Salmon and Sea-trout season- 11 February 2010 to 31 October
inclusive.
Brown trout season 15 March to 6 October Inclusive.
Welcome
to 2010.
As
we head into another decade we hope the
improvements in catches continue.
2008 had our
best ever recorded catch since 1952. This was closely followed
by 2004 and 2007.
Unfortunately
2009 was not such a good season but it looks like it will reach
the 10 year average of around 3100 salmon but obviously down
nearly 50 % on 2008.
Not only have
we had record catches but also record floods. The flood in
September 2009 was around 21 foot above normal level and the one
in November 2009 was nearly 23 ft above normal.
This has
resulted in massive damage to river bed and banks. It will take
this season anyway to assess damage and try to put things back
in some sort of order. Already at the tail of 2009 beats have
spent tens of thousands of pounds restoring roads and river
banks. The projected work in the pipeline is a huge amount and
will begin as soon as water levels allow.
Spring salmon
continue to be a problem in the way of numbers. The Voluntary
code remains unchanged at a max of three a week and only one per
day. However we are looking for at least an 85 % return rate and
a side of smoked
salmon will be available
from the River Trust to all those fish returned before 31 May.
You can register this with me at Turriff Tackle and I can
organise it for you. The rest of the code is unchanged at two
salmon per day and only two sea-trout per week and none over
3lb.
Opening day ceremony.
For 2010 this
will be held at Turriff Angling Association at 10 am. There is
free fishing on the Association water for all those who turn up-
register at Turriff Tackle.
Morison Trophy
This
new trophy will be awarded to the angler who catches the largest
fish off the river each year. We usually see a few fish in the
30 lb category so remember to have your camera and tape measure
if you are returning your catch. When I get a picture of it I
will post it up for all to see.
Prizes and details are being organised at the moment. Again
details will be posted when available.
For us at Turriff Tackle we will continue to provide tackle for
your needs. We are main dealers for Rio and Vision and these
products offer superb quality for the money. Rio have added to
their selection of shooting heads in sinking densities and have
a new range of polyleaders. All available from February. Our
Open day (in June hopefully) continues to be a winner. The
casting instructors have fairly sorted out some of the locals
and they can now Spey cast as well as use shooting heads and
skagit lines. Guideline products are also available with Le Cie
and LPXe rods always popular.
Our sea fishing range is ever expanding and will continue to do
so this year. This along with our shooting side of the business
now goes on all year.
Update 25 July 2010.
Monday morning saw levels open at minus two
inches with a slight peaty tinge to it. Dunlugas and Turriff
reported sea-trout and A Watt reported a 9lb salmon off Bognie.
By Tuesday we were around -3 inches and it had cleared out. Very
heavy rain started in the early hours of Wednesday morning and
by 8am the river stood at plus one inch. The heavy rain
continued all day until 5pm and the river went up quickly. This
was captured by the cameras and the three on the river took
nearly a thousand hits during the day. Levels eventually peaked
out by about 8pm where they reached nearly six feet above
normal. Thursday saw levels down at four and a half feet and
very dirty. This fell to two and a half feet by 5pm. Turriff
reported a few sea-trout on worm and a Finnish Visitor took a
sea-trout on the fly. Friday saw levels at +14 inches and a few
fish put in an appearance. Dunlugas reported 8 for the morning .
Two salmon at 10lb, two sea-trout and 4 grilse all around 4-5
lb. Forglen reported sea-liced salmon and a 20lb fish was
reported on fly from a beat above Marnoch. Saturday saw levels
open at +5 inches and Turriff saw grilse and sea-trout whilst
Forglen reported at least 4 salmon to 11lb.
Let us hope that this last spate heralds the
start of the grilse run and that we have a reasonable run like
the other northern rivers. Our next casting club will be on the
8th August due to the Turriff Show. Come and say hello if
attending the show as we will be in the Shopping Marquee. We
will not have much fishing tackle on display but will be more
shooting orientated with Beretta , Sako and Cz Rifles on show
along with our usual air rifles, with a deal of .22 air Rifle
,Scope and Pellets all for £50.
Update 18 July 2010.
