The Fishing Beats
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CAWDOR BEAT
Cawdor beat, which is fly only, starts at the deep Castle pool, where a bed of resistant rocks spans the river. This is a deep pool and can be covered from the Cawdor or Kilravock side.
Below this the river fishes best from the right bank. A series of shallow runs are worth a cast if the water is not too low, but the next named pool is the Tits pool which is named after long tailed tits which nest in the whins here. This pool sometimes alters after a heavy spate; never very deep, currently it has filled in with gravel in its upper section, and for much of the lower part there is a shallow shelf of rock under the far bank where one might expect there to be deep water.
Below this is the Rock pool which is sometimes worth a cast. The tail of this pool is complicated by a series of rocks forming part of the river bed.
The Gate pool below this is best covered from the Kilravock side, but next pool down is the Gate Run, a fast stream with a narrow neck, most easily fished from Cawdor bank. The stretch below this is not easily accessible from the right bank until we come to the Quarry pool, where the river has cut through a sandstone outcrop on the left bank, forming a deep hole. Below here the river forms a fast run under the new bridge and is not accessible from the Cawdor side. Downstream, below the 1746 White Bridge, the next named pool is the Cottage pool which is most easily covered from Cawdor side. This is well worth a cast, and a few of the shallower pools below it will sometimes hold a fish. The river then narrows at the Sluice Pool above s stretch of streamy, shallow water. The river is not easy to fish from Cawdor side below this point for some distance and it is better to retrace your steps to White Bridge and fish on down the Kilravock side to do justice to this section.
At the tail of the Pigs pool it is possible to wade over to Cawdor bank, river height permitting, to put your fly down a streamy pool which has no name but sometimes produces a fish. Getting up the bank from here to go further downstream is difficult due to a steep wooded bank and barbed wire fencing, so the next named pool, the Cockles, is best accessed by a long walk up from Milton car park. It is possible to wade over from Kilravock side at the tail of the cockles if the water is not too high. There is a stile at the neck of the pool to get you over the fence if walking up the Cawdor side and it is from this side that the pool fishes best all the way from neck to tail, as there is a very steep and often tree covered bank for most of the Kilravock side, under which the water is very deep in the upper and mid section.
Below this pool there is a streamy section, rarely fished but worth trying; the upper part is usually fished from the left bank by wading down as it is not easily accessible from the right bank.
Cawdor side next fishes below the footbridge at Milton car park where there is a fast stream – Milton run. A good fly pool, watch out for an iron girder sticking up at the tail of the pool which is an invisible snag when the water is high. The stream just below this is best covered from Kilravock bank, but a croy marks the start of the Long Pool which can be fished from neck to tail with occasional lies under the far bank. Cawdor Pot, at the confluence of the Cawdor burn with the main river, can be fished from Cawdor side, but most favour the opposite bank for this pool and the streams below until Blairnafadh pool is reached, which is best covered from the Cawdor side. The latter pool can also be reached by walking up from Rosefield car park. This is a good fly pool but is somewhat changeable after a spate. Deeper water tends to be in a narrow trench under the far bank for much of this pool. Further down we come to the Firs pool and though this is best fished from the other side at one or two places a cast can be made to cover the eddies below some of the croys in this pool.
Below this point is a dynamic section of the river which is constantly changing from year to year and is often studded with fallen trees which can make transient pools and runs, some of which have been productive. Following the path downstream we come to the deep waters of the Hut pool which is armoured to some extent on the right bank. Again, most fish this from Kilravock side but a cast can be made from Cawdor bank. Much erosion has eaten away the Cawdor bank at the tail of the Hut pool but a nice pool has formed below which, although unnamed, is worth a cast. The path soon
begins to leave the river and at this point it can be left to follow the river edge down to Tony’s Pool though there is no path on the bank.
