Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (Today)

This shot of the water gauge was taken today at 3.30pm. The water had risen to 6ft at 6pm this evening and was still rising. Hopefully it will not go much further tonight. This very high water on Newtyle greatly reduces the normal plentiful flywater to a few hunderd yards. It does however vastly increase the spinning water on the beat so anyone fishing tomorrow or early next week would be advised to bring a spinning outfit too.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Fishing Hut View (Today)

Here's the scene today of the middle of our Cottar Pool on Newtyle.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (Today)

As you can see it's just under 5 1/2 ft on our gauge today but running clear. This height greatly reduces the fly water on Newtyle so probably best to also bring a spinning rod when the Tay's huge like this.

Jock Monteith

Springer Action Today On Newtyle

Here's a short clip of the springer action today on Newtyle. This battle lasted 10 minutes or so before this lively fish could be landed.

Jock Monteith

Billy Wilson With His Perfect Tay Springer

Here'a a good shot of Billy and his 12 lbs sea-liced springer taken seconds before it's release. This springer was caught in the Cottar bay at around 4pm. The fish put up a great fight and took a pink tomic lure harled from the boat. The river had dropped several inches from this morning and was exactly 6 ft on our gauge at 5pm. Everything is looking great for tomorrow although we have no rods booked on so I think Colin & I will go out and have a go ourselves rather than miss this falling water. If anyone fancies a go on Newtyle tomorrow click here to book a rod.

Jock Monteith

Billy's Springer Being Released

Well done to Billy for returning this perfect sea-liced springer.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Billy Wilson & his pal 'Selkie'.

Here's Billy and his pal enjoying the beautiful spring sunshine today on the Newtyle Beat.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (Today)

Huge water today but running clear and a lovely bright spring day too.

Jock Monteith

The Steps (High Water) & 'Selkie'

Here's 'The Steps' today in the big water & glorious sunshine.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (Today)

It's up again on yesterday but running clear. Hopefully it will start dropping for tomorrow.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Fishing Hut View (Today)

Here's a panoramic view of the Tay today from the Newtyle Beat fishing hut.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (Today)

The water level rose slowly throughout the day and was up to 5ft 2 inches at 4.30pm. Hopefully it will settle again soon. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Fishing Hut Area (Today)

Here's today's panoramic from the fishing hut area. This week coming is traditionally when Newtyle fishes the best in February. So fingers crossed that we can put a few more springers in the book. There are rods avaialble on Newtyle Monday to Friday. To book a rod this week on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (Today)

It's good to see the water starting to drop again which should result in a few more springers this week.

Jock Monteith

Springer Action Today On Newtyle

Here's Mike Gaston with his superb 10 lbs springer this morning which was caught at the top of our beat in the Ferry Pool. Mike has seen many springers on Newtyle over the years and is delighted with the new TDSFB's Catch & Release policy. Well done Mike.

Here's Colin McFadyen (Ghillie) returning this fine springer to the river.

Safely returned to the Tay to spawn another day !!!!!!!!!!!

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Fishing Hut Area (Today)

Here's the view today just before the river started to rise. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (Today)

The river from lunchtime today onwards rose to over 5ft on the gauge.

Jock Monteith

John Ferguson Boatbuilder

Here's (what I am sure will become a great friend) a new boat for the Newtyle Beat which will be finished & ready for use in early March. These boats are handcrafted by John Ferguson who is a master boatbuilder and who's workshop is located in the village of Stanley which is between Dunkeld & Perth. John builds all the boats for the Tay and many other Scottish rivers and has a quality build reputation second to none. These boats are 16 ft in length and are made primarily out of larch. This particular boat will be varnished and will look absolutely superb out on the river on our highly picturesque beat. I will of course be throwing a large quality malt over the bow as it's welcome to the Newtyle Beat !!! John Ferguson can build handcrafted boats to just about any specification and can be contacted on 01738 626696 or 07759 547324.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (Today)

