trout for the week with perhaps more late additions to be added. The Upper Beats shone this week with Deecastle reporting a dozen salmon, Dinnet and Lower Invercauld & Monaltrie had 10 apiece, Aboyne Water reported 9 with Ballogie & Birse both reporting 8 salmon. I heard Morven beat owner Dr Ewen had a lovely 20lb salmon from Carlogie which was biggest fish for the week. At last Sea Trout fishing picked up with 44 landed from Ardoe to Crathie; Carlogie reported 7 and Lower Invercauld & Monaltrie reported 5. The wily sea trout can be taken by anglers fishing for salmon on big salmon rods however at this time of year anglers using single handed rods and tiny sea trout flies were catching both sea trout and salmon, by day and night.

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13 year old Meriel Fisher hooks her first salmon

It has been Ladies Week on the Dee with a number of e-mails and messages relayed informing me of success for lady anglers. I am delighted to hear of all the success and I must start with a wonderful e-mail from proud dad Geoff Fisher who advised, ‘I'm just off the phone to Robert Harper & he suggested I send you a mail re a "Pre- Father's Day" evenings fishing my daughter took me on last night, courtesy of Mr Hampson, at Lower Crathes & Wester Durris. My daughter, Meriel (13), wife & I travelled over to the Beat, arriving about 8 & having fished the Kelpie moved up to the Mill Pool where, despite Mum taking the net with her (not normally considered good luck!) & much laughter & giggling about stealth wading & being quiet to avoid scaring the fish Meriel successfully caught, landed & safely returned the 8lb hen fish in the pictures. The fish gave a very good account for itself but after much squealing, bashed knuckles & instructions of "keep the rod up" & "keep winding” proud Dad managed to net the fish after its various runs up, down & across the pool. Mum was on hand (just as well she brought the net!!) to take the photo's & remove the midgy that took a fancy to Meriel's right ear during the fight! The Fisher "Pre-Father's Day Evening's Fishing Party" then moved on to the Bridge Pool, strongly considered the "Hot spot" for the evening & where just below the Hut Meriel managed to hook another fish! This fish, however after screaming downstream, did a very clever thing; it swam straight back at Meriel! Despite all efforts to wind in as fast as her little arms would let her, the fish managed to get some slack in the line & was gone! A truly memorable family evening, in a very special place. A huge thank you to Mr Hampson & my good friend Robert Harper, who is always very keen to encourage the next generation of salmon anglers onto the River’. What a great story and the images are brilliant! Hopefully we can persuade Mr Fisher to enter this for the Callum Mackenzie cup! Beat head Ghillie Robert Harper sent some super images advising ‘Evening Ken, Attached photo's of Mrs Hampson first ever salmon caught on Tuesday 9lbs and Mr Holford's first salmon on Saturday 12lbs.’ Another successful lady angler with a super salmon. Congratulations to both for their first fish.

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Meriel with her first salmon with proud father Geoff Fisher

Invery & Tilquhillie Ghillie Karl Revel popped in for a coffee and chat yesterday with news from Invery & Tilquhillie commenting ‘ In a week where taking fish were very hard to come by I was delighted on Friday to net a lovely 10lb sea liced salmon for visiting angler Janet Clarke from Bath. She caught her fish in the Killing Hatch using a size 14 green bodied stoat’s tail.’ The pictures supplied are superb. Another successful lady angler was Laura Spaven who was fishing at Aboyne Castle with Ghillie Alex Coutts. Jonathon Spaven wrote advising ‘Ken, Attached is photo of Laura Spaven (23) with an eight pound salmon caught in Tanar Mouth on the Aboyne Castle water last Tuesday 11th June. With her is ghillie Alex Coutts who has helped three generations of the family to catch fish over the last 25 years.’ Hopefully Laura is hooked on fishing.

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A delighted Laura Spaven with her salmon

The Lets Tackle Cancer Charity visited Crathes last week where hosts Greig Thomson and TV celebrity Paul Young entertained successful bidders Jim Twaddle and Mike Dench. LTCC’S Munro Reid advised ‘The event went very well with the two winners coming from as far as Manchester and Glasgow to fish the Dee. Conditions were tough with the low water this week and the bright sunshine was not helping any. One fish around 8lbs was caught by myself on a black and orange Sunray skated across the surface. Even though the conditions were tough the days fishing was a great success due to the good company and of course the lovely river Dee. If you would like to know more about the charity please visit the [url=http://www.letstacklecancer.co.uk]Lets tackle cancer[/url] website or email the charity organiser Munro Reid at munro@riverclydefishing.com.’ Finally I want to report that my brother David Reid, who was salmon fishing, at Ballogie, for the first time in a number of years landed a spanking 18lb salmon on a size 12 lightly dressed Tosh. Following a heart attack last year he was determined to catch a salmon prior to going on his first ever overseas fishing trip in a few weeks time. He was as thrilled as any angler I’ve ever seen following the capture of a lovely salmon. Well done David and thanks to Ghillie Sean Stanton for giving him some tuition and great advice.

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Mrs Hampson with a first salmon

Another bit of exciting news is a new award for young anglers; The Callum Mackenzie Cup. The Cup has been provided by Ballogie Estate with the support of the Mackenzie Family. The award for the most notable capture will be to the youngster whose angling success has been selected as the most notable fish by the Callum Mackenzie Award Committee and will be made annually at the River Dee opening ceremony. Rules-Fisher must be under 18 years of age at time of catch for any species of fish within the Dee catchment, including Rivers Cowie and Carron or one of the many trout fisheries in the district. Entries should include a short story about the capture of the fish, Picture, date and location of capture. Witness details to confirm catch. Submissions will receive publicity through the local press and FishDee website. All entries to the Callum Mackenzie Committee should be sent by e‐mail to info@riverdee.org or by mail to River Dee Office, Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, AB34 5LA

News of catches, with or without images are always welcome, so please drop a line to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It could be another exciting week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some more good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

Beat catches reported

SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 2, Tilbouries 1, Park 3, Lower Crathes and W Durris 4, Crathes 2, Invery 1, Tilquhillie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 2, Upper Blackhall 3, Cairnton 1, Commonty 1, Sluie 2, Ballogie 8, Borrowston 2, Kincardine 6, Carlogie 4, Dess 7, Birse 8, Aboyne Water 9, Aboyne Castle 4, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 6, Dinnet 10, Deecastle 12, Headinch and Cambus O'May 6, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 10, Birkhall 1, Abergeldie 2, Balmoral 3, Crathie 12.