The week of the 5 July remained
bright and hot with low water conditions. A few fish were taken
between 10pm and midnight but for the serious angler fish were
to be had between 2am and 8am depending on how bright it was in
those last few hours. The Glover Party landed 4 sea-trout and a
grilse for their week and Turriff Anglers picked away around
4-5am each morning. By Monday 12 July we were still around 20
degrees c and levels very low around -8 inches. Some heavy
showers in the upper catchment put one inch on levels on the
Tuesday and Forglen and Avochie saw a few sea-trout and a fresh
salmon. Wednesday was a duller day and a few salmon were
reported from lower beats. With Torrential rain overnight on
Wed/Thurs we opened with the river running at + 5 inches and
rising. This reached around one foot seven inches at Turriff. By
Friday we were at +7 inches but still dirty. It began to clear a
bit by evening and Dunlugas reported a sea-trout and Upper
Netherdale a Grilse to D Burgess. Saturday saw levels at +2 but
very peaty. Not much was seen of fish but Upper Netherdale
reported 4 grilse to 5lb with another four lost including a
fish lost at the net of about 10 lb.
Hopefully we will get a few grilse and summer
salmon off the back of this rise in levels when the sediment
clears out. We have daily tickets this week at Upper Netherdale
and Carnousie and still a few weeks available in August at Ferry
Cottage. Our next casting club date has been put back a week for
the Turriff Show and will now take place on Sunday 8 August.
Update 5 July 2010
Despite Low water conditions of around - 6
inches a few fish continue to be caught. Dunlugas and
Mountblairy picked away with around eight fish per beat for
only two anglers and a few daily tickets . Beats above Turriff
saw a few sea-trout and the odd grilse. Further up river a
reasonable week was had by fishers if they fished between 2am
and 6 am in the morning with sea-trout but with the odd salmon
and grilse in the tally. We missed most of the rain on Sunday
and levels remain unchanged today although the river temperature
has fallen to 13 degrees from 16 earlier in the week. Fish are
being seen during the day but in bright conditions not many are
being hooked. Daily tickets are available at Upper Netherdale
and Carnousie this week.
Sunday saw the first of our casting club days.
Despite the light rain and gale force winds a few hardy souls
turned up. Left hand up tuition was the main ask and it was duly
given. Single handed Spey casting was next and despite a few
anglers saying they could not do it - the new "i " line from
Rio had them master it in a few casts. Then it was under the
wind casting - ideal to deal with the day we had and finally
Skagit casting on single handed 7 weight rods.( The Skagit short
Line is not available in general sale in the UK but available to
special order.) Hopefully the next day will have better weather
and we can have a go with the 5 weights for a distance
competition.
Update 28 June 2010
Levels are dropping away fast and
with the dry and now hot weather levels are around minus 6
inches although some gauges have not moved as levels drop in
every pool apart from the one they are in. Last Monday saw S
Bremner land a sea-trout over 4 lb at Dunlugas and he also
managed a 9lb salmon on the Friday. A grilse was landed at
Forglen , Turriff landed a sea-trout and B Arnold managed a 9lb
salmon at Dunlugas. Tuesday saw R Partridge land a salmon at
11lb above Turriff and Laithers landed a sea-liced salmon on
Thursday. By Friday Eden reported seven sea-trout and 3 salmon,
Turriff had another sea-trout and the Handel Party landed a
sea-trout and a 19lb salmon from Upper Netherdale and Carnousie.
Today sees the temperatures continue in the low twenties and
the sun shine brightly. Water Temps are at 16 degrees and most
beats report sea-trout and a salmon at 10lb above Turriff. Most
are coming off early from 4-6 am. We could do with a little rain
but no real forecast for this as far away as 15 days hence. Day
lets at Mountblairy and Dunlugas are available this week as well
as for Avochie up river.
