The 2017 season is now upon us on the upper river Dee. February’s catches are slightly higher for the rest of the river and I really do hope that we will have a good season ahead of us. The opening day was filled with a warm shining sun and ideal water heights for the beat. With the water temperature at 40 degrees we were sure there would be some fresh springers on the Beat. Colin managed the first one, by midday his guest Jan-åke Larsson caught a very welcome 14lb springer from Pol Baw pool. It’s a pool that seemed to have suffered from the floods last year so it was very reassuring to see a fish caught here so early on. Gordon Duncan landed a kelt early on in the Boat Pool and all the pools were fishing nicely.
Kent Hakkenson, a regular fisher on opening day here had a fantastic end to his morning… Crawnee pool produced a stunning 19lb bar of silver that measured 98cm and gave a tough battle, and another possible springer that took the fly but rejected it almost as quickly. Just before lunch he again stuck gold and played and landed another strong salmon of 12lbs in Logie pool.
The next day the rods were filled with confidence as were the ghillies, until the Patagonia like winds began blowin downstream. The river heights were still good and we fished hard all day but to no avail. Friday bought us another extreme of bright summer like conditions reaching 15 degrees it felt like a balmy day in June. A head and tailing fish was witnessed on the upper beat but again they proved tricky to catch.
Fishing on Deeside this time of year can provide some unpredictable weather conditions, and Saturday was no exception. Temperatures plummeted as the snow began to fall thick on the river bank. The icy easterly wind cooled you to the bone but our rods stuck at it. The snow turned to rain and the river began to rise in the afternoon. We experience some action late in the day but all turned out to be kelts.
A great opening day for Deecastle and our visiting rods, and what the upcoming weeks bring will fill us with anticipation.