Total: 136 Largest: Park & Carlogie 20lbs

SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 1, Park 3, Lower Crathes and W Durris 5, Invery 1, Tilquhillie 3, Middle Blackhall 1, Upper Blackhall 2, Cairnton 3, Sluie 1, Ballogie 1, Carlogie 7, Birse 3, Aboyne Water 2, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 1, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Dinnet 1, Deecastle 1, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 5, Crathie 1.

Total: 44 Largest: Ardoe and Murtle & Lower Crathes and W Durris & Middle Blackhall & Upper Blackhall & Cairnton & Waterside and Ferrar & Crathie 3lbs

Prospects

The weather forecast from the Met Office advises that weather shall continue to be warm and bright with increasing cloud cover during the course of week and air temperature maxima of 20 degrees Celsius. There will be the odd shower of rain from time to time and winds will be light and variable. The maritime influence sees high tides starting the week at 3.6 metres before building from mid week to 4.3 metres at the weekend. It appears to be reasonably good fishing weather for sea trout fishing into the evening if you have some on your beat. River levels are down at summer levels with the Sepa gauges showing 6inches at Mar Lodge and 11 inches at Park. Now it is time to fish with longer leaders and light fly lines.

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Janet Clarke with a salmon at Invery

Some beats are very busy with their annual tenants coming through the summer months however there is a good amount to availability on the FishDee website and there appear to be decent numbers of fish running the river. If you can manage a visit to the Dee then please make the effort to come as prospects for sport are reasonable just now. Always heed the advice offered from your beat Ghillie as they know best about what tactics and flies to use to give you a chance of some sport. If you don’t have a Ghillie to obtain advice from then you may wish to consider the following flies as worth a go with. Tosh, Silver Stoats tail, Black or Red Frances, Crathie fly, Dark Mackerel in sizes 12-16 and of course the Sunray Shadow is always a good fall back for salmon and sea trout. Full floaters are the order of the day now with a 12-13 foot double handed rods or single handed rods, and 8-9 weight lines are more than sufficient with leaders of 10-12 ft in length.

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Mr Holford with a first ever salmon

At this time of year with warmer air temperatures day and night please report any suspicious activity you find on your beat. Opportunist rod and line poachers can turn up at this time of the year so it’s important you contact the River Office, 013398 80411 any time of the day if you see anyone acting suspiciously on your chosen beat.

Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It’s a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

of beats into double figures; Lower Crathes 17 salmon, Dinnet 15, Crathie12, Headinch & Cambus O'May 11 with Cairnton and Dess 10 apiece. I have heard reports of quite a lot of fish hooked and lost including a big specimen at Birse which was hooked in the March Pool and made a run of 200 yards before the leader broke at the knot. There was a nice 24 lb salmon reported from Lower Crathes; this beat has been consistently good all season. The 150th salmon of the season for Invery & Tilquhillie was caught by Gordon Mutch from Aberdeen-Congratulations Gordon. The run of salmon upstream has been late this year and good numbers of fish are running upriver now with plenty of good availability on the FishDee website. Sea trout sport has been slow this year but should get going over the next few weeks.

Now to correspondence which has been a bit light of late, however I am pleased to hear news that I can share with readers of the FishDee column. Firstly Jonathon Graves provided a nice report about his group's recent trip advising ‘our weeks (weeks 18 and 19 at Carlogie) this year were a bit thin fish wise but as usual we enjoyed our time on the Ballogie estate. My father enjoyed his 50th consecutive year fishing Carlogie and on the Friday of week 19, he fished with Alan Lankshear (52 years on Dee), Barrie Welham (50+ years on Dee) and Gerald Beers (40+ years on Dee). This gave our rods for the morning a combined age of 324 years. (With nearly a combined 200 years of Dee experience.)At lunchtime Randall and Malcolm Nichol kindly gave my father a flask acknowledging his 50th year, and for an hour or so the old fishing tales were regaled at the Calm Pool hut. A great day for all.I have attached a picture of my father, Richard Graves, fishing the tail of the Boat pool in high water with Sean Stanton in attendance. You can see the clamp with universal joint that my father attaches his false limb to the top of the rod handle and he strips line with his right hand and teeth! He has never tried changing hands as Carlogie suits a left hander but I see no reason why a one handed fisher could not clamp their false limb to the lower end of the butt; and thereby fish off either shoulder. We have a plastic insert let into the cork of the rod handle to allow the clamp to be tightened firmly. Best wishes for the rest of the season.' What an experience that would be to spend time chatting with all those elder statesmen of the Dee. They must have a wealth of stories and anecdotes. Edward Humphrey called to say he caught a classic Dee salmon of 8lbs , a bar of silver, at Abergeldie on a size 14 blue charm.

Jim Coates was fishing up in the Ballater area with Ian Murray and advised ‘Hi Ken, Just arrived home after 3 days of prime tanning on Deeside! Despite the fantastic weather I managed 4 lovely fresh salmon using light tackle and small flies. The weather was a wonderful bonus for the family who all had a great time. Here is a pic of one of the fish. Best, Jim!' It's a lovely fresh run fish. Jim first came to Deeside many years ago with his father Geoff to fish and phoned Ian to make a booking with Ian. When Ian provided the price for fishing Jim protested that it was too expensive for him as he was a student. Ian very graciously provided a student discount which Jim accepted and Jim asked ‘can my dad come too?' It was the start of Jim's life long passion for the Dee and where better to start than under the watchful eye of the esteemed Ian Murray!

