[Dave Robb]

I wasn't fishing but did have a look at the river whilst in Ellon yesterday.

Thought it looked quite low but fairly clear.  Maybe it was just that section at the car park but a lot of visible weed just under the surface.  Looked good though.

Typical my days off coincide with school holidays.  Be a while yet until I can get back out.

[Duncan McRae]

I wasn't fishing but did have a look at the river whilst in Ellon yesterday.

Thought it looked quite low but fairly clear.  Maybe it was just that section at the car park but a lot of visible weed just under the surface.  Looked good though.

Typical my days off coincide with school holidays.  Be a while yet until I can get back out.

Yes,the water is clear and I think that makes the water look deceptively low.

Managed to get out with the single hander for the first time this season,for an hour at dusk.
Took a very lively Finnock of 13" and three small brown trout.A very enjoyable but brief session.
Wish I gone out with the single hander earlier in the season instead of chasing very elusive silver tourists elsewhere.

Duncan

[Dave Robb]

Went out to Ardlethen tonight for a couple of hours.  Saw it through to darkness but nothing doing.  Fairly cold wind that just wouldn't go away.

Set up with a couple of wee doubles and didn't change as I couldn't be bothered what with the darkness looming, but probably wasn't going deep enough giving the conditions.

[Graham Allan]

Hi All.
Its been very quiet here .
I see the water is up just over a meter today and starting to drop again already hopefully this will encourage a few troots up the river a bit.
With it being the first wee rise in months i suppose the water is like soup with lots of crap coming down,Has anyone had a look?
Might have a wee chuck tomorrow as im away on Friday .
Not very hopeful as even the estuary has been very slooo .


Regards Graham.

[Graham Allan]

Managed  5 hours  On Thursday water was dropping and clearing nicely.
Never touched or saw a fish .
Fished the Tarvis beat .
There were 2 other rods who faired the same all spinning.

Cheers Graham.

[Kevin Bell]

Headin up to Peterhead next month to see my auld Ma and hopefully squeeze a day/night or two on the Ythan or maybe the Ugie depending on conditions. Not fished either for probably 25yrs now so it would be a nice trip down memory lane.

Got a nice seatrout yesterday off the Earn at 3lb 6oz so still keeping my hand in

[Dave Robb]

Haven't been out at all for a few weeks so was really looking forward to getting out tonight.  Wish I hadn't bothered.

I went to Ardlethen but the banks are ridiculously overgrown with some bits seeing the grass up over my waist.

River looked nice enough but God knows how you would get a decent fish out of the water if you got one.  Trying to get close enough to the water to net a fish would be near impossible in most areas.

The ADAA seriously need to get someone out to cut it back.  And the bridge still isn't fixed yet.
 
Packed up in a bad mood in under an hour.  Plenty of small fish splashing about but little else.  The old quarry water on the far bank looked very pleasant.   What a waste that is just sitting there, especially with the landscaping that's been done.  Looks primed for a fishery to open again.

Drove through Newburgh to have a look at the estuary.  Tide was out but saw a good few fish of various sizes right out in the middle so there are definitely some going about. 

I've never fished the Machar Pool and tried to have a look tonight but I think I must have drove past it as I ended up back at the roundabout in Ellon. 

If I do give it a go there (if I ever find it), am I best fishing when the tide is in?  Is it hard going with wading in mud?

Cheers

[Liam Stephen]

Waist high grass!? Pah, that's nothing. You want to try fishing some of the Don stretches that aren't frequented by the salmon fishers. You need a bloody machete to hack your way through it. 6-7ft tall living walls!   

Never fished the Machar pool but have heard it can be dangerous if you don't know it. Maybe try to fish with someone who has experience fishing it.

 

[Rob Brownfield]

The ADAA seriously need to get someone out to cut it back.  And the bridge still isn't fixed yet.

Been a lot of complaints about the banks of many of the ADAA beats.

I witnessed an older gentleman fall and hurt his back on one of the high banks at Garthdee and I myself ended up face first where the wee burn comes in at the Pump House as I did not see the drop through the grass. First time I have ever fallen in!

Whilst I understand that its a never ending job and a thankless task, as the gentlemen said, someone is employed to stay on top of the issue.

[Dave Robb]

It is annoying when we pay fees to fish particular beats, only to turn up to find some are unfishable.

The thing is, I've fished parts of the Don where the grass was high, but at least if you made it to the waters edge there was usually a gradual gradient as you entered the water and you could wade through the pool.

Not so at Ardlethen.  If you misjudge the edge due to the overgrown grass, it's several feet until you hit the bottom.  A guaranteed soaking at best.  There is no gradual entry into the water.

It's also annoying when you hear the ADAA are sitting on a healthy lump of money.  Numbers are already dwindling and seeing unfishable beats will just continue to turn people away when it comes to renewing their season ticket.

[Duncan McRae]

Following the recent rise in water, fished one of the Middle beats last night and was rewarded with a good sea trout.
It weighed around the 5lb mark and was in great condition for so late in the season.Normally the hen fish are turning dark by now.
Sea trout catches on the river seem to have been reasonable this summer.Nothing spectacular but managing to pick up a fish or two with each small rise in water.
Have been involved in scale sampling for the Ythan trust and really look forward to receiving the information that this will provide.
Haven't picked up any finnock yet but they should start to run the river any time now.Hopefully they will give us some lively backend sport.

Duncan

[Mike Barrio]

Nice one Duncan

[Sandy Nelson]

Cracker Duncan

You make an interesting comment

.Normally the hen fish are turning dark by now.
Have been involved in scale sampling for the Ythan trust

We've been involved with the Deveron,Bogie and Isla trust doing similar scale samples, and have been to a couple of interesting meetings, with the smolt tracking as well. The fascinating thing for me to learn is they have found that All sea trout are female. We all know that a sea trout is just a brownie that heads of to the salt, but apparently its only the females (not all the females) which migrate, which i i guess makes sense as they need to pack on weight for spawning. But so far they have no evidence that males do the same, so when they make redds the males are all resident browns.
Fascinating stuff.

Sandy

[Duncan McRae]

Hi Sandy

Yes,it is  fascinating stuff and  there's a lot we still don't know.
I would like to learn more about the life cycle of our local sea trout populations.I think that during the close season I might try and find some of the Ythan spawning areas and hopefully observe what's going on.

I can say without any doubt that male sea trout do exist ,at least on the Ythan and Don where I have taken them.Probably less than 5% of my total sea trout catch  on the Don but a bit higher on the Ythan.
Maybe this percentage varies from river to river?

Duncan

[Allan Liddle]

Cracking fish and very interesting stuff guys