Professional career based salmon fishing guide advice on the best approach to fishing Scotland's famous River Spey for new and experienced fishers.
The most sensible and tactical way to fish the world famous River Spey is with your own personal salmon guide. A professional Spey salmon guide will not only make sure you understand the best tactical approaches to the river but will also provide all of the required salmon fishing equipment including proven Spey salmon flies.
A professional River Spey salmon guide will teach you how to use our traditional double handed salmon fly rods in addition to how to carefully and methodically cover each of the Spey salmon pools. A professional guide will also take you to one of the famous Spey salmon fishing venues (beats) based on the time of the fishing season and where there's a good chance of sub-surface cooperation!
Buying River Spey salmon fishing access on its own is fine if your an exerienced Spey salmon fisher however if you're new to the sport it is worth considering hiring a professional salmon guide who will supply all of the required equipment, fishing access & tuition to give you the best chance of success. Follow this link for detailed infomation on how to book a River Spey salmon guide.
The River Spey is probably the most famous salmon & sea trout fishing river in the entire world and is located in the North East of Scotland. It measures 107 miles in length from its source 1000ft up at Loch Spey in the Corrieyairack Forest which is located 10 miles South of Fort Augustus on Loch Ness. The River Spey enters the North sea in the Moray Firth and drains 1850 square miles of North East Scotland. The Spey has many tributaries such as the rivers Truim, Tromie, Feshie, Druie, Nethy, Dulnain, Avon & Fiddich that all increase the Spey's speed as the river advances towards the North sea making it the fastest flowing river in Scotland. Many lovely towns are located in the Spey valley such as Newtonmore, Kingussie, Aviemore, Granton on Spey, Aberlour & Focabers.
The River Spey salmon & sea trout fishing season opens on the 11th of February and runs through to the 30th of September each year. The Spey is fly fishing only and the home of the much used traditional Speycast which is one of the most widely used casts in salmon fishing around the world. The Spey has around 30 famous salmon fishing beats and the vast majority of these are carefully cared for by professional River Spey ghillies. The fast flowing River Spey is a delight to fish a salmon fly through with its perfect fly fishing pools and its mainly gravel riverbanks and riverbed which are due to the movement of its gravel substrate base which is constantly on the move during high water levels.
Spring salmon in February can like most river be a little thin on the ground but there's always a chance if you brave the elements. In March good runs of Spring fish start to enter the river and can be caught in the lower & middle Spey salmon fishing beats. With the arrival of April & May bigger runs of Spey Spring salmon appear and fresh run salmon can be found right up in the Upper Spey during the late Spring weeks due to the warmer water temperatures usually found at this time. Salmon in the 20lbs class are frequently caught from May onwards each season with the earlier Spring salmon usually weighing between the 8lbs & 11lbs class. The Summer brings continual runs of salmon into the river along with many sea trout which can also be present in the earlier Spring months. Autumn salmon fishing on the Spey can be superb as fresh run salmon will still be arriving in the Spey right up until the the river closes at the end of September along with many many resident salmon that will have been in the river by this time for months. These resident salmon can be mesmerising as they splash about all around you while you're fishing down through the River Spey salmon pools.
Effective salmon fly patterns for the River spey are the Gold Bodied Willie Gunn, Cascade, Posh Tosh, Orange Flamethrower, Sunray Shadow, Arndilly Fancy, Dee Monkey, Copperass, Blue Charm & the Stinchar Stoat. Typically a 14ft or 15ft salmon fly rod is perfect and floating lines with or without an additional sink tip are normally the order of the day. In really high Spring or Autumn water conditions an intermediate sinking line could be of use. Waders with studded soles are useful along with a wadding stick as the Spey is deceptively fast even though it has generally shallower water than many other Scottish rivers. It often amazes just how much water pressure there is on your shins when wading in the Spey in only a foot of water so don't fish without a wading stick & life jacket.
Can you think of anything more desirable than playing a hard fighting Spey salmon on this fast flowing Scottish river with the scream of your fly reel and your racing pulse eventually culminating in the ghillie netting your first River Spey salmon and within seconds has poured you the perfect Spey dram to calm your nerves and celebrate your membership of this super special & famous Scottish salmon river.
To maximise your chances of catching salmon on the River Spey it is always advisable to hire the professional services of an expert. Follow this link for detailed information on how to book a professional River Spey salmon fishing guide. Your professional Spey salmon guide will supply all of the required salmon fishing equipment including chest waders and waterproof jackets in addition to any required tactical fine tuning and seasonally appropriate Spey salmon fishing access.
