Spey Sea Trout
The River
Spey is justly renowned as one of the best of all salmon
rivers, the lower half of the river characterised by mile
after mile of the most perfect,
and most sought after, fly
fishing water imaginable. Anglers come from far and wide to
cast a salmon
fly on its hallowed beats, and pay a pretty
penny for the privilege. Fortunate indeed is the man who has
secured a prime week on one of its many fine beats, each
with a famous name like Castle Grant, Tulchan, Knockando,
 Balindalloch, Arndilly, Rothes, Delfur, Wester Elchies and
Carron to mention just a few.
But the true magic of the Spey
lies, for me, not in its salmon but in its sea trout, that
other migrant which arrives in numbers through June and
July. On the expensive salmon beats, the sea trout will
inevitably be overshadowed by the king of fish. Few will
have the stamina to fish all day for salmon and half the
night for sea trout. There are many, though, who are content
to forget the salmon and look forward instead to the short
summer nights, when the sea trout shoals might, on a good
night, provide exhilarating sport for those willing to
forsake the comfort of a warm bed.
Against a
background of declining sea trout stocks on many rivers, the
2006 season had been a good one on the Spey for both salmon
and sea trout, with improved catch returns on the
Association beats. In excess of five hundred sea trout had
been reported on the Strathspey Angling Improvement
Association water, and more than seven hundred on the
Abernethy Angling Association water just upstream at Boat of
Garten. So it was with high hopes that my wife and I arrived
at the Grantown
Caravan Park on June 17th 2007.
What would the week have in store, I wondered. Conditions
looked promising, with the gauge at the new bridge showing a
settled river running at two
inches above summer level.
Reasonably clement weather was forecast for the early part
of the week, with night temperatures to remain above nine
degrees. Eleven p.m. on Sunday night found me at the
cemetery car park, all tackled up and ready to go. I passed
an impatient hour on a riverside bench overlooking the tail
of Poll a Clachan, hoping for some sign of a sea trout.
Nothing. Midnight finally came and I fished earnestly till
about two in the morning. Nothing. Ah, well, never mind,
tomorrow night will be better!
Monday was
spent in the usual mundane way..... walking, sightseeing,
shopping, followed by a leisurely evening meal ..... then a
final tackle check before I set off for my first full night
on the river. I decided to try further upstream and managed
to squeeze the car in to the roadside parking place beside
two other cars. There was still a good bit of daylight left
as I took the path through the woods, which would bring me
to the river. On the way down I met a couple of anglers
making there way up from the river. I was delighted to see
that, in their landing net, they carried three good sized
sea trout, taken on worm earlier in the evening. Things were
definitely looking up! I carried on down the path to the
river with a decidedly optimistic spring in my step. Dusk
found me on a familiar pool, wading carefully and making my
first tentative casts of the night. I had selected a reel
loaded with a new intermediate line, more by way of
experiment than by logic, and began with my usual cast of
two size eight flies. Sea trout were showing in the pool and
I had a few pulls, but didn't manage to hook anything.
Midnight came and, having substituted a needle fly for the
tail fly, I entered the pool with renewed hope. I was soon
into my first fish of the week, in fact my first of the
season, a nice fresh, and very lively, sea trout of around
two pounds, taken on the Needle Fly. I fished on till after
two o'clock. I had a few more pulls but no more. On leaving
the river, I spoke to another fisherman who had been fishing
the pool below me. He had taken four sea trout between one
and two a.m. on a size six fly, and on a floating line.
We were both
back again the following night on the same stretch of river.
I had come equipped this time with my usual set up - ten
foot rod, an old Orvis Western I had recently acquired on Ebay, Hardy JLH reel and number seven double tapered
floating line,
 ten foot cast of eight pound Maxima and two
size eight flies - a Ginger Pearl on the dropper and a
sparsely dressed Silver Stoat on the tail. It was a nice
night with some cloud cover clearing as the night
progressed, a bit of wind now and again and temperatures no
lower than about ten degrees. The river was again running at
about two inches above summer low,
just about perfect for
this part of the river. Impatient to get started, and with
sea trout moving in the pool, I began before it was properly
dark and had my first sea trout of the night at 11.15 p.m.,
a lovely fresh fish of two pounds, hooked in the shade of
the trees on the far bank. It had gone for the Ginger Pearl
on the dropper. It was safely returned. A good start to what
turned out to be one of the most memorable nights I have had
in recent years. I fished till two a.m. and had three more
of the most perfect sea trout you could hope for, two at two
and a half pounds each and a beauty of three and a half
pounds, all taken on a one and a half inch Needle Fly.
I knew, of
course, that a repeat of Tuesday night's fabulous sport was
really a bit too much to hope for. Nevertheless, you will
not be surprised to learn that I was back on the same pool
at 11 p.m. on the Wednesday night, raring to go. Despite
rain earlier in the day,
and the worry that the river might
have risen, conditions were perfect, just what you would
order if given the chance -
river again running at two
inches, good cloud cover, hardly a breath of wind, mild
temperatures. Liberal application of Skin-So-Soft was needed
to keep the midges at bay. The bats were active as I began,
again with a size eight Ginger Pearl on the dropper and a
Needle Fly on the tail of a ten foot cast, fished again on
the floating line. Well, however unlikely, the impossible
happened! After a slow start, I left the river at two in the
morning, having taken four shining silver sea trout, all on
the Needle Fly. The smallest was about two pounds and the
heaviest around four and a half pounds, both returned
safely, with two fish of about two and a half pounds each
kept for the table.
As I write
this on Thursday afternoon, the rain is drumming on the
caravan roof, to the dramatic accompaniment of thunder and
lightning. The river will be too high tonight for sea trout
fishing. I suppose I will just have to settle for salmon....
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Grantown
Angling Association Sea Trout Night Fishing Pools
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