Birse - River Dee
My wife had never fished the River Dee before as she only started fly fishing last year. So when I asked her if she wanted to fish a new river, she jumped at the chance. It was early March and I had booked two rods on the scenic Birse beat, which is situated close to the Aberdeenshire town of Aboyne. I have fished the Birse beat regularly in the past, when I lived in the area but had not done so in recent years. The Birse beat has ample fishing for four rods, being over three miles in length. The beat has a variety of pools which fish in different heights of water. The beat excels in May and June but produces fish consistently from March right through until the end of the season. Being mid-March, I was not expecting a bonanza, but looking forward to taking a trip back down memory lane.
Saturday morning was a very mild cloudy morning, with a strong south westerly wind. Weather forecasters had predicted it to be one of the mildest days of the year so far, with temperatures reaching the dizzy heights of thirteen degrees on Deeside. Although this would be pleasant conditions to fish in, I was all too aware of the perils of a sudden rise in temperature in early March. In the past, when this has happened I have been confronted with a rapidly rising river due to snow melting.
We had a pleasant drive over to Deeside. We drove over the Cairn O Mount, which is a breathtaking road, with jaw dropping beautiful scenery. We always stop when we get to the top and admire the views towards Dundee to the South and Deeside to the north. There was very little snow left on the hills, which reflected what a mild winter it had been. We got to the beat just before nine and were greeted by the ghillie Dougie Murray. Dougie is a Dee legend and has been a ghillie on the river for over forty years. He is one of life’s great characters. Anything Dougie does not know about the river is not worth knowing. I have known Dougie for over ten years and he has always given me good advice and netted a number of fish for me on the beat.
Dougie was in good form as always and we chatted about times gone by and all the practical jokes he had played on me in the past. My wife found these incidents hilariously funny. Unfortunately, my worst suspicions were confirmed as Dougie said the water was rising due to snow melting. It had risen around four inches since Dougie had been at the beat that morning. On a positive note, the water was lovely and clear and it was a beautiful day. As well as my wife and I, there was also another angler fishing the beat. Dougie had allocated us the Irrigation pool to fish in the morning.
The Irrigation pool
The Irrigation pool lies in front of the Birse hut and is a lovely long pool. It fishes well in high water, especially at the tail. The pool has quite a narrow neck and the current runs along the far bank. As you move further down the pool, it widens out and there is a good even flow for the fly to swing around. The water is slower towards the near bank which is why in higher water a long cast is not required. The tail of the pool has some lovely dark glassy looking patches from where I have caught fish in the past. Both my wife and I chose to fish sinking tip lines with two inch copper tubes. Dougie felt that it would be important for the fly to get down in the fast current. As you would expect, the water temperature was quite low due to melting snow.
My wife started fishing at the head of the pool and I started a third of the way down. The Irrigation pool is so big that it takes around an hour to fish it properly. The tail of the pool was looking very good. The fly was coming around slowly over the marks of boulders and I was just waiting for the line to tighten. Unfortunately, this did not happen. To be honest, it did not matter. It was just nice to be out fishing, surrounded by such stunning scenery on a beautiful day on Deeside. After we had both fished the pool down once, we decide to try heavier lines as the water was rising fast. I changed to heavier sink tip and a brass tube and my wife decided to try a two and half inch tungsten tube.
We fished the pool down again and it was noticeable that the river had risen significantly from when we had first started fishing. The fly was swinging around in the current at greater speed. By lunchtime, we had both thrashed the Irrigation pool to a foam!It was good to hear at lunch that our fellow angler fishing the beat had caught a kelt in the Bridge pool and lost another. It gave us encouragement, as it was obvious that the fish had not been put off taking the fly in rising water.
In the afternoon, it was our turn to fish the Bridge pool. The Bridge Pool is the uppermost pool on the Birse beat. It starts at the road bridge in Aboyne and fishes well in high water. The Bridge Pool is broad by Middle Dee standards. Dougie was quite surprised at how much the water had risen since the morning. My wife started fishing directly below the bridge and I started half way down the pool. I felt confident, as the fly was swinging around nicely and then hanging tantalisingly on the dangle. To slow the fly down and to get it to sink, I was casting the fly at forty-five degrees and putting a big upstream mend in the fly line. I had been fishing for around ten minutes. My fly was on the dangle, when the line quickly tightened and pulled away. I lifted the rod slowly and I was into a fish. The fish started to headshake immediately, which is never a good sign. It felt powerful and surged out towards the middle of the river. After some more head shaking, the line went slack and I had lost fish. My hook appeared to be fine and as Dougie quite rightly said loosing fish was just one of the vagaries of salmon fishing. Buoyed by my near miss, I quickly started casting again, slowing moving down the pool. I must have been fishing for no more than five minutes when my line tightened again. This time the take was more subtle and as soon as the fish was hooked it started coming towards me. The fight was far too tame to be a springer. After a few thrashes on the surface, Dougie netted a very well mended kelt of around four pounds. It was nice to get the rod bent. I then walked up to the head of the pool and started fishing just below the bridge. My wife had decided to have a break and was chatting away to Dougie. I had fished a third of the way down the pool when my line tightened again. Was this going to be my first Dee Springer of 2015? The fish initially stayed deep and was putting a good bend into my sixteen foot rod. As I applied more pressure to the rod, the fish came up on to the surface. It was another kelt. The fish came towards me quite quickly across the surface of the water and Dougie netted it with a minimum of fuss.
A kelt expertly netted by Dougie from the Bridge pool
It was after four and the river must have risen a foot and a half since the morning. Dougie suggested that we had a quick cast in the Jetties pool before we called it a day. The Jetties is another nice pool, which fishes well in high water. The pool is located on a right-hand bend of the river. The fast current runs along the far bank, with the inside of the bend being much slower. We both fished the pool hard, covering every inch of water. It was clear that we were fighting a losing battle with a rising river.
The Jetties pool
We got back to the hut and enjoyed a cup of coffee and a slice of cake with Dougie. We were entertained by his wonderful stories of days gone by. It was great to hear Dougie describe the glory days of the past on the river.
Driving back from Deeside, the view from the top of the Cairn O Mount was like a picture postcard. The sun was setting in the west and what was left of the melting snow on the tops of the Angus mountains, was glinting. We had a wonderful day and my wife thoroughly enjoyed her first experience of fishing on the River Dee. We both can’t wait to come back and fish the river later in the spring.