bigger multi sea winter salmon filling everyone with even more optimism for the coming weeks. The weather is now much milder and there is a good forecast for this week that hopefully will continue to give us great prospects and will maintain early spring sport on this marvelous river and spread it throughout the whole river.

The Spring Salmon fishing is never easy but when settled conditions prevail the sport can be magical as has proved this season so far with some outstanding catches and numerous spring salmon registered in the Tay system above expectation, it will certainly be one to remember in years to come. This past week sport was again superb with good catches and 2 Leviathans! The catches have been heartening mainly due to the cold weather originally in the early part of the season but there is certainly evidence now that there has been a far better run. Could this be down to most anglers’ efforts to return spring salmon over the past few seasons? Thank you to all anglers who have this season so far returned their spring salmon to maintain our sport for the future, it is vitally important and is a great contribution by individuals who care for their sport and the river. Well done! Spring salmon were caught all week up to an impressive 36 pounds in weight and throughout the river as temperatures rise, which was tremendous news. The catches for the season so far have increased by 73% up to the end of April and now May is looking as productive. It is simply amazing news for the river. The Tay is currently fishing very well and is certainly a good destination to catch your first spring salmon of the season, you will maybe catch a fish of your dreams after the emergence of these monster salmon. The river offers a variety of possibilities for all standards of anglers with ghillies only too keen to teach the novices and this mighty river can produce a memorable salmon for the keen fly fisher. Levels and temperatures have now risen hopefully to encourage more salmon to run the river and spread out. Pools can be easily covered from bank and boat with modern technology. Why not have a go and sample this magical river. The fishing is supreme and the scenery is not bad either.

Beat catches reported

(week ending 18th May)

SALMON & GRILSE: Lower Redgorton 2, Fishponds 1, Benchil and Pitlochrie 1, Catholes 1, Burnmouth 1, Stobhall 1, Taymount 9, Ballathie 3, Islamouth 9, Lower and Upper Islamouth 10, Upper Islamouth and Meikleour House 3, Meikleour House 5, Kercock 3, Murthly 1 19, Glendelvine 13, Murthly 2 31, Newtyle 14, Dunkeld House 8, Dalmarnock 4, Dalguise 4, Lower Kinnaird 5, Upper Kinnaird 7, Findynate 5, Farleyer Upper 1, Coupar Grange 34, Portnacraig Pitlochry 22, Loch Faskally 6.

Total: 222 Largest: Murthly 2 36lbs

Spring salmon have been caught throughout the system this past week encouraging everyone and there is a continuing emergence of some larger multi sea winter spring salmon up to around 30 pounds, which is superb news. Sea trout and odd Grilse are also starting to appear. The Upper reaches are now encountering more fresh salmon as warmer conditions appear. The Upper river registered 13 spring salmon from Upper Kinnaird, Farleyer and Findynate. Upper Kinnaird caught on a regular basis including a superb 27 pounds beauty landed by ghillie Jock Menteith on the fly. Jock has been seeing a good lot of fish in the pools as the river has warmed up and salmon have run into the upper areas. Derek Blair also landed a 12 pounds fish from the beat. Further news from the upper beats would be welcome for the report.

The Tummel system registered 28 spring salmon. Currently the Tummel is fishing very well with superb conditions and a build up of fish at the Dam. All the salmon came from the Pitlochry Angling stretch at the Dam and Loch Faskally but other spring salmon were caught on the Tummel system in good numbers but not registered. Loch Faskally is starting to produce as salmon slip through the dam at Pitlochry. The Angling club stretch at Portnacraig continues to fish very well with another very productive week. Perth angler Steve Watt was again successful landing several salmon up to 13 pounds. Calum McRoberts also did well on the club beats landing 3 salmon on Tuesday morning prior going to run the fishing department at the House of Bruar, he also had a fish from the sawmill stream on Monday. Other successful anglers included John Dent, Gordon Nicol, Michael Low, Davy Stewart, Richard Bond, Ally Gowans and Graeme Stewart landing fish up to 16 pounds. On Saturday father and son duo Thomas’s landed fish up to an impressive 20 pounds on fly and spinner. West Haugh, East Haugh and the Lower Tummel have also been catching and not reporting.

