Regular ESF contributor Graham Nicol tells us about his home river the Don.
We all have an affinity with a river dear to our hearts. It may be on account of where we caught our largest fish, fondest memories, accessibility or availability. With myself I spent the early part of my life located just outside Aberdeen and the convenience of a river a mere 200 metres from my house was just too appealing.
First a little bit of geography. The source of this wonderful river emanates in the Ladder Hills located within the Grampian mountains west of Strathdon and flows for 82 miles eastwards before emptying into the North Sea at Bridge of Don on the north side of Aberdeen.
It is the 6th longest river in Scotland and 7th by basin area. Somewhat surprising the Don has only one tributary of a meaningful size and this is the Urie that joins it at Inverurie. Unlike its well known neighbour the Dee the Don is quite different in character. Its flow is slower as it meanders through a lot of farmland in its middle to lower reaches and as a consequence colours up more when it rains. The river is also more alkali and thus weed growth in summer is profuse and clarity can be similar to a chalkstream. This naturally leads to a profusion of food for the trout and is generally what the Don is famous for. Every season fish of 6lbs upwards are caught and the average size tends to exceed 3/4lb. Fly life has declined but on the right days can be quite spectacular resulting in terrific sport on the dry. Somewhat understated but the Don experiences a reasonable run of sea trout with impressive specimens caught by both trout and salmon anglers using conventional flies. As I mentioned the Don has a rather illustrious neighbour in the Dee and thus salmon fishermen tend to flock to the latter. From a catch perspective the Don cannot match but it is not to be shunned for although the spring run is somewhat light the back-end can be quite superb given the correct conditions. Furthermore the Don season is open to the end of October and value for money knocks spots off the Dee . Last season the Don recorded 2474 salmon comfortably exceeding the 10 year average of 1942.
The Don can be split simply into three areas. The upper consists of the source all the way down to Alford Bridge and reflects typical Highland type characteristics with fast flowing rocky pools and runs being prevalent. Salmon take some time to get up here and likewise trout take a bit of time to recover from the harsh winters that can be experienced up here. Nevertheless come mid April both wet and dry fly fishing can be very productive. From Alford Bridge to Kemnay we have the middle reaches and this is probably where the cream of the fishing is available. The river slows down a bit and both salmon and trout can be taken from opening days. Beats such as Monymusk and Castle Forbes offer a multitude of beats over many miles at a very reasonable cost and fishing pressure is virtually nil. The lower Don from Kemnay to the tidal reaches is much more sedate in manner with the river consisting a large pools, dubs and runs. It is a large river now and for trout a rod of at least 9ft rated #5-6 is recommended whereas for salmo salar a 14ft #9 should be considered.
Availability is good and Fishpal offers access to in excess of 20 beats with prices generally £15 for trout and £30 for salmon.
The lower Don is controlled predominately by the Aberdeen & District Angling Association who also has access to other waters such as the lower Dee and Ythan and visitor tickets are available (http://www.adaa.org.uk/)
Should you wish to give it a go, and I heartily recommend you do so, then if possible consider May-June for the trout and if you wish to include salmon then consider May or September... Happy travels