At upper Tony’s pool there is a prominent croy. This is a nice pool to fish a fly down, but again it varies from year to year and is not particularly deep. This pool and the next, lower Tony’s pool, fish best from Cawdor side and sometimes hold big fish, especially in spring. Lower Tony’s pool is very deep under the far bank. The eponymous Tony – Tony Hartwell – was a much respected NAA member who had a lot of success here; the adjacent bench is dedicated to him. Behind the bench is a poorly defined path through to the main footpath as an alternative to retracing your steps up the bank. Below Tony’s, the river follows a fairly straight path down to Lennon’s pool. It is worth fishing down this stretch as there are one or two lies at various spots under the far bank. At Lennon’s pool there used to be a willow bush and many fish used to lie there, but the bush was swept away in a spate and this spot is now shallow, with the deeper water under the Cawdor bank. It is best to wade across to the Kilravock side at the tail of Lennon’s as the Cawdor bank gets rough and fairly impassable, especially when there is summer growth of vegetation. The river takes a left hand bend into the Secret |Pool, another spot which has been good in the past but changes from year to year; it can only be fished from Kilravock side. If the river low, the angler can wade across at the tail of this pool where there is a fast glide to a pot under a tree. From here there is a succession of promising but un-named pools which have been fairly recently formed, all best fished from Cawdor side. At another bend we come to the Slabs pool where the armouring on the far bank shelves down to a deep hole; however this pool has been altered by a massive spate and may not currently be worth a cast. The shallow runs below can be fished down but at the next pool, the Seat Pool, the angler can wade across if conditions permit and fish the Green Road and Colin’s pool, re-crossing at the tail of the latter to fish the Flood Bank, a good fly pool from Cawdor side. The water is fairly thin below this but there is a nice even flowing run just above the Hangar pool which often produces a fish. The Hangar pool itself is not easily fishable from Cawdor side and this beat ends near the tail of this pool, where there is a gate on Cawdor side.
Note – crossing the river should only be attempted if the angler is sure the river is low enough for this to be done safely. Caution should be exercised as the river bed is not stable and can alter from spate to spate, so that even established crossing points can be rendered unviable.​​
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Kilravock Beat
Kilravock beat, which is the biggest and most productive beat on the river, is again a left bank beat, starting immediately below the Old Bridge where there are a few likely streams before the first named pool, the Salmon Stream. Next is a good holding pool, the Castle, and below this more streamy water and the Tits pool, named after long tailed tits which nest on its banks. At a bend in the river the Gate pool, a good fly stream, is reached. Below this we find the Gate Run, and further on the Barbie Pool (look for Barbie on the trunk of the tree – she has been there several years). At a bend in the river where there is a prominent outcrop of sandstone there is another deep holding pool, the Quarry, and below this is a fast and sometimes productive stream just above the 1746 vintage White Bridge where there is ample parking. A new road bridge is planned at this point. Below the bridge, on the corner, is the Cottage Pool, another holding pool, followed by streamy water before the river narrows to form the Sluice Pool. Budgate Pool is next, near Budgate Farm.
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Below this is another Layby pool which joins on to the Long pool; fish can be taken all along the latter's length depending on height of water. We now come to the Pigs pool, so-called because there used to be a pig rearing operation opposite it. This is a shallow fast run, but it can be productive when the conditions are right. More fast water lies below this pool and a couple of streams are worth trying before the next named pool, the Cockles. The NAA side has a steep, tree lined bank on the upper half of this pool making it hard to cover.
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More shallow, streamy water follows below the Cockles, with two or three unnamed but productive pools before we reach the Milton Pool, a slow deep glide. Below this is a footbridge and below that a fast run,Milton Run, good for fly. More likely streams follow before the Long Pool is reached; fish lie here at the neck and near the tail, which features submerged boulders. Next we have the Gauges which used to be a good holding pool, but which has shallowed off though it is worth putting a fly through the fast water. Below this we reach the confluence with Cawdor Burn, forming Cawdor Pot pool. This pool can be good but this depends on the way gravel has been deposited after a spate- this can be quite variable.
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A few hundred metres of fast shallow streams with croys, which can be productive in high water, lead us to Blair-na-fade Pool which has a croy at its head and a good stream over most of its length. After one or two little streams the angler reaches the Firs pool - a nice long fly pool, especially if the water is a good height.