On the Middle river 109 spring salmon were caught this past week, which was a superb week as temperatures came up and salmon ran after the big water. On Lower Kinnaird salmon were caught up to 20 pounds. On Dalguise Paul Woodings caught fly fishing and Kenny Tragham landed an 11 pounds fish on a Toby. Beat owner Donald Skene also caught a superb 12 pounds fish fishing a devon in the Otterstone pool. On Dalmarnock several salmon were caught up to 23 pounds during the week. Dunkeld had a successful week with salmon landed up to 18 pounds. Bill and Sandra Robbins enjoyed good success with fish up to 12 pounds on fly while Mr Vanerpp, Alan Lumsden and Paddy Hogg caught fish to 18 pounds. Newtyle also had a good week landing several salmon to 11 pounds. Successful anglers included Chris Provan, Jon Wood, Steven MacAloney, John Chaney, Ian Shaw, Jimmy Black and regular Allan Rennie. Calum McRoberts also managed to catch as well on the fly on a busman’s holiday from Pitlochry! The Murthly and Glendelvine beats are on fire! They have had a simply unbelievable week landing over 60 spring salmon including a 36 pounds monster from Murthly 2. Tony Blacks Murthly 2 beat had 31 fish for the week and John Broughton caught the superb 36 pounds leviathan from the boat to cap things. That takes Tony’s beat to over 100 spring salmon for the season. On Kercock 3 fish were caught for the week. Bill Mcinnes caught a 12 pounder and Scott Porteous landed a 10 pounds beauty at the Croy's.

The Lower River had good catches as the tremendous run continued through the beats with 38 spring salmon for the week. Hopefully the catches will be maintained in the coming weeks as most of the boats are off the river below Stanley for the summer but reasonably priced bank fishing is still available. Islamouth was fairly productive throughout the week. Dennis Wrighte-Pratte and Paul Ness enjoyed a recent 3 day trip to the beat landing several salmon on the fly. Hugo Barling also did well off the beat with a cracking 18 pounds fish from the Longhead. The bigger water was not helping Ballathie and Cargill but that should change with better weather and lower conditions. Taymount had a good week finishing with 9 fish. Salmon have also been caught further down stream with Ian Kettles catching a lovely 15 pounds salmon from the Catholes and Ed Slaven landing an 11 pounds fish from Benchil on Saturday. Fishponds had a casing clinic with Scott McKenzie at the end of the week and Scott showed his expertise landing a lovely fresh salmon on the fly. You can’t keep a good man down, well done Scott!

The Isla registered 35 salmon all from Coupar Grange. Monday saw Jim Mckay land 3 for his rod. Wednesday saw a 19 pounds fish landed on the high bank. Thursday was a red letter day with 11 fish landed, Paul Harkin and his Father managed to land 4 for their day, Harry Boyle had 2 for his rod the second one was a 16 pounder on the fly out of the Lonly pool. Friday saw a corporate day with people that don't do a lot of fishing but they managed to land 5 for the day which was superb. David Hepworth had 2 on Saturday on the fly from Jackie’s Bush.

It was certainly another superb spring week to remember with some great stories, at last some warmer weather and springers caught with good conditions but now as we entering May with warmer weather and good river levels the spring catches will hopefully be maintained over the coming weeks assuming the run continues and spread throughout the entire system. Please maintain the Catch and Release code for the river to protect our sport for the future.

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.

good levels all week with also the emergence of some much larger multi sea winter salmon, which was very heartening. Milder weather has now arrived and there is a good settled forecast for this coming week, the catches have now spread as temperatures climb slowly maintaining good sport especially in the middle and Upper River.

Currently the river is dropping back and settling to a good height (about 2’ and steady on the Ballathie gauge). The weather will remain milder over the next week with odd rain showers. This will benefit the whole river system as the salmon will spread with warmer temperatures and more water and hopefully this will maintain the chance of producing some sport for everyone.

