Sea Trout.
. are the fish of the moment with plenty being caught towards the end of last week. A small rise of water came on the 5th only on the South Esk. The bigger rise came on the 7th then dropping by the 8th this helped both rivers and more sea trout came in, still very few grisle. Stracathro had a very good week with 25 sea trout up to 4lbs and a 10lb salmon, I would have thought that the majority would have been caught in the evening? It seems that there are a lot of sea trout in the North Esk, as I said last week, they are proving very hard to catch. Coming short to the fly or just pushing it out the way. Even though the days have been warm enough the evenings seem to being on the cooler side which can put a dampener on fishing. Canterland were the only other beat on the North Esk to catch a salmon Saturday 8th of last week, Phil Doxy had it on a Kansan Killer tube fly. Over on the South Esk,Kinnaird Upper had 5 sea trout, Finavon Castle Water 8 sea trout, Inshewan 7 sea trout and Kirriemuir Angling Club 3 sea trout and a salmon. Anglers who have been fishing the Kirrie water say that there are alot of sea trout throughout the beat, great news for the South Esk. The vast majority of the above were caught on the Saturday when the river was dropping which makes complete sense. One interesting thought that was put to me as to why the sea trout are coming short or seem to be. The sea trout are not coming short but instead they are hitting the flies with their tails giving us on the other end the feeling that they have come short to the fly. Now they would normally turn around and take the prey (fly) once they have stunned it, but we have struck and the fly for them is nowhere to been seen. An interesting though?? Lastly, we still have not seen or heard of any pink salmon being caught as of yet, if you hear of anything let us know.
Just a reminder that Pink salmon may start to make an appearance soon.
https://fms.scot/pink-salmon-in-scotland/
Please report any catches of Pink salmon to the Fishery Board.
Note: If any of the angling clubs or anyone else that has anything to report on the North or South Esk please get in touch via email with your catches and stories. The more we can show what is being caught on our rivers paints a good picture.
Thank you.
Week Ahead
With a good rise in water at the weekend then again on Tuesday evening both rivers are looking in fantastic shape. There are plenty of fish that have been seen and caught so far this week. So, with colour in the rivers this week flies to swim. Thunder and Lightning, Cascade, Allys Shrimp and if you fish a dropper a Stinchar Stoat. All smaller sizes still nothing bigger than a size 10. Also worth a swim would be small cone head flies in black and orange, and do not forget about sunrays and hitches. Intermediate to slow sink tip depending on the water hight. Lastly if you feel the fish are knocking or coming short to the fly resist the temptation to lift the rod, they might well come back round again.
Tight Lines.
North Esk.
Kinnaber. 4 sea trout to 4lbs
Canterland. 2 salmon to 9 lbs,1 sea trout 4lbs.
Gallery. 2 sea trout to 4lbs.
Pert. 8 sea trout to 4lbs.
Stracartho. 25 sea trout to 4lbs, 1 salmon 10lbs.
South Esk.
Kinnnaird Upper. 5 sea trout to 4lbs.
Finavon Castle Water. 8 sea trout to 4lbs.
Inshewan. 7 sea trout to 4lbs.
Kirriemuir Angling Club. 1 salmon, 3 sea trout.
Grand Total: Salmon 4 Sea Trout 63
Photographs (top to bottom)
A salmon from Canterland North Esk.
A sea trout from pocket water at Canterland North Esk.
Phil Doxy with his salmon from Canterland North Esk.
Photographs 4-7 are a salmon and 3 sea trout from Ivor Duffus who was fishing the Kirriemuir Angling Club water on the South Esk.
Keep an eye open for pink salmon.
Lastly I should say thank you to the ghillies and guests who send the photographs to me, with out them the report would not be complete and certainly not as colourful!!
