[Matt Henderson]

an evening for learning last night.  Firstly a casting lesson with Mr Dixon and then met a certain Goolager for a lesson in trout fishing.  Not a huge amount of fish on the go but that was never going to stop our Iain. 

I watched and learned and had a go at claiming Noel's crown as forum photographer, as you can see below I'm well on my way.....  with a nice photo of Iain landing a fish



cheers

Matt 

[Noel Kelly]

Matt you seem a bit confused. I can understand the casting lesson from Ben. A fishing lesson from Iain ???
As for your PM's asking me for a photography lesson......join that long queue buddy.

[Iain Goolager]

No, that's not a thong I'm wearing it's my wading staff

[Matt Henderson]

A fishing lesson from Iain ???

And a very good one it was too!  Obviously worked as I went out tonight and caught and landed my first river brownie on a dry fly.  Very pleased with myself.  Cracking fish about the size of three fish fingers. 

[Ben Dixon]

Nice job Matt,

Hope you got a few pics, regardless of size it is something worth taking a pic of.

There were a few on the go tonight, I was out casting the 18'er and deliberately did not take a fishing rod down.  There were a lot of fish moving and a lot of fly about.

Iain, that thong looks more like a strap on

Cheers

Ben

[Iain Goolager]

Well done Matt 

You were unlucky with some larger fish too 

Iain

[Matt Henderson]

Hope you got a few pics, regardless of size it is something worth taking a pic of.

I was wading at the time and didn't want to get the camera out in case it went for a swim. 

Iain, that thong looks more like a strap on

He didn't get it out so I cannot verify it was his wading staff...

[Sandy Nelson]

Iain, that thong looks more like a strap on

the beauty of the forum, an experts opinion

sandy

[Euan Innes]

I know I've not been on here for a while but I was sure that Ann Summers never did wading staffs. Oh how things have changed.....

 

[Matt Henderson]

Has anybody else noticed that many of Ben's post have a common theme in them?

[Ben Dixon]

Salmon seen running today in lower river

Ben

[Peter Rawlinson]

How far up have they been spotted Ben ?

Still waiting for anything silvery at Kemnay - Need more rain and a good lift in the water . Fed up of catching only small brownies .

Pete

[manxman22]

Hi All,

Has the recent (very big) water resulted in an increase in catches? Given the water peaked at what looked like over 6ft at Alford, I would have thought/hoped so!

Charlie

[Peter Rawlinson]

Looking good for tomorrow for the Don at Kemnay .  Some big fish have been showing but mostly coloured , and I mean big - for the Don anyway .

After todays lift it should settle to a nice height , and it is running clear .

[Noel Kelly]

Right gentlemen last chance for another year of getting that monster don brownie. So the wife/kids/garden/bottle of Buckie/crack pipe can wait get yerselves doon the river. It's a perfect evening for it.

[Matt Henderson]

Fished the middle river today. Typically it was a day out organised well in advance so not ideal for salmonoiding. The old grey grumpy man from work managed to get two hen fish out of one pool early on before it got too warm though. Here's hoping for some rain to lift the river levels!

[manxman22]

Hi All,

Fished the Upper Don last week - the 4 of us had 6 salmon between 4 and 12lbs - not bad considering the tropical temperatures! All fish caught before Wednesday, with only a few tentative offers after that. Very small flies (down to 14s) were seemingly all that would work. And of course the Sunray, but even that was not as profitable as normal.

We had high hopes for Stuarday with the much improved conditions, but not even a take. That's Salmon fishing for you!!

Be back again next year as ever...

Oscar

[Iain Goolager]

Nice one Oscar.

Pity about the tail end of the week.

Iain

[Loxiafan]

Anyone have any decent Don trout action on last day of season ?

I only managed a couple of hours in late morning/early afternoon (mid ADAA beat). Conditions not great, with very bright sunshine and strong down stream wind. Stuck with dry fly as fish were rising sporadically. Olive paraduns ingnored, JT Olive slashed at but no takes except bandies and had one quite decent fish on briefly (then off !) on Olive DHE before I had to split for work. Quite a lot of fish 'porpoising' at the flies but not strikeable. Probably all I could have expected and rueing I couldn't get out at night with the DHE as there must have been some action ?

