and their environs. My wife works for a British company so we travel to the UK a fair amount.

David

 

[clyde olson]

"Shadows in the Stream"--Ian Neale

This is not exactly a 'how to' or 'where' book, sort of a combination. It describes the various months of the year and the kind of fishing one can expect in Scotland. Thoughtful, entertaining, and informative from one of the 'name' guides in Scotland. As mentioned above, Ian guided me for three days on the Dee in late Sept/2005. Published in 2000 by Swan Hill Press, 101 Longden Road, Shrewsbury, SY39EB, England; www.airlifebooks.com. Think I got my copy from Barnes and Noble.

 

[Gardener]

Books

For a general overview of salmon rivers, try Crawford Little's book 'The Great Salmon Beats'. John Ashley-Cooper's 'Salmon Fisher's Odyssey', is good, though that is harder to find and tends to be expensive. For a more in-depth look at the 'big four' Scottish rivers (Dee, Spey, Tay and Tweed), try Ashley-Cooper's 'Great Salmon Rivers of Scotland'.

I think all of these may be out of print, but you should be able to find them through abebooks or some such source.

 

[David Dornblaser]

Thanks

Thank you for the book recommendations. I have ordered a couple on-line already.

David