July 15, 2025
I just returned from a great family trip to England and Scotland. During our time in Scotland, my wife Katie and I had the unexpected pleasure of spending a day fly fishing a river in Scotland with a good friend of ours. He booked a beat on a beautiful river on the west coast of Scotland. On our way to the river, as we traveled down the coast, we could just make out the hills of Ireland across the sea.We met the bailiff (i.e. warden or gamekeeper) at 9am near a bridge over the river. We followed him through the vast private estate surrounding the river. We drove by two large enclosures where pheasants were grown for fall pheasant hunts. The bailiff led us down to the middle of our beat, which was about two miles in length. It was a little early in the season for Atlantic Salmon, but he said four salmon had been landed to date. The bailiff pointed out the best areas to fish and told us to let him know at the end of the day if we connected with any salmon. He then left us to our own devices for the day. The rules for the beat were fly-fishing only and catch-and-release was mandatory. Other than that, there didn't seem to be any other etiquette or limitations on fishing technique.We had a couple single-hand rods and three salmon rods, which were as long as spey rods but still had a single handle above the grip. I'm not sure how these rods should have been used, but I was able to spey cast with them despite the lack of the lower handle. I mainly cast my fly across and tried to get a traditional swing presentation.The river was very appealing and mostly 30-70 feet in width. There were riffles, pools, deep runs, plunge pools, and long, slow glides. If we had been exclusively targeting trout, a 5wt 9ft rod would have been ideal for this river. Judging by the size of the salmon that jumped right in front of Katie at the end of the day, a 7 or 8wt rod was probably the best choice for targeting salmon. The size range on the four salmon landed to date was 7-16 pounds!Throughout the day we walked up and downstream and fished the most appealing water in the beat. We landed a handful of small brown trout and saw evidence of some larger browns. We caught some of the small browns on dries, but most ate wet flies fished on the swing. The reddish hue of the water amplified the red coloration of the brown trout. They looked as bright as goldfish when on the line, but were more subdued out of the water.It sounds like August and September are the prime months for Atlantic Salmon on this particular river. Our beat was just five miles upstream from the ocean. I can only imagine what it would be like to hook an adult salmon on this trout-sized stream! We all landed browns, and I realized that of all the browns I've ever caught, these were the first I've caught in their native range. I hope to return for another chance at a salmon some day. Katie and I have learned that all trips are scouting trips. You learn something on every trip and it helps you know how to plan your next visit.