Week seven of the fishing season on the Dee proved lucky for some, with 29 fish reported to FishPal. It marks the best week of the season so far and the strongest March week in several years, giving us renewed optimism for the weeks ahead. Spring is clearly making itself known, with plenty of daffodils now lining the banks of the River Dee.
News from the beats
At Cairnton & Middle Blackhall, Brian Brogan reported good weather for most of the week, with sunshine most days. From Wednesday onwards, conditions were almost cloudless, with sharp early‑morning frosts. The week started well on Monday, with Andy Ashcroft landing a 10lb fish and Chris Macleod an 8lb fish, both in Malt Steep. Local rod Ian Ogden caught his first fish of the season on Tuesday in the Grey Mare (8lb). On Wednesday, Andy Ashcroft added his second fish of the week in Malt Steep (9lb). Thursday was a memorable day for Dale Gordon, who landed his first-ever salmon—an 11lb fish from Malt Steep—caught on a fly he had tied the day before. In the same pool, Grahame Reid landed a 9lb fish. Skjalg Lund from Norway, who seems always to find success at Cairnton, caught a 10lb fish from the Plank, while his friend Roar Velle landed a 7lb fish in Middle Ferroch. The flies doing the business this week were Monkey patterns, Ally Shrimps, and Willie Gunns. Water temperatures ranged from 38 to 43°F.
Angus Rutherford mentioned was a quieter spell at Upper Blackhall—yet still a productive one, as they got started on the first round of essential beat maintenance. After the recent windy weather, clearing several fallen trees and branches, improving access along the roads, with everything back into good order for the season ahead. Right at the end of the week, there were a couple of late entries to the book: a fine 8lb fish landed on Saturday 14th March in the Big Girnal pool, caught by an angler who prefers to remain anonymous, and a 12lb fish caught the same day by former Altries ghillie Kevin Fleming from the Green Spout Pool. A great result and an encouraging sign for the weeks to come. Looking ahead, there is still some spring availability at Upper Blackhall if you’d like to spend some time on the water. Feel free to contact them via email to secure your spot on the beat.
Mark Purvis and his group, who have been coming to the Dee and the Ballogie beats for many years, stayed at the beautiful self‑catering property Potarch Lodge, located right on the banks of the river. It was a good week for Ballogie Estate anglers, with two salmon at Commonty, one at Ballogie weighing 14lb, and four fish at Carlogie. Well done them all.
At the Dess beat, Simon—on only his second ever day salmon fishing and attending as part of a Twin Peakes course—landed a beautiful springer from the Jetties Pool. Congratulations to him; his adrenaline must have been pumping. As Ali McEwan rightly said, nothing beats helping someone catch their first salmon. We hope Simon will return soon and take a great Dee memory with him. Robert Galbraith and Paul Davidson also picked up fish in the second half of the week.
At Birse, Nicol Paton from the Scottish Fly Fishing Company welcomed the Taylor party this week. James Taylor started things off with a lovely 10lb salmon from Murrays Pool, caught on a float‑hover sink 4 line with a Willie Gunn. James Thorngrove followed with a fish of around 6lbs from Trees Pool, using a floater fast tip and an Alastair tube. On Saturday, it was Donald Maclachlin’s turn—he landed a fine fish of around 6lbs from the Lummels Pool. Birse offers over 3.5 miles of fishing pools that suit all water heights. April is filling up, so please book early to avoid disappointment.
At Birkhall on the iconic Balmoral Estate, they welcomed their first guest of the year—and, as luck would have it, a bit of silver arrived too. Congratulations to Al Peake, who last Thursday landed a mirror bright salmon more than 50 miles from the sea after its long journey up the river. David Fernie, the Head Ghillie, mentioned that they’ve recently released rod availability starting from £75. You can view the details on FishPal here:https://www.fishpal.com/scotland/dee/balmoral/
Other beats reporting fish this week included Banchory, Little Blackhall & Inchmarlo, Woodend, and Crathie.
It’s great to see more fish to the Dee rods and hear about more fish moving through the river. With the Easter holidays approaching and schools finishing up very soon, now is a perfect time to head over to FishPal and check fishing availability if you want to get out and enjoy time on the Dee.
Tight lines.
DC
Debbie Cooper
debbie@riverdee.org