[Duncan McRae]

Today i decided to blow away the cobwebs by having a wee wander along the banks of a middle Ythan beat.
No fish moving and no sign of any dead kelts which i quite often see at this time of year.
I was dismayed to count 21 Goosanders on a stretch of water approx. 2 miles in length.Surely a small river like the Ythan can't sustain predation on that scale.

The Ythan has often been regarded as a spinning/worming river and while there are certainly many deep,slow moving stretches,there are also some very fine fly stretches.

Some photos of tempting looking water.

































Duncan

[Mike Barrio]

Great photos ..... looks like a cracking stretch of water Duncan

Cheers
Mike

[Jim Eddie]

I had a walk along the Ythan at Ellon recently, lost count of the Goosanders, with that and the seals at Newburgh, its a wonder there are any fish in the river 

 

Jim

[Duncan McRae]

I had a walk along the Ythan at Ellon recently, lost count of the Goosanders, with that and the seals at Newburgh, its a wonder there are any fish in the river 

 

Jim

Still a few fish in the river but for how much longer?

If ever a river needed a hatchery then it's the Ythan in my opinion.
With the predators having protection,there is little we can do to reduce their numbers so I think it makes sense to try and produce a surplus of stock.

Duncan

[Duncan McRae]

Looked like a fine afternoon so headed out in search of Finnock this afternoon.
Turned out to be a very difficult casting afternoon with an upstream swirling wind which caused me twice to hook my fly in the back of my hat!
Got hold of a couple of Finnock and lost a couple for my hours fishing.
They were powerful but thin fish who will soon fill out a bit when they get back to the Estuary for feeding.
















Duncan

[Duncan McRae]

Definitely fly for Methlick Andrew.
Today i was fishing traditional wet fly using a slow sink tip line.Some of the streams at Methlick might need a  faster sink tip.
Invicta did the trick today.

Duncan

[Duncan McRae]

Moved up river this afternoon full of anticipation but it turned out a very quiet session.
It was a lovely afternoon to be out and i did eventually manage to winkle out a solitary Finnock.
















Duncan

[Ivor Duffus]

Braw looking water Duncan. Well done we the  finnocks nice fish   

Ivor

[Jim Eddie]

Usually around June Andrew

 

Jim

[Duncan McRae]

Braw looking water Duncan. Well done we the  finnocks nice fish   

Ivor

Cheers Ivor

Might be worth a visit if you're back home.
A bargain at £15 for a day ticket with loads of water to yourself

Duncan

[Ivor Duffus]

Cheers Ivor

Might be worth a visit if you're back home.
A bargain at £15 for a day ticket with loads of water to yourself

Duncan

Sounds good Duncan but looks like that wont be possible this year with the lockdown. Hopefully things will start returning to normal come June but I think this horrible virus may be here for a while.

Ivor 

[Mike Barrio]

Nice photo Andrew 

[Duncan McRae]

River has risen around 4 inches overnight.
Might just be enough to encourage an odd seatrout to venture upriver.

Duncan

[Duncan McRae]

Waiting for the Sun to drop behind the hill and wondering what the darkness might bring....















Duncan

[Sandy Nelson]

Nice 

[Duncan McRae]

Apologies for the 'out of the water' photos.
On this particular stretch of the Ythan,due to the nature of the banks, it's near impossible to get them unhooked while still in the water.

Duncan

[Mike Barrio]

Apologies for the 'out of the water' photos.
On this particular stretch of the Ythan,due to the nature of the banks, it's near impossible to get them unhooked while still in the water.

Duncan

I know what it's like on the Ythan Duncan 

[Duncan McRae]

After heavy overnight rain i arrived at the river expecting a rise of several inches.However,i was disappointed to find that the rise in water was barely an inch.
I decided to have a go and at least i would get some fresh air.
Very surprisingly,i managed to hook and land a decent sized seatrout.

Just goes to show that any rise in water at this time of year might bring something up river.







Duncan

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff Duncan 

[Bob Mitchell]

Watched Countryfile a way back and they were talking about the number of seals in the estuary. The shore was black with them. It is a miracle that any fish including finnock can get past them. Saying that they had multiplied 10 fold over the last few years.
Bob.

[Duncan McRae]

Had some fun and games trying to land this sea trout last night.
It was absolutely pitch black and from hooking to netting the fish,i could hardly see a thing.
I just stuck my net where i guessed the fish might be and luckily it swam right in!










Duncan

[Duncan McRae]

It's been a couple of months since i last fished the river but now at last we have some water.
However, it's dropping back fast now so i hit the water straight after work .

Lots of fishers out tonight and a few fish reported.Great to see a bit of interest again.Hope it continues.

Opted for the fly and fished for around an hour and a half without seeing or taking anything but, as so often happens,just as the light was going, i hooked  what felt like a good sized fish but after a few minutes of constant head shaking it was off.
Got going again and immediately hooked another fish.There was no chance of her coming off as she was well hooked this time.
A hen fish around 12lb.

Also saw my first Ythan Kingfisher tonight so went home happy.
Not a good photo,think i must have been shaking a bit.



Duncan

[Eddie Sinclair]

Well done Duncan, nice fish

Eddie

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff Duncan 

[James Laraway]

well done