[Adam]

Hello,

I'm coming up to have a go at fishing the Don in September, I'm from East Lothian and fish a small spate river called the Tyne. I've had a good look around the website, and wondered if anyone could help with a few questions please?

I'm keen to fish Manar, and the beats listed on the weekly roving ticket, will my 11foot 7/8 rod be sufficient? I want to have a good shot for a Salmon as I've never caught one, but I'm keen for Brownies and Sea Trout.

I usually fish a floater, but am not used to fishing rivers as big as the Don, so am going to look into intermediates and sink tips to cover for different conditions, any ideas on what sort of thing to go for when fishing up there?

I've emailed Sloans asking about permits, but haven't heard back, does anyone know what the rules are or where I can find them for Manar, Alford, Inverurie Burgh, and Kintore? I'm a keen fly fisherman, but enjoy option of spinning too if possible..

A friend reccomended Manar, so I thought it might be worth spending a few days there to get to know a specific beat, maybe increasing chances, does anyone know this beat? Also thought it might be worth trying to find someone to show me on my first day to get me started?

Finally, the million quid question - Any advice on Salmon/Sea Trout flies for that time of year, colour, size, type would be great. At home towards end of season I stick a teal blue and silver on the dropper above a silver stoat double and get brownies and the odd sea trout on both, but I'm sure I cant purely rely on this up there!

That was a bit of an essay, sorry! Any help at all would be much appreciated, thanks

Adam

[Hamish Young]

Adam,

Firstly, welcome the forum 

Let's start with the rod - that should be fine. Personally I favour carrying a selection of different density tips to achieve the depth I want. A slow intermediate would be a useful addtion, you can always bung a fast sinking tip on it for that extra bit of depth/control.

I shouldn't worry too much about Sloans being slow in replying, chances are you'll be able to pop in there and get a ticket without too much hassle. Other ticket outlets are available via www.fishdon.co.uk on a few beats or, as you live well outside the area, an ADAA ticket would be available to you. Have a look at http://www.adaa.org.uk/fishingTickets.php You mention Manar, it's a good beat and well worth fishing but there's plenty of choice - no doubt you've already had a look at this page: http://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/river-don-brown-trout-fishing.html which although geared up towards the trout fisher outlines many of the other beats who also offer salmon fishing (not all mind).

There is a two day salmon course being hosted by two members of this forum on an upper beat of the river in late september, which might be worth considering if you want to hone your skills. Go to www.orvis.co.uk look for fly fishing schools and follow the link to salmon schools 

Flies - read the Trout and Salmon reports, usually sound advice in those pages. Take some cascades/allys etc in a variety of colours and sizes as they usually do well. Sunray shadows always worth including in your fly selection  but fish with what you're confident with.

One piece of advice I would give you, whilst it's very true that when fishing for trout folk often catch salmon (and vice versa) I would suggest you set up with fishing for migratory fish in mind 1st of all with the ability to re-rig for trout if necessary - or the other way around. Choice is yours, but on the Don IMHO it pays to concentrate on one tactic rather than compromise in the hopes of connecting.

H 

[buntinbee]

Hi Adam,

Having fished the Don all my life, including Manar, my advice would be to fish the Parkhill beats of the ADAA waters at that time of year. Regardless of whether the water is high or low, Parkhill will give you a better chance of sport than Manar in September. Trout fishing at Parkhill is vastly superior to Manar as well. With regard to lines, a floater with a 10' poly tip will be more than adequate for September and depending on conditions a full floater will do. You might be a little undergunned with an 11' rod, but it will certainly do at a pinch. My preference would be for a 14' rod rated 9/10 with either shooting head or windcutter type line. If you give me a shout nearer the time I could arrange to walk the beats, pointing out where your best chances would be. I'm sure I could probably find a suitable outfit to lend you if you haven't something of your own by then too.

[Adam]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies everyone, thats all been v helpful. I looked into the fishing instruction days Hamish, but I'll be away by then, nevermind!

Thanks for Parkhill heads up, makes sense. Only thing is I'll be staying nearer Alford. Basically my Ma's booked a cottage for a week so she can go and look at castles and monuments. She asked if I wanted to come along and fish. (big yes!) Thing is I don't have my own car, so she's up for droppin me places in the morning to fish for the day which is great but I wouldn't expect her to ferry me across to Dyce every morning! But I'm sure I can make it to Parkhill for a day at some point during the week anyway. It'd be great to have a chance for a silver fish, and to have a shot gettin used to a bigger bit of river. Although just to have a shot somewhere new and a chance of any fish is good with me!! We'll see !

I've had a look at ADAA, and as much as I can find out about other bits, all looks good, too much choice! In regards to rules/conditions the only thing I've really found is a global code for the Don which amongst other things says no spinning in designated fly only water (obviously), but all individual beats I've looked at on the web pages dont seem to say if they are fly only or not, I guess the permits for individual beats will list their own rules?

