Good End To The Week

Conditions looked good at the Dam today but despite best efforts nothing was caught to the day rods. Jim Fisher saved the day, though, - and continued his good run - with a nice fish of 12lbs from Port-na-Craig bank on the fly this evening. Returns have been pretty good this week - especially given the weather and river levels - and prospects for next week look excellent.

Jim Fisher continues his good run

Permits for Pitlochry Dam available due to cancellation.

One of our members has been forced to cancel a couple of days fishing on the Pitlochry Dam beat due to personal circumstances. Single rod available each day starting on the Pitlochry bank, dates are May 4 and May 11, £60 per day. Bookable online, first come, first served!

At last the trout are starting to rise!

Our weather has been exceptionally cold and dry for a week or two now, hard frost at night and very few insects hatching by day but it looks like things are about to change which is great news for trout fishers on our rivers and lochs.

Today a few dark olives appeared sporadically and as always given half a chance the river trout gobbled them. Regular trout fishing expert Neil Sinclair too only needs half a chance, his deadly foam dun fooled a trout that foolishly rose within Neil's casting range and as usual  he was bang on target catching the lovely yellow trout pictured. Tomorrow brings the first of the SANA competition heats to the Tummel so here's hoping the river lives up to its great reputation for wild trout fishing.  

Fish At The Dam

It was another cold, raw day at the Dam today but the rods persevered and success came to George Renwick with an 8lb fish caught on the fly on Port-na-Craig bank this morning. The forecast for tomorrow looks better - with plenty of fish about prospects look good.

PAC Waters Fishing Well

More wintry weather today but with fish caught on our Dam and Sawmill beats the fishing remains excellent: Jim Fisher was on form at the Dam today scoring a hat-trick - two fish of 8lbs from Port-na-Craig bank this morning and following up in the afternoon with a fish of 9lbs from Pitlochry bank - all on the fly - good going; Les Dargie was successful in the evening with a fish of 15lbs on the fly from Pitlochry bank; and Brian Joseph showed that fish can still be caught on Sawmill landing a very fresh fish of 10lb on a Flying C this morning. Looking good for the weekend - surely more to come.

Success - Jim Fisher on Pitlochry bank this afternoon

Fishing Well

Lots of fish could be seen in the viewing chamber at the fish ladder today - the fish are on the move. Luckily a few of them held back long enough for excellent sport at the Dam: Roy Longair was first into action this morning with a fish of 14 lbs from Pitlochy bank on the fly; and Neil MacLellan followed up with a double - one at 12lb and another at 15lbs - both caught this morning on Pitlochry bank on the fly. Great to see so many fish about - and hopefully more tomorrow.

Ticking Over

More wintry weather at the Dam today - definitely challenging conditions for the rods out today. The deadlock was broken, however, when Steve Watt landed a 9lb fish this evening on Pitlochry bank on the fly - it can be done. Hopefully conditions will improve for the rest of the week.

Monday Double

Conditions were less than ideal today - cold, windy, snow showers, low water - but with a bit of perseverance fish could be caught: Steve Watt showed the way with a double today at the Dam - one in the morning at 8lbs from Pitlochry bank and another in the afternoon at 13lbs from Port-na-Craig bank - both caught on the spinner - good effort. Hopefully the weather will ease up for the rest of the week.

Week Ends In Style

With three superb fish caught today it was a great end to the week: Russell Boyd continued his good season with a fish of 18lbs caught on the fly on Pitlochry bank this morning: Jim Fisher followed up with a 12lber on the fly from Pitlochry bank; and Steve Watt rounded things off nicely with an 11lber in the afternoon - again on the fly from Pitlochry bank. The quality of the fish being caught at the moment is exceptional - and the low water isn't putting them off - prospects looking excellent for next week - hopefully more of the same.

Russell Boyd with 18lber this morning

Jim Fisher with a 12lb bar of silver

Lucky to have made it to Pitlochry

Salmon are heading up the ladder in numbers just now and the count this afternoon was 134 (frequent count updates at https://twitter.com/pitlochryac). Fresh fish are also moving into our beat. Some of the fish have clearly had narrow escapes on their way to Pitlochry (see photo showing what looks like a beak mark of a dolphin or something similar)



Salmon with what looks like a beak mark of a dolphin or something similar
passing fish ladder observation window today (22/4/16 1510 BST)

Good Fishing Continues

Good numbers of fish have been showing at the Dam over the last few days and the good fishing continues: Charlie Grosvenor was successful yesterday afternoon with a 14lber on the fly from Port-na-Craig bank; this morning on Pitlochry bank Stuart Humphreys caught a 14lber on the fly; in the afternoon Pat Phelan had a nice fish of 9lbs from Pitlochry bank on the spinner; and in the evening Les Dargie landed a fish of 7lbs. Surely more to come tomorrow.

Stuart Humphreys enjoys success on Pitlochry bank this morning

Pat Phelan about to return his 9lber on Pitlochry bank this afternoon

Ticking Over

With bright overhead conditions and low water it was a testing day at the Dam. Iain McLaren did well with a 12lb fish caught on the fly on Pitlochry bank this morning. Good to see there's still fish there to be caught - looking promising for the end of the week.

Salmon now on the move

Salmon are now running up the salmon ladder at Pitlochry Dam just upstream of our Portnacraig Pitlochry beat in greater numbers and the count climbed from 5 yesterday morning to 55 this evening. The clear water conditions are giving a great chance to see adult springers making their way up the ladder and smolts on their way down.  The fully automated salmon counters in the fish ladders at Pitlochry Dam and the next dam upstream have operated since 1951, and they were the first automated salmon counters anywhere. 

Regular updates on the Pitlochry count are at https://twitter.com/pitlochryac and you can register to get a tweet each update.