Update 22 June 2010
With Levels at plus two inches on Saturday
further catches were reported. Upper Netherdale and Carnousie
reported sea-trout while Avochie saw C McHardy land a salmon at
9lb and D Coull had 3 sea trout at 4 and 5 lb and Mr. Campbell
had a 3.5 lb sea-trout all at Eden. With rain all day on Sunday
levels were at plus 5 inches on Monday 14 June and went up
slightly during the day by about an inch. Mountblairy reported
three sea-trout and a coloured salmon of 12 lb Wrack reported
sea-trout in numbers, Marnoch Lodge had sea-trout to 3.5 lb Eden
saw two sea-trout to J Meikle and Laithers reported several
sea-liced salmon and a few sea-trout. Avochie saw C Horrell land
and return a salmon of about 15 lb. Levels had dropped by
Tuesday to plus three and Turriff and Dunlugas continued to
report sea-trout. This continued on Wednesday and Muiresk and
Forglen reported sea-trout and Salmon. Thursday saw Upper
Netherdale report 6 sea-trout so far and the McBride party at
Forglen had landed 4 sea-trout and a salmon.. Friday saw L
Stewart land two sea-trout to 4lb and an 8 lb salmon in half an
hour at Mountblairy and as Saturday dawned we were very cool at
only 10 degrees and a cold northerly wind. One middle beat
reported only one salmon for the week and hardly saw anything
whilst G Mickley on the next beat down reported 2 salmon at 6
and 12 lb and 17 sea-trout for his week with 2 over 6lb and 5
over 5lb. Great fishing . Levels have opened this week at just
below normal and sea-trout to 4.5lb continue to be caught in
reasonable numbers. Temperatures are creeping up to touch 20
degrees and the sun is shining today Tuesday. There are reports
of a couple of grilse caught and also a reasonably large run of
salmon in some lower beats this morning - lets hope the fishing
continues to excel.
Casting Club
With the success of our open day every year- and
obviously the pity that so many miss out if they cannot manage
that day- with the help of G Loomis and their pro Guide David
Burgess, who now lives locally we have managed to set up a
casting club . This will involve Tuition in all Spey , shooting
head and skagit casts and friendly casting competitions for
accuracy etc with 5 wt trout rods. It will take place the first
Sunday in every month at Turriff Angling Association from 9
until 12.30 pm. There is no fee and no pressure to come every
Sunday. Just dip in and out when you can. This should allow all
who miss out on the open day to come along and learn new skills
and brush up on old ones. Obviously tackle will be provided but
bring your own and see what a lesson can do for you and/or try
new lines on your rod etc.
Update 12 June 2010
Levels reached plus three inches
on Monday. Sea-trout continued to be the mainstay of catches
with fish off Eden. D Shaw reported excellent catches off his
hungry hills beat and said sea-trout numbers were like "the good
old days". Upper Netherdale and Carnousie reported an 11 lb fish
to M Colman. Tuesday saw levels at plus 2 and a little light
rain. This turned heavier overnight but the high hills caught
must have caught a monsoon. Levels at Turriff opened on
Wednesday at 5 inches. This went up rapidly to two foot and it
was like mud. By Thursday this was down to plus 9 . Sea-trout
came to the spinner at Turriff and Carnousie while M Colman
landed another 11 lb fish on fly at Upper Netherdale. With
levels at plus 5 inches on Friday and a little less peaty
Avochie saw an 8lb clean fish on a cascade to K Barron and a 10
lb fish to N Greenwood. Upper Netherdale reported two sea-trout
and G Noble landed a 9lb sea-liced fish at Carnousie. Turriff
and Dunlugas reported sea-trout caught and lost in numbers.
Levels today Saturday are at plus two inches and clearing out .
Other beats report plenty of sea-trout in the river and if
levels remain steady and clear out we should have some excellent
sport next week. I still have day lets and some by the week.
Check out update 7 June and ring me if interested.
Update 7 June 2010
Levels tailed away back down to Normal level by
Saturday June 5 and the clarity returned. There were not many
salmon reported over the week but some at Avochie , Glennie and
Laithers. 11 year old Tom Brew landed one of 6lb on fly at
Carnousie. However sea-trout below Forglen were there in numbers
and S Bremner reported three for his day at Eden , R Wood saw
two at Eden as well and a 4 lb fish came off Dunlugas on
Thursday whilst D Coull landed five for his evening on Friday.
These are all being caught on small flies. Levels today Monday
June 7 opened up an inch and a half above normal and have edged
up another inch or so during the day.
