[Sandy Nelson]

Well i got out this morning for my first cast of the season.

Spent a wee while on the river, water colour and height is pretty promising

A few wee knocks on the SSS and then i got my first fish for 2015

An 18" Sea trout kelt in pretty good condition, a quick photo and he went back strongly





Not a bad way to spend the morning

Sandy

[Rob Brownfield]

Damn sight better looking than my Sea Trout Kelt off the Dee...

 

[Colin Sunley]

Good start gents, well done,   

[Sandy Nelson]

Been out a few more times and had a couple more Sea trout Kelts





However after loosing what i though looked like a nice finnock last week, i managed to land one this morning about 3/4lb So there are some finnock in the river system, i don't think there are large amounts as i haven't had many knocks, but there are some bonny fresh fish in the river Some great shades of Blue. All on the SSS and the 6wt switch so a decent scrap as well:z16




Cheers

Sandy

[Colin Sunley]

SSS ? I know am going to kick myself here

[Sandy Nelson]

Hi Colin

A well chewed SSS  "sunburst shrimpy spider"



 

Sandy

[Colin Sunley]

Thanks Sandy would never have finish my crossword

[Julius]

Guys can you advise on various beats available with your recommendations on them please ?

i have tried ellon town beat but i'd prefer something a bit further out of town 

[Sandy Nelson]

Hi Julius

To my knowledge Ellon town water, Newburgh and Fyvie are the only bits you can get Day tickets for, the rest of the river is either Private, Syndicated or part of the ADAA.
If you are in the ADAA then you have a lot of water from Ardlethen up to above Methlick to explore, otherwise its not the easiest river to get access too.
At this time of the year the lower stretches fish best, so Ellon is probably your best bet, you just have to live with the people, i'm afraid.

Hope that helps

Sandy

[Mike Barrio]

You can also get day tickets for Methlick water from the shop in the village.

Cheers
Mike

[Mike Thornton]

That's correct Mike. As far as I am aware the tickets from the shop covers the Haddo House public water. ie. The right bank from Gight down to The Tangland Bridge. Day and season tickets are probably available. This is the Methlick club water. Jim Adie will keep you right here.
   The estate also sells a limited number of syndicate season tickets for what used to be known as the "private" water. ie. The right bank from the Tangland Bridge all the way down to the Ardlethen water
   Hope this may help.

[Sandy Nelson]

Well i've been out a few times over the last couple of weeks and had a few of these





All on the SSS fished on a sinking tip.

However this afternoon i went down after a loooong shift at work and decided to give the Epic a wee exercise before tomorrow's Broonie trip. Again i used a short sinking tip and the SSS my first pull resulted in a rather bonny Finnock about 13"




Pretty soon though a few of these started to hatch, woohoo.



and a few of the finnock decided they looked nice and tasty, well i had a few dries in my box so i put on a nice size 12 DHE and despite the 5ft sinking leader and a 4ft tippet i proceded to land a few very fine finnock on the dryfly



Turned out to be my best day of the season so far, so now fully pumped for tomorrows treasure hunt



Amazing what can happen with the wrong line, wrong leader and no floatant on a cold miserable day in march .

Cheers

Sandy

[Sandy Nelson]

Was out again this afternoon, giving my newly finished bamboo Smallstream rod a chance to find its feet on a river it is designed for.

Lovely hatch coming off and plenty Finnock in residence willing to take off the top. I had great fun catching a few of these with a size 12 DHE





Mostly all between 9" and 11" today so smaller than previously, but i did get one about 14" and then i got moved on and the ensuing scrap had the wee 7ft 4wt bamboo bending for all its worth, but it managed admirably and i netted the biggest Kelt i've had this year a Seatrout one of 20" not in bad condition either apart from the recent cormorant mark on his head.




not quite what i intended when i went "Smallstream" fishing but a whole lot of fun and very exhilerating Well impressed with the wee rod and a lot of fun with the fish to boot. What more can you ask for, even in the midst of hailstones

Cheers

Sandy

[Noel Kelly]

  like! Where is the like button gone? Ah I see Will has got it!

