Stonehaven and District Angling Assocation in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom | Angling

Welcome to Stonehaven and District Angling Assocation, Stonehaven, Scotland. The Stonehaven and District Angling Assocation club enjoys secure long-term formal leases on all bar one mile of the River Cowie, throughout the entire length of the River Carron and on the upper stretch of the River Bervie. It also enjoys exclusive migratory fish Angling rights along the foreshore of Stonehaven Bay.

This nice spate river rises above Hobseat at MR 716863 and flows to the sea some fifteen miles downstream at Stonehaven at MR 877863. It is the largest and most important of our three local streams and (with the exception of a private one mile beat at Rickarton House) is leased by the club throughout its length. It enjoys good runs of salmon and seatrout (both being classed at law as 'salmon') and has some brown trout. It is tended by three conveners, namely Stuart Smith (upper river), John Ord (middle river) and John Rench (lower river). A club map of the Cowie and its pools is available to members for £1.50.

The Stonehaven and District Angling Assocation occupies the Cowie river fishings under two leases, namely from the Crown Estate and Rickarton Estate. It enjoys a sound relationship with both these proprietors, with the latter in particular maintaining a warm and constructive interest in club affairs. For Angling purposes, this river can be split into four distinct sections, as follows:

The Finglennie Burn meets the upper Cowie at Hobseat

1. Upper Cowie : we have the salmon fishing rights on both banks from the river's source at Mid Hill at MR 716863 (the site of a forthcoming wind farm - see separate item) downstream through Hobseat and Swanley to the march with the private Rickarton House beat, where the left (north) bank boundary is located at MR 834879, whilst the right (south) bank limit is some 250 yards further downstream at MR 835883. Both boundaries are clearly signposted.

2. Rickarton House Private Beat : this beat occupies the next mile or so of river, from the twin staggered signposts downstream to the Inkbottle Bridge. Under no circumstances are Stonehaven District Angling Assocation members permitted to fish on this particular stretch.

3. Middle and Lower Cowie : under the Rickarton Estate lease, we also enjoy the salmon rights on both banks from the Inkbottle Bridge on the Slug Road at MR 843884 (where a lockfast SDAA car park is situated), downstream through Ury Estate and various fishing pools including the Intake Pool (see homepage) and the semi-tidal Estuary Pool - a favoured nocturnal seatrout location - and thus to the sea at Stonehaven. This is the more productive Cowie stretch, although it must be said that the upper beat is definitely fished less!

The Stonehaven and District Angling Assocation is particularly diligent in defending its members' interests from any developments which threaten the fish stocks and the natural habitat, and this tends to include virtually all prospective housing developments on flood plains and anywhere else intimately adjacent to the waterside. Whilst the club is forward-looking and positive in outlook, it is worth mentioning one notable recent negative in the form of something of a financial "David and Goliath" spat during the 90's involving the local tennis club and its floodlights, which resulted in a groundbreaking Light Nuisance court judgment in the anglers' favour. Since the relationship between the anglers and the present tennis club executive is now far warmer, it is inappropriate to reflect on that past problem here but anyone wishing to view the background may access this information via the website of the Scottish Anglers National Association (SANA), the Governing Body for game Angling in Scotland.