The weather is set to be good with high pressure and much warmer over the coming week. Colder conditions are now gently disappearing and milder temperatures will encourage salmon to run up the river. The river is currently dropping, steady and at a good height. The water temperature has risen slightly to around 50 degrees Fahrenheit or 10 degrees Celsius. These are typical temperatures for this time of year. The temperature may rise further with the warmer forecast and spread the catches throughout the system. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river now with less emphasis on the lower stretches.

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method should enable you to catch the elusive Tay Springer. The water temperature has warmed up slowly enabling floating lines to come out with the addition of a sink tip being a favoured tactic and using normal dressed flies. It is still worth a go with sinking lines as well depending on water heights and stripping a Sun Ray Shadow is always worth a go. When spinning, Tay favourites include Toby Salmos, weighted and floating devons, flying C’s and Visons or Rapalas. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year on many beats.

Finally you are reminded that the Tay's policy for January - May 2013 is that all spring salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has adopted a policy of 100% catch and release for spring salmon. Spring salmon are a scarce and precious resource. Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations. We have had a superb run and catch this season, which may just be down to the majority of anglers returning spring salmon over the past seasons. Thank you to all anglers who have this season so far returned their spring salmon to maintain our sport for the future, it is vitally important and is a great contribution by individuals who care for their sport and the river. Well done!

When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended.

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.

during the week filling everyone with continued optimism for the coming weeks. The weather is now much milder again and there is a reasonable forecast for this week that hopefully will continue to give us great prospects and will maintain early spring sport on this marvelous river and spread it throughout the whole river.

The Spring Salmon fishing is never easy but when settled conditions prevail the sport can be magical as has proved this season so far with some outstanding catches and numerous spring salmon registered in the Tay system above expectation. This past week sport was again superb with good catches. The catches have been heartening mainly due to the cold weather but there is certainly a feeling now that there has been a far better run. Could this be down to most anglers’ efforts to return spring salmon over the past few seasons? Spring salmon were caught all week up to 20 pounds in weight and throughout the river as temperatures rise, which was tremendous news. The catches for the season so far have increased by 73% up to the end of April. It is simply amazing news for the river. The Tay is fishing currently very well and is certainly a good destination to catch your first spring salmon of the season. The river offers a variety of possibilities for all standards of anglers with ghillies only too keen to teach the novices and this mighty river can produce a memorable salmon for the keen fly fisher. Levels and temperatures have now risen hopefully to encourage more salmon to run the river and spread out. Pools can be easily covered from bank and boat with modern technology. Why not have a go and sample this magical river. The fishing is supreme and the scenery is not bad either.

Beat catches reported

(week ending 11th May)

SALMON & GRILSE: Luncarty Summer and Autumn 1, Upper Redgorton 1, Benchil and Pitlochrie 3, Catholes 3, Burnmouth 1, Stobhall 6, Taymount 6, Ballathie 5, Cargill 2, Islamouth 7, Lower and Upper Islamouth 5, Upper Islamouth and Meikleour House 7, Meikleour House 1, Kercock 1, Murthly 1 18, Glendelvine 10, Murthly 2 3, Newtyle 6, Dunkeld House 11, Dalmarnock 9, Dalguise 3, Lower Kinnaird 2, Upper Kinnaird 3, Findynate 2, Farleyer Upper 2, Islabank 2, Coupar Grange 21, Portnacraig Pitlochry 22, Loch Faskally 5.

Total: 168 Largest: Murthly 1 & Findynate & Portnacraig Pitlochry 20lbs

SEA TROUT: Murthly 1 12, Loch Faskally 1.

Total: 13 Largest: Loch Faskally 4lbs

Spring salmon have been caught throughout the system this past week encouraging everyone and there is a continuing emergence of some larger multi sea winter spring salmon up to just above 20 odd pounds, which is superb news. Sea trout and odd Grilse are also starting to appear. The Upper reaches are now encountering more fresh salmon as warmer conditions appear. The Upper river registered 7 spring salmon from Upper Kinnaird, Farleyer and Findynate. On upper Kinnaird Nick Hodges and James Shade were amongst the successful anglers landing salmon up to 13 pounds on fly.

