Blog 2 – March 27th
March started off with the river levels continuing to drop off from the high water in February. With not many guests out on the river, this gave us more time to continue the tidy up from the winter floods and also doing some preparations for the season ahead. We have installed solar power and a log burner into the upper brae hut along with some other minor works to “modernise” the hut.
On Saturday 9th while Angus was dropping off the pictures to finish off the upper brae decorations, Andrew Davie got the estate off the mark for the 2024 season with a cracking 7lb fish from the rock pool. Proving that unless you’ve got your fly in the water, then there’s no chance of getting a fish!
We went into the following week full of hope and with the river looking a perfect height, a fish was sure to be on the cards? Alas mother nature showed us how she dictates our season as a huge landslip on the Rothes and Aikenway beat turned the river into a mix of sand and clay. At times we felt there was more chance of finding an Oompa Loompa wandering by the chocolate river as opposed to some salmon in it! This coloured water lasted all week with it only dissipating on the Saturday afternoon after a small rise helped to wash the worst of it out.
As the month continued, we’ve had a fluctuation of water and weather conditions going from 17 degrees in glorious sun to 4 degrees with a bitter north / easterly wind and now great big dumps of snowflakes are falling, threatening to cover the grass. Whist this made it hard for casting, the conditions made the log burner in the huts all the more welcoming. We have had the odd offer of a fish but nothing that has been confirmed to be Salmo Salar.
It’s encouraging to see fish being caught further up and some fantastic specimens with multiple 20lb+ fish have been caught so there must be some quality fish swimming past us. After all, they aren’t taking the bus!
We still have availability throughout the spring and even a couple of weeks later in the prime season. To find out our availability and to enquire for your trip to Gordon Castle please contact Toby on Factor@gleco.co.uk or search for Gordon Castle on Fishpal to book online.
Look forward to welcoming you soon!
Lewis Webb – Middle Brae Ghillie