Another bit of exciting news is a new award for young anglers; The Callum Mackenzie Cup. The Cup has been provided by Ballogie Estate with the support of the Mackenzie Family. The award for the most notable capture will be to the youngster whose angling success has been selected as the most notable fish by the Callum Mackenzie Award Committee and will be made annually at the River Dee opening ceremony. Rules-Fisher must be under 18 years of age at time of catch for any species of fish within the Dee catchment, including Rivers Cowie and Carron or one of the many trout fisheries in the district. Entries should include a short story about the capture of the fish, Picture, date and location of capture. Witness details to confirm catch. Submissions will receive publicity through the local press and FishDee website. All entries to the Callum Mackenzie Committee should be sent by e‐mail to info@riverdee.org or by mail to River Dee Office, Mill of Dinnet, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, AB34 5LA

News of catches, with or without images are always welcome, so please drop a line to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It could be another exciting week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some more good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee.

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PROSPECTS

The weather forecast from the Met Office advises that the week shall start warm and bright with increasing cloud cover during the course of week and air temperature maxima of 22 degrees Celsius. There will be outbreaks of rain from time to time and winds will be light and variable. The maritime influence sees high tides starting the week at 4.0 metres before falling from mid week to 3.6 metres at the weekend. It appears to be reasonably good fishing weather for sea trout fishing into the evening if you have some on your beat. River levels are getting down towards summer levels with the Sepa gauges showing 6inches at Mar Lodge and 1ft at Park. Now it is time to fish with longer leaders with levels getting a bit thin.

Some beats are very busy with their annual tenants coming through the summer months however there is a good amount to availability on the FishDee website and there appear to be decent numbers of fish running the river. If you can manage a visit to the Dee then please make the effort to come as the river is fishing reasonable well just now. Always heed the advice offered from your beat Ghillie as they know best about what tactics and flies to use to give you a chance of some sport. If you don't have a Ghillie to obtain advice from then you may wish to consider the following flies as worth a go with. The Park Shrimp, Silver Stoats tail, Black or Red Frances, Crathie fly, Thunder and Lightning in sizes 12-14 and of course the Sunray Shadow is always a good fall back option if fish are seen and suspected to be running through your pool. The Sunray shadow fished high and fast is very exciting when fish are in the mood where action can be quite explosive from both salmon and sea trout, especially at dusk. Full floaters are the order of the day now with a poly leader utilised in afternoons of bright sunlight.

If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip or run out, then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne have increased their selection of fishing equipment and River Dee flies tied by the Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices too. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a vast selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. The Countrywear shop in Ballater is a favourite destination for visiting anglers, where Norman Clements is always delighted to meet visiting anglers. They have a good selection of fishing equipment available and provide good service and value. I would like to add Kincardine O'Neil Post Office supplies nice sandwiches and a great selection of River Dee flies too.

Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It's a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

place this week it was pleasing to hear that the fish seemed to be catching the bug and giving anglers and Ghillies much enjoyment. Water temperatures rose to over 50 degrees Fahrenheit and action was to heat up dramatically compared to the previous week with Invery & Tilquhillie reporting 20 salmon, Carlogie 18, Dess 14; Birse & Ballogie beats reported 13 apiece with Headinch & Cambus O’May, Little Blackhall and Lower Invercauld & Monaltrie reporting 11 each. Little Blackhall also reported 6 sea trout which all in all is encouraging news as sea trout add an extra dimension to the anglers visit to the river. The spring period is now over as of the first of June, and we now look forward to a better summer of sport on the river with the encouraging news that grilse runs have arrived of the west coats of Ireland; they should start arriving in the next fortnight all going well. There are a number of beats that have had over 100 salmon for the season so far with Lower Crathes & West Durris reporting 209, Ballogie/Carlogie 169, Park 165, Invery & Tilquhillie 149 and Crathes 120. Fish last week were running from the lower beats to the middle and upper beats with some good sized fish in the high teens of pounds landed regularly. There are reports of damaged fish being caught and it would be helpful if anglers and Ghillies can send any images of damaged fish to ken@riverdee.org

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Peter Jones with a salmon at Upper Blackhall

It was pleasing to hear of the continued success at Invery and Tilquhillie where 20 salmon were landed which will have delighted Ghillies Jim Turnbull and Karl Revel, who have provided a report for their week. I received a note through my door on Saturday evening advising ‘The 6 fish landed at Invery included fish of 18lbs to David Craik of Somers Fishing Tackle, 17lbs to Chris Struth and 10lbs to Mike Forbes of Kingennie, who was fishing a day rod purchased through the GWCT Grampian Sporting Auction, held at Lochter on 25th April which raised over £40,000 on the night. Tilquhillie’s 14 fish were caught by John Fyfe, with Gordon Mutch and Steven Moir catching fish of 18lbs. Highlight of the week was a lovely sea liced 6lb fish caught in Floating Bank. This was a first ever salmon for Miro Seifert, a delighted seventy year old angler from Salzburg, Austria. His reaction after his heart rate had returned to near normal? He was to exclaim ‘I’ll be back!’ Well done Miro.

I was thrilled to receive an e-mail from Jonathon Graves with news about Alan Lankshear commenting ‘Alan Lankshear, a regular visitor to Deeside for over 50 years celebrated his 90th birthday on Wednesday last week. On Thursday he proved that age is no barrier by catching a 10lbs fish from Commonty. A truly remarkable man, Alan still manages a full days fishing albeit at a slightly slower pace than in his earlier years.’ It’s fair to say Alan will have a vast amount of angling tales to regale fellow anglers with in the lunch huts however this Commonty fish will have given him a lot of pleasure. Well done Alan and belated happy birthday wishes from FishDee!

