River Don 2011

« **Reply #25 on:** 01/04/2011 at 22:59 »

Quote from: Goolager on 01/04/2011 at 22:08

Noel - It's only your pool in your mind & to be honest if the dresscode for 'your' pool is a Benny from Crossroads tammy and a manbag then you're welcome to it ........................I'll show you how to fish it later in the season only jokin' good luck trigger.

Hi Iain, anything going today?

Iain

Says the dude in the chav jacket with the skateboarders back pack

« **Reply #26 on:** 02/04/2011 at 08:46 »

managed 90 mins on lower Don friday - left at 1pm as had to be elsewhere. Wasn't as cold and grim, was some sunshine even.

lots of March Browns (i guess) hatching; at the smooth tail of the pool, there were lots of them visibly drifting either on top, or drowned. But not a single rise. I guess still a bit too early for that part of the river.

A hand-ful of small stonefly or needle fly (?) in evidence too - first time this year that i've been bombarded with insects while on the water. encouraging signs.

Oh aye, nae fish of course... but was great to get the light rod out on the river.

« **Reply #27 on:** 02/04/2011 at 10:10 »

Quote from: Ben_D on 01/04/2011 at 22:59

Says the dude in the chav jacket with the skateboarders back pack

An interesting point to note is that I saw Iain's chav jacket for less than half price the other day....... I wonder why they were struggling to sell them...

« **Reply #28 on:** 02/04/2011 at 15:20 »

Quote from: DJG1984 on 30/03/2011 at 15:52

Ordered my permit for the Inverurie beat online today, should be here in time for me to get out fishing on Monday

Permit still hasn't been delivered yet, hopefully it'll arrive on Monday.

« **Reply #29 on:** 02/04/2011 at 18:06 »

Got to the river at 1 today. It had just cleared up about an hour before and was looking like a nice day. First thing I noticed was flocks of gulls working a pool which could only mean one thing that a hatch was in progress. Cursing my late arrival I got tackled up as quick as I could and headed to the water.
Just as I approached the river side I saw a big splash right where I caught my biggest brownie a few years ago so I dropped to the ground to see what was on the water and if would it rise again.
Couldn't see any up-wings but plenty of midge.
The fish rose again and it wasn't a trout, well not a brownie anyway. Another similar fish rose seconds later right at my feet.
Dont know what they were, bright silver and 2/3 lbs weight?
They looked like they were travelling and I saw no more of them.

Headed up river looked for signs of fly life and rising fish.
Seen a single spinner in the shade of a tree and finally a single BWO.
Heard a trout rise but didn't see that one so after a short wait I moved on.
The gulls had long since departed the scene btw.

After walking a bit further I spotted a rise, covered it and it took the fly straight away. I struck two soon and pricked it but covered the same spot again and it took:grin no mistake this time and after a right acrobatic display netted a lovely brown of about a lb.

And that was basically it. Lovely day and I was seeing the occasional BWO so I was hoping against my best judgement of another hatch. It wasn't to be. I walked the whole beat, seen 2 more fish rise in places I couldn't reach and that was that.

Met a salmon angler who claimed he had 5 springers up to 12 lbs and a 5lb liced sea trout last week. He also spoke of signal crayfish, pike and grayling that he has seen in the don. He hasn't seen any grayling since the 70's though.

Great to be back on the river and that the fish are looking up already. Its gonna be a good start to the season I reckon.

« **Reply #30 on:** 02/04/2011 at 18:38 »

Well done Noel. Was a lovely afternoon for a cast today.

« **Reply #31 on:** 03/04/2011 at 09:45 »

Up around Glenkindie, where we never see anyone in a chav jacket

, a hatch of LDOs started about 12:30 and lasted just over an hour. It was a good hatch and at it's peak the flies covered the pool at a half a metre apart. There was only one rising fish in a pool big enough for half a dozen but it took my DHE. A nice little half pounder. I tried the next pool up but nothing doing so went back to the first pool and tried the spiders. A nice 1 lb troot took the hare's lug and plover.