It is a pity that, the year the sea-trout appear
to make a comeback we have very little anglers out. This is
compounded by empty beats and now I have some cancellations
available as well. Eden has two rods w/c 14 June, Wrack has two
rods 5-10 July and Montcoffer has two rods w/c 11 July. These
are in addition to the rods listed under my last update on 1
June . If anyone is interested in these please ring me for more
information. They are all in prime time for the sea-trout.
Finally a thank you to those who attended my
open day on Saturday. It was great to see you all getting a go
with all the kit and to see smiles on faces as anglers got
instruction and casting improved as a result.
Update 1 June 2010
With levels at plus three and
clear the river continued to produce fish. Brian Herbert had two
at 6 and 8lb off Avochie on Wednesday. Lower Netherdale produced
3 salmon and 4 sea-trout up until Thursday am. Eden produced two
sea-trout to G Alexander and J Nicholl at Scatterty landed three
sea-trout and an 8 lb salmon. He followed that up on Friday with
4 sea-trout between 3 and 5.5 lb and Avochie produced a 6lb
Salmon to R McDonald. Saturday saw Upper Netherdale report a
salmon and a sea-trout and another sea-trout to G Noble. Avochie
saw S Barron land two salmon at 7 and 11 lb whilst R Henderson
landed two at 11 and 9 lb.
Torrential rain on Sunday morning saw the River
turn like mud and peak at three feet above normal by lunchtime.
By Monday it was running at one foot six inches above normal.
Not many beats have reported salmon this week although Avochie
pulled it out of the bag on Monday with four before lunch with
two at 10lb one at 8lb and a cracking fish at 21 lb. Today
Tuesday the river is very dark like treacle and very little has
been seen.
Richie Miller our biologist reports that all of
the surviving fish from the Hatchery collapse were planted out
as fry over the last two weeks. We thank Mr. McWilliam at Forgue
for helping us out with his trout farm.
The River has been fishing well and we seem to
have a fair number of sea-trout around. There are still
excellent weeks available through until August on some prime
beats, Forglen has two rods w/c 21 June, Mountblairy has rods
and cottages available until 3 July and Dunlugas has 4 rods and
a cottage w/c 21 June. Eden will have day tickets until 14 June
and Upper Netherdale and Carnousie have weeks available with
average weekly returns of 17- 25 From June through to August.
Avochie will have availability from next week.
If you are local please do not forget my open
day on Saturday 5th June. It kicks off at 10 am by the
Deveron Bridge in Turriff on the Angling Association water.
Jim Fearn from Rio lines and Vision Rods will be
there with another (usually Willie Banks) and this year
David Burges a pro guide from G Loomis will be there for you to
have a play with the Stinger amongst others. Hopefully some of
you can come along and get a few pointers on casting with either
your own kit or any of the new stuff on show. The Angling
Association have good facilities with a big fire and a toilet as
well as tea and coffee on tap.
Update 26 May 2010.
Temperatures continued to rise nearing the
weekend of the 21 May. Eden reported a fish of 8lb on Thursday
and again the Wrack landed fish on Friday along with Mr. Metcalf
at U/Netherdale and Carnousie and J Royles at Scatterty landed a
4 lb Sea-trout. As the temperature reached 22 degrees c on
Friday, heavy thunder storms broke out. The Wrack again landed
three sea-trout and a salmon to G Donald and G Noble. Saturday
22 May saw the high temps continue but the river was up to one
foot above normal. Sea- trout were reported off Scatterty and
Upper Netherdale. Monday 24 May saw R Breakell land two salmon
at 8 and 13 lb along with a 4 lb sea-trout, Nigel Barron landed
a 12 lb fish off the Castle Water Huntly and R McDonald landed a
three pound sea-trout off Turriff Angling Association. Levels
are now down to three above normal and temperatures have
plummeted to highs of 10 Degrees and it has only been 4 degrees
overnight. We had hail yesterday and frost forecast for tonight
with snow on the high hills tomorrow !!. The river has a good
head of fish in at the moment but we are lacking numbers of
anglers to take advantage. There are still plenty of very good
weeks available through the year. Check out the availability
page or give me a call.
Do you own a blank firing pistol ? If you train
or have trained dogs in the past you may well want to dig it out
to see if it is an OLYMPIC 380. It will have this stamped on it
somewhere. These are to become a section 5 firearm from June
this year and will therefore be illegal to own. Please hand it
in to your local Police station before the deadline.
