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

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

Another week of low water and slightly cooler temperatures. Showers on Tuesday morning brought a 1 inch rise with just a few fish showing in the main pools and 1 or 2 grilse seen pushing into the white water at White Stream and Cauldron. There was a follow to the Sunray Shadow in Jean's Cast on Monday and then on Friday Mark Maitland-Jones caught a resident salmon of around 10lbs in the upper part of the Whin pool on Daltra. He also had a grilse on for 10 seconds or so in the throat of the White Stream and his son, David, had a similar experience in Daltra Pool.

Total Catch: 1
Dunearn: 0
Daltra/Altnahara: 1
Day Lets: 0

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

On Monday the Dunearn party reported that despite the low water Bruce Wright had success in Morgan's Haugh with a 12lb salmon on a small Cascade. Then on Tuesday Vincent York landed a 5lb grilse in the Upper Falls on a Hitched Green Glitter (Canadian fly). That was the end of the scoring and the water level remained very low all week, although some fish were seen running from Monday to Wednesday. There was no luck on Daltra/Altnahara with only the odd salmon showing some interest in the fly, mainly to a Sunray. 

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

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

Another difficult week with high temperatures and a very low river, but on Tuesday Vincent Brigiode had success on Dunearn in the Upper Falls at 4pm with a coloured fish of 11lbs on a size 12 Dusty Cascade. The only other action to report on the Dunearn beat was that Vincent hooked and lost a fish in Morgan's Haugh and Quentin Ballantyne hooked a grilse briefly in Lady Mary's, both on Wednesday.

On Friday morning on Altnahara Peter Graham caught and safely released a 9lb salmon in Black on a 1" Conehead green & yellow.

Total Catch: 2
Dunearn: 1
Daltra/Altnahara: 0
Day Lets: 1

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

On Monday Nick Wright reported a positive start to the week on the Dunearn beat with Luke Pearce landing a 3lb grilse just after 6am in Nettle Hole on a 1" Cascade. There were also fish reported on Darnaway and Logie which could mean the grilse have finally arrived. On Daltra there were reports of a big fish lost in Loop after an epic battle, with the fish running from the neck to the tail at high speed. Older fish were spotted in most pools, before a small run of grilse come into Dalnashaugh. 

On Tuesday afternoon at 3.30pm there was more success on the Dunearn beat with Stephen Good landing an 8lb salmon from Polnachesse on a Cascade. Murray Wilson was fishing Mini Daltra for the first time from the left bank and he caught and released a 4lb grilse in Laird's on a Alistair Cone Head tube.

The heatwave finally arrived on Wednesday which made the conditions even tougher. There were reports of a fish on briefly in Loop on Thursday and a good pull in Black on Friday, but otherwise it was fairly quiet. Then the thunderstorms arrived on Friday night with heavy localised downpours. The river rose about 9" and was still dirty on Saturday afternoon when a decent sized fish was lost in the tail of Loop.

Total Catch: 3
Dunearn: 2
Daltra/Altnahara: 0
Day Lets: 1

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

On Wednesday evening around 7.30pm, Chris Mills landed a 9lb salmon from the White Stream on the Daltra beat. Earlier in the morning he had briefly hooked a salmon in the very bottom of the Daltra pool. On Thursday, Chris concentrated on the Black pool on Altnahara and moved a good fish in excess of 15 pounds around 8pm. On Friday morning the river was up slightly giving a much better flow. Chris rose the same fish twice halfway down Daltra first thing but no contact. On revisiting the pool an hour and a half later probably the same fish launched itself at the hitch fly resulting in a vigorous fight for several minutes before breaking free. It looked a fresh fish in the 8 to 9 pound bracket. Once the river dropped by Friday evening all went quiet again and no fish were seen or encountered on Altnahara during Saturday.

The water on the Dunearn beat was a lovely height on Thursday and running pretty clear, but the weed that grows in the low water was being washed out so every 2 or 3 casts caught a big clump. On Friday the Dunearn beat a fish rose to the hitch fly in tail of Morgan’s a couple of times - but it wouldn’t take, and just before dark there were a couple of half hearted offers in the neck of March Stream.

Total Catch: 1
Dunearn: 0
Daltra/Altnahara: 1
Day Lets: 0

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website

Another hot and dry week. The river was very low and the thunderstorms at the end of the week didn't bring much relief and barely shifted the river height. Several fish came up to flies during the week, around five in total, but none connected. Fish were seen throughout the river, although not in the usual numbers. Only three infected fish were seen.

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

This feed was drawn from the Lethen Estate website