The Tummel system registered 27 spring salmon. Currently the Tummel is fishing very well with superb conditions and a build up of fish at the Dam. All the salmon came from the Pitlochry Angling stretch at the Dam and Loch Faskally but other spring salmon were caught on the Tummel system but not registered. Loch Faskally is starting to produce as salmon slip through the dam at Pitlochry. The Angling club stretch at Portnacraig continues to fish very well. Early in the week Steve Watt had a day to remember landing 5 salmon on the fly and spinner up to 16 pounds. Also successful were John Walker and Charles McGhee catching fish of 18 pounds on Tobies. Neil MacLellan caught 3 on Tuesday up to 12 pounds with fish also falling to Gordon Nichol, Alan Greene, another for Charles McGhee, Ally Gowans and Innes Smith. Regulars Mark Currie, Rory MacNab and Matthew Currie all caught fish on Friday. On Saturday Davy Stewart caught two crackers up to 20 pounds on fly and Les Dargie and Iain Wood completed the week with salmon making it another one to remember. West Haugh, East Haugh and the Lower Tummel have also been catching and not reporting.

On the Middle river 71 spring salmon were caught this past week, which was a continuation of a marked improvement as temperatures came up and salmon ran after the big water. On Upper Kinnaird salmon were landed up to 14 pounds during the week. On Dalguise Mike Stanners caught a lovely 15 pounds fish fly fishing in the Flats and Mark Findlay landed his first ever salmon from the boat weighing 12 pounds. On Saturday Claudio Pennacchi landed a 10 pounds fish on the fly from the tail of the Otterstone. Dalmarnock had a good week with 9 spring salmon weighing up to 16 pounds. Terry Wood showed the way landing 2 salmon in a day that included her first ever salmon. A notable other first was John Wheatley catching his first salmon on his first ever days salmon fishing weighing 14 pounds. Dunkeld House also had a good week with 11. Amongst the successful anglers were Ian Hogg, Patrick Fotheringham and Tom Deacon catching on fly and spinner. Newtyle continued their good season with several salmon. Jack Hopper, a mere 88 landed a superb 14 pounds salmon on Monday, Ed May from New Jersey caught his first Atlantic salmon and Hans Abrahamsson caught his first spring salmon from the Tay having been impressed with the Tay last October. Johnston Stewart and David Andrew were also successful on the beat. The Murthly and Glendelvine beats had good weeks landing several salmon. At Kercock it was a quieter week but Ally Wilkie had a 12 pounds fish from Boatlands fly fishing.

The Lower River had good catches as the tremendous run continued through the beats with 40 spring salmon for the week. Hopefully the catches will be maintained these coming weeks as most of the boats come off the river below Stanley for the summer but reasonably priced bank fishing is still available. The beats around Islamouth caught consistently as did Ballathie and Cargill but a lower river would help them more. Taymount and Stobhall had reasonable weeks with 6 fish each. At Stanley the Summer Permit holders and day rods have been having success with Perth angler Mel Lackie landing 2 superb salmon up to 18 pounds. Visiting for the first time, Swiss angler Jean-Pierre Muller caught his first ever salmon weighing 6 pounds on a Toby at Benchil. Ed Slaven had a good morning on Catholes catching 3 salmon one after another on a Devon in Erics which included a small grilse about 3 to 4 pounds. Andy Kerr caught an 8 pounds fish on Saturday from Luncarty on a Toby Salmo.

The Isla registered 23 salmon mostly from Coupar Grange for the week with Islabank also registering a couple. It was a good week of sport at Coupar Grange with 21 fish. The biggest was a 15 pounds salmon caught on Monday by Andrew Ritchie on the fly from the Gate Pool, he finished with 4 for his day. Wednesday saw 6 fish landed for Simon Dutton’s party with 4 on the fly. Friday saw Jim Hunter land 3 and Basil Kinch managed 4 for his three days fishing.

