Water levels in Scottish rivers

Before going fishing, it is very helpful if the angler has access to local information. If for example you are planning a fishing trip to the River Tay or the River Dee or the River Tweed you will want to know the conditions. Perhaps the most requested piece of information is the water level of the river which you can find here. Fish do not normally take well on a rising river, they may take well during the first few inches of a rising water whilst it is still clear but usually as soon as the water starts to colour they will stop biting and will remain difficult until the river level stablises. Once a spate or flood has peaked the fish suddenly become interested again and trout, salmon and sea trout will take avidly whilst the water is dropping. A dropping and clearing river presents the fisherman with the best fly fishing chances for sea trout and salmon. At the peak of a spate the water will often carry lots of sediment, silt and sand in addition to much larger debris. It will be turbid and cloudy making it hard for the fish to see the fly. As soon as the levels start to fall the dust will settle so to speak and the water will start to clear. In the Highlands of Scotland most of the rivers waters turn into a dark colour, like tea or lager caused by the release of tanin from the peat bogs and this signals the prime fishing time in most cases, until the water level drops to normal again. And so the fly fisherman needs to know the water height and whether it is steady, rising of falling and in addition he needs to know what the river is likely to do in the near future and so an accurate local weather forecast is always appreciated. Following the link will allow you to access weather forecasts for several regions in Scotland. Scottish river levels at the under noted locations of particular interest to anglers are obtained from SEPA, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and these show show the change in river level over the last two to three days. An increase in river level is normally associated with rainfall in the catchments, however certain sites are subject to artificial control by, for instance, hydro power stations that may artificially influence the level of the river. The graphs show the river level relative to a local datum and may not directly represent the depth of water. To give the user some perspective on the relative level of the river a 'base level' has been given for each site. The base level represents a typical summer level in the river. The SEPA site includes a number of additional locations that are not listed here. Click on the river name below to access the data from the SEPA web site.

River water level for anglers in Scotland from the following important locations.
River Allan Water at Bridge of Allan	River Earn at Abreuchill	River Nith at Friars Carse
River Allan Water at Kinbuck	River Earn at Forteviot Bridge	River Nith at Hall Bridge
River Almond at Almondbank	River Earn at Kinkell Bridge	River North Esk at Logie Mill
River Almond at Newton Bridge	River Endrick Water at Gaidrew	River Orchy at Glen Orchy
River Alness at Alness	River Ericht at Craighall	River Oykel at Easter Turnaig
River Annan at Brydekirk	River Esk at Canonbie	River South Esk at Brechin
River Annan at Woodfoot	River Ewe at Poolewe	River South Esk at Gella Bridge
River Ardle at Kindrogan	River Findhorn at Forres	River South Esk at Tannadice
River Ayr at Mainholm	River Findhorn at Shenachie	River Spey at Aberlour
River Blackwater at Garve	River Forth at Craigforth	River Spey at Boat o' Brig
River Brora at Bruachrobie	River Garry at Killiecrankie	River Spey at Boat of Garten
River Carron at Sgodachail	River Girvan at Robstone	River Spey at Grantown
River Clyde at Daldowie	River Helmsdale at Kilphedir	River Tay at Ballathie
River Clyde at Hazelbank	River Inver at Little Assynt	River Tay at Kenmore
River Conon at Moy Bridge	River Irvine at Shewalton	River Tay at Pitnacree
River Cree at Newton Stewart	River Leny at Anie	River Teith at Bridge of Teith
River Creed at Creed Bridge	River Lochy at Camisky	River Teviot at Hawick
River Dee at Park	River Luss Water at Luss	River Thurso at Halkirk
River Dee at Polhollick	River Lyon at Comrie Bridge	River Tummel at Pitlochry
River Deveron at Avochie	River Nairn at Firhall	River Tweed at Boleside
River Dochart at Killin	River Naver at Apigill	River Tweed at Peebles
River Don at Haughton	River Ness at Ness-side	River Tweed at Norham
River Earn at Kinkell Bridge	River Nith at Drumlanrig	River Whitadder at Hutton Castle

top of page