River Dee Fishing Report – Week 34 commencing 14th September 2026
We enjoyed another good week on the river, with 123 salmon and grilse and 19 sea trout reported, up slightly from 113 salmon the previous week. More importantly, catches remained well distributed and the river responded positively to another lift in water.
September water levels have been kinder than August, a fickle month it has to be said. Back-to-back midweek rises have helped matters greatly. The Feugh also received a useful lift, adding water from Banchory downstream. None of this amounted to a major spate, but it was enough to freshen conditions and create some fish movement.
The week began strongly with 23 salmon on Monday before catches eased to 14 on Tuesday and just four on Wednesday. Things picked up considerably thereafter, with 19 on Thursday, 37 on Friday and another 26 on Saturday. That gave us 82 salmon over the final three days and a respectable finish to the week.
Park enjoyed an exceptional week with 41 salmon, including 10 on Monday, nine on Tuesday, 12 on Friday and seven on Saturday. Lower Crathes W Durris also finished strongly with eight on Saturday, while good catches were recorded at Tilbouries & Middle Drum, Upper Blackhall, Carlogie, Birse, Dess and Little Blackhall & Inchmarlo.
Some fish movement benefited the lower pools at Park, which produced excellent sport last week. On the north bank, Robert Ball landed three salmon over his three days. Graham Westgarth had a salmon and sea trout, while Andrew Hitchin also had a salmon and sea trout during his three days.
On the south bank, John Fraser made his usual contribution with a couple of fish from Park Inn on Monday. Ian Dickinson, a longtime regular at Park, had a nice 15lber from the Jetties. French rods Frederic Andre and Pascal Nicolas enjoyed a particularly successful week, landing 21 salmon between them, with fish up to 16lb. Jim Bolton finished his week with a hat-trick of salmon from the Silver Spoon late on Friday afternoon, including a nice fresh 10lber.
Jamie Doran’s party fished Upper Blackhall last week. Jamie pitched in with a 6lber from Upper Ferroch and Tim Wood followed suit with an 8lber. Tuesday delivered a brace for Jamie, including one on the hitch. The rise in water slowed things for a time, although the sea trout developed a taste for the Red Francis. Jamie continued to hold the limelight with another couple of fish from the Corner Pool on Friday.
Banchory ghillie Jordie Sinclair had the pleasure of his dad’s company on the beat. Retired ghillie Raymond, who many of you will know, had a solid fish from the Hotel Pool. Potter Feilder landed her first-ever salmon, also from the Hotel Pool. Many congratulations, Potter.
Cairnton & Middle Blackhall had four for their efforts. Congratulations to Darby Hannigan from the US, who landed his first Scottish salmon, a 9lber from the Malt Steep on Wednesday. Gary Craig added a 13lber from the Grey Mare on Saturday.
Up at Carlogie, Per and Lars Linberg both caught salmon on Monday. Steven Moir had the biggest fish of the week, an 18lber, on Wednesday. Merlin Pohlit had two salmon on Friday and another on Saturday, while Ivan Capaul from Austria had Ballogie’s only fish on Friday.
Outlook
We begin the new week with the river falling away again, although there are clearly plenty of fish distributed throughout the system. The recent rises appear to have moved things around and, encouragingly, catches remained strong even as the water receded.
The weather looks unsettled enough to offer the possibility of further rain during the week. As ever, much will depend on where it falls. What matters now is meaningful rainfall across the catchment rather than the occasional damp pavement in Banchory.
We don’t necessarily require anything dramatic; recent weeks have shown what relatively small changes in water can do when there are fish throughout the river. With the season moving into its closing stages, another freshening could stir things up again.
Flies and tactics have generally been a mix of small dressed flies fished off polys and the old back end favourites such as the Francis and Snaelda.
As ever, listen to your ghillie.
Ross Macdonald
for inclusion in future reports e mail debbie@riverdee.org