Low water…
…last week made fishing very tricky and slow to say the least. Anglers on the South Esk say that they have never seen the river so low. It is certainly not due to any long hot dry spell. This time of year, water abstraction on both rivers has a huge impact, so much so that you can see the water levels drop during the day. Before I go down some rabbit hole I am saying no more. Back to the fishing, sea trout as we all know need very little water to come in, though a little does indeed encourage them. There are plenty of sea trout about though they are proving very hard to catch. One Evening session a few weeks at Inshewan the air temperature was a staggering 3c, in June!! Still staying at Inshewan they had a good week with 14 sea trout, mainly all caught in the evenings on small black flies and sunrays. John Mitchell, gillie at Inshewan tells me that the sea trout catches are up so far this year, but the salmon and grilse are below well average, why is this who only knows. Let’s hope that we do not have to go down the route of the Norwegian salmon rivers, 35 of which are now closed for the foreseeable future. The North Esk has been fairly quiet as well with sea trout being the dominant fish being caught, mostly all caught in the early or later hours of the day. Salmon and grilse, the odd ones are being caught but nothing like it should be at this time of year. The grilse that are coming to the net are in fine fettle and looking healthy as are the summer salmon.
The Week Ahead.
There is rain forecast this week but how much is anyone guess, a little to freshen up the rivers would most certainly help. The river temperatures are so far this year staying in the comfort zone, one would expect that as we have not had any hot days and low water as of yet. Keep an eye on it none the less. With low water on the cards for now long leaders and floating lines are still the order of the day, as are small flies. A size 12 would be on the large side just now, dark or black flies work best in low clear water and keep it moving. Fish the faster parts of the pools which are more likely to hold grilse, rocks and pots are becoming more visible in this low water. Out of interest this is the lowest water that we have had since the floods at the end of last season, pools, pots and pocket water has changed dramatically. Sit back and watch the water as one would if trout fishing to see where the fish are lying and plan your way in and out of the river, rather than wading and blundering about the place causing every fish to swim for cover only to come back out when you are in bed. One last thing, well two. We do not need to take a photograph of every single fish we catch, keep them in the water take out the hook and back ASAP. Second, the rivers are very low at the moment, I encourage you to refrain from spinning in low water as there is a greater chance of foul hooking fish when spinning. Thank you.
Tight Lines.
North Esk
Kinnaber.3 salmon/grilse to 10lbs.
Canterland.2 sea trout to3lbs.
Gallery. 2 grilse to 5lbs, 5 sea trout to 5lbs.
Balmakewan. 1 salmon, 1 sea trout.
Pert. 1 salmon 9lbs, 5 sea trout to 3.5lbs
Stracathro. 2 grilse to 3lbs, 4 sea trout to 3.5lbs.
South Esk
Inshewan. 14 sea trout to 3.5lbs.
Total Salmon/Grilse 8, Sea Trout 30
Grand Total 38
If anyone has caught a salmon or Sea Trout within the North or South Esk and would like to share please get in touch.
Photographs (top to bottom)
Inshewan, South Esk.
An angler with a sea trout at Balmakewan, North Esk.
Mike Young with a summer salmon at Balmakewan, North Esk.
A grilse from Gallery, North Esk.
Lastly I should say thank you to the gillies and guests who send the photographs to me, with out them the report would not be complete and certainly not as colourful!!
