Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

James Middleton

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #15 on: 15/04/2019 at 21:24 »
Sorry about the photos, not sure why they've rotated

Mike Barrio

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #16 on: 15/04/2019 at 21:25 »
Mobile phone?

James Middleton

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #17 on: 15/04/2019 at 21:28 »
Yes

Mike Barrio

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #18 on: 15/04/2019 at 21:51 »
Not sure how you get a mobile pic downloaded properly ...... maybe some of the other forum members know  :z8

Sandy Nelson

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #19 on: 16/04/2019 at 11:27 »
Not sure, but I do know if you go into the gallery by clicking on your photo you can then rotate through 270 degrees and save and it should change in the page after a refresh, if not then you can redo the link with the rotated picture. The fact that you need to rotate them by 270 degrees infers to me that the software automatically rotated them 90 degrees on upload, why? Who knows :z8
But changing them in the gallery does work, I’ve had to do it a few times  :z16

Sandy

Don Fishery Board

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #20 on: 16/04/2019 at 15:57 »
River Don Trout Event
April / May 2019

The beats participating in the first ever Don Trout Event. Cottown/Bellabeg, Alford AA, South Waterside,Castle Forbes Estate, Kemnay AC, Fetternear, Kemnay Beat 3, Inverurie AA, Kintore AC, ADAA and Grandhome Estate.
I'd like to thank all the proprietors for kindly donating fishing days to the event and also to Mike Barrio for allowing us promote and post updates throughout the event on his website. 

Week 1 Report
River levels remained on the high side for the lower beats, coupled with blustery easterly winds made for less than ideal conditions throughout the first week. Water temps hovered around a cool 7 and 8c. However the majority of the participating anglers landed brown trout over all the beats from 8 inches up to a fantastic 4lb Don specimen of a fish. Nymphs, wets and streamers patterns all worked best. Despite fly life appearing on the surface, mainly Large Dark Olives and some March Browns the trout have still not switched on up top and very few fish were landed on dries. All the trout reported were in excellent order for the time of year so have obviously been getting plenty feeding off the bottom.
Again a mixed bag of weather for the week ahead but river levels are falling and clearing so hopefully some dry fly action ahead.

Many thanks to all anglers who have posted on the event page its been a great start.

Nearly all participating beats are available to book through FishPal website where further details can be found on each fishery.
https://www.fishpal.com/Scotland/Don/ or please check out our Facebook page @riverdonscotland

Martin Webster

Sandy Nelson

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #21 on: 17/04/2019 at 19:48 »
Had my day out on Castle Forbes today.



Took Glass and Grass for the day out, one for the nymph and one for the dry, not often i carry 2 rods, but it was an experiment as i was rather excited about being on Forbes after all these years.

So it was an interesting day with Hatches on the go from 11am right through till 4pm, Olives and March browns at different points.
However there were only a handful of rising fish, i measured the water temp and it was still just 9 degrees, But the PTN started things off quite well



Some nice water for it though, although you can just imagine the rising fish.



There was the odd rising fish in the fast water, but nothing spectacular, though they were keen for the CDC spider



Lots of superb water to explore, although it seemed the nymph was a better option.



I did manage to find one cracking fish sweeping a Vee at the tail of a pool, i didn't know he was a cracker until he took the fly, but all hell broke loose as he snaffled a CDC spider and proceeded to jump around all over the place, unfortunately he managed to wrap  the tippet round his nose and then he came in quite quickly, i should have guessed what would happen next, as i put the net in the weeds as usual to unhook the fish, i had to unwrap the tippet from round his nose, the second he was free, he took off like a rocket and before i knew it was back in the river, but what a lovely fish and this time on the Dry :z12

Next one was a bit smaller, but i managed a picture :X1



Still i wandered the whole beat and managed a few fish from each run, i saw a pair of Kingfishers a couple of deer and 4 Salmon moved in 4 different pools, A great day, with the best conditions so far for one of my days out.



Cheers

Sandy

Scott Cumming

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #22 on: 22/04/2019 at 00:31 »
Cottown/Bellabeg

I’d been looking forward to this one, a new beat for me and it did not disappoint, what a cracking beat!



Weather was perfect, mild, overcast with sunny intervals.



Before fishing I walked most of the beat to familiarize myself with the pools, there were plenty nooks and crannies to explore





I started off with the nymph and got into my first Cottown trout mid morning and a nice fish it was too...





