[Sandy Nelson]

Been busy this week with various things but I did get out a couple of times
Early on before we had the mini flash flood, there were good hatches of Uprights and still plenty LDOs, they never really dissappear and can still get the trout rising



Some nice fish to be found, but not in the usual spots, many had moved into the pocket water and it took a bit is spotting to see them



I caught this guy again. Despite his war wounds from either a sawbill or the Osprey he rose freely in a different area to last time



Speaking of Osprey I watched this guy for a while before he settled in the top of this tree and then dove like a kingfisher to take a nice fish from the pool below. Never seen an Osprey do this before 



Some Bonny silvery trout about too. Not sure if they were finnock that had been in the water for a while or just silvery browns. They were too big for smolts



Some nice fish though in the pockets



As the week warmed up I saw a couple of these guys. Common lizards, but not often you see them. This one was particularly friendly



Towards the end of  week there were noticeably less decent fish rising and an increase in the amount of smolts taking your fly. So I guess that fresh water on Monday moved a lot of them downstream and the Smolt hatch is well underway.
Probably means evenings are on the cards very soon for finding the better fish on the surface. Or big streamers 

[Sandy Nelson]

Had a look down Saturday evening rather than doing the warm day.
Quite a few fish moving but mostly smaller ones, loads of flies with various spinners and sedge on the go plus a few olives and yellow mays hatching.



So I figured maybe a morning might be better, it was overcast this morning but from 9-11am there was a decent fall of spinners and a nice hatch of Olive uprights.
Pocket picking with a spent spinner to rising fish was a lot of fun



The water was beautifully clear and the light was great for photos





Some chunky ones too



All in all a great morning on the dries. I went home as the sun came out from behind the clouds as the rising fish disappeared.

Saw a few of these small copper butterflies, beautiful wee bugs

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff Sandy - some really bonnie pics too 

[Nick Thom]

While fishing the rising river yesterday at Keithall, I noticed a small localised hatch of Mayflies, maybe 20-30 in total within a few minutes. I think they’re Green Drakes but you maybe able to clarify. The trout didn’t seem that interested.

In this theme, Several volunteers, including Fred Hay and myself have been trained by the Riverfly Partnership and we monitor the health of the River Don fly life population at 2 sites around Inverurie. This is done on a monthly basis to establish water quality and any dip in a particular invertebrate species may indicate an issue.   We are finding an abundance of Shrimp, cased and caseless Caddis, flat bodied stoneclingers, olives and blue winged olives. We have had some massive Stonefly nymphs too but we haven’t found any Mayfly nymphs suggesting that they like particular substrate.

Anyway, I’m fast becoming an insect anorak and if you would like to be involved in this monthly exercise, don’t hesitate to contact me and I will put you in touch with the coordinator for this area.   

[Mike Barrio]

Nice one Nick, always interesting stuff 

[Sandy Nelson]

Great stuff Nick

Good fun playing with bugs and yes they are Ephemera Danica  the “green drake”
The nymphs like a silty bottom. There’s a couple of  areas around inverurie where they are established

[Nick Thom]

Thanks Sandy - we thought you might know!

[Sandy Nelson]

So on Monday past it was my first day off so I thought I’d try and beat the thunderstorm and go find some mayfly.
I spotted just one mayfly but did manage to find some nice fish tucked in the riffles picking off olives



Some cool wee beetles kicking about too, along with huge numbers of stoneflies



When the thunder started in earnest I decided to go home before I got soaked.
Glad I went out though as that was the only real chance I had all week. So I know how this guy feels



Last night it looked lovely so I went for an after dinner amble along the river without a rod.
Thousands of spinners and I saw a decent amount of rising fish. The water looked great and from some angles it was a fairytale



Roll on Tuesday when I can get back out

[Robert MacDonald-Lewis]

The last picture is stunning.

[Mike Barrio]

Nice one Sandy, great photos 

[Matt Clark]

Saturday evening, early on lots on Invicta, then on sedges when the sun went down with a mental 2 mins of big splashes. The following night, very quiet and only a few just as the sun went down in a 10 minute frenzy with sedges. 

[Sandy Nelson]

The weather is proving interesting, but I will take this over last years drought.
High water temps and low water meant I lost June and July last year, this year we have water and sensible temps of around 14-15degrees and the regular rain is keeping it there.

So I’ve managed a couple of sessions on recent evenings and I’ve been finding a few rising fish late afternoon and early evening
Some nice ones in amongst them



Mostly the 10-12” size though, which are still fighting pretty hard



Olive upright spinners seem to be the key food
Spiderwebs are a great place to get a hint if you can’t work it out , pick the flies that are still alive. I rescued this one



This one wasn’t so lucky



Some fish are showing signs of the white patches we see in summer



Just a matter of picking a window when the water is clean

[Mike Barrio]

Nice one Sandy 

Yes, quite a difference in conditions compared to last year.

[Keith Elliot]

I didn't think about it that way yesterday after getting wet, after all the last two seasons have been drought conditions on my club loch. I used to say to my customers when I was a Lollipop man, If it didn't rain we would all be toast.😁