What months are best for catching the most prized Atlantic Salmon - a Springer Salmon? As the title “Spring Salmon” or “springer” in common, we would suggest the spring months of March, April and May. And although we fish and catch nice fresh springers in the months of January and February, it's not until March that it really picks up. There are many good February days, particularly on the River Dee – but even here the bulk of fish, the beginning of the main run does not appear until the end of March through April, peaking in the end of May and then tailing off through June. This is a general thump rule on most Scottish rivers. So how about catching a springer? There are many opinions about how to do this this, almost as many as there are Salmon fishermen. Here are some ideas you can have in mind. Let’s assume that the water is cold and high In March and April. The fish will normally not run very fast in this condition and when it enters a pool, it will most likely be in the bottom half of the water column. So, it would be very nice to know the depth of the pool you are fishing and then adapt your fly and choice of line to this. Let us assume you are fishing a pool that is 6 feet deep, then the fish would be likely to lie 3 feet or one meter from the surface. We suggest you start with a nice Dee Monkey fly tied on an aluminum or perhaps a cobber tube depending on the speed of the water. If its not fast use the alu tube, If faster use the heavier cobber tube. Don’t be afraid to use a fly with some size on it 8 cm or more. Read more about the Dee Monkey fly here! You can find the step-by step guide to tie the Dee Monkey fly here! If you have seen some new fish entering a pool and nothing happens the first time you fish thru the pool, change the depth and experiment by increasing the speed of the fly and try to fish closer to the bottom the second time thru the pool. Depth and speed are crucial to success. Remember to wade safe this time of year, you don’t want to take a swim. If not something worse happens, it will certainly ruin your fishing for most of the day. Middle Blackhall on River Dee is a big fish beat. Here is Lars Terkildsen with a 26 lb Springer! |
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