River Doon Smithston beat

High Water

Our monthly club fishing trip is normally to a trout water but for various reasons we were down to 3 anglers today so we decided to have a cast on a salmon river. It is really just a bit too early for salmon in our Ayrshire rivers but there have been a couple reported caught this week. 
Our choice was The River Doon and the Smithston beat in part because none of us had fished it before although we all had heard good things about it.
Our first issue was with the weather as it had poured all night and the forecast for the day was more of the same. As we crossed over the River Ayr it was looking very brown coloured, not good news.

Our next problem was finding the fishing hut. We drove down a narrow single track and ended up at a farm, dead end. We retraced our steps to get a mobile signal and found out we had been correct, we had not been told you go through the farm gate into a field, occupied by cows and sheep, follow a faint track around the field and then arrived at the hut.

It was immediately evident that the water was running high, fast and dirty brown. We already knew that there would not be many fish around but it was disappointing to hear the ghillie say that not even a tail had been spotted recently never mind anything being caught. Our view was still that someone has to catch the first fish of the year. The rivers need the rain and higher running water to encourage salmon to move from their holding areas in the estuaries and head upriver.

Pools and rapids

There is a good sized fishing hut where we were given our introduction by Freddie the ghillie.
We had booked via Fishpal which means you lose your money if you don't fish so we treated it as a recce day, wetting a fly just to get used to the water rather than expecting a tug on the line.
This a good sized beat, about two and a half miles long with some sections double banked. It is split into 3 beats with a maximum of 2 anglers per beat so there is plenty of space. Even on a day like this it is a cracking stretch of water, full of small sections of fast water and tail pools to hold the fish. It is a narrow river, my 11ft switch rod was more than ample and could go even smaller.
We started on the bottom beat which in my view is the most picturesque. Bright flies the order of the day just in case. Freddie has worked hard cutting back a lot of the vegetation so the walking was very good. Just taking care not slip as the fast water would be very dangerous. I knew we would not be wading so was not wearing my inflatable safety jacket, a mistake.

Middle beat

As expected a mixed weather morning, heavy rain, wind and sunshine, summer in Scotland. No fish spotted but a good walk and an understanding of the water.
After lunch we did the same recce on the middle section. As you go towards the upper beat the walk is a bit more challenging but still good compared to some rivers I have walked.

A check of the water level gauge at the hut showed the water had risen over 6 inches during our visit. We called it a day earlier than normal but I look forward to returning another day when conditions have improved and salmon are around. 

Colin in action

For most Ayrshire rivers last year was poor with catches only about a third of previous years so here's hoping the salmon return this year.