It was certainly another superb spring week to remember with some great stories, at last some warmer weather and springers caught with good conditions but now as we entering May with warmer weather and good river levels the spring catches will hopefully be maintained over the coming weeks assuming the run continues and spread throughout the entire system. Please maintain the Catch and Release code for the river to protect our sport for the future.

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.

but still quite cold. Catches continued at good levels for most of the week, which was very heartening. Milder weather has now arrived and there is a mixed forecast for this coming week, the catches have now spread as temperatures climb slowly maintaining good sport especially in the middle and Upper River.

Currently the river is dropping back and settling to a good height (about 3’ and steady on the Ballathie gauge). The weather will remain milder over the next week with rain showers. This will benefit the whole river system as the salmon will spread with warmer temperatures and more water and hopefully this will maintain the chance of producing some sport for everyone.

The weather is set to be unsettled and continue milder over the coming week. Colder conditions are now gently disappearing but milder temperatures will encourage salmon to run up the river. The river is currently dropping from rain and snow melt to a good height. The water temperature has risen slightly to around 48 degrees Fahrenheit or 9 degrees Celsius. These are typical temperatures for this time of year. The temperature may rise further with the warmer forecast and spread the catches throughout the system. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river now with less emphasis on the lower stretches.

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method should enable you to catch the elusive Tay Springer. The water temperature has warmed up slowly enabling floating lines to come out with the addition of a sink tip being a favoured tactic and using normal dressed flies. It is still worth a go with sinking lines as well depending on water heights and stripping a Sun Ray Shadow is always worth a go. When spinning, Tay favourites include Toby Salmos, weighted and floating devons, flying C’s and Visons or Rapalas. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year on many beats.

Finally you are reminded that the Tay's policy for January - May 2013 is that all spring salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has adopted a policy of 100% catch and release for spring salmon. Spring salmon are a scarce and precious resource. Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations. We have had a superb run and catch this season which may just be down to the majority of anglers returning spring salmon over the past seasons. Thank you for all your efforts.

When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended.

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.

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

with more optimism for the coming weeks. The weather is now much milder again for this week but hopefully this will continue to give us great prospects and will maintain early spring sport on this marvelous river and spread it throughout the whole river.

The Spring Salmon fishing is never easy but when settled conditions prevail the sport can be magical as has proved this season so far with some outstanding catches and numerous spring salmon registered in the Tay system above expectation. This past week sport was superb as the catches took off again. The catches have been heartening mainly due to the cold weather but there is certainly a feeling now that there has been a far better run. Could this be down to most anglers’ efforts to return spring salmon over the past few seasons? Spring salmon were caught all week up to 23 pounds in weight and throughout the river as temperatures rise, which was tremendous news. The catches for April have increased by 107% on last year and the season catch has increased by 65% with still two days left in April. It is simply amazing news for the river. The Tay is fishing currently very well and is certainly a good destination to catch your first spring salmon of the season. The river offers a variety of possibilities for all standards of anglers with ghillies only too keen to teach the novices and this mighty river can produce a memorable salmon for the keen fly fisher. Levels and temperatures have now risen hopefully to encourage more salmon to run the river and spread out. Pools can be easily covered from bank and boat with modern technology. Why not have a go and sample this magical river. The fishing is supreme and the scenery is not bad either.

Beat catches reported

(week ending 27th April)

SALMON & GRILSE: Lower Redgorton 2, Upper Redgorton 1, Fishponds 3, Benchil and Catholes 6, Upper Scone 17, Pitlochrie and Catholes 14, Burnmouth 4, Stobhall 7, Taymount 8, Ballathie 7, Cargill 1, Islamouth 15, Lower and Upper Islamouth 8, Upper Islamouth and Meikleour House 3, Meikleour House 7, Kercock 4, Murthly 1 10, Glendelvine 13, Murthly 2 12, Newtyle 15, Dunkeld House 11, Dalmarnock 5, Dalguise 2, Upper Kinnaird 5, Edradynate 1, Farleyer Upper 3, Keithick Mains 7, Coupar Grange 31, Portnacraig Pitlochry 16.

