On the trail of the elusive Dee springer

Looking to fulfil a long-standing ambition to land a Lower Crathes salmon, Sam Carlisle enlists the help of head gillie Robert Harper

- Robert Harper

This is Green Bank and this is your best chance today,” said Robert Harper, long-time gillie on Lower Crathes and West Durris, as he pointed out the pool.

A beguiling run hugged the far bank of the river Dee, with the speed of current that salmon like to rest in. Despite a desperate lack of rain that had the local farmers worrying and the gillies in despair, Robert’s soothing Aberdeenshire accent inspired hope.

“Just below that patch of daffodils, that’s where you’ll get him,” he said. Right on cue, a lithe silver torpedo leapt from the water, pulsing with oceanic energy, before plunging back into the flowing water. Full of excitement and expectation, I slowly waded to the top of the run and began the metronomic process of Spey casting my way down the pool, waiting for the moment when the swing of my fly would intersect with the salmon we had seen.

In full flow

Fishing for Atlantic salmon is a tough game at the best of times. Success depends less on the skill of the angler and more on an uncertain and unscientific alignment of meteorological conditions. Perhaps the most essential is rain, so the river flows full and the salmon are tempted to continue their migration upstream.