[Allan Liddle]

Fantastic stuff Sandy 

[allabootthetroot]

Any one got any info how the Ythan did this season. Just wondering like if the Nets off made a big difference  .

[Sandy Nelson]

I can only speak for myself.

After April I saw very few fish, although I did not really fish it very seriously (too much gold to hunt down elsewhere).
This last month (October) has been nothing like last year, I had a few small finnock 8-10" and didn't really see any decent fish moving, never mind catching any. Last year was phenomenal fishing with a lot of sea-trout as well as finnock, but this year diddly squat who knows, I didn't get much in 2013 either, despite investing a decent amount of time , so it could just be cyclical, or the fish have pushed through the river and headed upstream without hanging around in my bit.
The last two weeks should have been really good, the tides were big and we had rain to bring the water up.

Having spoken to a few of the other guys, I believe a few fish have been caught during the year but it has been very slow and the only folk who picked up fish were those dedicating a lot of time to the cause.

It will be interesting to see if anyone has different experiences to post.

Sandy

[allabootthetroot]

I can only speak for myself.

After April I saw very few fish, although I did not really fish it very seriously (too much gold to hunt down elsewhere).
This last month (October) has been nothing like last year, I had a few small finnock 8-10" and didn't really see any decent fish moving, never mind catching any. Last year was phenomenal fishing with a lot of sea-trout as well as finnock, but this year diddly squat who knows, I didn't get much in 2013 either, despite investing a decent amount of time , so it could just be cyclical, or the fish have pushed through the river and headed upstream without hanging around in my bit.
The last two weeks should have been really good, the tides were big and we had rain to bring the water up.

Having spoken to a few of the other guys, I believe a few fish have been caught during the year but it has been very slow and the only folk who picked up fish were those dedicating a lot of time to the cause.

It will be interesting to see if anyone has different experiences to post.

Sandy

Aye it seems most north east rivers have had a poor Salmon run the Don was very poor in October. Of course i forgot the nets were off anyway it was USAN who were just going to start up again so at least that lot wont be around for a while.

The Seal situation at the estuary is  horrendous  they must be doing a lot of damage to the Salmon and Sea trout.

 Here is hoping the good times return to the Ythan i was lucky enough to see it at its best in the 70s 80s The fishing was nothing short of amazing then a hated fishing we that wreched terrors in estuary tho.

Thanks for the update 

 

[Duncan McRae]

Hi Allabootthetroot

I found that the river fishing was very poor this year although it was still enjoyable being out in the fine evenings.Put in a fair bit of effort for a couple of sea trout and a Grilse.
The big problem for me was that all my favourite pools were choked with weed.I've never seen it quite as bad.

Estuary fishing was very mixed for me going from a tremendous June to the worst July/August that I have had personally.However,some rods were doing a bit better.
The catch records show how poor things have been generally.628 seatrout recorded against a five year average of 911.This drop despite the estuary being open for all and as heavily fished as I've seen it since before the beat was time shared.

Duncan

[allabootthetroot]

Hi Allabootthetroot

I found that the river fishing was very poor this year although it was still enjoyable being out in the fine evenings.Put in a fair bit of effort for a couple of sea trout and a Grilse.
The big problem for me was that all my favourite pools were choked with weed.I've never seen it quite as bad.

Estuary fishing was very mixed for me going from a tremendous June to the worst July/August that I have had personally.However,some rods were doing a bit better.
The catch records show how poor things have been generally.628 seatrout recorded against a five year average of 911.This drop despite the estuary being open for all and as heavily fished as I've seen it since before the beat was time shared.

Duncan

A never realized the estuary was open to all again that's good not really my thing like although i only fished with terrors a couple  times. would like to have a go with a fly rod tho.

 

[Duncan McRae]

A never realized the estuary was open to all again that's good not really my thing like although i only fished with terrors a couple  times. would like to have a go with a fly rod tho.

I didn't like fishing the terrors either.
I take it it's the traditional method of fishing the terror with a spinning rod ,wye weight and a couple of 'flies' on a trace that you refer to?
You should certainly have a go with the fly.Once you take your first sea trout from the salt water,you'll come back again and again.It's truly addictive!

Duncan