It was quiet at the Dam today, with fluctuating water levels again making things difficult. Further downstream on the Sawmill beat it was a very different story: Paul Carter landed a superb 16lb salmon on the fly after a tremendous fight. Having lost a similar fish in exactly the same spot last week, he was hugely relieved to bring this one safely to the net. Conditions look promising for the rest of the week.
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| A superb fish of 16lbs for Paul Carter in Sawmill today |
The fishing held up better than the weather today - some squally showers made things challenging for the anglers out today - but with a fish caught it was another good day on the beat. Steve Watt was the successful angler, landing a lively fish of 8lb on the fly from the Port-na-Craig bank this morning. The river remains at a good, fishable height and continues to look promising for tomorrow.
The river dropped back to a very good height overnight, and conditions looked just about perfect this morning. Tony Brown got the day off to a flying start with a superb 12lb fresh-run salmon on the fly from the Pitlochry bank. In the afternoon, Steve Watt followed up with a strong 16lb fish on the spinner from the Port-na-Craig bank. The beat now feels fully up and running for the season — and with more fish beginning to show, we’re hopeful of plenty more action this week.
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| A superb fish of 12lbs for Tony Brown this morning on Pitlochry bank |
The river dropped back to a good height over the weekend. There was definitely room for optimism this morning, and it didn’t take long before Massimo Castelvecchi hooked into a cracking 8lb fresh-run salmon on the fly from the Port-na-Craig bank. A solid take on the swing, and after a strong fight, it was safely netted and released. Massimo has put in the hours this year and great to see his hard work rewarded. That was the only fish of the day, but with a few more showing in the beat and the river forecast to drop further, things are looking very promising for the rest of the week.
It’s been a long time coming but today we got our first fish of the season on our Dam beat – at last! Steve Watt was the successful angler with a fresh fish of 8lbs caught on the floating devon this afternoon on Port-na-Crag bank – well done! It’s been a frustrating couple of months with water levels consistently unsettled and generally higher than we would like. Getting that first fish on the bank, though, should be a confidence booster to all anglers – and hopefully we’ll start to see fish getting caught on a regular basis. More to come this week?
The first fish of the season on PAC waters was caught today by club member Chris Boulton - a 9lb hen fish caught on an Ally's tube - well done!. Perhaps surprisingly it was caught on our Sawmill beat rather than the Dam where most of the fishing effort has been so far this season. It's always great to get that first fish landed and catches should really start to pick up from here.
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| First fish of the season: club member Chris Boulton lands a 9lbs in Sawmill |
Another salmon season got underway this morning. Fishing conditions were excellent: at 2 feet 4 ins the river was at an ideal height and with temperatures about normal for this time of year and virtually no wind it didn’t feel too cold. It was good to see a few members having a cast - and as usual quite a few more turned out to offer encouragement from the bank. Unfortunately, there was to be no opening day springer this year but hopefully it won’t be too long before the first fish of the year comes to the net and hopefully a successful season lies ahead.
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| Another season gets underway |
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| Looking for that elusive opening day springer |
https://www.beatbooker.com/bbpaconline/ to book fishing permits for all Pitlochry Angling Club beats.
This is from Lilla, Marketing Manager at The Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy. I wanted to get in touch about a special event we have coming up that I think will be of great interest to anglers.
We’re showing the Fly Fishing Film Tour 2025 (F3T) – a celebration of the world’s best fly fishing films, showcasing stunning cinematography, remote locations, and the passion behind the sport.
📅 Tuesday, 11 November, at 7.30 pm
📍 The Birks Cinema, Aberfeldy
🎟️ Details & tickets: https://birkscinema.co.uk/films-events/films/fly-fishing-film-tour-2025/
A quick round up of recent catches: Massimo Castelvecchi landed a nice sea trout of 2lbs on the fly from Port-na-Craig bank on the morning of 17th September; and Allan Hall caught a salmon of 10lbs on the fly on the morning of the 4th October.
There's still a few fish about and with our Dam and Ruan Ruarie beats both at a good fishing height it's still worth a go.
Books are available from the Hardware Centre in
Pitlochry at the cost of £10.
Prospective visitors, please note that on Sunday, 31 August 2025, SNFFL will hold a competition on our Lower Tummel trout fishing. There are likely to be a lot of rods on the river that day, very busy, and casual anglers hoping to enjoy a quiet day on our lovely river are advised to avoid the beat that day.
The recent lift in water has really livened things up on our salmon beats and success came yesterday for Chris Boulton at Sawmill with a superb fish of 10lbs caught on the fly. Conditions currently look excellent and I wouldn't be surprised if there's one or two more caught this week.
Lyme Disease awareness is an annual campaign. Please see the very helpful information on Be Tick Aware Campaign - Lyme Disease UK
All our hill lochs are now fishing well and there have been some exceptional catches reported. The fish pictured below (returned) is one of two at 7lb in a fantastic bag of 10 fish ( 3 kept for 12lb) caught from the bank by club member Jason Henry at Loch Bhac last week. There’s plenty of availability and now is the time to enjoy some of the best sport of the year.
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| Great fishing - one of two 7lbers for Jason Henry at Loch Bhac last week |
Some of the club's top strimmers were in action this morning .... and the Sawmill path is now looking good for any trout or salmon anglers heading that way.