It was good to break my duck on the first day out and very encouraging to see a good hatch so early in the season. I looked back in my diaries and the last time I noted a good hatch on the first Saturday in April was in 2005, and there was only one rising fish that day too.

Irvine

« **Reply #32 on:** 03/04/2011 at 10:46 »

Quote from: An Chuileog on 02/04/2011 at 18:06

Got to the river at 1 today. It had just cleared up about an hour before and was looking like a nice day. First thing I noticed was flocks of gulls working a pool which could only mean one thing that a hatch was in progress. Cursing my late arrival I got tackled up as quick as I could and headed to the water.
Just as I approached the river side I saw a big splash right where I caught my biggest brownie a few years ago so I dropped to the ground to see what was on the water and if would it rise again.
Couldn't see any up-wings but plenty of midge.
The fish rose again and it wasn't a trout, well not a brownie anyway. Another similar fish rose seconds later right at my feet.
Dont know what they were, bright silver and 2/3 lbs weight?
They looked like they were travelling and I saw no more of them.

Headed up river looked for signs of fly life and rising fish.
Seen a single spinner in the shade of a tree and finally a single BWO.
Heard a trout rise but didn't see that one so after a short wait I moved on.
The gulls had long since departed the scene btw.

After walking a bit further I spotted a rise, covered it and it took the fly straight away. I struck two soon and pricked it but covered the same spot again and it took:grin no mistake this time and after a right acrobatic display netted a lovely brown of about a lb.

And that was basically it. Lovely day and I was seeing the occasional BWO so I was hoping against my best judgement of another hatch. It wasn't to be. I walked the whole beat, seen 2 more fish rise in places I couldn't reach and that was that.

Met a salmon angler who claimed he had 5 springers up to 12 lbs and a 5lb liced sea trout last week. He also spoke of signal crayfish, pike and grayling that he has seen in the don. He hasn't seen any grayling since the 70's though.

Great to be back on the river and that the fish are looking up already. Its gonna be a good start to the season I reckon.

Heard that bit about Grayling before Noel. Might have been perch?
Anyway if anyone wanted to introduce the ladies to the Don and Deveron systems (where they would thrive and offer the best Grayling sport in the UK in my opinion) then feel free, i'll get the blame anyway.

« **Reply #33 on:** 03/04/2011 at 21:04 »

If there was Grayling we wouldn't be able to fish for them outside trout season anyway would we?

Half day at work today so headed straight for the Urie.
Fairly blowy when I arrived and no sign of life so I stuck on some nymphs and headed upstream. Traveled about a mile and nowt nada nothing.
Decided that was far enough as I didn't have much time so stuck on a streamer and worked my way back down. Hadn't gone far and no pulls when I spotted a single olive on the water and then quickly a few more which were instantly greeted by a rise followed by 2 more seperate rises

Streamer off and a cdc&elk on and first cast hooked a half pounder which got off. Hooked another which also got off...grrrr
The third fish wouldn't be tempted and that was that pool fecked.

Headed further down to another streamy bit and sure enough just below it were a few more olives and 2 fish head and tailing mid stream.
Got both of these with one cast a piece both of them 10 inchers.
All in all a very enjoyable 2 hrs.

Anyone had any decent trout out of the urie or care to share tips on the better sections? Have fished it a fair few times and while plenty trout have never seen a decent one. I have the roving ticket so intend to make the Urie my Sunday spot, when I can get a sunday pass that is:z6
Any info shared is prob best by pm. I have a c&r ticket this year so no need to worry about any getting chapped.

Noel

« **Reply #34 on:** 04/04/2011 at 13:47 »

thanks Noel & Irvine for the reports - good to hear people getting some fishy action early on.
here's to a good season for all

« **Reply #35 on:** 04/04/2011 at 18:24 »

Fished the Don at Inverurie for the first time today this afternoon. Didn't see any fish rising but there wasn't many flys on the go, a bit cold for them maybe. However it was good to explore the river and i look forward to more successful days in the future.

Dave.