5 ft and rising and very very windy today. Newtyle beat fisher Stephen Martin managed to land a 9 lbs springer just before lunchtime at 'The Steps'. The fish took a toby fished from the bank and was quickly returned unharmed to the river. Well done Stephen. Hopefully tomorrow will bring better fishing conditions however you just never know what can happen in this game.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Fishing Hut Area (Today)

Here's the view today from the fishing hut area on Newtyle. The water has been rising all day and will probably continue to do so further. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (Today)

A strong but very mild wind was blowing downstream all day today. Only kelts were caught today on Newtyle.

Jock Monteith

The Tay Western Catchments Project

In summer 2007 Scottish Native Woods launched the Tay Western Catchments Project, starting on the river Lochay at Killin. Televison, radio and press articles have helped publicise this exciting project and further coverage will be ongoing throughout 2008.
This will be Scotland's largest and most comprehensive river survey and aims to stimulate the enhancement of over 1,000 miles of riverside and burnside habitat in the headwaters of the Tay river system.
For more information on this very worthwhile habitat enhancement project Click here.


The Newtyle Beat owners & I both hold Tay Western Catchments Project stakeholder certificates as you see in this short video along with many anglers, ghillies & other interested parties. This area of the Tay's headwaters are predominantly where our spring salmon reproduce. So with all this large scale habitat enhancement activity & The Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board's tougher new 'Catch & Release' policy it all is looking positive for future of the Tay's salmon stocks.

Jock Monteith

How to Catch A Cock Salmon On Newtyle

This mermaid lure was given to me by the late Ian Graham who was the managing director of Howden Engineering in Glasgow during the 70's. I showed this lure to my late friend Willie 'the Ghillie' Laird in the summer of 1977 and he thought it was the greatest lure he'd ever seen - so I gave it to him. When I started as a full time ghillie on Newtyle several years ago I was cleaning out one of the cupboards and low and behold there it was wedged in behind a shelf. It had survived all the huge floods in the fishing hut since the 70's.

Jock Monteith

Fishing Hut View (today)

Here's the lay of the land today. The river's a lovely height and we have plenty rods on for the rest of this week which should equate to another' Springer' or two. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (today)

As you can see the Tay is steady at just over the 2 ft mark today. Only kelts so far today and a few hundred yards of riverbank tidying up.

Jock Monteith

Kelt Action (today)

It's great to see so many kelts still in the system and hopefully a sign of a great spawning year last winter. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Kelt Action (today)

This hen kelt took the fly on the first cast.

Jock Monteith

Kelt Returned

This kelt was none the worse after her encounter with me today !!!

Jock Monteith

Spring Salmon On The Fly

Here's this small but powerful fish from earlier today. It took a gold bodied cascade type tube fly in 'The Trap' on Newtyle. This was one of it's first runs after being hooked fairly close in at the tail of the pool. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Action Today

Here's a short video this salmon's beautiful silver flanks glinting in the spring sunshine in the later stages of the fight today. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Spring Salmon On The Fly

This spring hen fish has been in the river for a few weeks unlike the last 3 we have landed on Newtyle which had all been in the river less than 48 hours. A lovely fish all the same.

Jock Monteith

Springer Returned on Newtyle Today

The fish was carefully unhooked, returned & swam off strongly.
Jock Monteith

Cock Kelt Released

Here's a small cock kelt being released earlier today.
Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (today)

No rods on Newtyle today sadly as the beat is great height now for early spring fly fishing. The water today is just on 2 ft on our gauge.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (today)

The water level was 2 ft 1 inch at 4.30 pm today. This shot was taken at 9.00am showing approx 2 ft 3 inches. We had no rods on today so Colin and I were working on the banks and managed to tidy up about a mile of our left bank. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (today)

The water has dropped another couple of inches from yesterday. This level is a great height for the fly on the Newtyle Beat and with a few springers in town makes the prospects for this week look quite promising. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Craig Murray's 9 lbs Springer on Newtyle Today

Here's a photograph (click to enlarge) of Craig Murray with his sea-liced 9 lbs Tay springer today. The fish took a orange & yellow conehead flamethrower in 'The Boil' later on this afternoon. Craig enjoyed a very lively battle with the fish which was his first ever Tay springer. Very well done Craig. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Springer Returned on Newtyle Today

Here's our superb Ghillie Colin McFadyen returning Craig Murray's first ever & perfect Tay springer.

