News — Nicol Paton Fly Fishing

How to increase your chances of catching salmon

The new season has dawned upon us. For many of us salmon fly fishing anglers, this means another year of hope, anticipation, and excitement. For some, fishing will start from now, whilst others may wait until the air and water temperatures begin to warm up in mid-April – May time, when it’s not only a little warmer, but when it's likely tactics have changed from a sunken to a full floating line and smaller flies.

For me personally, spring salmon fishing is my favourite period in the season. It can be challenging and often you must fish for many hours or days to get that one pull or fish, but the lure of catching the prized Scottish spring salmon on a crisp winter’s day, after you’ve started the day with a hearty breakfast and a good dram in the cosy fishing hut, can’t be beaten.

In my view, catching a salmon is always worth the effort that goes into it. But, at this time of year, what can we do to increase our chances of landing a fish?

I’m a firm believer in two key factors that any angler should carefully consider at this time of year:

1. Where you book your fishing

2. The tactics you deploy when you are fishing.

These two factors may sound and appear simple, and they are, however, like a lot of things, they don’t become easy and simple until you have experience or seek guidance from an experienced or well-informed individual.

Booking your fishing

We are presented with so much data these days, from availability, river levels, catches and so on, for those that are retired and or live close to a river, this is ideal. Once you get to know particular beats, you will begin to get a picture of which time of year they fish best, how many pools they have and at which heights they fish well, are the beats over rodded? Will you have to fish pools where there’s little chance until the three other rods have gone through the hot spots first?

When you look at the fishing app on your phone and you can see a good beat has three out of four rods available the next day, the water height suits the beat and it's likely only you and one other rod will have the beat to yourselves, that’s when I would click book!

Last year whilst fishing the Tay, I met a chap that had been fishing for the past six years, he reeled off all the places he had fished throughout Scotland, I was blown away at his list. I asked the chap how many fish he had caught, and he replied, five.

I am the first one to say fishing is not all about catching fish. We all know there is so much more to it than that, however – we must have hope, we are all different and some people may love exploring new beats and places. However -my advice to fishers that want to have the best chance of catching fish is to stick to a small number of beats throughout the season, rather than spread yourself too thin. Consider options across the upper, middle, and lower river and fish them at the appropriate times.

The more you fish the same beats, the more you will learn when to fish it and where you will have a good chance at different heights / times of year. You can keep an eye on your chosen fishing app or keep in touch with the beat ghillie if there is one.

Being a ghillie and fishing guide myself, I will always do my best to put people on to fish, but it’s also nice to see your fishers learn the beat through their own experiences with your guidance and suggestions.

Long term bookings

Another approach to booking fishing, is what I see as investing in a beat by taking the same three days or week every year in the same place.

We all know most top beats these days are often what they call, ‘’Dead Man’s Shoes’’ so if you get the chance to book a beat on a good week and you can get a party together, this is a good approach. You may need to be prepared to lose a day or two due to the river being in spate, or grued (iced) off, or having a lack of water, so from that point of view it is a gamble, but hopefully over the years, you will likely catch a good number of fish as you build your knowledge and experience of the area. This is what keeps many anglers coming back to the same spots year after year.

Joining a syndicate

This is also another great way of getting to know a beat. There are several syndicates throughout the country where you typically pay a fee which means you can fish for a certain period throughout the season, some may restrict you to a specific day. The syndicate on the Tilbouries beat on the river Dee that I ghillie, runs from February until the end of July and anglers can fish on any given day during this period, provided there’s availability. Members also get a day in September and October for their money, plus an extra 50% off a further 3 days after July.

There is a chance of a fish right from the start of the season, however June and July can be fantastic given the right conditions. The beat then turns into a day rod beat from August- 15th Oct. We also look after Culter, and Ardoe and Murtle fishings and those syndicate memberships cover both beats and run for the whole season. Several of our members join both syndicates, the top rod had 40 salmon for his season last year and several members had double figures for their efforts. We will also be letting fishing for Maryculter fishings which can also provide fantastic sport. Please contact Nicol Paton for more information info@nicolpatonflyfishing.com