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Davie Gibbon, Middle Blackhall Ghillie with Raymond Sinclair, Upper Blackhall Ghillie discussing the mornings sport

I was delighted to be invited to fish on Little Blackhall & Inchmarlo by proprietor David Trembath, a real gentleman. David has very kindly provided some notes for this week’s column advising ‘Great to have you fishing with us and delighted you were successful. I fished the New Fawn last evening and at last I connected with a cracking 10 pounder on a Sunray about 9.30 pm - my first fish by this method - at last I have managed to make it work. Just to confirm my guest, Alistair Ross, had a great day on Tuesday when we had some high coloured water - he had two salmon in the morning and one in the afternoon and a sea trout in the evening. All the salmon were on a Silver Monkey, whatever that is. He was quite pleased with himself! All in all we had a good week with eleven fish plus half a dozen or so sea trout.’ The anglers I met were truly delightful company and all seemed to be enjoying their visit to the river.

Finally as part of the Inaugural Banchory River Festival there will be an opportunity for people who have always wanted to try fishing to come and spend a few hours learning to fish at the Raemoir Trout Fishery, Raemoir Road, Banchory on Saturday 8th June. This is a free to attend IntroDee session for parents with children commencing from 10.30 am. People who would like to attend just need to send an e-mail to info@riverdee.org to advise how many are attending or call the River Office on 013398 80411 to register. Visiting anglers may appreciate the opportunity to visit Deeside Drinks Emporium in Banchory for a subsidised beer tasting evening this Saturday at 8pm and whisky tasting afternoon on Sunday at 6pm. With respective costs for attending of only £5 and £7.50 this is terrific value for events of this type. Please advise Sandy if you are attending either or both events by calling 01330 822650. This will ensure he can provide sufficient stocks to meet demand for what promises to be great fun River Festival Event. There is a full list of activities taking place through the River Festival weekend at [url=http://www.visitbanchory.com/calendar/0/235-Banchory-River-Festival.html]Visit Banchory - Accommodation Food and Things to Do[/url] . I hope to see many people out and about in Banchory enjoying the festival. News of catches, with or without images are always welcome, so please drop a line to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It could be an exciting week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some more good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

SALMON & GRILSE: Altries and Lower Drum 1, Tilbouries 2, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 9, Lower Crathes and W Durris 11, Crathes 9, Invery 6, Tilquhillie 14, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 8, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 11, Middle Blackhall 1, Upper Blackhall 4, Cairnton 4, Woodend 4, Lower Woodend 1, Commonty 5, Sluie 2, Ballogie 13, Borrowston 9, Kincardine 6, Carlogie 18, Dess 14, Birse 13, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 3, Craigendinnie 6, Waterside and Ferrar 7, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 8, Headinch and Cambus O'May 11, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 11, Birkhall 4, Abergeldie 3, Crathie 7, Total 230

SEA TROUT: Park 5, Crathes 2, Tilquhillie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 6, Ballogie 1, Carlogie 1, Waterside and Ferrar 1, Total 17

Prospects

The weather forecast from the Met Office advises Sunny spells, warm or very warm in sunshine-That’s pleasing news to read. Today: A bright but perhaps rather cloudy start, although sunny spells will develop. Feeling warm or very warm with light winds, especially towards Aboyne, but cooler near coasts with sea breezes. Mainly dry but isolated sharp showers developing late afternoon. Maximum Temperature 20 °C. Tonight: Any showers dying away with sunny spells into the evening then some clear spells overnight, but patchy mist and fog developing and low cloud will spread into coastal areas. Minimum Temperature 8 °C. Tuesday: Mainly dry and bright, some sunny spells developing with most mist and fog soon clearing, but rather murky around the coast. Feeling warm in sunshine, but isolated heavy afternoon showers. Maximum Temperature 17 °C. Outlook for Wednesday to Friday: Mainly dry and bright with sunny spells developing as most low cloud and mist eases back to coasts in mornings. Some showers but a spell of rain on Thursday morning. The Sepa gauges are showing 9 inches at Mar Lodge and steady and Park is reading 1ft 5 inches and steady; ideal river heights for fishing. The water temps are above 50 degrees Fahrenheit and will be for the forthcoming week. Winds are going to be light and variable which will make angling a real pleasure. The maritime influence sees Tides starting the week at 3.6 metres before rising mid week to 4.0 metres. It appears to be reasonably good fishing weather for sea trout fishing into the evening if you have some on your beat.

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Salmon are on the move

Your beat Ghillies will advise you on the tactics you should utilise but beware of burning the candle at both ends as daylight hours are very long now and the temptation to fish during all day and night may well occur for some anglers. The migration of fish from the Lower Beats to the middle beats seems to be gathering momentum and fish are running to the upper beats too. As always heed the Ghillies wise counsel as they will give you the advice you need of where taking fish may be encountered on their beats given the water levels you encounter on your visit. If you don’t have a Ghillie to obtain advice from then you may wish to consider the following flies as worth a go with. The Park Shrimp, Silver Stoats tail, Black Flamethrower or Orange Flamethrower, Ally’s Shrimp, Tosh in sizes10-12 and of course the Sunray Shadow is always a good option if fish are seen and suspected to be running through your pool. The Sunray shadow fished high and fast is very exciting when fish are in the mood where action can be quite explosive from both salmon and sea trout. Full floaters are the order of the day now with a sink tip utilised in afternoons of bright sunlight. Make sure your leader is stout as there are some really good fish running the river.

If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip or run out, then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne have increased their selection of fishing equipment and River Dee flies tied by the Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices too. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a vast selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. The Countrywear shop in Ballater is a favourite destination for visiting anglers, where Norman Clements is always delighted to meet visiting anglers. They have a good selection of fishing equipment available and provide good service and value. I would like to add Kincardine O'Neil Post Office supplies nice sandwiches and a great selection of River Dee flies too.

Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It’s a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

imagery of the weather encountered on the Gairn when the River Office team were out tree planting last week at [url=http://www.riverdee.org.uk/blog&news/newsevents.asp?article0=147&srch0=#0]River Dee News[/url] By Saturday, what a contrast, our weather provided a glimpse of what we all would like to see this summer; nice clear skies and mild air temperatures where people can enjoy their sport on the riverbank. FishDee beats have so far reported 128 salmon to 21lbs and a couple of sea trout for the week with some late returns for evening fish on Saturday perhaps to be added. At long last the middle Dee beats were starting to get some sport with Carlogie reporting 14, Ballogie and Lower Crathes 11 each and Crathes and Upper Blackhall 9 apiece. The largest fish of the week was a 21lb salmon landed by Altries Ghillie Kevin Fleming at Crathes which was described by Crathes Ghillie Brian Sim as a lovely fish. I was also delighted to hear that Lower Durris and Upper Drum Ghillie Jim Paton had a nice fish at Inchmarlo; his first ever from the Inchmarlo side. His son Terry Paton, Ghillie at Inchmarlo, forwarded an image of Jim and his fish and said he was delighted.

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Floating Bank, Crathes Castle Beat

I have some news from Crathes provided by regular Dee visitor Charles Jeffrey who advised ‘Crathes was terrific with nine fish for our three days with Brian. The fish were evenly spread at two each until John Laurie had a 16 lber out of the Burn Pool late on Saturday, before the gungy water got down to him. I've never seen so many fish in May with 90% of them spanking fresh. I'd a wee 5lb fish on Friday covered in long lice, followed five minutes later with a 12lber, both from the Pantoch. It was a co-incidence to have Colin Reid, ex Head Ghillie from Gordon Castle and Brae 5 on the other side when catching both fish. I used to take a week up there each spring, but because there were no fish, did not take the week this year and of course they've had a terrific spring. Brian was in great form and we had many laughs as usual. We're due up on Birkhall on 24th June and then a week at Crathes from 5th August. Cannae wait.’

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Jock Rae at Dess-a lovely pool to fish at this height

Well it was nice to receive this news from Charles about Crathes and I was fortunate to visit the beat on Saturday with another regular Dee visitor Graeme Arthur, who kindly invited me for a cast. There were good numbers of fish showing in some of the pools and I was pleased to catch one of guard and get my first salmon from Crathes during the afternoon. Brian Sim spent a lot of time with me and I was most grateful for his sound advice. We had been fishing the top of the water with small flies and then a big monkey and nothing was doing. Brian said put fast sink tip on and fish a small fly a bit deeper due to the brightness, and within half a dozen casts of starting using his sound advice a fish co-operated at Kashentroch. I was also pleased to get the chance to get out of the office for an afternoon cast on Friday as a guest of Dess proprietor Jeremy Clayton, and lightning struck twice for me. On the same Friday last year I had a day with Jeremy and caught a nice fish and this year I was really thrilled to get a lovely fresh 12 b salmon at Jock Rae. Many thanks to Mr & Mrs Clayton and Ghillie Eoin Smith.

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Looking down Jetties to Hollies at Dess

Philip Black was on one of his regular trips to the Dee at the end of last week and was successful at Lower Invercauld beat and also at Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo. Philip commented ‘Hi Ken a couple of pictures of my 2 fish I caught for my day on Monaltrie and lower Invercauld. It’s the first time I've fished this beat but it won't be my last; an absolute stunning piece of water. It’s also the first time I've met Ian Murray, what a gentleman, couldn't be more helpful and made it a great day for me. I also had a braw wee fish from the Roe Pot, Little Blackhall. It was hard going on Saturday as conditions weren't great so this was a welcome wee fish.’ Philip and his brother Tony are regular fishers on the Dee and generally do very well.

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Philip black with a small fish at the Roe Pot

Finally as part of the Inaugural Banchory River Festival there will be an opportunity for people who have always wanted to try fishing to come and spend a few hours learning to fish at the Raemoir Trout Fishery, Raemoir Road, Banchory on Saturday 8th June. This is a free to attend IntroDee session for parents with children commencing from 10.30 am. People who would like to attend just need to send an e-mail to info@riverdee.org to advise how many are attending or call the River Office on 013398 80411 to register. News of catches, with or without images are always welcome so please drop a line to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It should be a reasonable week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

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Anglers & Ghillies in high spirits at Dess

Beat Catches

SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 2, Park 5, Lower Crathes and W Durris 11, Crathes 9, Invery 3, Tilquhillie 1, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 3, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 6, Middle Blackhall 1, Upper Blackhall 9, Cairnton 2, Woodend 1, Commonty 3, Sluie 2, Ballogie 11, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 8, Carlogie 14, Dess 7, Birse 1, Aboyne Water 1, Aboyne Castle 2, Craigendinnie 3, Waterside and Ferrar 6, Dinnet 7, Deecastle 3, Headinch and Cambus O'May 3, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 2, Abergeldie 1, Total 128

SEA TROUT: Lower Crathes and W Durris 1, Deecastle 1, Total 2

Prospects

The weather forecast shows a cool start to the week with a return to milder weather for the second half of the week. Air temperature maxima will be 15 degrees Celsius. There will be some precipitation today and tomorrow but hopefully not enough to affect water levels. The Sepa gauges are showing 1 ft 1 inch at Mar Lodge and steady and Park is reading 1ft 7 inches and steady; ideal river heights for fishing. The water temps are approaching 50 degrees Fahrenheit and will be around this temperature all week. Winds are going to be light and variable with the odd few hours here and there where they may become moderate. The maritime influence sees Tides starting the week at 4.4 metres before falling back mid week to 3.6 metres. Again it’s reasonably good salmon fishing weather but not great for sea trout fishing in the evening.

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Ron Irvin with a nice fish at Dinnet

Your beat Ghillies will advise you on the tactics you should utilise but perseverance will be necessary. Anglers are still catching fish on flies fished well down but other fish are coming to small flies fished on floating lines. The migration of fish from the Lower Beats to the middle beats seems to be gathering momentum and hopefully fish will run to the upper beats too. As always heed the Ghillies wise counsel as they will give you the advice you need of where taking fish may be encountered on their beats given the water levels you encounter on your visit. If you don’t have a Ghillie to obtain advice from then you may wish to consider the following flies as worth a go with. The Park Shrimp, Silver Stoats tail, Black Flamethrower or Orange Flamethrower, Ally’s Shrimp, Tosh and of course the Sunray Shadow is always a good option if fish are seen and suspected to be running through your pool.

