[Speyangler]

Good day, I'm a new member to this forum.  I live in Elgin and have only fished the River Don on a few occasions in the past for salmon.  The week before Easter I have a good friend coming up for the week to fish for brown trout only.  He normally fishes the chalk streams, river Wylye and Avon and is keen to see the Olive and March Brown hatches that we are still lucky to have in this part of the world.  I thought I would take him for two days each on the lower Spey, Deveron and Don. I'm familiar with the Spey and Deveron but have little knowledge of the Don beats.  Can any one kindly recommend good trout beats for this time of the year.  I have in mind the middle to upper reaches area as these should prove more intimate and keep us out of the way of salmon anglers.  That said, I'm happy for any advice, we are happy to fish either dry or wet fly.

Kind regards

[Jim Eddie]

If you look at the other thread re Monymusk, there is a link to a beat map. April can be early for the don , the water will still be cold and hatches likely to be sporadic.

I'm sure you will get some more advice who fish the don more regualrly than me.

 

Jim

[Speyangler]

Thanks Jim for drawing my attention to the map.  Due to other commitments this trip has to be in mid April.  Certainly on the Spey and Deveron I have seen good Olive hatches in Apr in a bizzard, but as always its being in the right place at the right time.

Any further advice from anyone with river Don knowledge will be gratefully received.

Kind regards

[Jim Eddie]

Definately about being in the right place at the right time 

 

Jim

[Noel Kelly]

Hi Speyangler, welcome to the forum. April on the don can be a great time to target large rising trout with drys. The hatches will be short lived and around midday. I would visit the beat you intend to fish before hand and try and locate likely areas. What you want is deeper water 50/100 yards downstream of fast broken water. Find an area like this be there at 11.30 and watch for a hatch. If nothing happens try another similar area.

As I said hatches at this time of year can be short lived and in my experience once the hatch is over you may as well go home.     
I would also advise once you have found an area which holds some large fish that you sit yourself down on the bank and wait until the fish start to rise.
If you just wade straight in and start casting away you probably wont see any fish as you will have scared them all.

Another thing to consider is water temperatures. Last year for example April was a waste of time with the snow melt keeping temps too low.
I seen lots of hatches but the fish were just not interested. Hopefully this year will be different.

Have a look at the river don thread. Lots of info there.     

[Allan Liddle]

Hi Jock and welcome to the forum.  Kildrummy a good bit of water.

Gives a call and we'll sort a trip out or two.

Allan

[Speyangler]

Thank you all for your valuable information, I feel a lot more confident in the choice of area now and tactics, although a mite worried about the early time of year.  The Kildrummy area seems to fit my requirements, I have often passed through the area on my way to the Dee and it has always looked attractive.

Alan, I fear you may have mistaken me for Jock Royan (Kinermony Ghillie) who has a similar userename to my own.  I also use 'speyangler' on Salmon fishers forum' and for continuity decided to use it here.  If you don't mind, I will give you a call if you still happy for me to do so.

Tony

[Allan Liddle]

Sorry Tony 

[Speyangler]

Alan, not a problem, thanks for taking the time to give advice.  Can I book fishing in the Kildrummy area through you, or otherwise do you have contact numbers for the beats.  Cheers.

[Allan Liddle]

I think Mike has the details on the main site with booking numbers?  If not i'll have a dig around my (dis) organised fishing corner to see if i've an old permit lying about.

You didn't used to help out in Des's shop now and again Tony?

Allan

[buntinbee]

Having fished pretty well every beat on the whole of the Don from Cock Bridge to the sea over a period of 40 years, I would say that the most consistent beat for trout is without a doubt Upper Parkhill just outside Dyce. I would go as far as to say that the best area is the mile either side of the road bridge. If you catch the middle to upper Don on the right day you can do well with big trout but the hatch will almost certainly be short lived, if indeed, it materialises at all. Although Parkhill is association water, very often at this time of the year you can have the whole beat to yourself, particularly during the week.
 Click on        http://www.adaa.org.uk/      where you can find details on visitors tickets, you may also find the beat summaries of interest.

[Speyangler]

Alan, although I have not actually helped out in Des's shop but you may have seen me lottering in there from time to time chewing the fat. A few years ago I fished for Angling Centre team in the Moray Fly Fishers League, but soon gave that up because all takeable fish had to be killed for the weigh in.  I have no objection to folk killing fish for the pot, but prefer to put them back myself. Got a contact number for Kildrummy from Mike's Web site thank you.

Buttinbee, many thanks for the info, your recommendation sounds pretty convincing and is certainly worth considering.  Is the river wadeable at Parkhill and easliy covered with dry/wet fly?

Cheers

[Allan Liddle]

Bound to have met you Tony, it was me who started and helped run the Moray Fly Fishing League for about 12 years.

Like you nowadays i prefer to return most of my fish.

Allan