Jock Monteith

Salmon Charming On Newtyle Today

I thought we would try a new approach after lunch in attracting a 'springer' to the beat today. As usual on Newtyle always expect the unexpected and the music obviously worked well !!!
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Water Gauge (today)

What a beautiful spring day on the Newtyle Beat of the Tay !!!!
As you can see the water is now settling back to a lovely height for the fly.

Jock Monteith

Tail of 'The Trap' (today)

Here's how the tail of 'The Trap' was looking earlier today. After the recent high water it's good to start seeing our lovely fly streams appear again as the water levels settle back down (2ft 10 inches on our gauge today). My great friend Tony Black (Ghillie) had 2 springers today on Murthly just downstream of Newtyle and I saw some runnng fish coming through the bottom of our beat at around 4pm today. Hopefully tomorrow we will make contact with yet another hard fighting Tay 'springer'. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Water Gauge (today)

Jock Monteith

Fishing Hut View (today)

Here's how the river was looking earlier today
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Beat Springer Action Today

Big Springer Battle

Jock Monteith

A Hard Fighting Big Tay Springer

David Heyman with his Perfect Tay 24 lbs Springer

This fish was David Heyman's second ever Tay 'springer' and I am sure he'll never forget the sheer power demonstration the fish gave him this afternoon at the lower end of the Newtyle Beat. The fish was hooked just below Willie's Croy less than 20 yards from the bank where it was resting having just come through the heavy water of the Island stream below. As usual it came to the deadly pearly pink tomic lure. Click photographs to enlarge.

What a perfect specimen of a cock springer.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Recovery Time

Click to enlarge photograph.

Jock Monteith

24 pounder Released On Newtyle

After several minutes of reviving this perfect Tay specimen 'springer' to make sure he had fully recovered he was released and swam off strongly.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Water Gauge (today)

The water has dropped to 3ft 3 inches. Perfect height for the boat as we were about to discover.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Fishing Hut View (today)

Here's a panoramic of the fishing hut right round to the Cottar bay via Selkie !!!!
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

A Beautiful Spring Day On Newtyle

Here's my great friend John Irving out with his fly rod at the tail of the Cottar Bay. Click photographs to enlarge.

This is a stunning shot of the fishing hut and Birnam hill beyond.

Jock Monteith

Water Gauge (today)

Here's the gauge today showing approx 3 ft 6 inches.


Jock Monteith

Fishing Hut View (today)

Here's a the view of the river today.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Kelt Action (today)

This kelt was obviously glad to get back into the river !!

Jock Monteith

Water Gauge (today)

Just under 4t on the gauge today and still dropping. Only kelts caught today.

Jock Monteith

Alan Wade's 16lbs Springer from Saturday

Here's Alan's fish unhooked on the landing mat before release.

Jock Monteith

Fishing Hut View (today)

Here's a panoramic taken earlier today. I'll be surprised if we don't add a few more springers to our scoresheet this week. For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.


Jock Monteith

Water Gauge (today)

The Tay is settling back nicely as you can see. This coming week should be good especially knowing there are big springers about.