New to spring salmon fishing? here’s some tips to get you started

Top five tactics for spring salmon fishing

It may seem obvious but dress up warm, you'd be amazed at how many people are underprepared for the temperatures at this time of year! If you want to fish hard, and most importantly enjoy your day, keep warm, it’ll be miserable if you are cold.
Make sure you are on the water at the warmest parts of the day, typically between 10 – 3. If its freezing cold, there is no need to rush out first thing. After you’ve had your lunch and have warmed up again, get back out as the middle part of the day is often the best time, my February springer this year (Pictured to the right) was caught bang on 1 o’clock.
Where possible, focus on the areas within the pools that are spring salmon lies, there’s a big difference between summer and spring pools. Go back and forth to the tickly bits, if you had no luck the first time you covered a good lie, there’s every chance a fish may have moved into the lie, the second or third time you cover it. Make sure you cooperate with other rods and the ghillie before doing so, it must be within the water you’ve been allocated.
If presented with typical spring conditions in terms of height, cold water and air temperatures, fish deep and slow, sunken lines and tube flies are my go-to in these conditions. If you touch the bottom from time to time, that’s fine. Fish are less likely to chase the fly like they do in warmer conditions. You can adjust your sink tips, size, weight of fly according to the depth and speed of pool you are fishing.
If the thought of casting a sunken line doesn’t fill you with joy, don’t worry – there are a whole host of lines out there these days that are a lot easier to cast than a full sinking line, for example, triple density and skagit lines can make your life a lot easier. I do my best to educate the anglers that fish my beat and cover different lines, the pros, and cons of each in my spring salmon fishing clinics. All the equipment these days can be a little overwhelming for some, however – if explained well, there are some good options out there which make it simple for people to use and understand. Seek advice from a ghillie, guide or shop assistant about where you would opt to use a different line or set-up.

All of the above is written from my personal experience over the past 20 years of fly fishing for salmon. some brands and shops I recommend are as follows:-
www.cadencefishing.co.uk (modern salmon fly rods, reels and lines designed by Ian Gordon)
www.grampianfishing.com (Somers fishing tackle Aberdeen for all of your tackle and clothing needs)
www.schoffelcountry.com (premium performance clothing)

Summer is here, what does this mean for our approach to catching Salmon, Sea Trout & Grilse?

Most likely all Scottish rivers are now into or below summer levels, so it pays dividends to think carefuly about how you are going to approach different pools, this salmon pictured below came from a small run on the Tilbouries beat of the river Dee. It’s imperative that you don’t cast a long line in this pool, staying within range so you can fish the pool gently, however at the same time wading no more than ankle deep. A full floating line, long leader and small tube fly did the the business here. What was also important in this situation was the rod and weight of line that I chose to fish, the rod was a 12’6’’ with an #8 line, which allows for gentle presentation and the softer action of the rod really helps set the hook and the chances of pulling the hook from the fishes mouth are slimmer than they would be with a larger and stiffer rod, especially for the fish we’d expect to encounter at this time of year. I opted for the over head cast to have as little disturbance on the water as possible.

As many salmon fishers know, there are so many variables at this time of year, for example, we may get a summer flood and have to change set-ups, or we may have a really heavy wind and have to opt for a different set-up, however for the sake of those wanting to know a little more about how to approach salmon pools in low clear water in high summer, here are 6 key tips which will increase your chances of success.

Light tackle, smaller rods and lighter lines as described above, presentation is key at this time of year.
Long leaders - fish the fly fine and far off, keep the fly line as far away from the fish as possible to avoid spooking fish, they will see even further in gin clear water
Small lightly dressed flies - Grilse & Sea Trout in particular seem to prefer smaller flies, they will catch bigger fish too.
Don’t wade too deep! again, this will spook fish.
Think carefully about the casts you are using, an over head, single spey or snake roll will cause little disturbance on the water, on the other hand a double spey, circle c or perry poke, especially with a 15’ spey rod and #10 line will have a detrimental effect.
Hours to focus your fishing efforts. This is very important, especially if bright blue skies and high temperatures are forecast. If you have your beat for more than one day and are part of a team and the Ghillie gives you permission, get down to the river early, well before the sun comes up, perhaps fish 5am - 10am, (make sure all is agreed as this can upset other anglers who may want to start later) have a snooze or a long lunch and then focus your efforts in the evening, perhaps 8pm - 11pm or even do the Sea Trout shift 11pm - 3am. Never say never, however - when the sun is at its highest between 1-4pm, your chances of catching decrease in the conditions described. However - if you have good water levels, cool temperatures and good cloud cover and really aren’t a morning person, by all means stick to your usual shifts.