OPEN DAY.
Once again we will be holding our open day at
the Turriff Angling Association on Saturday June 5th at 10 am.
As usual we will have some casting instructors available to help
you out and this year our local Loomis pro guide has agreed to
take along a selection of Loomis kit for you to play with. It is
an informal day and everybody usually gets at least half an hour
with an instructor to help out with their casting . Come along
and get skilled up.
Update 17 May 2010.
Last week turned out reasonable
for catches. Ally Henderson landed three for his day at
L/Netherdale out of the days total of 5, which bettered Mondays
catch of 4. Montcoffer saw a fish of 9lb on Monday Whilst C
Wieland returned two off a cascade on the Wrack of 8lb and 10
lb. D Burgess rook a sea-trout at Carnousie of 2 lb and Martin
Grant and Walter Sim landed fish of 12 lb and 8 lb both
sea-liced off the Wrack on Saturday. Mountblairy reports a fish
of 15 lb late this pm. These lower beats are now beginning to
hold some significant numbers of sea-trout which are crashing
about the pools after 9pm. Hopefully this will be the start of a
better season for them. The river is now back to just above
normal and the weather is starting to warm up slowly. Indeed we
are forecast temps of 18 degrees and more by this weekend. I
still have three weekly rods on the Wrack w/c 24 May. With fish
being caught every time an angler visits that beat it seems odd
nobody has snapped it up yet! Also I still have weeks in May and
into June/July at Mountblairy and Two rods at Forglen in June.
These have got to be a winner with the fish we have around at
the moment.
Update 11 May 2010
The weather remains cold and indeed we have had
snow showers the last two days with a dusting lying on the
ground first thing this morning. Water Temps have dropped from
10 degrees down to 7 degrees today. Fish continue to come off as
levels hover around the plus six inches mark. We did see a rise
of about two to three inches on Thursday and this had the river
peaty by the weekend. N McHardy had his first salmon in two
years at Marnoch Lodge on Tuesday and Mr. Kruger landed a 7lb
fish at Conniecleugh on Friday and the next beat down river at
Avochie saw Mr. Pearson land a 9lb fish. Saturday saw the
Trodden party land a salmon at 10 lb and a sea-trout of 4.5 lb
off the Wrack. Mr. Breakell landed a 7lb fish off a middle beat
on Monday but the cold weather has kept the anglers away from
the river. There are still plenty of day tickets available at
present and this will remain the case until nearer the end of
the month.
Scott Mackenzie DTX rods are newly in stock and
Beretta shotguns are arriving slowly.
Update
4 May 2010.
Tuesday saw levels still at
around 10 inches. A Maskell landed a 5 lb salmon from Avochie
and Fish were also reported from Corniehaugh. Laithers, Lower
Netherdale and a 4.5 lb brown trout from Euchries. Wednesday saw
some more sea-trout come off and one at 4.5 lb from Turtory.
Eden saw a salmon and a sea-trout on Thursday and F Myer Hansen
a Norwegian visitor landed a 10 lb sea-liced fish from Carnousie
and Scatterty produced a 6lb sea-liced fish to R McDonald and
Turtory reported a salmon of 12 lb to Mr. Morison. We are down
to around +6 inches on the stick this week and catches have
slowed somewhat in the cold northerly winds but B Arnold
returned a 6lb fish off Mountblairy today. Remember we have
still availability in May and June on weekly lets with cottages
and day lets.
Upper Netherdale and Carnousie has availability
with the Magnificent Waterside Lodge sleeping up to 12 or the
smaller Ferry Cottage sleeping up to 7 During July and August
this year
Update 26 April 2010
Another decent
week of weather, water levels and fish. Last Saturday saw A
Duntire land a 10 lb fish off Dunlugas and D Reid take two
sea-liced sea-trout off Scatterty. Monday 19 April saw levels
open at 1' 2" and running clear. C Wyness landed a fish of 8lb
and on Tuesday he landed one at 8lb and P Jackson also landed
one at 8lb. They ended the week with five between them at Upper
Netherdale and Carnousie. R Walker landed another springer at 6
lb sea-liced and a sea-trout at Mountblairy and Mr. Alexander
landed a 3.5 lb sea-trout off Eden whilst D Reid landed a
sea-liced salmon at 11lb off Laithers on Friday. Saturday saw
The Harries Party land three salmon at 12lb and tow at 8lb along
with a sea-trout. They also lost a large salmon. Whilst on the
opposite bank at Dunlugas D Beedie landed three sea-trout. The
weather continues mild and the river temperature has crept up to
47 degrees f today. There seems to be a good head of fish in and
they are well spread out. Hopefully we can get a few more
anglers out to take advantage of the conditions.
