Update 29 June 2008

With half a months rainfall coming down on Sunday we were bracing ourselves for a river running about 6 feet on the Monday morning. It surprised us all at 2' 8 " but very black. A couple of sea-trout were caught but most anglers waited it out. By Tuesday it was + 10 inches but still very peaty although a 13 lb fish fell to R Breakell at U/Netherdale and Avochie managed a few to 10 lb. By Wednesday things cleared slightly and D Oliver had a 10 lb sea-liced fish at Forglen, A Crow landed an 18lb sea-liced fish at U/Netherdale Avochie had another four to 10 lb and Carnousie , Laithers, L/Netherdale, Dunlugas and most beats reported some action. By Thursday the river had risen again to + 10 inches and again turned heavily peat stained. For the most part this turned the fish off again although a few were caught. K Barron had two to 13 lb and D Coull had a 12 lb sea-liced fish all off Carnousie and Netherdale and J Walton had  five to 10 lb and lost five off Mountblairy on Thursday. The sea-trout were a bit scarce with the high water this week and most beats below Turriff reported in about a half dozen  each for the week. They have appeared later in recent seasons but unless we get an upturn this week and next it looks like our sea-trout are in desperate straights. Thank heaven we get a run of salmon now at this time of year to keep us all going.

I have two daily rods on Dunlugas for the next two weeks at £50 per day per rod  if anyone is interested and there are two rods on Forglen this week and next on a weekly basis. I can also sort out some accommodation if interested. Further ahead there are still  vacancies in August at Upper Netherdale and Carnousie in August for weeks returning on average 25 fish per week and a week for three rods at Lower Inverichnie 4 August

Update 24 June 2008

Levels opened last week at +9 inches and very peaty after rain in the catchment on Saturday . Levels faded away to about normal or just above by Saturday and the river fished very well. It was still very cold at night for sea-trout but they were there. The Turriff Angling Association (in the Trout and Salmon for July for sea-trout fishing) produced fish at 4 lb, 5.25 lb and a fish of 10.5lb amongst others for the week. It also yielded a 12 lb salmon to B Arnold and a 9lb fish to J Wilkie. Upper Netherdale, Bognie pool , Mountblairy , Kinnairdy, Forglen , Dunlugas and Euchrie all reported sea-trout and some beats were well into double figures for combined catches of sea-trout and salmon. Heavy rain on Sunday saw us expecting water of over 6 foot on Monday it really was so heavy. Thankfully it did not fall like that further west and levels although too dark to fish were only 2'8" on Monday . Today levels are at + 10 inches this morning and some fish and sea-trout are coming off- the highlight so far a 13lb fish to R Breakell at Upper Netherdale- returned. More rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow so it may not be looking too great although there are plenty of fish in the system. 

Mr Denholm with the 10.5lb Sea-trout.

Update 15 June 2008

A bitterly cold week with northerly winds and showers at the end of the week. With levels at normal level the weather made it feel like winter. Temperatures were around 9 degrees and the river was 7 degrees some mornings. I Masson kicked off the week with one lost at the net and the second 9lb sea-liced safely returned. Euchrie and Turriff reported sea-trout to 3 lb and Turriff Anglers also returned a salmon at around 7 lb . Lower beats also reported some sea trout. Tuesday saw Muiresk , Upper Netherdale and Montcoffer feature with salmon and Sea-trout. Wednesday saw a decent run of fish with J Mann landing two sea-liced fish up river and I had a grilse at just over 4 lb above Turriff. R Breakell returned a fish around 8lb off the Castle Hotel water on Thursday and Upper Netherdale and a beat above Turriff landed double figure numbers of fish and lost as many between them on Thursday and Friday. J Mann also returned a fish of around 15 lb on Friday. With heavy showers on Friday , levels were up to +5 inches on Saturday but still fairly clear. A few fish came off early doors on Saturday with M Watt returning three but it remained bitterly cold and showery all day.

There seems to be a good run of salmon coming off the tides and a few sea-trout are appearing. Our forecast is for more rain - just what we do not want for the sea-trout but a little heat would help and it looks likely to remain bitterly cold and windy all week.

