Salmon & sea trout fishing on a gin clear Highland spate river

#salmonfishing #seatroutfishing #flyfishing #wildfishing
This is footage from the 18th Sept 2023 when I headed up the glen of a river that I normally fish in it's lower reaches for sea trout and occasionally salmon. I have never caught a salmon or until this day, a sea trout from the river's upper or middle reaches, so it is a challenge I set myself to spend some more time on this section. The river is in a stunning location, it's not easy accessing some of the pools due to the terrain and care needs to be taken when moving between pools. The water is also crystal clear which adds to the challenge and care needs taken when wading as it can be tricky assessing the depth.
I hope you enjoy the footage and it gets across how much I love fishing these places. I appreciate people that watch and give me feedback as well as those who like and subscribe. Many thanks.
Tackle used
Rod | 7/8 weight
Fly line | WF7 Cortland Ghost Tip fly line
Tippet | ~ 9ft 10lb Maxima Chameleon
Fly | Ally's Shrimp style double
Info on fishing | portreeanglingassociation.wil...
Music in the video | mixkit.co/

[@whprwill]

Well done! Beautiful fish, beautiful scenery!

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Thank you Will, it really is a lovely glen and that sea trout was a real pleasure to encounter. I passed over the river today when heading south with family for Christmas and there was an absolute torrent of water coming down. All the best to you for Christmas 👍

[@rangerwhite5165]

Great day out. That's a stunning river and area.

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Thank you, yes it was a good day in a stunning glen and nice to connect with a fish, I’ll be trying again next season for a salmon up there, though sadly they are pretty thin on the ground, now.

[@rangerwhite5165]

Yep, sadly thin on the ground everywhere.@@highlandfishingdiary8818

[@martin7955]

Lovely place lovely sea trout

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Thank you, it was a very nice surprise to encounter that fish a fair way up the glen 👍

[@rogerward9492]

I can remember in August, West Coast rivers were full of these sea trout, it's sad what's happening.

[@robertforrester4019]

Harmonize the color of the river to the fly. Cheers from northern indiana usa

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Thank you Robert for the advice, it makes sense what you say and I will try that. I daresay fish are fish whether in Indiana or Scotland. All the best 👍

[@Rocky-hs9ei]

Fantastic landscape! 👍

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

It sure is, though today the glen / upper flats when viewed from the road looks like a loch there’s been that much rain 👍

[@martin7955]

Proper fishing wild fishing

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Cheers, I am very lucky to be able to fish these places, it’s hard going underfoot up there, holes everywhere, but I really enjoy the challenge of it. Tight lines 👍

[@yakmueller]

I had a 5 days fishing on your waters last week. I fished a couple of lochs on the last day of the loch fishing, then went on the rivers. I thoroughly enjoyed myself on a variety of rivers and caught a few small trout. I shall be back next season to try again. Well done on the sea trout.

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Fantastic stuff, glad you enjoyed your time on the club waters. The lochs have been tough going so the last day was probably hard going. Glad you got to sample a variety of fishing and best of luck for your return visit 👍

[@RussellBCaC]

Great video, what a beautiful stretch of river, thanks for sharing. I had a few days on the lochs 3rd week of September, tough weather and only managed two small fish but glorious fishing and great value.

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Many thanks Russell, it’s really nice to get positive feedback. Yes, thanks for emailing me your return, glad you enjoyed the fishing, it was pretty tough going later season on the lochs so you did well to winkle out a couple of fish. All the best and hope you make it up here again 👍

[@markamor5982]

My favourite valley, many happy times walking up Marsco, would love to fish the river.

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

It’s a lovely spot, I’ve never walked right through the glen to the other side, maybe will if we get a nice crisp winter day to do it. Maybe you can fish it one day, it is day ticket. Cheers 👍

[@soultrader57fishingandmusi25]

This looks like something from Lord of the rings! What a magnificent place! Very difficult in such clear water, you did extremely well to get a chunky sea trout without any colour in the water! Even the path looked fishable 😂 I think ibe seen this river when I was up there! Thanks for sharing!

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Thanks Dave, it was a massively pleasant surprise to get that fish, it did two great jumps but my arm was in the way of the camera, drawback of the chest mount. I really want to explore it more and have taken the advice in these comments on board. Yes, I reckon you’ll know the river, your instincts will serve you well 😄 the main drawback is how hard it is underfoot on the flats in particular, I turned back eventually as the holes were up to my thigh and so hard to see with the heather etc. i had a cast this morning up on our main river but drew a blank, normal service resumed, that may now be it for this season. All the best.