I then fished the pool above and hooked into a similar sized fish, it bolted down into the white water below and the inevitable happened :X1

There were a few LDOs starting to appear but no fish rising. I continued fishing the nymph and landed my next bar of gold around 12.30...





Around 1pm there was a decent hatch but still no sign of any fish surfacing, the water is still very cold.



When the sun came out and the fishing slowed up there were still plenty to watch...





It wasn't long before the sun dipped and I caught a couple of smaller fish mid afternoon then finished the day on a high with another cracker...







 :z18
Scott

Iain Cameron

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #23 on: 23/04/2019 at 09:03 »
Wk 2, Fetternear

Well, Fetternear would be a new beat to me, although as an ADAA member, I've seen it from the opposite bank of the ADAA Kemnay beat. So I was interested to see if the grass was greener on the other side...


I arrived a little later than ideal on Saturday morning, and, parking at the footbridge, found a couple already setting up for a BBQ... Saturday of course was the day where the sun shone high & bright, my least favourite conditions for trouting.


The run under the bridge is lovely:



Being a perverse, stubborn bugger, I'm sticking to dry fly... this proved to be perverse indeed, as despite a few wee trout popping around 11, 1130, there was not much else to target.


I wandered up and down to get a feel for the beat:







Conditions underfoot were decent enough, down at lower ends of the beat anyway. Chatted to a couple of friendly, regular salmon anglers who talked about some of the big trout they've seen, both targetted and when salmon fishing.




I watched a pleasant display by the Fetternear floaters for a while:







Ah, but what aboot the troot? Well, I blanked on the dry. There, shameful, but true.


I found one decent rising trout, in a slack pocket on the far bank. And I sat and watched for waaaaaaay to long. It would pop its head up occasionally, maybe every 10 mins or so. I gambled on a decent hatch from 1pm or so, and waited... and waited... and had a sandwich... stuck my hand in a pile of nettles for diversion... then waited some more... and then out came the sun. And the trout.... I had a few chucks at it, groin deep and slightly too close to floating away for comfort. Lost a flee (and some patience) in a bush behind me. Tried again, got a drift of maybe 3 seconds but nada!


ah well.  Basically, there was very little fly life on that beat on the bits I was watching. I'd been watching other parts of don when out, and seen plenty of flies, so I was a little disappointed.  Still, as always, great to be out on a new beat and to wander about and see some new spots


Better luck this coming week for me? Couldnae be much worse.. I might yet have to dig out some tungsten...


cheers
iain



Don Fishery Board

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #24 on: 23/04/2019 at 13:38 »
 Don Trout Event

Week 2 summary
The early part of last week saw some decent trout fishing conditions however as the week went on we saw a dramatic change in the weather. Over the weekend temperatures throughout Donside maxed at 23c, the sun split the sky thus making for less than ideal weather for fishing. Consequently the trout kept their heads well down during the daytime and became choosy as Don trout can.  Anglers were made to work hard to get a result but those who persevered managed to land a few trout over 1lb, a few excellent conditioned trout in the 3-4lb bracket were also taken by a couple of seasoned anglers.
River levels continued to drop away letting anglers explore more of the pools and deeper runs. The river continues to drop away and is currently running clear. Nymph patterns  still currently working best on all beats. As last week the trout seem still less enthusiastic about any surface action  despite hatching Large Dark Olives and March Brown's appearing from 11.30 till 4pm on a few beats. Now as the river warms up we may see more action on the surface with dries.
Anglers reported fresh salmon being seen in a few of the participating beats, a couple were lost after latching onto Goldhead nymphs.
The Salmon Smolt run or hatch as Sandy puts it is now appearing and those on the river today have reported hooking many on the small flies so please keep the flies barbless to minimise damage.

Nearly all participating beats are available to book through FishPal website where further details can be found on each fishery.
https://www.fishpal.com/Scotland/Don/ or please join us on our Facebook page @riverdonscotland

Thanks again to all those who share their day on the page some great photos being taken showcasing the River Don.   
Martin Webster

Sandy Nelson

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #25 on: 27/04/2019 at 17:38 »
South Waterside for me this week.
Went out this morning, in the mist and the rain and was very hopeful that the conditions might just go in my favour.



Wandered the whole beat and stopped to have a fish in the runs as i went down. Nymphing it as the morning was only just begun.



