Rob Hardy visits the Pert beat on the North Esk, a river he adores, but which rarely reciprocates
DO YOU KNOW A RIVER YOU just can’t catch a fish from, no matter how hard you try or how good the conditions?
My jinxed river is the North Esk, which forms the border between Angus and Aberdeenshire. To accentuate my anguish, it is now one of the few UK salmon and sea-trout rivers that is bucking the downward trend in catches by maintaining good runs of spring and autumn fish.
I fished the Northie (as it’s often known) in the mid-nineties. I was on Burn Estate water then, below the Big Gannochy (a series of stepped pools) and although it was a lovely beat, I never experienced it at its best. The river was often on its bones, and since it is essentially a spate river, water levels dictate the number of running fish and consequently your chance of success.
I could not use that excuse on my most recent visits, with the editor, to the productive Pert beats where we had near-perfect spring conditions.
A two-mile, right-bank fishery with 12 named pools, Pert is just five miles from the North Esk’s confluence with the North Sea above Montrose. It’s split into upper and lower three-rod beats, fished on a daily rotation. The top half starts at Weir pool, marching on to the lower half at Dovecot pool. From here, Upper Bridges pool extends down to the ‘new’ road bridge, which carries the Edinburgh to Fraserburgh dual carriageway. Once past the huge gabion baskets that protect the banks around its bases, you are into Bridges, the run leading to the older North Water Bridge, conveniently overlooked by the Pert hut. The beat’s lower limit, at the tail of Upper Stobb pool, is half a mile downriver.
Heading inland, the upper beat is one of the nicest fly waters I’ve fished anywhere. At its upper limit, Weir and Lower Weir hold fish, but they need to be fished with stealth. Not only is it tricky to guide the fly through the fast currents at the neck, but as you approach Lower Weir, the depth and flow is concentrated towards the right bank, which is steep and high. Here, if possible, you must pick your way along the rocky margin, casting carefully and avoiding the skyline, so as not to spook fish lying almost beneath your feet. As one of only two pools that regularly requires a sinking line, we chose a float/hover/intermediate to get the fly down and slow its swing in the heavy flow. With dark depths looming just inches away, it demands the utmost respect.
It is not until you reach the bottom half of Lower Weir, Blue