Total: 238 Largest: Dalguise 23lbs

SEA TROUT: Lower Redgorton 1, Dunkeld House 1.

Total: 2 Largest: Lower Redgorton 3lbs

Spring salmon have been caught throughout the system this past week encouraging everyone and there has also been the emergence of some larger multi sea winter spring salmon up to 20 odd pounds, which is superb news. The Upper reaches are now encountering more fresh salmon as warmer conditions appear. The Upper river registered 9 spring salmon from Upper Kinnaird, Edradynate and Farleyer. On Upper Kinnaird Jim Andrew landed a couple of good fish during the week. On Edradynate John Downie landed a 10 pounds beauty on a Toby Salmo.

The Tummel system registered 16 spring salmon. After the spate calmed down the catches on the Tummel soared as expected. All the salmon came from the Pitlochry Angling stretch at the Dam but other spring salmon were caught on the Tummel system but not registered. Early in the week at the Dam Calum McRoberts, Davy Stewart and Jimmy Ross had success with fish up to 18 pounds fly fishing. On Tuesday Perth angler Steven Watt caught salmon up to 21 pounds by various methods as fly fishing was curtailed by severe wind. The wind didn’t stop Iain McLaren catching a 10 pounds springer on the fly. Good salmon were being caught every day with Ross Glover, John Paton, Davy MacPherson and Ally Gowans all catching. Stuart Clements caught a 7 pounds fish at the dam and also had a 16 pounds beauty at West Haugh as well earlier in the week. It was a tremendous week in Pitlochry with Rodger Collins, Davy Stewart, Brian Joseph, Garry Watson, Colin Timmins and Gordon Nichol catching at the end of the week with salmon up to 15 pounds.

On the Middle river 82 spring salmon were caught this past week, which was a marked improvement as temperatures came up and salmon ran after the big water.

On Dalguise Mike Stanners caught a cracking 23 pounds spring salmon fly fishing in the Guay pool and Kenny Tragham caught a 10 pounds fish on a Toby from the Bridge pool. On Dalmarnock the Pollock family were catching. Firstly Sandra caught a superb 11 pounds springer then Gordon landed an 8 pounds fish on the fly. Dunkeld House had a good week catching 11 salmon. Leun Howie had a superb 17 pounds salmon from the Cathedral stream from the boat courtesy of the Game Conervancy auction. Paul Gamba also caught landing a 15 pounds beauty in the Rock Pool on the fly. Newtyle also had an excellent week with salmon up to 17 pounds caught on fly and spinner. Allan Rennie started the week off well landing 2 from the boat with also Martin Moran and Jennifer Ramsay being successful. Robert Moore caught a cracking 12 pounds fish and Jon Wood landed 2 in a day. Norrie McLeod also caught 2 in a day on Tuesday. Alistair Ferguson caught the superb 17 pounds salmon from the boat. On Friday Paul Chisolm caught 3 fish up to 13 pounds also in the boat. The Murthly and Glendelvine beats had a superb week with Glendelvine having a red letter day on Monday landing 9 for the day. Ian Scruton’s party enjoyed good success fishing on Murthly 1 and on Murthly 2 the Fotheringham family landed good salmon up to 23 pounds. Down at Kercock Jim McEwan, Billy McInnes and Paul Jack all had fish up to 17 pounds.