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There was some good work done at the Dam today - the beat is looking in great shape for the second half of the season ..... and with plenty of fish moving through the beat at this time of year it's definitely worth a cast.
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The recent lift in water means there are good numbers of fish in our Ruan Ruarie beat right now and with two caught yesterday it's fishing well: Fraser Thomson was first into action with a 12lber on the spinner and Gordon Redmond followed on with another at 12lbs - again on the spinner. Great to see the beat doing well - an exciting place to fish.
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| A 12lber for Fraser Thomson on Ruan Ruarie |
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| Success! - a 12lber for Gordon Redmond |
The recent lift in water seems to have encouraged a few fish into our Ruan Ruarie beat and it is now fishing well: on Monday Gordon Redmond had fish at 10lbs and 5lbs and Fraser Thomson landed one at 20lbs - all were caught on the spinner. Great to see this beat fishing well - and an excellent destination for the more adventurous angler.
There's fish on the move at the Dam right now and Gordon Hanslip was in the right place to intercept one this morning - a fresh fish of 12lbs caught on Pitlochry bank. And with rain in the forecast for tonight the weekend is beginning to look very interesting - surely more to come this week.
We had some long overdue rain on Friday night / Saturday morning and while it hasn't made a big difference to the river level it did seem to liven up the fish. Massimo Castelvecchi was in the right place to take advantage with a fresh fish of 5lbs caught on the fly on Pitlochry bank on Saturday evening - nicely done - a great way to round off what has been a challenging week. And with the change in weather there's defiintely room for optimisim for next week - could be good.
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| A 5lber for Massimo Castelvecchi on Pitlochry bank last night |
Dry and sunny again at the Dam today - but with a slightly fresher feel to it. There were fish about, though, and Steve Watt managed to intercept one on Pitlochry bank this morning - a fresh fish of 8lbs caught on the fly. It's not easy at the moment but the weather looks to be changing - and things could liven up later in the week.
Sunny and low water at the Dam today - not ideal for fishing - but with a bit of application it can be done: Danny Fulton did well on Pitlochry bank this morning landing a very nice fish of 10lbs on the fly - perseverance pays off. Maybe another one tomorrow?
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| A 10lber for Danny Fulton on Pitlochry bank this morning - nicely done! |
There are good numbers of fish in our Dam beat right now but they're not easy to catch in the current low water conditions. Steve Watt was up to the task today, though, - landing a very nice fish of 12lbs on the fly from Pitlochry bank this morning - it can be done!. It looks like more of the same for the rest of the week - definitely a good chance of a fish but you might have to work for it.
It's been a frustrating few days with plenty of fish showing, a fish lost - but none caught. Graham Christie broke the deadlock today, however, with a superb fish of 16lbs caught on the fly on Pitlochry bank this morning - nicely done. Some water would help but it can be done - and hopefully there's more to come this week.
It was more of the same today as far as conditions went - low water but quite a few fish about - not ideal but in with a chance. As it turned out perseverance - as is often the case - was the key: Neill Sproull stuck at and was rewarded with a nice fish of 12lbs on the fly from Pitlochry bank at 4.45pm this afternoon - well done. Having released the fish he then went in for a few more casts and hooked another fish which sadly came off after a cartwheel through the pool. A great end to the week.
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| Perseverance - a 12lber for Neill Sproull at 4.45pm on Pitlochry bank today |
It was another great day on our Dam beat – lots of fish showing throughout the day and two caught: Alex Mitchell was the successful angler in the morning with a lively fish of 10lbs caught on the fly on Pitlochry bank; and in the afternoon Massimo Castelvecchi was on the scorecard again – this time with a 8lber on the fly from Pitlochry bank. Great to see so many fish about and looking good for the rest of the week.
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| An 8lber for Massimo Castelvecchi on Pitlochry bank this afternoon |
More low water today but out Dam beat continues to produce fish: Craig Masson was the successful angler - landing a sea liced fish of 8lbs on the fly from Pitlochry bank in the afternoon. Good to see plenty of fish about but not easy to catch in the low water. Should be more to come this week.
Another cold and sometimes blustery day at the Dam - but the fish don’t seem to mind: Derek Martin landed a very nice fish of 10lbs on the fly early in the morning on Pitlochry bank. There’s plenty of fish showing at the moment – the next cast could be the one that counts! Looking good as we head into the weekend.
Quite a change in the weather this week – much colder with the odd rain shower – but not enough, so far at least, to bring the river level up. That said, there’s still fish to be had: Massimo Castelvecchi continued his good run this morning on Port-na-Craig bank with a fresh fish of 10lbs caught on the fly – nicely done. There’s definitely a few fish going through the beat at the moment but given current conditions they’re not easy to catch. Should be more to come this week, though.
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| A 10lber for Massimo Castelvecchi on Port-na-Craig bank this morning |
There was a change of weather at midday on Saturday - with the cloud rolling in after a prolonged sunny spell - and there was a change of luck for the anglers doing their best to intercept one of the many fish heading through the beat at the moment: after a quite morning Peter Robinson landed a superb fish of 9lbs on the fly from Pitlochry bank - nicely done. A good way to round off what has been a productive but challenging week.