For those of you having trouble with twitter-
the link was changed by Twitter and some people could not get
on. This has been sorted out - however if you experience a
problem in the future- you just type turrifftackle into the
twitter search and you will find us- please note turrifftackle
is all one word , no spaces etc.
Update 19 April 2010
The first full week of fishing - At
last a week where levels dropped all week and anglers could
fish. Mr. Gardner landed two salmon at Conniecleugh on the
Saturday in two feet of water. By Monday 12 April levels stood
at two feet and it was clearing out. K Barron landed a sea-liced
fish of 12 lb at Avochie and Turtory reported two with three
lost. Tuesday saw Sean Barron keep up with his brother with a
9lb sea-liced fish at Marnoch Lodge and Bill Moreland took an
8lb sea-liced fish off Turriff Angling Association. Nothing
reported for Wednesday but with levels at one foot six inches on
Thursday Sandy Shand caught his first ever spring fish a- 6lb
sea-liced fish again off Avochie. The week was rounded off with
a report of two more fish off Turtory and a 5 lb sea-liced fish
to R Henderson off Marnoch Lodge on Saturday. Levels are down to
one foot two inches today Monday 19 April and Gillies up and
down the river report seeing plenty of fish in the river last
week with many being lost. Hopefully despite a little snow this
morning and colder temperatures it will not hamper the river
levels and more anglers will venture out.
Turriff Tackle is now a dealer for Beretta,
Tikka and Sako Rifles and Leupold and Steiner optics as well as
Zeiss. Federal Ammunition should arrive this week to add to the
Winchester and Remington ranges in stock already. Please visit http://www.gmk.co.uk/ for
details of the full range available. Hopefully stocks can be
built up over the coming months for the shooting season.
Also please keep an eye on the home page of this
site for the commencement of web cameras. Yes folks we have two
web cameras up and running on the river at Avochie and Marnoch
Lodge with a third at Turriff Angling Association awaiting BT to
get their act together and get us a phone line in . There will
also be a virtual river level so as you can see how high the
river is. The images change every 10 seconds and it is hoped to
stream them live in the future.
Update 11 April 2010
Last week was a washout with levels peaking at 8
foot on Tuesday with melting snow. It dropped to three feet at
the weekend but was still fairly cloudy. G Barron returned a 9lb
fish on the fly off Avochie on Saturday . With very warm temps
over the weekend levels today are down to below two feet and
next week looks like the week to start your season.
Update 1 April 2010
Tuesday saw the catches continue.
Mark Abel and Stuart Hunter both returned fish around 7lb at
Forglen and Laithers reported a fish from Saturday and one lost
at the net on Monday. Levels remained just around the 1 foot 5
inch mark and with temps around 6 degrees it was pleasant to be
out. Thursday saw another fish reported mid river and another
lost. However by the end of the week levels went up slightly and
by the start of this week Monday 29 March levels reached one
foot 11 inches . However Tuesday saw a howling gale and heavy
rain and sleet. We woke up on Wednesday to up to two feet of
snow depending on how high up you stay and it snowed all day
with a gale force wind. Levels were 2 feet and dirty. Thursday
saw levels at around 4 foot first thing and rising to nearly 7
feet by 5 pm. With all that snow in the hills we are fearing the
worst for levels and the resulting damage that it will cause.
Some rain is forecast for Saturday and very heavy rain and gales
for Monday. It might be this time next week before we can get
fishing again.
Keep up to date every day on my Twitter page
with levels and catches.
Update 22 March 2010
Last week was a complete write off. The
temperatures were up to 14 degrees and the snow melted quickly.