The count 20/04/16, 645pm



Smolts in fish ladder 20/04/16

 

 

 

 

 

Dam Double

Another low water day at the Dam - not too promising. Les Dargie was up to the task, though, catching a 16lber on Port-na-Craig bank this morning and following up in the afternoon with a 15lber on Pitlochry bank - both on the fly - good effort. It can be done - and room for optimism for the rest of the week.

Les in action on Port-na-Craig bank this morning

15lber safely landed on Pitlochry bank this afternoon

Fish About

Conditions were less than ideal today - the river level has dropped back over the weekend and there were also strong winds to contend with. Anglers persevered, though, and success followed: Steve Watt had a fish of 11lbs from Pitlochry bank this morning on the spinner; and Jimmy Ross followed up with a 10lber in the afternoon from Pitlochry bank on the fly. Good to see there are fish about.

Dam Success

Conditions were challenging at the Dam today - cold with strong winds coming in from the north. The rods persevered, though, and Russell Boyd was rewarded with a very nice fish of 15lbs caught on the spinner just before lunchtime on Pitlochry bank. At least another two fish were lost during the day. With settled weather forecast for next week prospects look excellent.

Russell Boyd with superb fish on Pitlochry bank this morning

Fishing Well

It was a cold start this morning but as the temperature picked up so did the fishing and with three fish caught it was another excellent day at the Dam: Ally Gowans was first into action with a fish of 8 lbs from Port-na-Craig bank in the morning and followed up in the afternoon with a 17lber on Pitlochry bank - both on the fly; and Martin Wilson caught a fish of 8lbs on the fly in the afternoon on Pitlochry bank. Looking good for tomorrow.

Success - a 17lber from Pitlochry bank this afternoon

Ticking Over

Good numbers of fish were seen at the Dam this morning and with two fish caught and at least one other lost it was another good fishing day. The successful angler was Jussi Ramo from Finland who caught a 6lber and followed up with another at 10lbs on the fly this morning on Port-na-Craig bank. With settled weather set to continue we should see more of the same as we head into the weekend.

Good Start To The Week

Conditions looked excellent this morning but with nothing caught during the day it looked as if we were in for a blank. That changed in the evening, though, - Steve Watt opened his account for the season with a nice fish of 7lbs and Willie Johnstone followed up with a fish of 10lbs - both caught on Pitlochry bank on the fly. Should be more to come tomorrow.

Excellent End To The Week

Superb fishing conditions at the Dam today and with four fish caught it was an excellent end to the week: Ally Gowans caught a fish of 14lbs on the fly on Port-na-Craig bank this morning; John McElroy had fish at 7 and 10lbs an a Vision 110 from Pitlochry bank in the morning; and Neil Tong had a fish at 11lbs on the Devon early in the afternoon on Port-na-Craig bank. With the season now in full swing prospects for next week look excellent. 

Another Good Day At The Dam

With the river at a good height it was another excellent day at the Dam with two fish caught: Gordon Hanslip was first into action with a fish of 16lbs on the spinner from Port-na-Craig bank this morning; and Tony Brown had another good day with an 11lber on the fly from Pitlochry bank in the afternoon. Plenty of fish about and looking good for tomorrow.

Success - Gordon Hanslip on Port-na-Craig bank this morning

LOCH BHAC - IMPORTANT NOTICE

The B8019 Strathtummel road will be closed in the vicinity of the Loch Tummel Inn for 2 weeks (click here for google map) starting on May 30th, 2016. Please access the Loch from the Tummel Bridge direction or from the Allean access road which involves a longer route than usual on forestry roads as shown on the directions (click here)

Fish About!

The river has dropped back nicely after heavy rain earlier in the week and today prospects looked excellent. Dave Stewart took advantage - and continued his good run - with a 10lb sea-liced fish on the fly first thing this morning on Port-na-Craig bank. The good fishing should continue into the weekend - surely more to come.

Salmon now starting to make their way up the fish ladder

Salmon are now starting to make their way up the Pitlochry fish ladder just above our Portnacraig Pitlochry Beat and the counter now reads 1. We did not notice exactly when the fish was counted, but it was sometime between Tuesday 29 March noon and Saturday 2 April at 1730. If any of you know more exactly, please email us on enquiries@pitlochryanglingclub.com. The first salmon up the ladder in other recent years were on the following approximate dates - 31 March 2011, 19 March 2012, 20 April 2013, 3 April 2014 and 29 March 2015. We will tweet frequent updates on the count along with river temperatures throughout the season on https://twitter.com/pitlochryac and there is also a link on the club's news page.
Update. Thanks to Mark Findlay and Bob Crowther we now know that that this first count was on Saturday afternoon (2 April). 

Week Finishes On A High

The river was slightly coloured this morning following the heavy rain of Friday but it didn't seem to put the fish off and the week ended on a high with three fish caught at the Dam: Neil Tong got things going this morning on Pitlochry bank with a fish of 8lbs caught on the spinner; Kevin Skinner then followed up in the afternoon with a fish of 10lbs from Pitlochry bank on the spinner; and this evening Dave Stewart got his season under way with a very nice fish of 16lbs on the fly - again from Pitlochry bank. Things are really picking up and with settled conditions forecast into next week prospects look excellent.

Dave Stewart gets his season under way with a fish of 16lbs from Pitlochry bank this evening

Good Fishing Continues

With almost ideal conditions it was another good day on PAC waters: Tony Brown got things going on Port-na-Craig bank this morning with a fish estimated at 15lb caught on the fly; and further downstream Innes Smith followed up on his recent success with another very fresh fish - this time a 16lber - again on the fly. Hopefully tomorrow will bring further success.