Salmon Fishing on the River Doon
Loch Doon at the head of the river benefits the salmon fishing on the Doon by providing a compensation flow of water in times of summer drought, a benefit not available to the other Ayrshire rivers. Bonnie Doon, immortalised in the poems of Robert Burns, is an attractive and productive salmon river flowing 23 miles from the Galloway hills to its outfall just south of the town of Ayr.
In addition to the compensation water from Loch Doon, the river relies on rainfall to give of its best in terms of salmon sport. Before the dam was built on Loch Doon, the river had a reasonable spring run of salmon. Since then, the spring run has declined. The best of the fishing is now in September and October, with earlier months producing fish given adequate rainfall. The work of the River Doon Angling Improvement Association has proved effective in maintaining salmon stocks and, until the recent decline in salmon runs over the past decade, the river enjoyed catches in excess of 1000 salmon a year, taken on some excellent fly fishing beats such as Doonfoot, Smithston and Skeldon. Access to the best beats is restricted, being privately let or syndicated. Fishing is sometimes available to visiting anglers on a day ticket basis, particularly on the water controlled by the local angling clubs. At the top of the river, the Drumgrange and Keirs Angling Club offers day permits for their beat, which can be highly productive in September and October.
River Doon Map
Tap or click on the map below to view full size image
Note: the maps on this website are extracts from the Bartholomew “Half Inch” map series dating back to the middle of the twentieth century. There have been many changes since the maps were made, and much of the human detail, e.g. buildings and roads, will have changed over the period. It is to be hoped, however, that the unique character of our Scottish rivers, and the trout and salmon in them, will not have altered too dramatically over the years and that they may still offer the wonderful fishing prospects of days gone by. Bearing the above in mind, anyone planning a fishing or walking trip in Scotland is advised to equip themselves with a compass and the appropriate up-to-date Ordnance Survey map, the most useful for the angler probably being the Landranger series, scale 1:50,000. For The River Doon, see O.S. map number 70.
For further information about the fishing on the Stinchar see River Doon Fishing
For information about the trout fishing in the area see Trout Fishing Scotland