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The start of last week was looking very promising with the river sitting at 1ft 5in. The party of 3 we had fishing for the week know Cairnton quite well and I was surprised it was Wednesday before anything was landed which was a 3lb Sea Trout in the Grey Mare on a Stout Tail size 10. On Thursday we had a new rod arrive at Cairnton, Nick Warren, for 3 days of fishing and on his first visit Nick managed to catch a 2 1/2lb Seat Trout in the Salt Vats on a size 8 Executioner. Nick saved the week on the Salmon front as on Saturday he landed a lovely sea liced 8lber in Invercannie on a size 8 Ghillie. Other than that there was the odd fish seen here and there but they seemed to be just pushing through.

Prospects for the coming week with the rain falling at the moment and more forecast for tomorrow evening will hopefully give us the lift of water we are badly needing now.

Cheers Brian

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Last week we had the return of Mats Bergman and party from Sweden on the Cairnton bank. Mats and his friends are very hard fishers and would normally account for 6 or 7 fish for the week and a few Sea Trout but this year although a little quieter they were very happy to land 1 Salmon and 3 Sea Trout. Jan Oholm landed a lovely 9lb licer from the Grey Mare on a size 9 Cascade. Jan kept up his 100% record at Cairnton and not blanking. Mats himself accounted for 3 lovely Sea Trout all in the 3lb bracket. These were all caught on a size 12 Hairy Mary.

Over on Middle Blackhall, Philip Wood landed a 7lber from Invercannie on a size 8 single Thunder & Lightning. Philip also landed a Sea Trout on the same fly.

For next week we could do with some rain to give us a lift and to freshen things up but with another group of experienced anglers arriving for the week we should manage to pick up one or two.

Cheers Brian

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On Monday the river height started off at a promising 2ft on the Cairnton gauge and we saw a few fish but unfortunately the river started to rise quickly and ended up over 4ft by the end of the day which was not good for fishing. On Tuesday the river was sitting at 4ft 3in and although we saw a couple nothing materialised. On Wednesday the river was at the better height of 2ft 11in and Ian Mackinson managed to land his first ever salmon after 3 years of trying which was landed in Middle Ferroch's on a size 8 Cascade. On Wednesday evening Sven Axelsson from Sweden caught a fresh 7lb fish from Middle Ferroch on a fly of his own tying helped by his friend Philip Glendinning. Thursday was probably our quietest day of seeing fish but regular Middle Blackhall Rod Giles Field managed to land a lovely 7lber in the Floating Bank on a size 8 Cascade. Friday we caught 2 licers from the Grey Mare, 1 for Richard Milne on a size 8 Cascade of 7lb and a 6lber for regular Cairnton Rod John Forbes on a size 6 Crathie.

Prospects for the coming week continue to look pretty good and with a very experienced party from Scandinavia staying with us all week I would expect one or 2 fish.

Cheers Brian

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After the rain of last weekend I was happy to see the river sitting at 3ft 5in on the Cairnton gauge on Monday morning. Although the wind was a bit troublesome and the water slightly peaty, Charlie Campbell managed to land a lovely 10lb sea licer in the Middle Ferroch on a size 9 Cascade. We also had a few other offers on Monday through out the beat but nothing else stuck. On Tuesday Charlie struck again with a lovely 7 1/2 lb sea licer (pictured above) from the tail of the Grey Mare on a size 9 Ally Shrimp. Wednesday was surprisingly quiet, although we did see one or two fish here and there. On Thursday Allan Robertson landed a lovely 8lb licer in the Middle Ferroch, but Allan's fly had been the third one to land the fish as there were a previous two flies still in the fishes mouth. I have never seen anything thing like this before in the 28 years that I have been a ghillie. On Friday Allan also landed a sea liced Sea Trout in Invercannie on a Stinchar Stoat and on Saturday one of Allan's guests, John Low, landed a sea liced 7lber in the Middle Ferroch on a size 9 J-Lo - a fly he designed himself. Also on Saturday Dee regular, Jim Fleming, landed a sea liced 2lb Sea Trout in Invercannie on a size 9 Cascade.

To end the week on 4 Salmon and 2 Sea Trout was an encouraging result and we hope that this continues over the next few weeks.

Cheers Brian

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Over the past week the water height started off really promising with one or two fish showing here and there. However we had to be happy with a fish on briefly in Kelpie on Monday but unfortunately it did not stick. Another few offers on Tuesday kept everyone on their toes. On Wednesday the water was rising all day so was a little quieter. On Thursday morning the water had peaked at 2ft 9in and there were quite a few fish showing. John Webb then landed a 3lb sea liced Sea Trout in the Colonel on the Cairnton bank and although there were fish showing in all the pools that was it for the day. On Friday again the water was looking good at 2ft 2in and dropping but it was very black and peaty. Although again there were fish showing here and there one of our French visitors played a small salmon in Middle Ferroch for a short time before it dropped off. On Saturday the water again looked good with the height dropping back to 1ft 4in with the odd fish showing but they seemed to be running fish and not stopping.

Prospects for the coming week look to be pretty good with the amount of rain we have experienced today. The river was up to 1ft 7in at 5pm today and I would imagine to continue rising throughout the night. Tomorrow might be difficult but by Tuesday we should be on track for a fish or two.

Cheers Brian

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This past week was fantastic weather wise and the fishing condition's weren't too bad either apart from very bright sunshine on occasion's. However I was very surprised that we didn't land anything as we had a good enough water height for most of the pools, with some getting a bit sluggish but not impossible, and one or two fish showing here and there which is always encouraging. Hopefully the coming week will produce something to bring April to a good end and May a reasonable start. It will certainly be a colder week as snow is falling at the moment and the temperature is set to fall to -3 tonight which should cool the water temperature down and slow a fish or two up for us.

Cheers Brian

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This past week we had a good start on Monday with visiting Swedish angler Johan Bertilsson landing a nice 12lb fish on Cairnton bank in the Old Garden on a Sunray. On Tuesday a Cairnton regular from Finland, Panu Korhonen, landed a lovely 12lb fish in the Cottage Run on his version of a Black Sheep (picture below) and on Friday after 4yrs of trying Juhci Collan from Finland landed a very fresh fish of about 10lb on Cairnton bank in the Cottage, on a fly he called a Sarvijaakko - Juhci told me that this translated into English as a Horny John, so I'll just take his word for it. Conditions were pretty good all week with the added bonus of longer days allowing for a few more fishing hours however we could do with a lift in water height soon to keep things ticking over.

Cheers Brian

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