2008,February,Trout and Salmon River Spey Report, Speycaster.

River Spey Report February 2008

The 2008 season got underway on the 11th under good weather, but unfortunately, not quite as good water conditions. With river levels running around two feet above summer level, it was thought that fish would be found over the whole fishable length, from the sea all the way up to Grantown, unfortunately however, this was not to be the case.

The first fish of the season fell to the rod of Mr Nick Muir, who, aided by a Cascade tube, landed a lovely 16lb fish whilst fishing Upper Arndilly. The fish also won the prize for the heaviest fish of the day, earning Mr Muir the Spey Quaich and Walkers hamper for the first "fly caught" fish, along with a bottle of 30 year-old Glenfarclas for the largest fish of the day.

As the week progressed, water levels begun to drop back, which saw most pools coming into good height for the fly. By the end of the first week the tally had risen to seven fish, with Delfur, Rothes and a beat just below Craigellachie all producing fish.

As is normal during February, after the sprinkling of fish had been caught, came the usual lull.

By the end of the month the tally of fish has risen to around 30, which is acceptable as, unlike the Dee, the Spey has never been noted as a very early river.

One notable February fish fell to the rod of, Dr Moira Scott. 92-year-old Dr Scott resides in Elgin and has fished nearly every beat on the river. This latest fish was caught whilst fishing Delfur; the lovely 7lb fish was another added to the long list of fish caught by this remarkable lady. How many of us on reaching 92 years of age, will be happy to brave the elements on a cold February day to cast a fly on the fast flowing River Spey? I'm sure, as is traditional with Dr Scott, both she and the Ghillie will have shared a small drop of the "local brew" served from her silver hip flask! Well-done Dr Scott! I feel sure there will be many more stories to come!

Delfur was also the scene of the largest fish of the month, the 20.5lb Springer fell to the rod of, Mr John Band.

Fishing Two Stones, one of the many productive pools on this wonderful beat, Mr Band, who in the company of Head Ghillie, Mr Mark Melville, latched onto the fish with a No 4 Cascade, tied by his own hand. This very successful variant of the original is tied with a holographic body and is very much favoured by Mr band, who over the years has landed many fish, particularly in the spring on this fly.

Again, it would seem that the upper part of the river has very few fish, with precious few kelts and little or no fresh fish being caught above Carron during the month of February. The same can be said for the lower half of the river, but it has also to be said that this is following a very similar pattern to this time last year. The fact of the matter is that, over a very long period of time, the same beats tend to catch the lions share of the fish, which is why, given only a small number of fish in the river, they tend to be the only beats that catch any fish at all. My feeling is that it is purely down to numbers!

After talking in last months report about Sea Trout, and the fact that historically the Spey had an early run, it was interesting that two Sea Trout weighing 5 and 7 lbs were caught during the final week of the month at Craigellachie. Scale samples taken from the fish are now being analysed by scientists from the Spey fishery board and I'm sure this will provide some good information regarding the age and how many times these particular fish had spawned.

As I write this [5th March] I have heard that Knockando have had their first fish of the season, a fine brace of Springer's taken by Head Ghillie, Mr Sandy Smith on the Phones beat, which it has to be said, of all the middle beats, consistently comes up trumps, but unfortunately is very lightly fished.

Given the fact there seem to be few fish in the river, its interesting that seals have been spotted more than 10 miles up-stream. What are they doing here? I feel sure half the problem is, that there are very few kelts in the estuary this year and these marauding menaces are scavenging further a field for food.

April Prospects
This year seems, at the moment at any rate, to be following a similar pattern to last. If this trend continues, then look out for fewer but larger fish. However, as per normal, water levels will have an influence on runs of fish. Last April saw water levels so low, everyone was talking about drought, and this was then followed by some of the best summer water seen for years.

Ian Gordon
Speycaster

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