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Jim Paton with a salmon at Inchmarlo

If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip or run out, then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne have increased their selection of fishing equipment and River Dee flies tied by the Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices too. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a vast selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. The Countrywear shop in Ballater is a favourite destination for visiting anglers, where Norman Clements is always delighted to meet visiting anglers. They have a good selection of fishing equipment available and provide good service and value. I would like to add Kincardine O'Neil Post Office supplies nice sandwiches and a great selection of River Dee flies too.

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Looking over the river from Floating Bank, Crathes to Tilquhillie

Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It’s a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

in the spring. In the last few years the upper beats have had good sport with the lower beats having to wait patiently as fish rocketed through their beats unseen. This year the reverse has happened with fish having a distinct preference for staying in the beats around Banchory. That is where I have received reports from for this week's report. Invery and Tilquhillie had 24 salmon between both beats and Lower Crathes 15, the Blackhall beats reported 17, Ballogie beats 16 and Crathes Castle 11. It's not all gloom and doom in the upper river though. An angler is reported to have had two fish of 28 and 25lbs at Lower Invercauld and Monaltrie last Monday; no further details are available.

Here is the report for the week at Invery & Tilquhillie as reported by Ghillies Karl Revel and Jim Turnbull. 'On Saturday 11th May Graham Ritchie from Fraserburgh was rewarded for purchasing the two rods donated by Invery/Tilquhillie to the Atlantic Salmon Trust Auction where he caught the beats one hundredth salmon of the season. This was one of three fish he caught on the day one a one inch self tied Willie Gunn. This week has continued well with 24 salmon (Invery 12 and Tilquhillie 12) and two sea trout added to our total. Top rod has been Colin Harvey from Worcestershire, a frequent visitor to the Dee over many years. Colin caught 12 salmon to 14 lbs and 2 sea trout. On our best day six salmon were caught from six different pools, the highlight being a first ever salmon, a lovely sea liced six pounder for Mike Salter from Banchory. The others were caught by Colin (2) and by renowned Naver Ghillie Bob McBain. Invery and Tilquhillie beats have produced 125 salmon for the season to date.

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Mr Farr with a nice fish at Lower Crathes

Comments received from Simon Bragg who caught his first fish recently at Borrowston who advised 'I was a guest of Bert and Gail Wiegman at Fernybank on Millden Estate. The fly was a Cascade Tube lovingly made by Bill Palmer. I caught the fish at Top Slip. To get the bite was a real surprise and so exciting as I was near mid stream. I had to gradually and slowly walk out of the river whilst letting the fish run and then reel in. Hearing the 'Zzzzzzzzzz' as the line pulls out is a great noise. Bill gave me some excellent 'orders' so that I didn't lose the fish. It took a little while after getting on the bank to reel her in, but once landed I had great sense of pleasure and achievement at having caught my first salmon. The River Dee is a super river and one that I look forward to coming back again soon.

Robert Harper wrote with news from Lower Crathes 'Morning Ken, The first e-mail was of Mr George Farr with a 24lbs fish, later in the day he caught a 20lbs fish, photo attached, also photo of Mrs Farr (aunt) with 12lbs fish on Saturday, Mrs Farr also caught a 20lbs fish sorry no photo. We had some other good fish.' Another good week at Lower Crathes should see them land their 200th fish for the season. Dinnet and Deecastle saw 7 salmon landed with Marcus Humphrey grabbing the headlines with a lovely sea liced fish, ably netted by son Edward Humphrey. The anglers, who I enjoyed the day with on Saturday at Dinnet / Deecastle, had a lovely holiday and were in high spirits despite the heavy rain on Saturday.

Orvis of Banchory have details of their free beginners fly fishing courses, which will be held between May and September. For further details contact Orvis of Banchory by visiting their store at 2-8 Bridge St, Banchory AB31 5SX or call telephone number 01330 824319. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It should be another better week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

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Marcus Humphrey with a nice sea liced salmon at Dinnet

SALMON & GRILSE: Kingcausie 3, Tilbouries 1, Upper Drum and Lower Durris 1, Park 5, Lower Crathes and W Durris 15, Knappach 1, Crathes 11, Invery 12, Tilquhillie 12, Lower Blackhall and Kinneskie 6, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 1, Middle Blackhall 6, Upper Blackhall 4, Cairnton 6, Woodend 3, Lower Woodend 6, Commonty 5, Sluie 2, Ballogie 4, Borrowston 3, Kincardine 5, Carlogie 7, Dess 8, Birse 5, Aboyne Water 2, Aboyne Castle 3, Craigendinnie 7, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 3, Deecastle 4, Headinch and Cambus O'May 3, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 2, Crathie 2, Total 160

SEA TROUT: Crathes 1, Invery 1, Tilquhillie 1, Cairnton 2, Total 5

PROSPECTS

The weather forecast shows a mild start to the week with a return to cooler weather for the second half of the week. There will be some precipitation but hopefully not enough to affect water levels. The Sepa gauges are all falling after heavy rain on Saturday with Ballater showing 2 feet and falling and Park reading 2ft 10 inches and falling. The water temps are approaching 50 degrees Fahrenheit and will be around this temperature all week. Winds are going to be breezy at times and will be predominately from the North West all week. The Jet stream is moving south during the latter part of the week and it looks likely that the cooler weather will continue for some time. Reasonably good salmon fishing weather but not great for sea trout fishing in the evening. The maritime influence sees tides building this week so hopefully we shall see a good run of new fish entering the river.