« **Reply #36 on:** 06/04/2011 at 10:12 »

Would be a good day to be on the river today. Conditions are perfect :z19

« **Reply #37 on:** 07/04/2011 at 00:32 »

I'm hoping to get out

to the Don on friday as i have scored a day off that the boss owed me

. Weather is meant to be decent on friday so fingers crossed.

Dave.

« **Reply #38 on:** 07/04/2011 at 20:03 »

After umming and aahing yesterday Paul and I decided not to travel up this morning after a business appointment I had in Stirling. The borders rivers were going to be our destination but they were blown out. The Clyde looked at least 2' up last night and today was forecast bright and breezy which is not ideal. We were going to shoot up to Aberdeenshire but a couple of tel calls Paul made menioned that the fishing has not really started 'happening' yet...duns have been seen but no feeding fish. This would have been our earliest trip North but would have been a long way if the fish were not keying onto fly yet.

Can anyone say whether the FishDon River Levels are working well. Before you say it (BEN!!) yes I know the SEPA one may be more accurate and updated more often. Trouble is over the years we have guaged each day fished and made notes on what the river level is at Alford so feel confident about having a look at the website and knowing where to fish. So....is this currently(excuse the pun!!) being updated manually or is the river level thingy working okay.

We aim to calibrate levels at Alford with data on SEPA site and then the levels at SEPA will mean something to us.

If it's 2" like it says then hopefully with the nice weather forecast ,fish should start feeding . So fingers crossed there will be some positive reports after tomorrow and Saturday!

Richard

« **Reply #39 on:** 07/04/2011 at 20:40 »

Richard,

Fish Don is working, river is in fine shape for trout fishing and much lower than it was for the same time last year (working from memory). There are hatches happening, I nailed four fish Sunday before last on March browns, largest at 2lb and I have seen other fish taking duns whilst I have been salmon fishing, hatches are short lived as you would expect with only a fairly short window. The hatch I fished was good, very good with a lot of flies on the water both LDO's and MB's. The river was not boiling with risers but there were enough trout feeding for me to think it would be worth fishing every day conditions were good and that was nearly two weeks ago. It has been warm up here for some time (much warmer than last year) and things are starting to kick off, forecast is good for the coming week and I reckon chances are good.

Try to correlate your notes with the SEPA level, look at the Average level on record figure, that will be just a touch higher than 0" on the Fish Don levels.

Cheers

Ben

« **Reply #40 on:** 07/04/2011 at 22:45 »

Quote from: Ben_D on 07/04/2011 at 20:40

Richard,

Fish Don is working, river is in fine shape for trout fishing and much lower than it was for the same time last year (working from memory). There are hatches happening, I nailed four fish Sunday before last on March browns, largest at 2lb and I have seen other fish taking duns whilst I have been salmon fishing, hatches are short lived as you would expect with only a fairly short window. The hatch I fished was good, very good with a lot of flies on the water both LDO's and MB's. The river was not boiling with risers but there were enough trout feeding for me to think it would be worth fishing every day conditions were good and that was nearly two weeks ago. It has been warm up here for some time (much warmer than last year) and things are starting to kick off, forecast is good for the coming week and I reckon chances are good.

Try to correlate your notes with the SEPA level, look at the Average level on record figure, that will be just a touch higher than 0" on the Fish Don levels.

Cheers

Ben

Whats been the best time of day on the Don this week? i'm heading out to Inverurie tomorrow to try out my home made march browns.

Cheers

Dave.

« **Reply #41 on:** 07/04/2011 at 22:47 »

12 until about 2:30 would be about the best time but if you can manage it get out for about 11 and hang on until about 3. Not guaranteed to get a hatch every day so it may or may not go down!!

CHeers

Ben

« **Reply #42 on:** 08/04/2011 at 17:14 »

I fished the Don at Inverurie today from 11:15ish till 4pm today. There was a couple of hatches around midday and 2ish. I caught 1 Brownie that was about a 1/4 lb, my first ever fish on the Don.