[@mikef6114]

Nice video again Matt. I’ve not been fortunate enough to catch any salmon up here in Shetland, just grilse and 5 out of the 6 I have caught this year have been on foam flies. Foam flies create a wake similar to a hitched fly that seem to be irresistible to both salmon and sea trout. In clear water I use fluorocarbon rather than Maxima as I believe it gives better invisibility and you can use higher strengths without spooking the fish in clear water. Hope you catch more before the end of the season. Best regards Mike

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Thanks Mike, this sounds like great advice, similar to other suggestions so I really appreciate it. That sounds exciting fishing the surface, I’ve never really tried it but I should, for both salmon/grilse and sea trout. I need to stop being tight and invest in some fluorocarbon for this fishing not just brown trout etc. I might squeeze one more trip out this season so we’ll see, rained a lot early hours and still is, the forecast looks a little more settled up to saturday. We need bigger water on the beat I’ll probably go to, so it might have to be later today. All the best 👍

[@hardlinesangling]

Great video. I find on clearer rivers either a flourocarbon or clear maxima leader helps and sparser dressed flies. You're doing much better than me this season so who am I to say 😅.

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Cheers. I put in the notes Maxima Chameleon but it wasn’t it was ultragreen i think. I will try fluorocarbon, i do use it sometimes trout fishing in certain conditions or methods. Likewise i was considering a stoats tail or peter ross but stuck with the one fly. So I can see your logic and will give that a try next season👍

[@johnsmithson6390]

Really enjoyed that, you seem to be on a good run this season, unlike many other anglers in the UK! In water that clear I would be tempted to use a longer clear leader and lightly dressed Stoat’s Tail. Or how about a micro hitch? The sea trout looked in very good fettle. Is that watershed a decent distance from the nearest salmon farm?

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Thanks John, glad you enjoyed it, I had a good day up there and the fish was a bonus, certainly got my exercise in 😅 thanks for the tips - I need to try flurocarbon maybe, I use it sometimes loch and river fishing for brown trout but should try a heavier version maybe on here. Funnily enough I didn’t include it but there was a bit where I was talking about changing flies to a stoats tail or similar, I had a salmon lower down on a peter ross wee double in July so I think you offer good advice here. Same with the hitch which I’ve not really tried either. Thanks again and I’ll give that a go next time I’m on there 👍

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

There are fish farms near most of our rivers, the local rivers trust have been doing a lot of studies into sea trout and sometimes the fish in this system can have a fair burden of lice, but that fish and others I had in July, were thankfully in good nick 👍

[@accordingtopete555]

I fished that river last year for brown trout, but not a knock, are there many brownies up that stretch??

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Yes there are small wild brown trout that you occasionally catch when targeting sea trout but I think it’d be tough going. I had probably my best brownie in the lower reaches this season maybe 10 inch but normally if you get one they are small, it is more known for sea trout, the urge for some to leave the river for better feeding will be strong. Personally I’d fish other burns and rivers for brown trout, though in many rivers they are numerous, mainly small but good fun on light rods and dry flies. All the best 👍

[@steveharrison4176]

do you ever try dugarich ? used to be good after a spate

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

Hi Steve. I’ve not been up there for a couple of seasons, I normally go up earlier season for brown trout, I’ve never targeted migratory fish in there tbh. We no longer have a boat on there as it was too difficult to maintain either though sure it’d fish well from the bank. I prefer to fish in the rivers and tbh as that is nearer the latter stages of their journey I’m happy to leave them to it, up there. Cheers 👍

[@steveharrison4176]

@@highlandfishingdiary8818 interesting ,i never saw a boat on there but i am going back 30 years ,the left bank used to provide grilse an sea trout from august and ive had sea liced fish and the odd double things were different then i guess

[@highlandfishingdiary8818]

@@steveharrison4176 yes, very different sadly, glad you got to experience the heyday though, good to hear what it was like, I don’t think we’ll have those days again but with good management it shows the potential. That system rarely achieves 3 figures in terms of catch returns, any more. All our rivers are Category 3 status, mandatory catch and release, it’s been a bit better this season or it appears to be, but I guess we’ll see when we get our angler returns in, well, those that actually submit one, that is. All the best.