The 2025 fishing season on the River Don was gripped by bright sunshine, high temperatures and very low water. It definitely hampered the run of migratory fish into the river systems across Scotland, with catches down on a relatively buoyant season in 2024 (on the River Don anyway). On reflection, the weather never really affected the trout fishing. Fishermen knew where the fish would be – sat with their noses in the fast water, getting oxygen, plenty of food and some camouflage from predators. The trout catch returns were very impressive, all things considered.
2025 – Constantly Low and Clear
The water was low – I mean REALLY low. With season levels measuring between 2.20 and 2.40 on the Haughton SEPA water level guage at Inverurie, Scotland. But I constantly saw it as low as 2.12 during August and September. It may have even dipped lower, but I went to the west coast and fished the River Clyde for 3 days, and took my eye off the River Don levels. The lowest water height on record at this gauge is 2.09. We were a mere 3cm away from that!
A nearby household was even left without water when their ground well ran dry – probably for the first time since that house was built 150 or so years ago.
Regardless of the low water levels, the water temperature was never as high as it had been the previous year. In 2024, angling was suspended on a number of club and syndicate waters when the water temperature reached 20ºC.
Water temperature interests me as much, if not more than the water level and this is an aspect of fishing I want to explore this year, particularly in relation to fly hatches and fish behaviour. Watch this space!
2026 – High and Dirty!
The area of Aberdeenshire where I live is known as the Garioch, and we often miss out on rainfall. While the Grampian Mountains to the south-west may receive heavy rain from incoming westerly weather fronts, I live on the leeward side of the Bennachie Hills. As a result, conditions here are significantly drier than in the more exposed windward areas. Consequently, this part of Aberdeenshire has a relatively low annual rainfall compared with much of Scotland.
Since Hogmanay, we seem to have joined the rest of Scotland. I have never known prolonged, extreme weather like this. The snow began on 1 January 2026 and didn’t stop until around the 12th, leaving nearly two feet of snow across the area. High winds and heavy rain eventually helped to melt it, but the rain itself has been relentless. As I type this, it is still raining. We haven’t experienced a single dry day so far this year, and the forecast suggests these conditions are set to continue.
This graphic has been widely shared on social media. The darkest blue confirms what we already suspected, but now we have a percentage to quantify it — and who doesn’t love a good statistic? It shows an increase of more than 200% in the monthly average rainfall compared with the 1991–2020 baseline. That’s excellent news for our rivers, particularly for migratory fish making their way into the River Don.
The river has been running high and full, fluctuating between 3.50 and 4.26 on the Haughton gauge over the past fortnight — and it was even higher before that. The ground is thoroughly saturated, and hopefully there are now sufficient reserves to prevent a repeat of the low-water conditions we saw in 2025.
That said, a pause in the rain would be welcome. It would allow sediment levels to settle and give fish a clearer passage upstream, without having to navigate through floating debris.
If the snow lingers on the hills above the Don catchment for a while yet, we could be looking at a promising year ahead, with steadier and more consistent water levels.
That said, a spell of settled, “normal” Scottish weather would be very welcome — just enough to let everything calm down and find its balance again. Let’s see what the next few weeks bring.
Leave a Reply