Update 10 June 2008

Levels have dropped away to just under normal levels and finding fish is hard work and luck of the draw. Last week saw Avochie take nine for the week. Upper Netherdale reported four, G Small, S Smith, J McHardy and A Bruce had fish to 8lb at Montcoffer. Dunlugas reported a sea-trout and I Masson took two sea-liced fish at Muiresk early on Thursday morning. Turriff saw L McTavish land a 3lb sea-trout and G Dublonski reported a fish of around 16 lb at L/Inverichnie on Saturday. This week has kicked off with hot weather at 25 degrees on Monday but early risers have had fish. I Masson lost one at the net and then landed a 9lb fish again at Muiresk ,

Euchries reported a sea-trout and Turriff returned a sea-liced fish at about 7lb. Early reports today saw R McDonald take a sea-liced fish at 7lb off Muiresk. Other beats have seen the odd fish but nothing on the bank as yet. The weather is much cooler today with showers and it is to get colder as the week goes on with northerly winds. We just need the sea-trout to put in an appearance now in greater numbers.

Update 3 June 2008

Levels opened at +2 inches on Monday. Mountblairy produced a 12 lb fish and a sea-trout to R Walker and Tuesday saw three Salmon to 12 lb at U/Netherdale and Carnousie. Wednesday saw I Masson return an 8lb fish at Avochie and heavy rain Wednesday pm saw levels at +10 inches on Thursday but running clear early on at Turriff. S Ritchie and C Wyness Returned a 10lb and 17 lb  fish at Mountblairy before the dirt appeared around mid day. Friday saw the river again very dirty but back at normal level. Lower and Upper Netherdale posted more fish on Saturday along with another sea-trout.

This week we are running at normal and a few sea-trout have put in an appearance lower down the river and at Dunlugas. Upper Netherdale report a couple of fish and Forglen and Dunlugas have lost sea-trout and a big fish this morning. It is raining heavily so we expect a rise overnight.

I have still some prime August Fishing at Netherdale and Carnousie available with the Accommodation  which usually yields over 15 fish per week and now have 1 or 2 rods at Avochie w/c 20 October, this week has produced over 50 fish for the last two years. 

Last week also saw the Turriff Burn get some fish from the hatchery for the first time. In all about 15 000 fry were released in the area to help future stocks. In all around 350 000 fry were in the hatchery and some will be kept as fed fry and released later in the season.

         Fry from the tank ready for release.                                   Releasing the fry. 

Update 26 May 2008

The river has held up around the +4 to +5" mark for most of last week. The week kicked off with N Cowie's 10lb at Scatterty, I Stewart with one at 6lb at Mountblairy and myself with a sea-liced fish at 9lb on my second cast on a conehead. J Donald took one at 7lb off the Wrack and I Stewart managed another at 7lb off Mountblairy and one fell to B Parkin at Avochie after loosing one on Monday. Wednesday saw two to 10 lb at Upper Netherdale and I Stewart struck lucky again with one at 17lb off Mountblairy. F Watt had one at U/Netherdale on Thursday and R Adam took a cracking sea-liced fish from Forglen on Friday at 20 lb.

We continue to have dry weather and levels are around the normal mark as we open the new week. Already a 12 lb sea-liced fish and a 3lb sea-trout have come off Mountblairy today.

Update 18 May 2008

A slow week with cool easterly winds. Levels opened at 11 inches and dropped away to 5 inches by the weekend. Mountblairy and Upper Netherdale produced fish to 9 lb but in general it was very hard going.

However fish arrived off the high tides by Saturday and two sea-liced fish came off Forglen on Saturday to Gary Dewar and M Buchan. Lets hope some more arrive over the next few days. 

Upper Netherdale and Carnousie still have some vacancies for the accommodation and fishing (they must be taken together.) Waterside lodge  is available w/c 29 June , 3 August and 17 August, while Ferry Cottage is available 22 June, 27 July, 10 August and 31 August. If interested please be quick and give me a ring on 01888 562428.

Update 10 May 2008

Levels this week have opened at +12 inches and finished at +6 inches and they have ran clear all week.