Have had a good season on the Don in my first year 'back' after quite a long break from fishing, with best fish a 3 plus lb brownie and several decent sea trout not to mention loads in the  1/2 to 2 lb size range. Most on the dry fly so now a convert (never been much of a dry fly guy before). All fish caught on my own flies so it doesn't really get better, other than thinking about those that got away (inc. 4 lb plus Sea Trout) !

Looking at my diary "Fly of the Season 2011" for me CDC and Elk size 16/14 (June to August) - I like to fish 'late on' ! Wyatt DHE size 14/16 made a late dash at the end (Aug/Sept) taking a lot of fish and will feature from early season next year. Other notable mentions Snipe and Purple size 16 (April), Waterhen Bloa size 14 April and May) and JT Olive (April/May) and Olive Paradun (August)

Looking forward to trout season already !

Lindsay

[Iain Goolager]

After much 'will I, won't I'  due to the cold (weather & manflu) I decided to throw in a couple of hours this afternoon.

Arriving at the river after a much hurried gathering of Salmon kit I realised that I'd forgotten my strong leader, shooting head tips, box of salmon doubles,  camera, etc. etc.
The head on the reel had a fast sinking tip on which would suit the faster/ deeper runs in this cold weather but river levels being quite low meant that some of the slower/shallower runs would be out of the question.

Lady luck was on my side as half a dozen casts in I was into a fish. 

A little coloured but gave a good account of herself



Phone camera I'm afraid 

Safely returned


Another half dozen casts seen me at the tail of the pool and the tip density had the fly well and truly stuck on the bottom -  fly gone!


Coughed my way down to the next pool where a dozen casts in saw the second beautifully tied cascade left on a snag on the river bed.

Annoyed with my basic errors in not checking my gear but satisfied that Veni Vidi Vici  I headed for home.

Iain

[Noel Kelly]

That's a big fish Iain What weight would you say?

[Mike Barrio]

Manflu ..... not good
Fish ..... nice fish

Phone camera ...... better than no camera

Cheers
Mike

[Iain Goolager]

Big dilemma, doctors at midday In Inverurie followed by;
A)drive over the other side of Aberdeen and back to work feeling like poop
B)throw a paintbrush fly at some kippers.

paintbrush it is then.....
 Water is obviously still low and there were a few fish showing (at least 6) Mostly hens but one very large cock fish around 20 odd pounds.
I tried my damnedest to trick one but apart from one decent yank they weren't in the mood.

I eventually did fool one around the 4lb Mark on a size 13 cascade which although the smallest on display saved an enjoyable but frustrating session. No picture I'm afraid the cellular was left in the car in case the office called 

We really need a bit of rain, freshen everything up.

Iain

[Iain Goolager]

Been out a few times since last Friday.

Covered a good few fish on Friday with only two pulls - the
n finally hooked & dropped a fish after a brief fight at going home time. 

Monday seen me fish for an hour or two without a touch but it was uncomfortable casting from the left bank with an upstream wind coming at me from 45 degrees. Went to Haddo instead.

Tuesday seen the weather deteriorate and I did give it a fair go due to the fact that fish were showing but the wind made things difficult at best and down right dangerous at times.     no fish to show for the effort.

Today I dropped Jnr off at the nursery (no, not a euphamism) and drove down to the middle Don, was surprised to see that the river was in great nick, up but not too high and a great colour too. As I only had 2 1/4 hrs max I decided to fish a bit of water that although looks perfect for the fly hasn't been very productive for me in the past - it was close to the car park.
Long story short I dropped 2 smaller fish around the 4 - 5 lb mark within a dozen paces of each other  and was wondered if it just wasn't going to be. Another half dozen paces finaly saw a fish stick and he gave a fair account of himself.  Phew!



Touched one more fish so all in all it was great to be back out & I'll bet there were a fair few fish taken today.

Iain

[Iain Goolager]