Your beat Ghillies will advise you on the tactics you should utilise but perseverance will be necessary. Anglers are still catching fish on tube flies fished well down but other fish are coming to small flies fished on floating lines. One was taken on a size 12 double last week at Dinnet from the Ministers Pool. As always heed the Ghillies wise counsel as they will give you the advice you need of where taking fish may be encountered on their beats given the water levels you encounter on your visit. If you don't have a Ghillie to obtain advice from then you may wish to consider the following flies as worth a go with. The Park Shrimp, Silver Stoats tail, Black Frances, Ally's Shrimp, Tosh and of course the Sunray Shadow is always a good option if fish are seen and suspected to be running through your pool.

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Mrs Farr with a salmon on a nice bright day at Lower Crathes

If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip or run out, then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne have increased their selection of fishing equipment and River Dee flies tied by the Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices too. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a vast selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. The Countrywear shop in Ballater is a favourite destination for visiting anglers, where Norman Clements is always delighted to meet visiting anglers. They have a good selection of fishing equipment available and provide good service and value. I would like to add Kincardine O'Neil Post Office supplies nice sandwiches and a great selection of River Dee flies too.

Finally an important thing for you to remember when you arrive on your chosen beat. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different River Dee beats during their week on the river. It's a condition of the River Dee Conservation code and must be strictly adhered to; all beats have supplies to ensure this is carried out prior to entering the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of the highly problematic ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It should be a better week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

the right time there were some fish to be caught. FishDee beats reported 74 salmon to 22 lbs and 8 sea trout. It’s been a slow cold spring this year so far with night time frosts still occurring. Lower Crathes continues to provide sport weekly with 16 reported last week and the Invery beats reported 12 with Graham Ritchie, a very talented angler catching 3 in a day. Conditions at times have been difficult for anglers and this week was no exception. The weather has been quite cold and the river levels have fluctuated a bit with quite unsettled water coming down the valley which seems to put fish off the take. Anglers though are a resilient bunch and the people I met on the river last week seemed to be having a very enjoyable time in the valley, enjoying good Scottish hospitality. I caught up with Lars Terkildsen from Sweden fishing with Hans from Germany at Commonty. Sport had been slow but they managed some fresh fish and persevered to get their rewards. Lars has had some superb days on the Dee with up to 18 salmon; this year sport has been challenging but the rewards have been worth the efforts.

Tristan Sillars dropped me an e-mail commenting ‘I am just back from the annual May Aboyne trip with Andrew Dennis and Bill and Mark Currie. It was a challenging week, seeing hardly any fish entering the pools despite the water temperature remaining around 50 all week and of course decent water heights. Clearly the majority of fish have either remained in the lower half of the river or we are encountering a particularly poor spring run. I would imagine it is a combination of these factors, according to my own spring catch records for the river; we are heading for the lowest spring catch on the river since 2002. In terms of the fishing, we managed 3 fish, and lost another. I have attached a picture of one of my fish, a 14lber from the Lummels. This fish had almost half of its tail fin missing, if you zoom in you can see it, although my hand is half covering it annoyingly! Despite this unfortunate damage, this fish put up a super 15 minute fight, quite incredible and testament to the admirable survival instinct of these fabulous creatures.’

I received an e-mail from Jan Tryk, a visiting angler from Denmark who was fishing at Lower Crathes advising ‘Hi Ken, Here is a picture of my beautiful salmon (22 lbs) from Lower Crathes caught May 7th which was caught on a Cascade size 10 and fished close to the surface.’ It’s a lovely fish and I’m delighted to receive this image from Jan. I am also delighted that Ian Murray rang me this morning with some news from Lower Invercauld and Monaltrie. He advised Mr JH Stephenson landed two fish yesterday from his beats which were very newsworthy; one of 25 lbs and one of 28lbs. The fish were bars of silver. I hope to get more information about these captures for next weeks column.

Orvis of Banchory have details of their free beginners fly fishing courses, which will be held between May and September. For further details contact Orvis of Banchory by visiting their store at 2-8 Bridge St, Banchory AB31 5SX or call telephone number 01330 824319. Copyright FishDee

As always please let me know how you get on by dropping me an e-mail to ken@riverdee.org with any anecdotes and pictures about your experiences on the river. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

Beat catches reported

SALMON & GRILSE: Ardoe and Murtle 3, Altries and Lower Drum 1, Park 3, Lower Crathes and W Durris 16, Crathes 3, Invery 5, Tilquhillie 7, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Middle Blackhall 2, Upper Blackhall 1, Cairnton 1, Woodend 1, Commonty 2, Ballogie 1, Borrowston 1, Kincardine 2, Carlogie 5, Dess 3, Aboyne Water 3, Aboyne Castle 1, Craigendinnie 2, Waterside and Ferrar 2, Dinnet 2, Deecastle 2, Monaltrie and Lower Invercauld 2, Abergeldie 1.

Total: 74 Largest: Lower Crathes and W Durris & Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 22lbs

SEA TROUT: Ardoe and Murtle 1, Park 2, Tilquhillie 1, Little Blackhall and Inchmarlo 2, Woodend 2.

Total: 8 Largest: Woodend 4lbs

Prospects

The prevailing cool weather conditions look set to continue with the Met Office suggesting grass frosts this week. They suggest this week will see air temperature maxima peak around 12 degrees Celsius and get perhaps a little warmer during the latter part of the week. Winds will be light and variable. River levels are pretty decent with the Sepa gauges are showing 1ft 2 inches at Mar Lodge, 1 ft 9 inches at Park. The maritime influence shows tides dropping through the week from 4.0 metres to 3.4 metres which may bring some new fish forward. We may be a bit early for Grilse just now but we hope that they start to run the river in the next few weeks to augment numbers of salmon in the river. A good summer run would be a blessing for the river.

As always please heed the advice of your beat Ghillie who can make suggestions about where to fish on your chosen beat and what flies and tactics to utilise. Time and time again I hear from anglers who let me know how helpful their Ghillie has been in putting them onto taking fish. Their knowledge is second to none and they can at times make a difference in helping you achieve success on their beat. If you don’t have the services of a Ghillie to call on then you will probably want to fish with a full floating line or perhaps with a 5 foot sink tip just to take the fly a few inches below the surface. Your fly choice might include a Black or Red Frances, Snaelda, Ally’s shrimp, Cascade or Maggie’s Shrimp. The Monkey or Sunray can also be used at times to good effect. Perseverance is the key though as you won’t catch a fish unless you have a fly in the water.