Jock Monteith

Springer hooked in the Ferry Pool

Here's another definite springer being played up in our Ferry Pool later this afternoon. This fish also came off before it could be landed but gave some pleasure albeit a brief encounter !!!! I saw the fish cleary twice and would guestimate it was around 16 - 18 pounds. This pool is at the top of the Newtyle beat so I called Iain Kirk (ghillie) at Dunkeld House (upstream) to tell him there were springers on the move and shortly thereafter he landed one too. (teamwork!!).
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Springer hooked on the Tube Fly

I had a very clear view of this fish in the later stages of the fight before it said goodbye and was definitely a springer of around 14 pounds. It was going back anyway and provided a good 15 minutes of action on the fly rod just before lunch. This springer took a large Yellow & Orange tube fly at the tail of the Cottar Bay just before lunch. The tail of the bay is a great high water lie as it has a small area of calmer water which provides a resting area when the Tay is huge like it was today. I can't wait to get back out on Monday !!! The Cottar Bay is upstream of the Plain Tree pool and my logic was to then try upstream of where Alan landed his springer at 9.45 am.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Newtyle Springer

And here's the lucky angler himself (Alan Wade) with his first ever springer.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.
Jock Monteith

Newtyle Springer

Click photographs to enlarge.

Giving this fine specimen a few minutes to regain his strength.

Jock Monteith

Alan's Springer being released

Here's a shot of this beautiful Tay springer being released.

Jock Monteith

1st Springer off Newtyle

Here's a short video of Alan Wade playing his 16 pounder (& first ever Springer) from the boat at 9.45 this morning. The fish took a pearly pink tomic lure and gave a fair account of itself. This springer was hooked in the Plain Tree Pool on Newtyle in front of Willie Laird's memorial bench. It just shows you that old Laird is still at large !!!!!! Next week should be well worth a go with this class of spring salmon now in the Tay.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Water Gauge (today)

6 ft on the gauge today but running clear. We hooked 4 definite springers today and landed only one of them. All the springers were in the 14 to 20 pound class. When this water settles back a few feet it should be perfect for next week. I still can't believe we hooked so many big Tay springers today. Roll on Monday !!!!

Jock Monteith

Water Gauge (today)

It's back down there somewhere !!!!!! Hopefully it will fall back a few feet tonight.

Jock Monteith

Fishing Hut View (today)

Here's a short video of the river today. The water is up again but running clear and a short cast is all that's needed to cover the broken water at the edge of the river. Salmon are often hooked within a rods length from the bank when it's this high.

Jock Monteith

The Boat Hole Pool, Park Beat, River Dee

Here's one of many classic fly fishing pools on the Park beat.

Jock Monteith

Dee Springer Landed

Another fine Dee springer is landed.

Jock Monteith

Dee Springer

Here's my friend playing a very fit 'springer' on the Dee.
The Dee has produced around 80 springers since opening on the 1st of February.

Jock Monteith

Park Springer landed

This springer being safely unhooked after a spirited contest between angler and fish. This salmon had all the qualities that make them so desireable to early season anglers, courage, strength and beauty. A marvellous contest and a respectful approach to removing the fly. Succesful angler was Ken Reid abley assisted by Mr Keith Cromar, Park Head Ghillie.

Jock Monteith

Park Beat River Dee Today (Ken Reid)

I was very fortunate to have been invited up to the River Dee's premier salmon beat by my great friend and newly appointed Dee Fisheries Development Officer Ken Reid.
It has been an enlightening day today having seen 6 beautiful fly caught spring salmon landed by lucky anglers including myself. I have found the experience rewarding and comforting to know that effective catch & release initiative policies do bear fruits and this augurs well for the Tay system in the long term (a topic close to my heart).

Jock Monteith

Kelt Action Today

Jock Monteith

Kelt Action (today)

Here's a kelt being played on one of the harling rods. The fish was carefully released to the river.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Water Gauge (today)

Here's the water gauge this morning.

Jock Monteith

Fishing Hut View (today)

Here's a short video of the river today. I would say that the prospects this week for a 'springer' are looking good.
For more information on the Newtyle Beat Click here.

Jock Monteith

Water Gauge (today)

The water has risen again overnight but still running clear.

Jock Monteith