Monday morning on the Daltra beat Michael Larg caught and released a 7lb salmon in Loop on a Red Flamethrower. Then on the Altnahara beat, Jason McCruden caught a 18lb cock salmon from the corner of Boat Pool at 12.30pm on a Magenta Phatagorva and a slow sink tip that was released safely.

On Tuesday morning on the Dunearn beat, Jack Christison caught a 6lb grilse in Peter's Pot on a size 8 Stoats Tail. Later on in the day Jack caught an 8lb salmon in Green Bank on a size 6 Durham Ranger, and Scott Mackenzie had a 5lb grilse in March Stream on a Stoats Tail tube. All fish were safely released. There was a good sprinkling of fish throughout the beat.

Dunearn: 3
Daltra/Altnahara: 1
Day Lets: 1

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

At 9am on Monday morning, Thomas Le Guilchet got the week off to an exciting start on the Daltra Beat when he caught and released a 5lb grilse in Loop on a #8 Purple Cascade. Also on Monday Richard West was out on Altnahara for a couple of hours and caught and released a slightly coloured 7lb cock salmon on Gold Beaded Orange Fly from Mr Brodie's old fly box.

On Tuesday George Middlehurst reported a quiet morning on Dunearn, however there were quite a few fish showing in March Stream and Lady Mary's. At 5:30pm Vic Tooley was fishing a Black Francis Snaelda Fly, when she hooked up to a monster salmon on her second cast in the throat of Kennel. After a 15 minute nerve racking fight a whopping 18lb coloured cock salmon came to the net to much excitement. After a round of high fives and a quick picture he was released to carry on his journey. 

On Wednesday at 6pm Thomas Le Guilchet landed a 4lbs grilse in the very tail of Island on a Red & Pink Tube. Around 10 minutes later he unfortunately lost a big fish in Jean's Cast.

On Thursday the river was in top order and Jason McCruden confirmed there were a few fish showing on Mini Daltra before he caught and released a 9lb cock salmon in the tail of Maharajah around lunch time. Then at 2.30pm on the Dunearn beat Harry Pickering caught his first Findhorn salmon at Tinker's pool, a 5lb cock grilse on a Willie Gunn. After a short but exhilarating fight, and a quick picture, it was released and swam away strongly. Thursday was a bit frustrating on Altnahara for Loïc Loheac and Thomas Le Guilchet. Loic lost a fish after a few minutes in the Boat pool in the morning, and during the day they had multiple pulls but no luck.

Friday on Daltra the water looked good but there was no action before 6.30 PM when Thomas Le Guilchet caught a nice 12lbs cock salmon in Jean's Cast on a Red & Pink Tube. On the Dunearn beat James Westgate caught his first Findhorn fish in 10 years - a well received 2lb sea trout came to the net to revive his faith in fishing.

It was a quiet end to the week on Saturday. Jason McCruden was on Mini Daltra and he caught and released a 1½ lb sea trout in tail of Island pool. He didn't see a fish until 6pm, then after a slight rise the fish started running through Loop. He hooked up on one for 20 seconds before he lost it and then had three other good pulls without connecting, with fish  jumping as they worked through the pool.

Total Catch: 7
Dunearn: 2
Daltra/Altnahara: 3
Day Lets: 2

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

Frank Kennedy and Colin Apperley were fishing the Dunearn Beat this week. On Monday afternoon Colin was in contact with a fish in the Kennel but it didn't stay on. The heavy rain came overnight on Monday and on Tuesday morning before the water rose Frank lost a big fish in Green bank. The river shot over 3 feet around lunchtime and the river was unfishable the rest of the day. The river settled and the water cleared on Wednesday and Colin landed a 9lb cock salmon in Polnachesse on a 3" Frodin Lion Butterfly fly which was safely returned. With only a couple of pools in order they went to Gaffers where Frank caught and released a 7lb cock salmon on a 3" Frodin Willie Gunn fly.

Also on Wednesday evening Martin Dingemans, fishing Daltra, caught and returned a 6lb cock fish in the tail of Jean's Cast on a 1" Cascade tube and on Altnahara John Beattie caught a 7lb salmon in Boat pool at 6pm, again safely returned.

On Thursday and on the Dunearn beat Colin Apperley landed 6lb salmon in Gaffers on a 2" Cascade Conehead that was safely released. Frank Kennedy rose another one in Gaffers but didn't connect and Coilin lost a big fish in Kennel the he had on for a minute but it never showed. The river was starting to rise again in the evening.