All week the river ranged between three and five feet and
fishing was out. However today looked more promising with levels
fairly clear and standing at 2 foot 9 inches. Thankfully
promising turned out to be an under statement and three fish
came off the river. R Cowie landed one of 7 lb off Turriff
Angling Association fairly early and then an other lucky angler
up river landed fish of 10 lb and 11 lb sea-liced to make his
day. Keep up to date with my twitter page through the week as
all news is posted straight away. With tickets from £10 per day
it is worth a day out.
Also if you are looking for any fishing check
out the letting availability which is updated regularly. The
river may be number 5 for salmon catches in Scotland but a rod
per week in high season will cost no more than £430 and in some
cases a lot less. check here:-
Letting Availability.
Update 15 March 2010
The river was fishable on
Wednesday and Thursday only last week when levels reached 1' 8"
and cleared out. By Friday they were back to 3-4 feet as the
Bogie Catchment caught the thaw. Today Monday levels were
running at about 5 foot first thing and by 5 pm running at 8
foot above normal after temperatures remained mild overnight and
we had some heavy rain. Frost tonight might help it recede a
little but more rain is forecast for the latter part of the week
so things do not look promising. For those of you not taking
advantage of my Twitter page - please have a look at the info
and if you have any suggestions we will see if we can help out.
There will also be a few deals on from time to time so keep
logging in to check. There is a spinning outfit on at the
moment. I also have a week available on the Wrack 24-29 May. I
will offer it to last years client first but if interested give
me a call.
Update 7 March 2010
Temperatures remained well below zero for the
early part of the week with temperatures as low as -9 .By the
end of the week things have been milder but as a result the snow
is now melting and river levels reached around 3 feet at the end
of the week. Perhaps with milder temperatures and a small rise
in levels a few fish can be tempted out of the "warm" north
sea.
I have a few cancellations for fishing and an
updated list can be found on the
availability page.
Please ring if interested as it has been
e-mailed to those who had names down for it.
I also have a
TWITTER PAGE where I
will post the river conditions every day. We are a bit short of
gauges on the river at the moment after the floods - so please
cut me some slack if I do not get it on every day first thing as
planned until we get repairs done and gauges back in operation.
Update 28 February 2010.
I can't believe it is ten days
since I updated. The weather has not been kind to us fishers. If
the weather is "fine" then levels have been to high and if the
river is "fine" the weather has been bad. We have had more heavy
snow and temperatures down to at least -10 degrees c at night.
Garry Mickley fishing at Turtory on Friday February 19 th landed
two spring fish for his day. He returned one of 9lb in the
morning and then returned one of around 10 lb in the afternoon.
Well done to him. With a further 15 inches of snow and eight
foot drifts hitting the catchment mid week we are hoping that we
do not get a rapid thaw. On top of the snow already there we
will be in serious trouble again if it all comes down at once.
As I write the forecast is for it to remain cold with more snow
midweek and indeed we have had snow showers in Turriff today.
There are plenty of days
available on the usual beats until mid May and Upper Netherdale
and Carnousie is a new addition on daily lets as is Eden Beat.
We also have some availability on very good weeks throughout the
season so please check out the letting availability page. If you
want to try out the river in the next few months why not make a
holiday of it with the family. There is plenty of available
Accommodation in Scotland
at this time of year
at very reasonable prices and a trip could involve one or two
days fishing on the Deveron whilst touring the country with the
family.
Slightly off Track of the fishing
but I know lots of you shoot as well- we at Turriff Tackle are
now stocking CCI, Federal , Remington and Sako ammunition in
addition to our Winchester range. We also have Sako and Tika3
rifles along with Beretta shotguns arriving over the coming
months. Our Clothing range will also be expanded to include
Deerhunter clothing.
Update 18 February 2010
Levels have fluctuated with our
variable weather. We had some fine days at the end of the week
and over the weekend and the river went up slightly with some
snow melt. Then a frost held it down followed by heavy sleet at
lower levels but snow in the high catchment which gave us a
small dirty rise. We are now back to frosts at - 6 degrees
overnight. Indeed the Ryhnie to Dufftown road at the Cabrach
was closed again this week. It seems as though it has been
closed due to snow since mid December so at least will give us
some snow melt later in the spring.
Our first fish was reported on
Saturday at 12-14 lb off Laithers. The Lucky angler was M Gauld.