The salmon below (Cambus O’ May pic) was caught at 9pm in low summer conditions.

There are a lot of variables in salmon fishing and all info above is based on my experiences as a salmon fisher, guide and ghillie.

12lb Salmon which fell to summer tactics

Playing a salmon in the Clarach Pool, Cambus O’ May, River Dee. This salmon was hooked in the neck of the pool on a short line, the rest of the pool was fished by paddling ankle deep along the edge whilst casting just past the main current and putting an upstream mend in after casting at a shallow angle.

After a great battle, my good friend Craig McDonald who’s the Ghillie on Cambus O’ May, landed this fish for me. Photo also courtesy of Craig.

Success at Spring Salmon Fishing Clinic

Friday the 11th March 2022 saw our first spring salmon fishing clinic take place on a very peaceful and secluded beat on the middle river Dee. I was joined by two fishers, Henry and Gus, who were both keen to learn more about the tactics, equipment and river craft needed to give them the best chance of catching the elusive scottish spring salmon.

The aim of the spring clinics is to improve the knowledge and skills of fishers specific to their level of experience. While, of course, ensuring all are looked after in terms of hospitality.

The day started out with a run through of the conditions and tactics we were to use for the day ahead. We then managed a bacon roll and coffee whilst we selected flies and allocated the salmon fishing pools between the two rods.

The river was running at a height which I have found to be very favourable for the beat, two salmon pools in particular tend to perform well with the conditions we had. Our first talking point for the day was to understand the pools each would fish first, their likely taking spots and the wading line.

At that point a strong upstream breeze started to rear its ugly head, so we then spent time learning the right-handed circle c spey cast which made life much easier and safer in these conditions, Within a short period both Henry and Gus were performing their new cast well and were covering the water a lot more efficiently.

An hour and a half later it was time to swap pools. Henry decided to fish off the bank, so we spent some time learning spey casting techniques which made this easier. It was a relatively high bank he was fishing from and, coupled with an upstream wind, this made for challenging conditions but these were soon overcome through his quick grasping of the new method.

Salmon typically run up the bank we were fishing from in the conditions that we had, so Henry fished close in to our bank. Both Henry and Gus fished well in the morning but didn’t quite connect with anything.

It was then time to stop for lunch, the beat has a lovely fishing bothy which is full of character and overlooks one of the main salmon fishing pools, the fire was lit and lunch was all laid out along with some nice wine to wash it down with. It was really nice to see both gentleman relax and wind down in the hut with the crackling logs in the background..

After sharing a few more laughs and stories, we discussed different lines such as skandis, skagits and speylines and the pros and cons of each and when and which scenario they best work for.

After lunch, Henry started in the bottom pool after we changed his fly to a gold bodied willie gunn conehead tube, Gus and I headed up river after changing his line to a skagit head, we spent time working on waterborne anchor casts and within no time it was clear the set-up was making a big difference to Gus with the conditions we had.

It was time to see how Henry was getting on. Just as I approached him I could see his rod was bent double and he was into a lively fish. I walked over calmly and offered some advice to Henry whilst I slipped my landing net off my back, a few more runs and leaps later, Henry had landed his second ever salmon and first spring salmon and it weighed 9lbs. It was a really special moment for both of us after we had spent time working on casting and discussing watercraft. We kept the fish in the net, removed the hook and got a few quick photographs then sent the fish back on its journey.

Both gentlemen continued to fish on for a while, however no more fish were to be had, they both had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. They learned new spey casting techniques and a lot about reading the beat so they can both return and fish it with high expectations, confidence and also a good understanding of when to book the beat, which will ultimately give the guys better value for money all-round.

The Spring Salmon Fishing Clinic at Woodend on the River Dee with Nicol Paton exceeded all my expectations, giving the opportunity to put into practice watercraft and the use of equipment and fishing techniques with focused feedback and coaching throughout the day. Relaxed and good company in great river conditions on a secluded beat made the fishing experience something special. Being able to have the opportunity for advice and assistance to net my first spring salmon was the topping on the day.

Henry Fern, March 2022

To learn more about our spring salmon fishing clinics and our other packages for tuition and guiding, please contact info@nicolpatonflyfishing.comor telephone 07833671743