On Saturday Jason McCruden had a run down Altnahara, starting at Princess and fishing through the top gorge, with no contact or sight of a salmon. He got to Altnahara pool and the tail was looking really fishy, as it’s been deepened this year and with this amount of water it looked perfect. He ran through it with an 8ft slow sink tip with a Findhorn Tube and right on the edge of the drop-off to Altnahara Stream he hooked a 5lb cock grilse. It was safely netted and released before he carried on down the beat, but again no visible signs of fish.

Total Catch: 6
Dunearn: 3
Daltra/Altnahara: 1
Day Lets: 2

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

Jason McCruden was out on Mini Daltra on Thursday. He started at 5pm at Laird's, which had nice water and fished deep with a heavy Red Francis. Carrying on through Island, he had a nice pull at the bank but it didn't hook up, so he fished right to the tail and there was another good tug that again didn't hook up. At 7pm he changed to his Orange Findhorn tube and moved quickly through Jean's Cast and Maharajah casting into the known taking spots without luck. At 7.30pm he arived at Loop and the height and flow couldn’t be better. He fished deep letting the river do the work and 3 or 4 casts from giving up a fish leapt right in the middle of the pool below the fly. Jason moved closer to the bank to allow the fly to cover it and two casts later a solid pull and a good tussle ensues with the fish leaping out of the net on the first try before it is secured. A 5lb cock grilse, that Jason described as the most rewarding fish of the season. It was released safely. On Saturday morning Glyn Phillips landed a 7lb salmon from Loop on Mini Daltra.

Total Catch: 2
Dunearn: 0
Daltra/Altnahara: 0
Day Lets: 2

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

It was another difficult week on the river. Patrick Benson was fishing the Dunearn beat and reported very low water with slight fluctuations. There were clearly fish in various pool and the grilse appeared to be quietly moving upstream. There were several rises to either micro tubes or half hitch and the March Stream looked good as did top end, especially Gaffers at the end of the week. Patrick was also fishing Glenferness and finished the week with four fish up to 10lb so there are definitely fish about. Roger Dowling fished Daltra on Monday and also reported the river was low with only the odd coloured fish here and there. He rose a dark fish in the neck of the Whin Stream that came up to have a look at a dibbled fly but decided it wasn’t for him.

Total Catch: 0
Dunearn: 0
Daltra/Altnahara: 0
Day Lets: 0

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

Fishing Report W/B August 17 2026

We arrived to find low water which was no surprise given the summer we have had but rain was forecast which was promising. Noticeably very few fish showing on the Monday, but rain was predicted at Tomatin, and we were glued to the SEPA app which updates the river levels at Shenachie, which then reflects on the Dunearn beat a few hours later depending on the amount of rainfall.

A small rise in the river level was then seen Tuesday afternoon and the first fish of the week fell to a Stoats Tail at the tail of the stream running into Garden Pool - what a scrap this was for Paul Wesson to contend with as the 12lb fresh fish leapt clear of the water three times before eventually succumbing to the net - well worthy of the hamlet cigar which followed.

Wednesday morning also produced a slightly more coloured 10lb fish for the same angler from the tail of Polnachesse which was tempted only a rod length out by a small Willie Gunn. This fish stayed low and ran into the deeper pool to the right but was eventually netted and safely returned - much excitement for the rest of the week.

Thursday morning saw a 5.30am alarm call to meet the next spike in the river levels and we poised on Dulsie Bridge to see that high water had certainly arrived in full force with much of the Rhino now covered - always a good marker for how the rest of the beat will likely fish. Alas a blank day was to follow albeit a fish was briefly hooked and lost in the tail of Polnachesse again which seems to fish well on high water.

With the water dropping slightly expectations were high on Friday and resulted in a cracking fish to 10lb for Russ Chapman from almost the same spot in Garden as the previous day. Things were looking up!

Saturday the water level was now dropping, albeit still very much at medium height and not discoloured which was exciting and led to an amazing spell for Russ. Fishing the tail of March Stream on his very first cast he hooked a monstrous salmon that took him well over 15 minutes to tame, losing it only at the net - I heard the expletives from 100 yards away! His estimates were that it was well north of 15lb and possibly his largest ever fish - nearly! His very next cast to the same spot and he hooked another fish, slightly smaller. This was brought to the net more easily and then - yes, you guessed it, this fish also slipped the hook - a frustrated angler is an understatement, I had to cover my ears!

A third cast to the same spot and amazingly a third tussle ensued resulting in third time lucky as he landed a beautiful 9lb silver fish - a smiling angler at last! What an incredible 30 minutes armed with an Orange Cascade - it was time to give that pool and the angler a rest.

A cup of tea and a slice of fruit cake later and Russ's very first cast into the head of the Garden Pool stream and bang, off went a strong fish that stripped off 50 yards of backing and ended up in the main pool downstream - 10 minutes later and he was rewarded with a lovely long fish with a sizeable girth that we finally agreed registered 14.5lb.