No other reports of Springer's as yet.
I have plenty of Day tickets
available until Mid May and have added Eden beat to the list.
This has never been freely available before and can be a
productive spring beat. I also have some dates in June and July
available here on a weekly basis and the beat fishes 6 rods.
I also have availability at Upper
Netherdale and Carnousie for weeks in June July and August. This
beat fishes four rods and comes with the services of a gillie.
If interested in any of the above or the other beats on the
availability page give me a call.
Update 11 February 2010
Opening Day 2010.
The opening day ceremony was held
for the first time at Turriff ,courtesy of the Turriff Angling
Association. The day dawned cloudy but dry with temperatures
around 3 degrees c and the river running at 1 foot 3 inches
above normal at Turriff. With 83 people turning up along with 30
primary children from Market Hill School the place was full to
bursting. It was great to see so many people turn up to enjoy
the morning with the usual Dram supplied by the Sponsor
Strathisla and the Angling Club laid on copious amounts of tea,
coffee , sausage rolls and a warm fire for all in their fine
hut.
Malcolm Hay, the River board
chairman, got things under way with a welcome followed by some
short informational pieces from The Deveron , Bogie and Isla
Rivers Trust Staff. Pipe Major Billy Hepburn then led the crowd
down to the river where Mike Stephen of Celebrations of Turriff
blessed the river with Strathisla Whisky and opened the river
with the first cast.
Free fishing was provided by the
Angling club and many took advantage of it. Sharpe's Of Aberdeen
provided a 13 foot rod for any lucky angler taking a springer
from the water but only Kelts and a finnock were taken.
2009 turned out to be our second
best year for Spring fish behind 2006. Not many Rivers can boast
their best ever spring catches in the last ten years. Please
remember that Sutherlands of Portsoy are kindly providing a side
of smoked salmon to every angler who returns a spring fish again
this year and a bottle of Strathisla Malt is still on offer for
the first fish caught and released off the river.
The welcome and opening speeches at the
Turriff Angling Association hut.
First cast by Mike Stephen of
Celebrations of Turriff.
The
gathered anglers watch the first cast of 2010.
Update 21 January 2010
Well after four weeks of winter we are all glad to see the
back of it until next time. We
had anything from 2 to 5 feet of snow over the catchment . The
first of the snow came on the 18 December and despite the thaw
we have still some lying around today.
I have two disasters to report as a direct result of the
weather. Firstly the Hatchery. After digging a way in it was
felt it needed some extra support for the weight of snow on the
roof. This was done on the Thursday / Friday and despite this on
Saturday morning it was found collapsed. Richie Miller our
biologist put a team together and emergency action was taken to
salvage as many eggs as they could. It is believed that around
50 % of the eggs were saved and transferred to a local fish farm
for safe keeping.
Hatchery before collapse.
After collapse.
Obviously this will have to be rebuilt from scratch and to a
higher spec and construction. I dread to think of the cost and
the time to get planning. We have been waiting over two years
for permission to put in a toilet block !!
Please remember the Deveron , Bogie and Isla River Trust
is a charity and relies upon donations to keep it going. There
are far worse disasters happening in the world at the moment but
if you feel you would like to donate then please click the
following link to make a donation.
http://www.deveron.org/wb/pages/donate.php
Now the second disaster of sorts was the Thaw. We managed a
couple of days slowly where about half the snow went. But
Overnight Friday into Saturday morning we had about an inch of
rain and the river went from about one foot to between twelve
and fifteen feet by 3pm. This will have damaged the river bed
and lots of the redds.Another hammer blow after the hatchery as
the river will need all the help it can get with juvenile fish
this year.
On the bright side they say colder winters are better for the
fish at sea and for sand eel breeding. Hopefully we can get a
decent run of sea- trout in June and July. Last years catch
return was nearly double 2008.
Update 4 January 2010
I am now working on lettings for 2010. I know I have weeks at
Mountblairy in June with a cottage and I will have some weeks at
Upper Netherdale and Carnousie from June to September. Weeks
will also be available here in March and April. Availability
will be posted for say Dunlugas, Forglen, Muiresk, Avochie,
Wrack, Turtory and others as I get them.
Please get in touch if you want to put your name down for
anything anywhere.
