River Spey - Delagyle Beat
It was the end of April and the weather had turned distinctly wintry. There had been heavy snow showers overnight and as we drove north on the A9, the mountains around us were adorned with a blanket of fresh white snow. My wife and I were travelling up to Aberlour to fish the stunning Delagyle beat on the majestic River Spey. The Delagyle beat is very close to both our hearts. We had fished the beat for a number of days in March, without success and were now hoping to make amends. The previous night we had spoken to our good friend and ghillie on the Delagyle beat David Smillie, who said that the water had risen through the course of the week due to melting snow and conditions were looking promising.
A snowy scene on the drive up towards Speyside
We had to make a stop in Grantown on Spey first and visit the iconic Mortimers fishing tackle shop. A few days earlier, I had broken my fly rod and the staff had kindly said that they would replace the broken section. I have known Graham, the manager for years. I first met him when I went into the shop with my father as a young boy to collect a permit to fish on the fabulous Grantown Angling Association water. Graham kindly said he would open the shop early for me and it was a pleasure to see him again. Graham has sound advice when it comes to fishing the River Spey and it is always worth dropping in to hear his wise words of wisdom before embarking on a day’s salmon fishing in the area. Graham very kindly dealt with my broken rod and also gave me another fly rod to try for the day. The customer service at Mortimers is second to none and the shop is well worth a visit.
After a quick coffee, we headed towards Aberlour. Delagyle was looking splendid as always and it was great to see David again. David's knowledge of his beat is second to none and he oozes passion and enthusiasm. David explained that the River Spey had been fishing well and prospects for the remainder of the spring season were encouraging. The other guests fishing on the beat were in great form and there was good banter being exchanged among us all prior to starting our day's fishing. One of the other guests was still to catch his first salmon; was today going to be that unforgettable day?
David suggested that my wife and I fish the Pol Mcree pool, directly in front of the hut. Pol Mcree is a Gaelic word translating to “pool of my heart”. You just need to take one look at the pool to see that it is aptly named. My wife decided to set up her fifteen-foot fly rod with a sinking tip line. On the business end, she opted for a three-quarter inch Willie Gunn tube. I set up my new fly rod for the day that Mortimers had kindly loaned me with a similar sink tip line and a three-quarter inch Cascade bottle tube variant. My wife fished the head of Pol Mcree, which left me the mouthwatering tail to explore. I have to say that the tail of Pol Mcree is one of the finest pieces of fly water I have ever fished. The idea is to wade out to around shin depth and then cast the fly at around forty-five degrees towards the far bank. The current then brings the fly over three mesmerising boils created by large boulders at just the perfect speed. Below the boulders the river looks inky black before the water flows down some rapids and into the next pool. This is where running fish often pause before carrying on upstream. I carefully waded out and could see that the river had a slight beery tinge to it, which was perfect.
The tail of Pol Mcree
I started fishing and the new rod had a lovely action. While fishing, I started to absorb my stunning surroundings. The buds on the trees were coming into leaf. To my right I could see the white snow capped mountains of the Cairngorms glinting in the spring sunshine. Above, an Osprey circled overhead looking for it's breakfast. Wow!
My wife having a cast under the watchful eye of David
My wife was fishing upstream and I could see her casting a lovely line under the watchful eye of David. I fished the tail of the pool trying hard to cover every inch of water without success. David suggested that we fished the Gean Tree pool next, which is located at the bottom of the beat. We drove down to another one of the beat's stunning pools. The Gean Tree pool is set on a sweeping right-hand been on the river. It has a lovely steady current, which picks up towards the narrow tail. The pool is made for fly-fishing. We both fished the pool hard. The tail of the pool especially fished well and I was just waiting for the line to tighten.
Fishing down towards the Gean Tree pool
It was now just after midday so we decided to head back to the hut. I could not resist having another cast in the tail of Pol Mcree, prior to lunch. I decided to change my fly to a NessC three quarter inch copper tube. The fly was tied by my good friend George Doull, a ghillie on the Thurso river. He had given it to me on our last visit to Delagyle in March. I fished the tail of the pool hard again and to the best of my ability. Each time the fly swung over the boils, I was sure that my line would tighten. Unfortunately, it was just not to be.
Back at the hut at lunchtime we heard some great news. Our fellow guest had caught his first salmon earlier that morning and what a superb specimen it was. He had been fishing the Dallbreck pool on the upper part of the beat and landed a stunning fish of around ten pounds. What a fish to catch for your first ever salmon. To top it all off, it was caught on the fly. It was almost a party-like atmosphere over lunch as we were all buoyed by his success and it felt like we were riding the crest of a wave. We sat in the warm spring sunshine and enjoyed a superb lunch, soaking up our stunning surroundings. Lunch went on for a bit longer than anticipated as we were all so relaxed. However, we sat bolt upright when we saw two springers jumping in front of us in quick succession. It is amazing what seeing a springer can do to you!
Throwing a nice line in Dallbreck
David suggested that we spent an hour fishing the lovely Dallbreck pool at the top of the beat. The Dallbreck pool is another mouthwatering pool on Delagyle. It has a fast run at the head of the pool, which hugs the far bank. It is not a wide pool by Spey standards and is easily covered with the fly rod. The tail of the pool looks superb. The pool slightly widens out and a number of large boulders populate the riverbed. These boulders throw up tantalising dark boils behind which fish often lie. I decided to persist with my NessC fly while my wife tried an inch long Posh Tosh Copper tube. My wife fished the pool down first while I sat back and watched her. I was beginning to feel sleepy in the warm sun. I knew I should not have had that second piece of chocolate cake at lunchtime!
After my wife had finished fishing the pool, it was my turn. The fly was swinging around like a treat in the current but that pull just did not materialise. It was now after four, so we decided to head back to the hut for a quick cup of coffee. David said that he had seen a few fish moving in Pol Mcree. I decided to have one final fling before we made the long journey back to Perthshire. I started at the head of the pool on the concrete walkway. While fishing, I reflected on what had been another great day. A spring salmon had been caught on the fly by one of our fellow anglers and this was his first salmon. What an achievement! I was just reminiscing back in my mind to catching my first salmon when suddenly to my surprise the line tightened and I got a savage take. The rod bent double and the fish was on. I shouted to David and my wife as they were at the hut chatting. The fish decided to run fast towards the far bank and then cartwheeled out of the water. It was a stunning Spey spring salmon. The fish then started to come towards me and then stopped dead all of a sudden. I could still feel the fish pulling but it was more like hard head shakes now. I managed to get the fish to come up to the surface of the water and could see that it had got tangled around the line. By now David and my wife were by my side as were the other guests. Luckily the fish was now close to the bank and it rolled on the surface once more before David made no mistake with the net. After a quick photograph, the fresh eight-pound spring salmon was returned to carry it's onward journey upstream. This was the perfect end to the perfect day.
A nice Spey spring salmon caught at the end of another fabulous day on Delagyle
I decided to fish down to the hut and then call it a day. Funnily enough, my wife sparked into action again. Obviously, there is no greater motivation than watching your better half catching a salmon! I had not made more than three casts when my line tightened again and this felt like a much bigger fish. The fish tore off downstream for about ten seconds before the line went slack. I was gutted and am sure one or two expletives were uttered from my mouth! After a few more casts we decided to call it a day.
On the way back home we both reflected on what had been a fantastic day. We talked about the time when my wife caught her first fly caught salmon and what a special moment that was for her. For us it was great to catch a nice Spey springer but what gave us both the most satisfaction was to see our fellow guest catch his first ever salmon. A day that will be firmly etched in his memory forever.