Mr. Watt had a 7lb sea-liced fish on Monday and J Jack managed one at U / Netherdale. The second sea-trout came off Turriff at 4lb sea-liced and this was followed by a 16 lb fish on the Thursday. Also on Thursday Mrs. Collins took her first ever salmon- an 8lb fish at Avochie.The hot and sunny weather has not done us many favours this week but there are a few fish there and a few early sea-trout all add to the expectation. Next week is to remain dry but cooler. A few thundery showers this pm may affect levels over the weekend. 

Upper Netherdale and Carnousie-------  After a very long delay and confusion, this is now to be let on a weekly  basis for 2008. Nearly everybody who provisionally booked a week will be offered it. At this late stage some have and others will back out. So if you had an interest there may be something now available from August to October.

Update 4 May 2008

Monday got off the week off to a cracking start with R Breakell taking a 7lb sea-liced fish off Upper Netherdale and D Coull a 12 lb fish at Carnousie. Bridge of Marnoch managed one at 12 lb again sea-liced and Laithers and Lower Netherdale also had fish. Heavy showers on Tuesday saw levels at over 2 feet on Wednesday and very muddy. Thursday opened the same but cleared slowly and an 18lb fish was reported up river. Levels were up again on Friday but Avochie managed an 8lb fish and Scatterty managed an 8lb fish on Saturday. Next week is to be mainly dry and a bit warmer so with levels tailing off we should see some more fish coming off.

Update 27 April 2008

The River opened at 1foot 6 inches on Monday and was running fairly clear. Upper Netherdale produced a 10 lb fish to D Coull , Marnoch Lodge took a 15 lb fish and R Breakell returned a lovely fish of around 17 lb . Tuesday saw some beats up river produce fish with as many lost while Avochie had a sea-liced fish at 6 lb and two at 9 and 12 lb came off Carnousie. Laithers , Netherdale and Bridge of Marnoch all had several fish on Wednesday and Mountblairy had a couple and lost as many on Thursday. Jim Fearn one of the casting instructors for my open day on Saturday struck lucky with a 9lb sea-liced fish at Forglen  again on Thursday. Upper Netherdale saved the best of the season so far until Friday with D Coull taking a fish at 7 lb and then an absolute cracker of a sea-liced fish at 25lb. With levels now settled at around 10 inches conditions could not be better. There are plenty of fish in the system but with heavy rain forecast for tonight (Sunday) and heavy showers all week lets hope we are not washed off this coming week.-- I still have some cracking weeks at Forglen and Muiresk available as well as other places. I also have some people not to sure about confirming weeks so give me a call if you are looking for something.

Update 20 April 2008

Levels opened at nearly four feet on Monday but were relatively clear. Reports of two more fish from Avochie and Conniecleugh came through from the weekend. Levels dropped and steadied around two feet for the rest of the week and fish came off by the weekend. T Lawson had the first fish off Upper Netherdale and Carnousie at 15 lb sea-liced, Laithers had another fish and D Plumpton returned a 14 lb sea-liced fish off his Castle Hotel Water at Huntly. G Eyres then returned a fish around 8lb sea-liced and lost a double figure fish in the same pool at Forglen on Saturday. Warmer weather is forecast for next week so a few more anglers out may see a few more fish.

As reported last week  an open day will be held at the Turriff Angling Association water by the Deveron Bridge on the Aberchirder road this coming Saturday the 26 April. Casting instructors in both Salmon and Trout fishing will be present throughout the day to give demonstrations and more importantly some tuition so please do come along and make the day worthwhile.

Update 12 April 2008

This week saw the river open at 3 feet and rising , Tuesday saw 4 feet , Wednesday 5 feet, Thursday 3 feet, Friday 3 feet and Rising and Saturday 4 feet. It was very dirty most days and indeed after heavy rain Tuesday night we woke to three inches of Snow on Wednesday. R Seed managed a small fish off Turtory on Thursday and reports from the tail end of last week saw a lower beat take two sea-liced fish at 8 and 16 Lb Laithers had two , Forglen lost a sea-liced fish at the net and The Smith Party at Mountblairy had four on Friday- the best 14 lb sea-liced and R Fraser had an 8lb fish at Avochie.  So the fish are there and we need the water to settle a bit so as we can get at them.