Also cheers buntinbee for offering a walk of Parkhill beats and even tackle! Very kind, we'll see how things pan out nearer the time, I might well take you up on that! Nice one ; )

[Sandy Nelson]

Incidentally the upper Don is small, really no more than a big burn, so don’t waste your money on salmon casting tuition up there. Far better to get instruction on the bigger,  lower river that will stand you in good stead elsewhere.

Not really a fair comment, a lot of instruction is carried out on grass, does that mean it is useless for fishing on any water?
For Salmon casting the only advantage to having water is for it to provide a decent anchor point for the line, it doesn't matter how much water , it just helps for learning salmon techniques. I would imagine that the upper river was chosen as it is likely to be quieter and is far more picturesque, which helps making the learning process more fun and there is a high possibility the landowners were more agreeable to letting people learn on their water.

HI Adam

As with Hamish, welcome to the forum.
In your situation i.e. without car, the best idea for a fishing week would be to sit with a map of the area and work out where your Mum wants to visit and pick beats that are nearby, there are a few castles and the like on donside (mostly middle river)
Most of the beats will depend on the water levels, whilst Parkhill is a very good and productive beat, if the water is high the fish will shoot straight through and off up the river in a very short space time, as the river drops off they will slow their progress, so the best beat at a given time will vary dramatically depending the preceding and current state of the water.
Impossible to predict .
Any of the beats from the river could worth fishing, Manar happens to be one of my favouites, as is Fetternear, Inverurie, Kildrummy, Alford and Monymusk,(i happen to prefer the middle to upper river) the list on the Don beats on the Main website will provide you with contact details for whichever beats you think you will be near.
Mixing it up will make for a very interesting trip, the fishing style required can be  quite different from lower to middle to upper river. Don't forget there are some really good trout about in September too and streamers (wooly buggers, etc) will produce some serious sized fish off most beats.
Hope you have a good a trip

Cheers

Sandy

[Irvine Ross]

surely it makes sense to spend his money on a bigger  more representative bit of water where the skills learned will   be more  useful elsewhere? Up to him of course. 

Gogs

You are entitled to your opinion but I would say the opposite. Its no more  difficult to cast on the lower Don than anywhere else. You jut need to choose the length of rod and the correct line to suit the distance you need to cast. On a bigger river where you can wade its easier as you have plenty of room behind you for the D loop. The problems multiply when you are in a tight corner with a high bank or trees behind you. The skills you need in that situation are the same with a short rod on a small river or longer rod on a wider river. I know of one or two salmon fishers who have learned to cast on the Dee and then struggled on stretches of the Don where the banks are not manicured and they had little room behind them.

I'm still pretty crap at spey casting off my left shoulder with a single handed rod but I'm working on it. Don't need to do that much on the lower river, or do you?

Irvine

[Irvine Ross]

Gogs

You're a better caster than me. I still need the double hander to throw a 1.5" tube fly across the pool above the Bridge of Alford.

cheers
Irvine

[Sandy Nelson]

a bit of a red herring there spiderman Adam will  be paying to cast on water, not doing it for free on grass,  so surely it makes sense to spend his money on a bigger  more representative bit of water where the skills learned will   be more  useful elsewhere? Up to him of course. 

I would have thought that if he were ( which he is not) then surely he would be paying for his instructors time and expertise , not the right to cast on the water, that's what permits are for.
Casting on grass is free, but so can be casting on water.
My point was that learning to cast properly will serve you well for wherever you wish to fish
it is certainly not specific to where you learn, if you learn to drive on " a" roads then can you never drive
on a motorway? I don't think so.

Irvine point about suiting your gear to the situation is more pertinent.

However we are all
entitled to an opinion, most of my salmon have been caught on the middle river
with a single handed 5 wt and a dry fly that's the joy of angling.

Sandy 

[Ben Dixon]

Trying to learn to Spey cast on grass is a total waste of time once the basic movements have been grasped, to get the basic movements it is o.k but I would still not teach it on grass.  I don't know of any instructors that would charge for a permit for a casting lesson on the water if it was simply casting and not fishing, they usually have somewhere to teach.

Having the right kit is essential to make the most of the water you are fishing, I usually use either an 11' switch rod or a shooting head single hander set up for the upper Don, casting on a small river can be very much more demanding than casting on a large river with plenty of space.  Fair comment about fish further up the river not being as fresh as those caught lower down but I have had silver fish at Strathdon and, the longer fish are in the river, the more difficult they can become to catch.  By the time a salmon gets to Strathdon it will have seen a fair few Cascades swinging by so it can often require more than a swung Allys to get it to take.

Cheers

Ben