Pitlochry dam beat River Tummel.....ever caught an otter?

The beat from the dam, you can fish down to the 2nd bridge

Another day on the River Tummel in the quest for a fresh bar of silver but well aware that a coloured fish would do just as well, not being greedy you know. Despite yesterdays blank on East Haugh I was still optimistic for a good days fishing albeit the temperature forecast was for a very warm afternoon.

Part of the fish ladder

The Pitlochry Angling club have this beat and their website indicated that on average a couple of fish per day were being caught and one day one of the locals had 8 in one session, wow. 2 fish being caught in a day has to be put into perspective. The beat allows 6 day tickets for the beat, 3 starting on each side of the river. At 5pm local club anglers will join in so you will probably get about 10 or so anglers fishing each day in peak season. So here your expectations are to catch a salmon every 5 fishing outings as an average which if you look at the Fishpal website, catches for many beats around Scotland the average is more like 1 in 10 outings and more, makes you wonder why we do it?
This beat holds fish as they are moving up to the fish ladder at the dam to go into Loch Faskally and beyond.

The top of the Pitlochry bank beat

According to the website blog most catches seem to be in either the early morning or in the evening with few being caught during the day. So today was an early start and I was on the water for 6am and I was not the first. My permit was to fish the Pitlochry bank up until noon when all anglers have to change over banks and you can then fish until 5pm.

The rock jutting out on the left was my otter catch

When I walked onto the bank the river looked at a good level for fly fishing. The first arrival was already fishing away down river so I walked up towards the dam to start at the top of the beat. There was no-one on the other bank. As I started fishing I using the local favourite Ally's shrimp. Out in the fast water a salmon rose, after seeing zilch yesterday I had only been here 5 minutes. As it turned out there were many fish showing throughout the day, if I said a couple of dozen I would still be short. Amazing that just downriver yesterday I saw none.
After a few casts I looked downriver and saw that the 1st guy was into a fish. I was moving after each cast and reached a prominent rock that can hold fish. As the fly came round to its stop I started to bring line in when the fly caught and the line tightened but I was sure it wasn't a salmon but I didn't think it was snagged on a rock either, maybe a trout. Another pull on the line and I felt the hook come loose. Immediately beside where the fly would be a head appeared out of the water and stared at me, an otter. I can only assume that I had snagged the hook on its coat. For a short time it gave me its not impressed stare then disappeared never to be seen again. A first for me, I regularly see otters close up but I have never snagged on one before.

The dam from Portnacraig

Looking downriver the 1st guy was clambering over the large rock down at the pedestrian bridge and then disappeared round the back, into another fish, well done.
Permit holder number 3 arrived on our bank and after a brief chat he informed me that he should just go home as the guy with 2 already was the same one that caught the 8 the other day.
As it turned out the 2 fish were his lot for the day and only 1 more fish would be caught today, needless to say not by me.
The 3 others were now on the Portnacraig bank, one looked a regular fisherman but the other 2 were spinning. One of the guys handed his rod to a woman for a spin. She immediately shouted she had a fish on, no disrespect but it looked like it was the 1st time she had handled a rod and I thought if she has I'm giving this up. As it was she had snagged on one of the many rocks which at this water level was always a possibility unless it was a light lure.

Top of beat Portnacraig bank

I had a good morning lots of fish showing but downriver they were on the wrong side of the water for my fly casting and they would not react to any lures.
As it turned out the afternoon fish were now showing in the middle channel, again out with my fly range and even the ace fisherman couldn't reach them he was also spinning. The heat was now intense, without doubt the hottest day of the year and the sun-cream was being plastered on. When you fish the Portnacraig bank you get all the tourists watching you so don't muck up your casting. I should be sitting with them enjoying a cold lager without all this gear on.

Fisherman wading near Pornacraig steps

By now 3 of the 6 people fishing had gone for the day, too hot. The fish were still showing well but nothing had been caught now for over 6 hours.
For me another hour in the sun was enough for the day. Again no fish but again I really enjoyed the day. Big flies, little flies nothing worked for me. But that otter will live long in the memory. Checked the blog and nothing recorded by the evening guys either.
There is plenty of water that can be released from the dam with water levels potentially rising very quickly so anglers must be wary. I have attached an earlier photo which shows the water exploding out the dam.