The Lower River had good catches as the tremendous run continued through the beats with 93 spring salmon for the week. Hopefully the catches will be maintained these coming weeks as most of the boats come off the river below Stanley for the summer. Islamouth had a good week as salmon hesitate at the mouth of the Isla. John McElroy’s party enjoyed good success at the end of the week with 8 salmon landed on Friday mostly on Fly. The middle beats at Ballathie, Cargill, Stobhall and Taymount caught during the week but not so prolifically as in previous weeks as water levels didn’t seem to suit. The best fish of the week fell to Roy Swift in the boat at Taymount weighing 21 pounds. Burnmouth and Catholes also struggled but reported several lost as water levels dropped rapidly during the week. The Pitlochrie beat had a tremendous week landing over 20 salmon with the Daves having a brilliant day on Friday with 8 fish on Upper Scone. There were some superb stories from the beat as well with 3 first salmon catches. Alan McNeill caught his first ever salmon in the minister on the fly from the boat with his wife Alison weighing 12 pounds courtesy of the Action Medical Research auction. David Urgias caught his first salmon on Benchil at Aitken Head from the boat then promptly caught another off the bank later in the day. James McLay had never landed a salmon in his life before until he came to Stanley where he caught his first fish with Davie Seaton in Pitlochrie pool. He then went on to land another two in the same day. Just fantastic for the river. During the week Jason Stratton, Euan Clark, Alan McCaig, Dougie Wangert, William Haggis, Simon Harrop, Arnot McWhinnie, John lessels and John Jarvie all caught superb spring salmon up to 20 pounds. On Upper Redgorton Sandy Nicol caught a good fish and on Fishponds Mr McGinty caught an 11 pounds fish.

The Isla registered 38 salmon mostly from Coupar Grange with 31 for the week. The largest fish caught was on Thursday, a superb 20 pounds caught on the fly out of the White House Pool by Tim Ben. Steven Gamlin managed to land 5 for his three days, 3 of them on the fly. Jim Hunters group managed to get 6 on Thursday. Mark Humble had good sport on Saturday landing 4 fish, with Craig Masson landing 2. Out of the 31 fish caught 20 were caught on the fly with the others on the spinner. A superb week all told. Keithick Mains also had fish with 7 landed by various methods. David Finlay caught 2 for his day up to 9 pounds from the beat.

It was certainly another superb spring week to remember with some great stories, at last some warmer weather and springers caught with good conditions but now as we entering May with warmer weather and good river levels the spring catches will hopefully be maintained over the coming weeks assuming the run continues and spread throughout the entire system. Please maintain the Catch and Release code for the river to protect our sport for the future.

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.

week. The weather was more settled and the river height eased as the week went on. Catches continued at good levels for the week, which was very heartening. Milder weather has now arrived and is forecast for this coming week, the catches have now spread as temperatures climb slowly maintaining good sport.

Currently the river has dropped back and settled after mild weather over the prevoius week with warm winds and rain causing a large spate (just under 3’ and steady on the Ballathie gauge). The weather will remain milder over the next week with little or no frost at night until possibly the end of the week. This will benefit the whole river system as the salmon will spread with warmer temperatures and more water and hopefully this will maintain the chance of producing some sport for everyone.

The weather is set to remain milder over the coming week. Colder conditions are now disappearing but milder temperatures will encourage salmon to run up the river. The river is currently dropping from rain and snow melt to a good height. The water temperature has risen slightly to around 46 degrees Fahrenheit or 8 degrees Celcius. These are typical temperatures for this time of year but certainly not in recent years. The temperature may rise further with the warmer forecast and spread the catches throughout the system. Hopefully there might be a chance of a fresh fish anywhere in the river now with less emphasis on the lower stretches. There will no doubt be still quite a few kelts about on many beats, which are now fairly silver as they prepare to finally return to the sea. They tend to be very thin with large heads and gill maggots and should not be mistaken for a spring salmon. Should you require guidance on salmon identification at this time of year please see this link for some help.

As to methods, in settled conditions fishing by any method with larger lures in the bigger water should enable you to catch the elusive Tay Springer. Harling is also a favoured method at this time of year but be warned wrap up well or it will not be a pleasant experience.

Finally you are reminded that the Tay's policy for January - May 2013 is that all spring salmon should be released, i.e. the Tay has adopted a policy of 100% catch and release for spring salmon. Spring salmon are a scarce and precious resource. Please help preserve both them and the long term future of your sport by following the recommendations.

When releasing salmon please try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible to give them every chance to recover prior to release. Releasing fish from boats in the river is not recommended.

If you have any news or pictures of catches or experiences on the Tay and you would like to share them please email me on robert.salmonfishing@googlemail.com to be included in the reports.