As the evening light faded, we reflected on an intense afternoon. Russ has fished various beats on the Findhorn since he was a boy (in a previous century I might add) but today was by his own admission something he had never witnessed before - an amazing way to end the week.

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

Unfortunately the exciting end to the previous week didn’t carry over into the new week and there was very little action to report. Peter Shaw confirmed that every pool on Daltra and Altnahara had fish in it, but as the level dropped during the week they become less active. We did get some scattered showers during the week but the river height didn't really budge.

Total Catch: 0
Dunearn: 0
Daltra/Altnahara: 0
Day Lets: 0

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

It was as cooler overcast week with scattered showers causing fluctuating water levels on Tuesday and Thursday. Conditions were the best they have been for some time on the Dunearn beat and at 3.30pm on Tuesday Paul Wesson landed a 12lb salmon in Garden on a size 12 Stoats Tail. Paul had more success on Wednesday at 4.15pm in Polnachesse with a 10½ salmon on a size 12 Willie Gunn. Then on Friday evening at 7pm Russ Chapman landed a 10lb salmon in Garden on a size 10 Orange Cascade. Russ kept using the same fly on Saturday and he finished the week with a 9lb salmon from March Stream at 3pm, followed by a 14½ salmon in Garden at 6.10pm. All fish were safely released.

Frank Clark was on Mini Daltra on Thursday and at 3.30pm, his grandson caught and released his first salmon with a beautiful 7lb fish from Loop on a Red Francis. Frank confirmed quite a number of fish were showing, especially in the Loop.

On Friday Greg Hammond was fishing the Daltra beat and at 5.37pm he caught and released a 10lb salmon in Dalnashaugh on a large Orange Cascade. Jason McCruden was out for a few hours on Altnahara fishing Boat pool and he had a few plucks and pulls, before changing to a Findhorn tube and a slow sink and hooked a lovely 6lb grilse, that was safely returned .

Total Catch: 8
Dunearn: 5
Daltra/Altnahara: 1
Day Lets: 2

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

Jason McCruden was out on Dunearn on Monday and fished from Gaffers to Garden. He saw one fish jump in Morgan’s Haugh and one in Garden and fished to the bridge on a full float and slim fly without luck. He then fished Nettle Hole before deciding to go deep as there wasn’t any activity. He fished through Tinker's and into Green Bank and that’s where a nice 5lb grilse grabbed the medium Phatagorva fly. It was starting to show purple hues and was safely released.

Heavy rain overnight on Thursday lead to a dangerous 3 foot surge on Friday morning. The river settled down nicely and at Saturday lunchtime Tony Pollard, fishing Dunearn beat, got on the scoresheet for the Mould party when he landed a 3lb grilse out of Gaffers in bright sunshine on a size 8 Aurora Cascade. Then later in the evening Tom and Adam Mould both caught their first Findhorn salmon twenty minutes apart in Loop on the Daltra beat. First Tom landed an 8lb salmon at 8.30pm on size 10 Cascade and then Adam caught a 9lb salmon at 8.50pm on a size 10 Blue Red Silver fly. Adam had earlier lost one in Loop on the same fly. All fish were safely released. An exciting end to the week.

Total Catch: 4
Dunearn: 2
Daltra/Altnahara: 2
Day Lets: 0

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

On Tuesday Stuart Denholm, fishing Mini Daltra, reported that despite the river being as low as he'd seen he managed to catch a 7lb grilse within 5 minutes of starting! It was a nice clean, fresh fish from Laird's pool on an Ali's shrimp. Nothing else for the rest of the day but it was a grand experience!

The heavy rain finally arrived on Wednesday afternoon. The rain was constant through the night and there was a long overdue rise of 3 feet the following morning. The water started to settle down by the afternoon and Chris Bowman was in the right place on Mini Daltra to land a brilliant 6lb grilse in Loop on an Ally’s Shrimp tube fly.

By Friday afternoon the water is absolutely perfect for the Daltra beat. Jason McCruden started after lunch and within 10 minutes caught and released a 5lb cock grilse in Daltra. He fished on down and off the big rock in Whin hooked and netted a nice 10lb cock salmon, and then 5 minutes later he hooked and netted a cracking 6lb cock grilse that was a bar of silver. Jason finished off the day with a fresh 5lb cock grilse from Miss Hunter's. All were landed on a 5ft intermediate tip and his usual flies. Stephen Ward fished the Dunearn beat on Friday and he landed a sea trout in the Garden Pool and then a 6lbs grilse in Nettle Hole on a Junction Shrimp.

Total Catch: 7
Dunearn: 1
Daltra/Altnahara: 4
Day Lets: 2

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website