If you find you have the wrong flies with you for your fishing trip or run out, then pay a visit to some of our super retailers; George Strachan's store in Aboyne have increased their selection of fishing equipment and River Dee flies tied by the Ballogie Estates Head Ghillie Sean Stanton, at very attractive prices too. The Orvis store in Banchory also has a vast selection of flies to choose from and equipment to hire. The Countrywear shop in Ballater is a favourite destination for visiting anglers, where Norman Clements is always delighted to meet visiting anglers. They have a good selection of fishing equipment available and provide good service and value. I would like to add Kincardine O'Neil Post Office supplies nice sandwiches and a great selection of River Dee flies too.

I really would encourage anglers who are thinking about fishing to book availability now through FishDee because sport should really pick up now given the significant improvement in fishing conditions-its getting warmer. The hotels in Deeside provide excellent value and there are Fisherman's rates for groups of anglers. All anglers and Ghillies are being asked to ensure all anglers have their waders and any landing nets sprayed with a mild disinfectant prior to commencing fishing, even when they are fishing different beats during their week on the river. It's a quick procedure that will help the river and prevent ingress of unwanted pathogens and non native species entering any part of the River Dee watercourse. We also want to prevent the transfer of ranunculus from the lower part of the river to the upper part. We have a great range of accommodation providers so please visit the relevant pages on the FishDee website to find out more. Please write with any news of catches or anecdotes with images to ken@riverdee.org so I can share this news in the weekly report and FishDee blog. It should be a better week for anglers and hopefully we shall get some good news to report next week. Tight Lines to you all! Copyright FishDee. Ken Reid © FishDee Ltd.

introduction to the life of this fascinating mollusc. He asked me to write the Foreword to his book, which I quote below because the context of the Freshwater Mussel FWM (Margaritifera Margaritifera) is perhaps more relevant today than it was then, largely because of increasing public awareness of its ecological importance.

Fred Woodward worked at the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow in a team of distinguished natural historians and biologists. In that capacity he became a member of the European Invertebrates Survey and of the Bern Invertebrates Specialist Group, among other influential roles, including fellowship of the Linnaean Society. I remember Fred talking about the importance of the freshwater mussel and its relationship with juvenile salmonids, especially Atlantic salmon parr. At that time he was drafting the guidelines for the EU's Habitat Directorate, which ultimately led to EU legislation to protect the FWM.

Why are freshwater mussels (FWM) important?

My own interest in Margaritifera Margaritifera stemmed from living on the banks of the River South Esk in Angus, which was famous for the quality of its FWM pearls. In the 1980s it was still legal to collect pearls by opening up the shell of the living mollusc, invariably killing it in the process, and occasionally finding a pearl inside. South Esk FWM pearls were highly sought after, so much so that the late Queen Mother was given a necklace of a selection of the purest irridescent and graded pearls.

Quite often we would find heaps of opened shells beside the river, with dead mussels rotting and stinking in the summer warmth. It was obvious to me, even before I met Fred Woodward, that the plundering of the river's stocks of FWM could not continue if they were not going to become extinct.

Hence, when Fred asked me to write the foreword for his book, this is what I wrote:

"The freshwater mussel is a biological indicator of the health of our rivers. It is also the prized quarry of pearl fishermen, and in Scotland there is a common right to fish for them. There are few such privileges given to the ordinary person, above the rights of the riparian owner, and it is significant, as public access to Scotland's wilderness areas is now a major political issue, that we now know that this practice is no longer sustainable, if the Scottish pearl mussel is to survive.

Traditionally the pearl fisher killed every mussel in the search for the elusive and valuable pearl. It is this, in the context of the longevity and slow growth of Margaritifera Margaritifera, which made it obvious to Scotland's small group of professional pearl fishers that they needed to devise a method which did not involve killing the mussel. This they succeeded in doing by developing tongs which prise open the shell-halves sufficiently to allow inspection and removal of a pearl from the mussel's mantle without harming it. Unfortunately, it was impossible to communicate this method to the much larger number of amateur pearl fishermen, and it therefore became necessary to introduce legislation in 1989 to protect the animal by making it illegal to kill them, or interfere with them in any way.

Fred Woodward is the champion of Margaritifera Margaritifera. His interest in its natural history, its exploitation by man since pre-Roman times, its global context and the politics needed to ensure its survival, are the subject of this book. His main concern is for the mollusc's wellbeing, and yet he manages to introduce an elegaic sympathy for the Scottish group of professional pearl fishers, Bill Abernethy, Peter Goodwin and the McCormack family. It is well worth reading Peter Goodwin's book, 'The River and the Road - Journal of a Freshwater Pearl-Fisher' (Hale 1985 ISBN 0 7090 2341 3) which describes the lives of pearl fishers, an activity which sadly but understandably no longer exists.

The 1992 Rio conference on the global environment highlighted the issue of biodiversity, and it is therefore important that each threatened species has its champions. Fred Woodward's commitment is much more important than championing the cause of a single species however, because his holistic approach has much in common with the Scottish biologist and philosopher, Patrick Geddes, in the way he invites us to think globally and act locally. Margaritifera Margaritifera is more than yet another threatened species or biological indicator; ultimately it is a measure of our commitment to sustaining our environment."

Since 1993 the EU has introduced Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) to protect fragile species such as the FWM. Because of the mollusc's relationship with juvenile salmon, which are hosts to the FWM's larval parasite (Glochidia), it is the relationship between the two species which has become the target of EU conservation efforts. In salmon rivers where the freshwater mussel still exists, SAC status is predicated on the wellbeing of both species in that particular ecosystem - the freshwater catchment.

TA on 6/5/2013