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Just below the power lines the left bank is badly eroded and trees are continually falling in at this point. The water is often diverted to form a pool, and currently there is a good stream at this point, well worth a cast. The next pool, the Dogleg, used to be very good, but it now has a huge tree stump in it which effectively ruins the pool both from our and Cawdor's side. Below this the right bank is armored with large boulders and there is a good stream, called the Hut Pool although the eponymous hut is long gone. The next few hundred yards are fairly shallow and streamy but there are one or two pockets that sometimes yield a fish. Further down is a croy, with a bench on the Cawdor side which is in memory of popular NAA member Tony Hartwell. Tony's Pool has a narrow neck and rapidly shallows; it is not as productive as it used to be. The same can be said of the next pool down, Lower Tony's, which is also formed by a croy. A few yards further on we come to Lennon's Pool, a long pool where some years ago Jim Lennon landed a 30 pounder on worm. This used to be an excellent high water pool but in recent years it has become shallow due to a build up of gravel following the 'Hurricane Bertha' spate from which it never recovered.
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Below this the river divides into two and rejoins at the Secret Pool, another pool that was once good but which has declined in recent years. This area is subject to erosion and changes frequently. The river divides again below here to form a small island with an attractive deep hole – the Island Pool. Some productive fly streams separate this from the Slabs pool, a deep holding pool with its left bank armored by slabs of runway concrete from a wartime aerodrome which was situated nearby.
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After some streamy water we come to the Kidrummie area, where there is a series of croys which form the Seat Pool, Green Road and Colin's pool, the latter named in memory of a popular NAA member who enjoyed fishing there. This is a pool which always holds fish, but they may be hard to tempt!
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Next we arrive at the Flood Bank, a lovely fly stream which has sometimes been very productive. The river widens here and there is a shingle 'island' which is only a true island in high water. The main stream forms a fast run with reasonable depth which is excellent fly water. At the tail of this the river bends sharply to the right and then curves left into the Hangar Pool which is a long pool with a wooded far bank. Most fish are caught in the upper regions of this pool but even in low water they can be found all down the pool under the far bank.
Geddes Beat
A third of the way down the Hangar pool there is a notice on the right bank which marks the start of Geddes beat; below this point both banks, (the left bank is still Kilravock) can be fished by NAA members. Initially there are a few runs but the top one is the only one with decent depth and the angler will find little of interest until the next named pool, Graeme's Pool. Here, on the right bank, the angler should pause and read the dedication on the cairn to Graeme Moffat, a young lad who loved to fish here. On the left bank at this point there is a good fishing hut. After Graeme's there is a nice stream called Upper Jock's and below that Jock's Pool itself, a long and productive pool with deep water under the armoured left bank. Below this is an unstable area which is subject to frequent changes with almost every big spate; pools form and are lost on a regular basis but it is always worth a cast between Jock's and the next named pool, Allanaha. Here there are a couple of croys which form two attractive and productive pools but below the last croy the river widens and becomes slower with few lies until the river nears the Spindrift site where there is a deep hole with a narrow neck which sometimes holds fish – Spindrift Pool. The river curves to the right below Spindrift but there is little depth or cover to induce fish to lie until, just past a sand cliff on the left bank, we reach Geddes Corner, a lovely pool with a fast run under the tree lined right bank. Below this the Geddes burn enters the river from the right bank and the river forms a good fly stream over a rocky bed before it passes under Howford Bridge.
Town Water Beat
The NAA can fish both banks of the Town Water beat. Below the bridge Howford Pool can sometimes be good but like many other pools on the Nairn it can change between spates and is subject to erosion damage. A hundred metres further down is Howford Pot, a deep hole where fish often lie under the pile of debris which gathers on the right bank. Below the Pot the river takes a bend and runs over rocky shelves - good fly water - before opening out into the Sand Pool, which is normally fished from the right bank. Further on we arrive at the Red Rocks pool and then one of the best holding pools, Firhall. Next is the Granites, usually fished from the left bank, and then Whinnieknowe which is fished from the right bank. The Flukie Bed is worth a try and below a footbridge the Jubilee pool is an excellent stream fished from the left bank. As we near the A96 road bridge we reach the Factors pool where fish rest after coming in off the tide; apart from a few shallow runs below the bridge that is the end of the NAA water.
NB: The RIGHT bank (looking downstream) from Cantray bridge to the marker notice on the Hangar pool at Kildrummie is PRIVATE FISHING.
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