River Dee - Authum fishing week 41-2009

In October, week 41-2009 our hosted trip was on the fantastic River Dee in Abedeenshire, Scotland. We arrived in Aberdeen Airport on Sunday October 4^th for 6 days of fabulous Autumn salmon fishing where the River Dee runs are just getting bigger every year.It was a stress free journey where everything went according to our plans. 

During our week on Deeside we fished 6 days on the 3 Ballogie Estate beat, Carlogie, Ballogie and finally Commonty which is shared with Fizean estate. On the two first beats Sean Stanton was our ghillie and on Commonty ghillie Ian Fraser was assisting us on a part time basis as he's busy organising the game bird stock for the shooting season.
We fished on a rotational basis with two days on each beat during the week.

Our accommodation was the two wonderful houses on the Ballogie estate, where 4 anglers stayed in Ford Cottage right on the bank of The Carlogie Beat, just downstream of the famous Boat Pool. The other 6 anglers stayed in Greenlands Cottage a little further from The Dee, nearby The Bulwarks at the bottom of the Ballogie beat, not far from Potarch Hotel.

In October 2008 we had a fantastic fishing with more than 50 salmon landed including fish of 22 and 25 lb amongst our catch, so our expectations were reasonably optimistic. In the previous week Ballogie had fished very well, Carlogie was also not far behind and Commonty is always a Wildcard. Commonty is a “underfished” beat with lots of potential and super water. It is a little hard to wade some of the pools, such as the Otter Trap and Suicide, but these pools hold a good stock of salmon.The obstructions for wading provide the excellent cover for salmon.

Monday morning saw Sean and Ian us at the Potarch Hotel and our group was divided into 3 and went out to the allocated beats. Shortly after starting the first salmon of many was landed. The day ended with a total of 24 salmon.
Carlogie 10 salmon for 3 rods, Ballogie 6 salmon for 4 rods and Commonty 8 salmon for 3 rods.
Which prooved that Commonty is a productive beat if knowledgable and thoughtful anglers study it and decide the right tactics to utilies for the conditions. It really is much better than it´s reputation is given by people less able to fish properly.

Tuesday we rotated on the beats, new pools and new experiences for all anglers. The water level was still relatively low apx. +9” at the Woodend gauge opposite Commonty, it had dropped only 1inch since Monday evening.
Some of us fished a floating shooting head with a sink1 tip and an intermediate poly leader, others chose to fish with an intermediate shooting head with a sink1 tip and a tapered flourcarbon leader.
The flies that worked the best on the first day, was the Monkey fly with either yellow front hackle or orange hackle.
The day ended again with a total of 24 salmon. Ballogie was up and Commonty down a little. The scores for the day were,
Carlogie 10 salmon for 3 rods, Ballogie; 10 salmon for 4 rods and Commonty 4 salmon for 3 rods.

Wedesday the water level had risen by 3 inches and it was freezing cold right from the morning start. During the day the temperature never rose significantly which was disappointing and the result was a smaller catch for the days efforts. Many flies were tested but nothing helped, the salmon was just not on the take and thats the way fishing can be at times. It's fishing and not catching isn't it so we accept the good with the bad.
The day ended with a total of 9 salmon. Carlogie 3 salmon for 3 rods, Ballogie 5 salmon for 4 rods and Commonty only 1 salmon for 3 rods.

Thursday the water level had dropped back again and the temperature was considerably higher. A wonderful autumn day remeniscent to the first spring days in March.
We saw 2 of our Danish guests departing back home, so the 3 last days saw only 8 rods sharing the 3 beats. Right from the morning fishing commencing, salmon were tearing into our flies and many were hooked and landed. It was magnificent, one of those days we all have read about, when everything comes together and unites in producing a perfect day.
The salmon were taking almost any fly, but the Monkey was still out fishing every other fly in our box.
The day ended with a total of unbelieveble 36 salmon. Ballogie shocked everybody, Sands and Slips were really amazing, salmon were moving around all day and it was just a matter of when, not if, a salmon would take your fly.
Sean was on the phone almost all day answering the question he was getting asked by other ghillies and fishermen; What are you doing?
John McGinley, the ghillie from Kincardine / Borrowston was on the river numerous times during the day, shocked I think at the tremendous sport we were enjoying.
Carlogie and Commonty produced salmon but nothing like Ballogie.
Carlogie 4 salmon for 3 rods, Ballogie 28 salmon for 3 rods and Commonty 4 salmon for 2 rods. Truly sensational sport.

Friday – What could we expect things to be like after a day like Thursday?  Well many of the fish from Ballogie had moved further up-stream to Carlogie, and on Commonty it was only the resident salmon left in the holding pools. The temperature and water levels were steady from Thursday. Carlogie produced many fresh salmon, some so new into the river where you could still see the marks from the sea lice on one of them. Ballogie did not so well this day. Was this a big surprise? perhaps not given how unbelievably good it was the day before. With regard to numbers, and size, a 30 lb hen fish was caught, I think that was the biggest for the season on Ballogie? Since we were only 8 rods to share the 3 beats, Commonty was under fished and did not give any salmon but provided an unlucky angler who tried swimming unintentionally that needed some dry clothes to wear.
The day ended with a total of 27 salmon. Carlogie 17 salmon for 3 rods, Ballogie 10 salmon for 4 rods and Commonty 0 salmon for 1 rod.

Saturday our Italian anglers packed up early since they would be catching a flight very early on Sunday from Prestwick, to the south of Glasgow. Others just enjoyed the day with some light angling and socializing on the river. And again we caught a lot of salmon, fantastic is just one way of putting it! The day ended with a total of 21 salmon. Ballogie picked up again, Carlogie was not bad at all and Commonty gave some smaller grilse in nice condition. The scores were Carlogie 6 salmon for 2 rods, Ballogie 12 salmon for 3 rods, and Commonty 3 salmon for 1 rod.

What we expected was a wonderful autumn week with a mix of fresh and coloured fish in the ratio of 10/90 %. What we got was an unbelievably productive and pleasureable time on the River Dee and these fantastic beats.

For the record we rated all the salmon from 1 (silver) to 5 (black); List.
The ratio was; 18,5 / 81,5 %

List of catches by beat and person; List

List of catches by day / person and their biggest of the day; List

For Further information contact Lars Terkildsen at fiskeshopen@telia.com


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