With help from the Turriff Angling Association I am having an open day on their water on Saturday 26 April with Guideflyfishing. There will be a couple of Angling Instructors to show all Vision and Rio products and help you with your casting problems. - More info to follow later.

Update 6 April 2008

The river has been a wee bit out of sorts this week- it has been up and down and coloured some days. The snow of last weekend melted early week and as temperatures went up the water did the same and stayed up. It dipped on Wednesday only for some showers to put it up again - although it dropped a foot overnight by the end of the week. It has been blustery but two fish came off Laithers on Thursday and a double figure sea-liced fish was lost at the net at Forglen on Friday. The snow has returned this weekend and we have a covering this morning .More snow showers forecast for the early part of the week so I suspect it will keep anglers at home until it improves.

Update 29 March 2008

Snow on the ground early  part of the week kept people indoors and levels ran at 1' 6" above normal. As levels dropped to 1 foot I Masson landed his third fish of the season at Avochie. A fish of 12 lb. Mountblairy produced a fish to N Furye at 9lb and 4 others came off a lower beat and were all returned. Heavy rain on Friday saw the river rising and with a thaw setting in by Saturday we were running at nearly 3 feet and looking very dirty.

Hopefully if things settle down we should get a few more wish next week.

Update 22 March 2008

The weather has been unkind to anglers in the last few weeks. Heavy rain saw levels rise to nearly three feet on 11 March and after falling to +6 inches on 19 March heavy rain/sleet and snow have seen levels up to 5 feet on  March 21 dropping to 2 feet today. The wind has been very strong in the time as well and bitterly cold.  Two more fish came off a lower beat over a week ago so the total now stands at 10. There has been twice as many anglers out as usual for this time of year. So lets hope winter is now past and we can encounter a few more fish in the beginning of April.

Update 6 March

Settled conditions for the most part have seen the river remain steady . We did reach 3 ft the other Saturday and heavy rain on Wednesday night of this week sees the river at 3 ft tonight. There have been plenty of kelts around with some anglers picking up 9 or 10 for the day. There are a few unconfirmed reports of clean fish last week but a fresh 7lb fish was returned at Avochie on Wednesday by I Masson, caught on a pot bellied pig fly.

Update 25 February 2008

The river continues to run around plus 9 inches although the air temperatures are all over the place. Thursday saw 15 degrees c and Friday saw snow showers and back to 12 degrees on Saturday. Two fish were caught around 7and 9lb off a lower beat during the week and young Mark Ritchie caught his first ever salmon on the fly off Forglen on Saturday at 14lb 4 oz.

Update 20 February 2008

The weather has been too kind and the river has held steady at around plus six inches for about a week now. The numbers of anglers out has been the highest for many a year but the springers remain elusive. There was a fish lost at the net last Tuesday covered in sea-lice at Lower Inverichnie and another fish estimated at 12 lb lost at Avochie on Saturday.

 Ian Masson presented with the Whisky for the first Fish and the smoked salmon for its return by Deveron, Bogie and Isla Trusts Robin Vasey.

Update 11 February 2008 

The day dawned bright and crisp inland but there was fog towards the coast. For the first time the Deveron had an opening ceremony at Huntly Castle sponsored by Pernod Ricard, where River Board Chairman Malcolm Hay introduced Professor David McKay who gave a short speech to the substantial crowd on the importance of keeping GS out of Scotland and the New Moray Firth Sea-trout Programme aimed at restoring sea-trout numbers from Sutherland to the Deveron. He then gave a toast to the river before blessing it and Mr. Hay had the first cast to the skirl of the pipes.        

 D McKay toasts the River

 Malcolm Hay has the first cast.

 The river ran at one foot above normal and was crystal clear. After an early white frost the water temperature was around 3 degrees, the sun shone and air temperatures reached around 10 degrees. Plenty kelts were in evidence and a few were taken up and down the river.

 However we had to wait until 3.30 pm for I believe the first fish to be landed. A lovely fish of around 9lb was landed and returned at Avochie by lucky angler Ian Masson. His first ever opening day fish. Close behind  at 4.30 pm came George Anderson with a fish of around 12 lb netted by his fishing partner R Ewen at Forglen.