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This was a shot of myself with a top UK surgeon who'd just taken up salmon fishing. This is the gravel riverbank at the neck of the Ash Tree Pool at Kinnaird near Dunkeld. Look at the amazing Perthshire hills in the back ground and the fast streamy River Tay salmon water behind us. This lovely shot was taken by top Scottish photographer Louise Bellin.
Here's Jock Monteith out showing a group of visiting Canadian salmon fishers how we tie on a salmon fly in Scotland. This shot was taken on the left hand bank of the Gean Tree Pool of the River Tay near the village of Murthly.
Here's a boat load of River Tay salmon fishing guests with their personal guide motoring up through the Channel Pool on the Upper Kinnaird Beat near Aberfeldy. You can see from the lack of full foliage on the riverbank trees that this shot was taken during mid May.
Jock Monteith was hired by the famous Hollywood actor Michael Keaton to be his personal guide for the day up on the River Tilt near Blair Atholl.
Here's a riverside shot taken in front of the Lower Kinnaird Beat salmon fishing hut of the Lower Kinnaird Head Ghillie Martin Edgar and myself. Martin and I have worked together for over 20 years on 2 beats of the River Tay upstream & downstream of Dunkeld Bridge.
Colin and I both worked together for a few seasons 20 years ago on the Newtyle salmon beat of the River Tay before Colin took the job as Head Ghillie on the nearby Dalmarnock Beat which is a lovely Tay salmon beat slightly upstream of Dunkeld.

What Is A Salmon Fishing Ghillie

A professional salmon fishing career based breakdown of what role a ghillie serves on the salmon rivers of Scotland.

What Is A Salmon Fishing Ghillie

what is the main role of a Scottish salmon fishing ghillie

The traditional role of a Scottish ghillie was to be the expert for the clan chieftan to rely on for deer hunting, grouse shooting & salmon fishing. These days the man in charge of a section (beat) of a Scottish salmon river is known as the ghillie and his roles are fairly extensive in the daily running and maintenance of the fishery.

What other duties does a salmon fishing ghillie perform

The beat ghillie's duties involve maintaining the riverbanks via grass cutting, strimming, sapling & branch pruning. The maintenance of the salmon fishing hut is also a part of the role of a ghillie. When fishing guests arrive the ghillie also works out the salmon pool rotations for all fishing guests and gives solid advice on how best to fish the salmon pools on his beat based on the prevailing water conditions. A salmon beat ghillie sometimes will be able to go further and supply equipment and give casting lessons with personal one-on-one tuition for a single fisher or a group of beginners but this extra service should not be assumed unless negotiations have taken place beforehand to secure these extra services.

Are There Many Salmon Fishing Ghillies In Scotland

Most well established Scottish salmon fishing beats will have a full time professional salmon beat ghillie on the beat to keep fishing guests customer service levels good and the venue in a good state of repair. Riverbanks and fishing huts can very quickly look unkept without a professional ghillie being present to take care of everything. A good ghillie plays a vital role in the successfull operartion of a salmon beat and in Scotland's major 4 rivers there are approximately 250 ghillies operating between full time & part time positions. On Scotland's other 400 salmon rivers there will also be many other professional ghillies operating too.

Does a salmon guide provide a more personal service than a ghillie

A salmon beat ghillie is mostly present to attent to the beat management and overview his fishing guests which can be highly time intensive when he starts his 'permit access' only guests off and periodically checks on how they are doing throughout the full course of the fishing day in addition to other salmon beat maintenance and sometimes also boat fishing duties. With a beat ghillie's daily responsibilities in mind it's often always a better idea (if you're new to salmon fishing or are an existing salmon fisher in need of fine tuning) to hire a personal guide who will teach you how to fish for salmon, supply all of the fishing equipment & waterproofing and stay with you (& your group) all day to ensure you are covering the salmon pools properly to give you the best chance of catching salmon. Follow this link for more information on how to book a salmon fishing guide in Scotland.