[Andy Finlay]

Hows the river looking, is it OK colour wise after the rain the last few days?

[Liam Stephen]

Hi Andy,

I was out last night and it was perfect. A nice tea colour, the fish were up as normal. I had a great night anyways, I'd recommend getting out tonight if you can 

Liam 

[liamY83]

Hi Guys,

A friend and I who generally fish still waters for stocked fish decided a change was in order and are looking to concentrate our efforts on wild fish.  We had our first day on the Don yesterday, fishing the Waterside and Haughton beats at Alford.  We had a great day (by our standards) catching and releasing 35 fish between us, mainly taking them on size 12/14 Caddis, nymphs and hare's ears. 

Although the sport was great and we can't wait to get out again all the fish were on the small side, ranging from just a couple of ounces to maybe just over half a pound.  We're told there are larger fish on these beats and were wondering if any of you 'river regulars' had any tips/advice on getting among these fish?  We always fish catch and release and aren't looking to take any out of the water, instead looking for something that offers a wee bit more sport.  When fishing the still waters we've been relatively successful in targeting specimen fish and caught far more fish than we anticipated yesterday but would happily swap those numbers to catch 2 or 3 1lb plus trout.  Perhaps we're being optimistic expecting larger fish and the size of the fish we took out is the norm and we thought this the best place to find out.

Thanks,

Liam

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Liam

Welcome to the forum. Yes, there are larger fish throughout the river system ...... just give yourself a season or two to get to know the river and you should start to find success, there are no shortcuts

Best wishes
Mike

[Liam Stephen]

Can anyone hazard a guess as to when the Don will be fishable again? 

Cheers
Liam

[Alex Burnett]

Liam


At this rate 2013  :z19

Alex

[Ben Dixon]

Big at Kintore today 

Wednesday could be worth a chuck for the silver things.


Cheers

Ben

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Guys,

A friend and I who ..............

Hi Liam

Hope you enjoyed your fishing at Haddo today!

From what we discussed this afternoon, I don't think your larger Don fish will take long to make an appearance ........ Enjoy

Best wishes
Mike

[liamY83]

Mike,

Thoroughly enjoyed my day, fish were in great condition and helped continue my education in chasing the brownies. Will definitely be back!

Thanks for the tips regarding the Don, hoping to head up on Tuesday evening, hopefully the water levels will have dropped and the weather will be better than it was today! Nothing beats a Scottish summer....

Liam

[Rob Brownfield]

Big at Kintore today 

Wednesday could be worth a chuck for the silver things.


Cheers

Ben

Roach?

[Allan Liddle]

Big at Kintore today 

Wednesday could be worth a chuck for the silver things.


Cheers

Ben

Acht thon tourist things just get in the road. 

[Mark Zhang]

tried spinning last night from 10pm to 12pm. only one bite, the fish jumped out water and lost it.  didn't see fish rising a lot. hope today is a good day. 

[Liam Stephen]

The river levels are dropping fast!!  brilliant, hopefully it's clearing too. Has anyone been down at all today? 

Liam

[josh]

Was down the kintore beat of the don today.
There was quite a lot of rises and a good hatch of sedges at around 1:30 2:00
I managed to catch a 1/2 pounder and lost a fish round about 1 1/2 2 lb went under the bank as i was gettin my net i left a bit away when i took my vest and jumper off bumber
will be back down later to see if a can catch the bad boy or a bigger one hopefully  oh and both were on the dry (klink)

[Liam Stephen]

Josh 

What was the water height and more importantly colour like?

Cheers
Liam

[josh]

The water height was nnot too bad still needs to drop a bit as i think it just under the meter mark dropped a foor since last night and is dropping fast. but the fish were rising in parts i could see the bottom with my polaroids so it is clearing up well compared to last night it was dark and never even seen a fish but it should be fine where youre heading tonight.

[liamY83]

I took a trip to Inverurie to check out the water levels and it still seemed pretty high yesterday, spoke to the guys in sloans who said it would take 4 'non rain' days for it to return to normal so decided on a trip to the Isla tonight as levels seemed more normal. Plenty of fish moving and took a couple before rain stopped play! After getting soaked at haddo on Sunday decided I'm a fair weather fisher, hoping for some clear weather so can get out to either the Don or the Isla at the weekend.

Anyone remember when we last for 4 'non rain' days in a row?

Liam

[Peter McCallum]

Anyone remember when we last for 4 'non rain' days in a row?

Think I remember my grandad telling me about them   

[Mark Zhang]

Went out last night, but it was raining. No bite, no fish rise, nothing, so I guess I shouldn't fish in the rain. Am I right? Cheers.

Mark

[Iain Cameron]

morning folks,

Just went down to the Don at cruives (mile and a half from sea). Yuck. brown, murky, debris.
The online levels had reported steady water, but looks like there was enough rain yesterday to colour it up without raising it too much. Hmmm. didn't put the rod up. back home for more coffee.

dry ish weekend forecast, so hopefully monday onwards will be better

iain

[Loxiafan]

Yep, needs another 2 or 3 days with no rain for it to drop (for the broon troot) I'd say. 1.3/1.4 m at Parkhill is ok for me as long as it is clear, but it is dropping verrrry slowly. Coming back from Beauly via Speyside on Sunday past the Don headwaters were fair raging around Corgarff and Strathdon and a weeks worth of intermittent persistent rain on top of that has not helped.

Has been a pretty pants season so far weatherwise.  :z19

L

[Michael Buchan]

Had a cast last night with a streamer water looked ok unfortunately the brownies didn't want to play, had one tiddler.  Highlight of the night though was being connected to a salmon about 6lb the cast before i hooked the fish it followed the fly right to the bank and jumped then next cast it nailed it in the middle of the river i was using a yellow butt sump streamer  unfortunately after a jump and a couple head shakes it was off    Nothing of note rising

Michael

[Noel Kelly]

Hard luck Michael  Was also out last night and found a pod of rising fish. Not easily tempted though and after several fly changes got one of 11/4 lbs on an f fly. Leaped all over the pool which put an end to the rising fish. Had an otter swim past me twice, stopping for a good look at me both times.

[Loxiafan]

Was also out last night and found a pod of rising fish. Not easily tempted though and after several fly changes got one of 11/4 lbs on an f fly.

Good to hear the trout are "on" Noel.  Down in Aberdeen last evening the dread Haar was in so that ruled out the beats I would have been targetting, as that stuff is the kiss of death in my experience ? Might have a go tomorrow night though given the fish are catchable on dries. I presume you were "mid river" ?

Lindsay

[Iain Goolager]

I presume you were "mid river"

I think he was fishing from the bank Lindsay 

Iain