You should have been here last week!
Heard it before? Like it or not, but weather plays a key role when going flyfishing. As the photograph below clearly shows, the Spey was in flood during our week on the wonderful Ballindalloch beat. Still, a couple of the chaps managed to catch a salmon each. Here is a brief report from our 2012 adventure on this wonderful river.
At 18:00 on Sunday evening, the party met at March Pool – the upper boundary of the Ballindalloch beat. Roy Darlington, Stewart Newell, Marcus Pemberton and Steve Brueton had spent the entire day in the car, driving all the way from Hampshire, England. Chris Darlington had a more comfortable journey, coming from Fife. Finally, my brother Terje and I had flown from Norway to Aberdeen, where we picked up our rental car (+ the cook) and headed towards the Highlands.
As expected there was plenty of water in the river. But, salmon anglers are born optimists – and now and then get rewarded for their patience. I can’t speak for the others, but I felt pretty sure that someone would land a fish…
Following breakfast on Monday morning, we met up with the very pleasant and knowledgable Ballindalloch ghillie, Steve Brand. As usual we’d fish two shifts, before and after lunch, rotating between the different pools. Looking back in my diary, I made a note that Roy hooked, very briefly played and then lost a fish that morning. Apart from that and a couple of pulls, there is nothing to report.
Tuesday: Still heavy rain showers, with odd spells of sunshine. The river was unfortunately still rising. Struggling with a bad cold I decided not to fish, the rest of the party wore more or less all the warm, wind- and waterproof clothes they’d brought. No action, apart from hatching Large Dark Olives.
That evening, the Laird of Ballindalloch, Lady Clare Macpherson-Grant, and her husband, Oliver H. Russell, very kindly invited us to drinks in the castle. An interesting and enjoyable hour, indeed.
Finally!
Although the poor weather continued on Wednesday morning, both Stewart and Marcus caught a fresh, beautiful and hard fightning 8-pounder each! We also had, if I remember correctly, two, possibly three pulls within an hour or so. The reason, according to our ghillie, was probably because the water level suddenly dropped a bit - turning the salmon on - before it continued going up. No matter what the explanation was, there were a lot of smiling faces in the fishing hut at lunch time!
After lunch we did not fish. The river was rising quickly, and huge logs, building materials and other objects came floating by. It was no point casting a fly, too dangerous, as well.
Thursday and Friday: Still wet and cold. We had a couple of nights with frost, and the hills surrounding the Spey Valley were covered in snow. So instead we visited a whisky destillery, the towns in the area and relaxed at Marionburgh. Also, Oliver Russell invited us to have a look at Fred Olsen’s impressive 28 turbine wind farm, located on the moors of the Ballindalloch estate. No salmon up there, but quite a few grouse!
Friday afternoon the weather finally changed! The river was now approximately 8 foot, almost 5 foot higher than at March Pool on Sunday. Saturday turned out lovely, with a clear, blue sky, sun, hardly any wind and I would not be surprised if the afternoon temperature reached 20 degrees Celcius. Maybe not ideal for salmon fishing, but certainly welcome after the previous wet, cold days.
Even though the conditions were difficult, I had a great week on the Spey. The accommodation at Marionburgh House was first class, the food was very nice (thank you, Vita), the selection of whiskies in our bar superb and the company was, as always, second to none.
Thank you, chaps! Can’t wait ’til we catch up!
The Holmfoss Pool, seen from the bridge. It is fished from the rocks and from boats
Sverre Martin Sørensen’s 23-pounder (Photo: Private)
Worming is a popular method in the Holmfoss Pool. I wonder if this chap was rewarded for his patience…?
