Professional salmon fishing guide advice on the beautiful native otter populations that live on the River Tay and other Scottish salmon rivers.
Having been a professional salmon fishing guide for the majority of my life I've been fortunate to have some close encounters with native otters and these are indeed amazing wild animals. A wild otter is not a creature anyone normally gets too close to as they have expetionally high awareness levels and they tend to feed mainly at dusk and only ocassionally through daylight hours so if you're fortunate to get a glipse of one you'll require bit of wind directional awareness stealth and careful movements while reaching for your camera.
The wild otter these days is a highly protected creature in Scotland and they feed mainly on eels, trout & salmon. I personally have no issues with this amazing Scottish animal as it is indeed native to Scotland and plays its role in thinning out weaker easier caught or dead fish pretty much the same way our old friend Mr Pike does. On fisheries down south I belive they can do much more damage to valuable fish stocks but on a large Scottish river salmon can fairly easily escape from a feeding otter the same way they successfully escape from any other predators. The otter plays a vital role in the Scottish river environment.
On one of the above photographs an otter came into fish the exact square yard area of the pool that I was fly fishing through at dusk which was a true endorsement that I was in the correct place. The otter actually nudged my fly line as it jumped over it and I managed to snap a shot as I saw the animal approaching the main salmon lie we were both fishing! Nothing could ever better endorse your fishing approach than being aligned with the thoughts of a hunting otter! In the accompanying video I managed to film during bright daylight an otter feeding away on a salmon it had killed. In general an encounter with a wild Scottish otter is a rare experience and when it does happen you should feel fortunate to get close enough to observe such a fine animal in its natural surroundings.
When you fish on the beautiful River Tay you'll see all forms of wildlife and if you want to be taken to a secluded River Tay salmon beat where you'll stand a good chance of catching a fish and seeing some of Scotland's equally interesting wild life then book a professional River Tay salmon fishing guide who will give you the best chance of experiencing just that.
