Spinfish Where to go Fishing Guide for Salmon and Sea Trout in Scotland


Click Here for the Spinfish guide to  Salmon Rivers


Click Salmon Fishing on Scottish Lochs


Go to SEPA Water Levels for the whole of Scotland


Old Bridge of Dee

It may be that readers will say I am exaggerating the significance of salmon fishing in Scotland but I have to say that Scotland is the home of fishing for Atlantic salmon offering the best fishing you will find any where. Big boast, well it was easy to find statistics to prove that Scotland is where you will find the very best salmon and sea trout fishing. There were over 95,000 rod caught salmon in Scotland in 2006 and the figure is rising!

I've had enough of the doom and gloom merchants urging people to go to Kola or Alaska. No wonder such anglers find themselves disillusioned when salmon fishing in Scotland. While I have, on occasion, gone for periods of time with no action I  have enjoyed every minute because I know that in Scotland salmon run all year round making fishing here truly rewarding and challenging. Nothing like a spate to get the fish on the take. Like instant mash, just add water and the dish is done.

If it is numbers you want, go to Kola, you will get fish in their 6 week or so season. If its consistent quality fishing from January to November you want, fish in Scotland. Salmon are wild, untamed creatures there to challenge your skills making them all the more special when a red letter day comes along.



In Scotland we have the lot, rivers like the North Esk or Tay offering great spring fishing. Prolific rivers like the Spey or Tweed where you will find yourself fishing in places as good as they get. Or there are the lesser known gems like the Don, Deveron and Nairn, the rivers of Ayrshire or the spate rivers of the west coats. The Where to Fish Directory for Scotland lists hundreds of places to fish for salmon and it doesn't have to cost the earth.

Over 300 / 400 fish off the Association water at Grantown, 1200 fish were taken on the Nairn AA water recently. Upwards of 18,000 fish off the Tweed in recent years, near the same off the Tay, 10,000 of the Spey and 7000 off the Deveron, the Dee is on the up and up, even the Clyde is producing fish. There is a lot of fishing out there in places that are magical, loaded with fishing lore. Just have a look at the Where to Fish Directory to find the best salmon fishing on your doorstep.

There is a lot being said about the decline of salmon stocks and it is a matter of concern that since the above was written catch returns have declined. Much needs to be done to reverse this trend.

Certainly climate change has had an effect with feeding grounds moving futher north as local waters warm.

Wntieadder Springer 2019

Here is one I caught earlier this year, a fiesty fish returned unharmed without being taken out of the water


It is certain that fish farming on an industrial scale has all but destroyed the west coats salmon and sea trout fisheries. It is also estimated the well over 300,000 tonnes of marine biomass has to he caught to make the pellets that feed the fish farm stocks. This biomass could consist of the food sought by the salmon and the vulnerable smolts.

Predation in both fresh water and at sea is certainly an issue. If eggs, parr and smolt are eaten even before they can run the guantlet of the oceanic predators there is not much left to return to the rivers in the future.

Salmon are a shoal fish, this off course makes them vulnerable to being caught as a "by catch", particularly by pelagic fishing boats. I hear the shouts of "no way" coming from Peterhead, but I heard it from a very reliable source in said town, that thousands of salmon have been caught over the years.

All of the above paints a dark picture but let me shine a light. In 2013 the catch returns on the Tweed reached record levels. The number of fish running our rivers is still significant. Since 2013 we have had unfavourable weather, comparatively little snow, dry summers which meant that when spates did come the water levels quickly fell back giving fish a limited window of opportunity in which to run.

Historically there have been weather cycles unfavourable to salmon. There have been periods when climate has changed causing salmon to run later, less spring fish more back enders. These are cycles in natural life. We are passing through the lower point of a a cycle at present.

In 2019 reports are that rivers all over Scotland are seeing more fish but here in the Borders where I live the returns are still modest because yet again the rains seem to be passing us by. When we get water we get fish but the periods between rainfall have been so long that we were catching springers that looked like red back end fish on my local river.

Salmon fishing is a lottery some times you arrive to find good water and fish moving everywhere. Some times not.

One final significant factor in catch returns is fishing effort. Bookings on the Tweed are down, as they are on many rivers. Club waters are not seeing the rods out. Lack of angling effort is a factor and scientists are now trying to take this into account in their assessments for river classification. If the rods are on the river fish will be caught.

Truth is expectations are too high. We have generations of anglers accustomed to fisheries where a bag of fish is almost guaranteed. Big fish to the teens of pounds are common. People have become accustomed to big bags.

Shooting fish in a barrel is not fun. For me going days, weeks without a fish is called fishing, it makes that red letter day when the rod bends and the reel screams so extra special. That's why I am a fisherman.


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