River Ythan 2025

[Duncan McRae]

Noticed that the Ythan river level had risen around 5" overnight so decided to head over with the single hander in the hope of having some sport with any Finnock that had run the river.

I got started on a favourite middle beat and almost immediately got hold of a strong fish which turned out to be a coloured seatrout.



Worked my way down through the beat on what turned out to be a lovely afternoon.









It was another two hours before i connected with another fish and it turned out to be a very elusive Finnock




With virtually my last cast of the day i managed to take another seatrout which was in cracking condition for so late in the season.



Duncan

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff Duncan, certainly started to feel fishy as the conditions grew milder through the day today 

[Duncan McRae]

Following a very dour session on the Don yesterday with the double hander ,decided to head for the Ythan with the single hander today ,in the hope of seeing a bit more action.
However after almost 3 hours without a touch it seemed to be just as quiet.

With thoughts of packing it in for the day and the light starting to fade ,suddenly a take out of the blue.

Just a wee coloured grilse but so welcome.




Duncan

[Ivor Duffus]

Well done Duncan.

I gave up the struggle on Wednesday. I was out all day on Monday i had a couple hours on the Don and never seen a splash in a stretch that should be holding a few fish. I headed over to the Ythan for The Afternoon and seen a couple fish probably sea trout but no a sniff.

Repeated the process on Wednesday. Don first, seen nothing again ☹️☹️. Headed over to the Ythan where I did actually see a Salmon 😲. Nothing again. Anyway I delighted to get a couple days fishing with good water levels after a drought year.

The Spawning beds are going to be very sparse this year for Salmon ☹️


Ivor

[James Laraway]

That is really worrying.....

When i used to fish even the don in october( Grandhome, Kemnay, Kintore and Ardhuncart ) you were guaranteed to see fish splashing about ( and often lots of them) and i'd be miffed it i didn't catch at least one for my days effort. But if you are not even seeing them....

[Duncan McRae]

And so the sun sets on another Ythan fishing season.
A very short season indeed given the relentless low water conditions.

Nothing doing today but i did see a few fish splashing and watched a pair of salmon on their spawning redd.
It's always nice to be out on the river on the last day of the season.

No sign of finnock again today which i am very concerned about.
The numbers caught have plummeted throughout the river system.
What has happened to them?

Duncan

[Ivor Duffus]

And so the sun sets on another Ythan fishing season.
A very short season indeed given the relentless low water conditions.

Nothing doing today but i did see a few fish splashing and watched a pair of salmon on their spawning redd.
It's always nice to be out on the river on the last day of the season.

No sign of finnock again today which i am very concerned about.
The numbers caught have plummeted throughout the river system.
What has happened to them?

Duncan

Love fishing Gight from the Bridge down to the boundary. Am guessing where the strimming ends is the ADAA boundary although I thought it would run down to Methlick bridge 🤷🏻�♂️.

A lot of good streams and glides. Much more interesting than the other ADAA beats on the Ythan.

A lot of fallen trees in the water now. One tree is right across the river although it is not restricting flow it would be tricky for migrating fish in low water.

Ivor

[Duncan McRae]

Yes Ivor there's a fair few obstructions on the beat now.
Used to be able to fish the entire beat from top to bottom but impossible now.
Hopefully ADAA will sort out the problems.

Duncan