Some awesome bits of water to explore and pockets to pick



As the day went on, there were still no flies showing, or rising fish, but i stuck with the nymphs



Picking pockets is particularly fun, if a wee bit energetic, but on a dull day it kept me warm



I did find one run with quite a few fish in it and one was particularly impressive, until i decided that my drag was set a bit low and adjusted it mid fight, unfortunately i over wound it and the next run had me parted with my prize (which i fancy could have well been a PB :cry) As you can imagine the air turned a wee bit blue and i was gutted, so it was time for tea and biscuits, a sure fire cure for the sulks :X2

After 20mins i decided that as there wera few fish coming out of the run, i would go through it again. Would you believe the luck i hit another cracking fish, so was a bit more careful this time and after an epic battle i got him in the net.

Best one so far this season and one of my best on the fly :z12


So the Day had its ups and downs, but i think my consolation prize  made my day very memorable, in such a beautiful part of the world, does it get much better..... even if the flies didn't show and i never saw a decent risning fish.



So a great beat, with some awesome fish, brilliant fun.



Sandy

Mike Barrio

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #26 on: 27/04/2019 at 18:54 »
Looks like some great water Sandy :z16

Scott Cumming

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #27 on: 27/04/2019 at 21:44 »
It was Grandhome for me on Friday.

With bright sunshine and strong upstream winds it was always going to be a difficult day and the water was a tad cloudy after the overnight rain. I made the best of my day covering a fair amount of the 3miles of water.



There are  interesting pools along the beat, some trickier than others to fish. I had fish out of most pools but nothing of any note.






The beat is well maintained with a cracking wee bothy. It was good to catch up with the Grandhome regulars :z16

 :z18
Scott

Sandy Nelson

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #28 on: 29/04/2019 at 17:12 »
So due to other commitments, i had only today to get out for my Day on Kemnay Beat 3.

A beautiful day, but perhaps a bit on the bright side, however first thing in the morning the conditions were a we bit better.



Lots of lovely water to work a nymph through and despite being pestered by lots of smolts and small brownies, persevering through the runs and going a touch deeper seemed to help.



I spent a good bit of time wandering up and down the beat and fished through some cracking runs, However i did mange to fall in for the second time this year, bloody slippery rocks, even with the my stick i took a good dunking, Fortunatley quick drying clothes and a warm day helped make it less uncomfortable. I didn't have to wait long to forget all about it :z13



My luck seems to be holding out and i did manage to hook into this beautiful bad boy
Loads of spots and a golden belly



As the day ran on there were plenty flies coming off, but i couldn't find any consistent risers, just the odd oncer here and there, But i did see some tourists moving in 3 of the pools, so plenty fish still coming through the system. However i headed back to base for a Cuppa.



Still no rising fish, so i worked a couple more runs, had a few more small ones, but nothing to rival the one from the morning.
So i spent the afternoon watching and hoping and generally enjoying a peaceful setting and a lovely stretch of water



I think Beat 3 is a syndicate, but you can access the same water from the other bank as its the Fetternear beat. Well worth a trip and i think there a few stonkers hiding in some of those lovely runs. :z18

Sandy


Don Fishery Board

Re: River Don Trout Event
« Reply #29 on: 03/05/2019 at 10:11 »
Don Trout Event
Week 3 summary

It was another mixed bag of weather conditions over Donside last week. Anglers fished all participating beats with varying success landing trout from 8 inch up to a thumping 5lbs. Interestingly one specimen trout was recaptured having been landed by the same angler from the same pool way back in 2016. Nymphs and wet spider patterns accounted for the majority of trout with just a few taken on the dries. The dreaded Easterly breeze hung around for the week and quickly put an end to any hatching activity although the short lived spells still failed to attract the bigger fish up on the surface.

Salmon smolts migrating downriver were thick in some pools and anglers were forced to fish their fly deeper to avoid them. As can often happen on the Don a couple of "silver tourists" latched onto trout flies and gave some variety in sport for a couple of the anglers. Now into May the river is still running at a nice height for trout angling, if the weather settles sport should pick up again over the week ahead.

Nearly all participating beats are available to book through FishPal website where further details can be found on
each fishery.
https://www.fishpal.com/Scotland/Don/ or follow  our Facebook page The River Don @riverdonscotland

Martin Webster


 




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