Update 7March 2010

Temperatures remained well below zero for the early part of the week with temperatures as low as -9 .By the end of the week things have been milder but as a result the snow is now melting and river levels reached around 3 feet at the end of the week. Perhaps with milder temperatures and a small rise in levels a few fish can be tempted out of the "warm" north sea. 

I have a few cancellations for fishing and an updated list can be found on the availability page.

Please ring if interested as it has been e-mailed to those who had names down for it.

 I also have a TWITTER PAGE where I will post the river conditions every day. We are a bit short of gauges on the river at the moment after the floods - so please cut me some slack if I do not get it on every day first thing as planned until we get repairs done and gauges back in operation.

Update 28 February 2010.

I can't believe it is ten days since I updated. The weather has not been kind to us fishers. If the weather is "fine" then levels have been to high and if the river is "fine" the weather has been bad. We have had more heavy snow and temperatures down to at least -10 degrees c at night. Garry Mickley fishing at Turtory on Friday February 19 th landed two spring fish for his day. He returned one of 9lb in the morning and then returned one of around 10 lb in the afternoon. Well done to him. With a further 15 inches of snow and eight foot drifts hitting the catchment mid week we are hoping that we do not get a rapid thaw. On top of the snow already there we will be in serious trouble again if it all comes down at once. As I write the forecast is for it to remain cold with more snow midweek and indeed we have had snow showers in Turriff today.

There are plenty of days available on the usual beats until mid May and Upper Netherdale and Carnousie is a new addition on daily lets as is Eden Beat. We also have some availability on very good weeks throughout the season so please check out the letting availability page. If you want to try out the river in the next few months why not make a holiday of it with the family. There is plenty of available Accommodation in Scotland at this time of year at very reasonable prices and a trip could involve one or two days fishing on the Deveron whilst touring the country with the family.

Slightly off Track of the fishing but I know lots of you shoot as well- we at Turriff Tackle are now stocking  CCI, Federal , Remington and Sako ammunition in addition to our Winchester range. We also have Sako and  Tika3  rifles along with Beretta shotguns  arriving over the coming months. Our Clothing range will also be expanded to include Deerhunter clothing.

Update 18 February 2010

Levels have fluctuated with our variable weather. We had some fine days at the end of the week and over the weekend and the river went up slightly with some snow melt. Then a frost held it down followed by heavy sleet  at lower levels but snow in the high catchment which gave us a small dirty rise. We are now back to frosts at - 6 degrees overnight.  Indeed the Ryhnie to Dufftown road at the Cabrach was closed again this week. It seems as though it has been closed due to snow since mid December so at least will give us some snow melt later in the spring.

Our first fish was reported on Saturday at 12-14 lb off Laithers. The Lucky angler was M Gauld. No other reports of Springer's as yet.

I have plenty of Day tickets available until Mid May and have added Eden beat to the list. This has never been  freely available before and can be a productive spring beat. I also have some dates in June and July available here on a weekly basis and the beat fishes 6 rods.

I also have availability at Upper Netherdale and Carnousie for weeks in June July and August. This beat fishes four rods and comes with the services of a gillie. If interested in any of the above or the other beats on the availability page give me a call.

Update 11 February 2010

Opening Day 2010.

The opening day ceremony was held for the first time at Turriff ,courtesy of the Turriff Angling Association. The day dawned cloudy but dry with temperatures around 3 degrees c and the river running at 1 foot 3 inches above normal at Turriff. With 83 people turning up along with 30 primary children from Market Hill School the place was full to bursting. It was great to see so many people turn up to enjoy the morning with the usual Dram supplied by the Sponsor Strathisla and the Angling Club laid on copious amounts of tea, coffee , sausage rolls  and a warm fire for all in their fine hut.

Malcolm Hay, the River board chairman, got things under way with a welcome followed by some short informational pieces from The Deveron , Bogie and Isla Rivers Trust Staff. Pipe Major Billy Hepburn then led the crowd down to the river where Mike Stephen of Celebrations of Turriff blessed the river with Strathisla Whisky and opened the river with the first cast.

Free fishing was provided by the Angling club and many took advantage of it. Sharpe's Of Aberdeen provided a 13 foot rod for any lucky angler taking a springer from the water but only Kelts and a finnock were taken.

2009 turned out to be our second best year for Spring fish behind 2006. Not many Rivers can boast their best ever spring catches in the last ten years. Please remember that Sutherlands of Portsoy are kindly providing a side of smoked salmon to every angler who returns a spring fish again this year and a bottle of Strathisla Malt is still on offer for the first fish caught and released off the river. 

  The welcome and opening speeches at the Turriff Angling Association hut.

 First cast by Mike Stephen of Celebrations of Turriff.

 The gathered anglers watch the first cast of 2010.

Update 21 January 2010

Well after four weeks of winter we are all glad to see the back of it until next time. We had anything from 2 to 5 feet of snow  over the catchment . The first of the snow came on the 18 December and despite the thaw we have still some lying around today.

I have two disasters to report as a direct result of the weather. Firstly the Hatchery. After digging a way in it was felt it needed some extra support for the weight of snow on the roof. This was done on the Thursday / Friday and despite this on Saturday morning it was found collapsed. Richie Miller our biologist put a team together and emergency action was taken to salvage as many eggs as they could. It is believed that around 50 % of the eggs were saved and transferred to a local fish farm for safe keeping.

       
Hatchery before collapse.

 
After collapse. 

Obviously this will have to be rebuilt from scratch and to a higher spec and construction. I dread to think of the cost and the time to get planning. We have been waiting over two years for permission to put in a toilet block !!

Please remember the Deveron , Bogie and Isla River Trust is a charity and relies upon donations to keep it going. There are far worse disasters happening in the world at the moment but if you feel you would like to donate then please click the following link to make a donation.  

http://www.deveron.org/wb/pages/donate.php

Now the second disaster of sorts was the Thaw. We managed a couple of days slowly where about half  the snow went. But Overnight Friday into Saturday morning we had about an inch of rain  and the river went from about one foot to between twelve and fifteen feet by 3pm. This will have damaged the river bed and lots of the redds.Another hammer blow after the hatchery as the river will need all the help it can get with juvenile fish this year.

On the bright side they say colder winters are better for the fish at sea and for sand eel breeding. Hopefully we can get a decent run of sea- trout in June and  July. Last years catch return was nearly double 2008.