Pools and Salmon - Tulchan on the Spey - River Spey - Salmon Fishing

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INTRODUCTION
What makes a pool a great pool? It might be the number of fish it has delivered, or it may just be the flow and pace of the water that makes fishing the fly simply a delight. An angler may recall a particular fish, reminisce over company spent with friends or just bestow the beauty of the surroundings they find themselves in. I don’t think there is any one thing that will make a pool memorable in the mind and certainly not the same feature for every pool. One thing is for sure, every angler will have their own subtleties, their own favorites and their own memories that may make any pool, in their mind, a great pool.
There are so many pools on the river Spey at Tulchan, that are just a delight to fish the fly. I have my own favorites, and without doubt there will be a few raised eyebrows over what some may say are glaring omissions. In the coming years and seasons, my thoughts may change and I will embrace with some of these omissions, but for now my fondness lies on what I know and where I feel most in touch with the river here at Tulchan.

BOAT POOL
The Boat Pool is an intriguing pool on Tulchan’s B beat. I’ve been rewarded with fish throughout its length over the years and I will always fish it through but, I believe, it is the neck of the pool that stands out. The fast-swirling water with its back eddies is a tricky cast and requires thoughtful navigation to cover the lies. Hooking into a salmon in this water is an epic encounter and the further into the neck the fish takes the harder the battle.

BROOM POOL
Although the B Beat’s Broom Pool fishes well from both banks, I treasure a cast from the south bank and the tail, or the Larder as is affectionately known, in particular. Fish arrive in the Larder after traversing the fast stream above the Boat Pool and tend to rest on the lip and in the V of the Larder before pushing up into the Broom itself. It’s quite an arduous task for an angler to reach the Larder and definitely needs a sure foot; but swinging a fly through the Larder’s glassy water is a worthy reward.

CRAGGANMORE
The Cragganmore is a classic holding pool for salmon from late spring and throughout the summer months. Beginning high up in the neck as a fast tight stream, it breaks out into a long wide glide past the hut before picking up again with pace as it tails out into the Woods Pool below. A short stroll from the hut at Tulchan’s D beat, the pool offers easy wading and a near perfect swing, from the left bank in particular.

CHURCHYARD
Sandwiched between the fast water of the Stream of Cragganmore and the equally turbulent Steading, both of which will tire salmon travelling upstream, it is really no surprise that D Beat’s Churchyard Pool is a prolific pool to find resting salmon. My love of this pool stems from an encounter with a large Salmon in the presence of then Ghillie Robert Mitchell on a sunray in the glassy water just opposite the boat bay. The fish was lost but such was the battle that I cannot approach the Church Yard Pool without memories of that day. When my fly glides over that patch of glassy water my body tightens, my heart beats and I just wait for that pull on my line.

STRAAN
It will be of no surprise to find here a mention of the Straan at Tulchan’s C Beat. If there is one pool that will be favoured by all across Tulchan’s water it would surely be the Straan Pool. There are not many who would walk past the Straan without a cast. The hut on C Beat has a commanding view looking downstream through the Straan and it is a sight that first greets all anglers to the beat. The Straan is a prolific pool even by Tulchan’s standard and sits pride of place as the centre piece of C Beat, if not of Tulchan Estate. An easy wade down the right bank can find an angler connecting with a salmon at any point from the fast rush of the neck to the slow gliding drift of the tail. A fine salmon pool indeed.

DALEIGH STREAM
Probably the most surprising inclusion of my favored pools. The Daleigh Stream on C Beat is a deep narrow channel that flows between the Lower Bog and the main Daleigh Pools. The Stream is fished off the north which being a high rocky bank makes it a tricky cast with the fly, requiring a good level of skill and a strong foot. The stream is often overlooked in favor of the more traditional Daleigh Pool below. However, the Stream can hold fish any time of the season as they wait to run the fast water and enter the Bog Pools above. Despite being an awkward cast and a relatively short run, the pool offers the opportunity to catch a salmon in a situation where the fish can quickly gain the upper hand. It is deep and fast and an angler will soon run out of road if the fish decides to run to the Daleigh Pool below. What follows will be a torrid and exciting tussle that unfortunately will often conclude in the fish’s favour, such is the peril of the Daleigh Stream.