There was still the odd fish rising when i left. On a side note most dog owners in Inverurie seem to have a labrador

seen 8 different ones today, usually swimming by fly scaring off all the fish

This was only my second time out on the Don and my first ever time wading, i got a pair from my grandad the other day. Unfortunately i had a hole in the right leg and got soaked.

. Today was a good learning experience if nothing else.

Dave

« **Reply #43 on:** 08/04/2011 at 20:42 »

My first day on the Don and my first ever concession day ticket. A beautiful day weather wise, but as DJG1984 says there wis a lot o ppl throwin sticks in the watter for their dugs.

I fished from about 12 till 4:30. I had the first two hours on the Urie and two hours on the Don. I stayed within a mile or so of Inverurie and I suspect this is the busiest part, especially wi the school holidays.

A couple of takes gave me confidence in the flies, but I wasnae quick enough to get the hook home. I haven't done much fly fishing, too busy working but I have a bit of time to spare now, being semi-retired. I hope to explore more of the Don soon.

Regards,

farrochie

« **Reply #44 on:** 08/04/2011 at 20:44 »

Try heading up to the top of the beat, a lot less dog walkers up there and some more productive pools.

« **Reply #45 on:** 08/04/2011 at 21:01 »

Quote from: G Ritchie on 08/04/2011 at 20:44

Try heading up to the top of the beat, a lot less dog walkers up there and some more productive pools.

Thanks. I will get an early start one day next week and go right to the top of the beat, on my map that seems to be where the Polinar Burn enters the Don.

« **Reply #46 on:** 08/04/2011 at 21:10 »

Yes, thats the upper limit, from there down to the Black Pot is a productive area.

« **Reply #47 on:** 08/04/2011 at 21:14 »

Quote from: farrochie on 08/04/2011 at 21:01

Thanks. I will get an early start one day next week and go right to the top of the beat, on my map that seems to be where the Polinar Burn enters the Don.

Quote from: G Ritchie on 08/04/2011 at 21:10

Yes, thats the upper limit, from there down to the Black Pot is a productive area.

By the way, don't laugh, I'm using my old Milbro Trufly rod and Intrepid Rimfly reel, must be 30 years old, and my line is the same age, all bought as a package advertised in Trout & Salmon when I started fly fishing on the River Bush in Co Antrim.

« **Reply #48 on:** 08/04/2011 at 21:15 »

Walked the beat a couple of miles downstream of Inverurie today. Got on the river at 2:30pm, left @ 4:52 pm never saw one rise, only saw one Olive which flew overhead, tried to catch it with my new adapted bandy catcher but couldn't even do that!
I think this is the very first time I've visited the river without having a cast

Spoke to a guy that'd been out since lunchtime and he hadn't seen any rises either. Forgot my thermometer to see what the water temp was.

So you'll have to make do with this.

I have a plan though..............

Iain

« **Reply #49 on:** 08/04/2011 at 21:59 »

Quote from: farrochie on 08/04/2011 at 20:42

My first day on the Don and my first ever concession day ticket. A beautiful day weather wise, but as DJG1984 says there wis a lot o ppl throwin sticks in the watter for their dugs.

I fished from about 12 till 4:30. I had the first two hours on the Urie and two hours on the Don. I stayed within a mile or so of Inverurie and I suspect this is the busiest part, especially wi the school holidays.

A couple of takes gave me confidence in the flies, but I wasnae quick enough to get the hook home. I haven't done much fly fishing, too busy working but I have a bit of time to spare now, being semi-retired. I hope to explore more of the Don soon.

Regards,

farrochie

Are you the gentleman i talked to this afternoon by any chance? Did you come up from Stonehaven?

Dave.

Ben Dixon

Iain Cameron

Matt Henderson

DJG1984

Noel Kelly

Matt Henderson

Irvine Ross

Allan Liddle

Noel Kelly

Iain Cameron

DJG1984

Noel Kelly

DJG1984

Richard Tong

Ben Dixon

DJG1984

Ben Dixon

DJG1984

farrochie

Graham Ritchie

farrochie

Graham Ritchie

farrochie

Iain Goolager

DJG1984