River Earn

Description of the River Earn

The River Earn is a major tributary of the Tay.  The Earn has significant runs of salmon and sea trout producing around a thousand of each species each year, as well as grayling and brown trout.  It is also blessed with a late autumn run of salmon with the season running to the end of October.

The River Earn flows out of Loch Earn at St Fillans and runs east through Strathearn, then east and south.  The Earn is about 46 miles long and passes by Comrie, Crieff, Kinkell Bridge, Trinity Gask, Aberuthven and Bridge of Earn.  It enters the Firth of Tay near Abernethy.

The very top end of the River Earn is subject to hydro works and is very overgrown, but makes for great spawning grounds.  Only when it is joined by the Ruchill, which has no hydro does it become really spatey.  Below Crieff the river slows down, but is interspersed with some interesting features.  Below Strowan at Lochlane and Laggan it enters a rocky gorge and offers some really nice fly water, while at Templemill the old mill workings produce a huge pool.

On the middle Earn just upstream of Kinkell Bridge are two old weirs which hold fish up and there is another downstream at Mill of Gask where it is fished on the left bank by a syndicate and on the right bank on the Lower Aberuthven beat.  Much of the water here is deep and flat and is best approached with a spinner, but there are also some nice runs and riffles with easy wading that take a fly nicely.  A double handed rod is an advantage, especially in a big water, but a good single hander will do the trick for the sea trout.

Further downstream it gets more difficult to find day ticket salmon water.  The river is tidal right up to the railway bridge by Aberdalgie.

Tributaries include: Ruchill Water, River Lednock, Milton Burn, Turret Burn, Machaney Water, West Pow, Ruthven Water, Dunning burn and the Water of May.

Footbridge at St Fillans. A footbridge over the River Earn at St Fillans. The source of the River Earn as it flows out of Loch Earn

River Earn. Just downstream of St Fillans. Still a small river, newly escaped from Loch Earn.

Photo © Copyright Richard Webb and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Water of Ruchill (coming from left) joining the River Earn in Comrie.

Photo © Copyright Elliott Simpson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

River Earn in Crieff

River Earn looking upstream from Kinkell Bridge. The old wier is just visible.

River Earn looking downstream from Forteviot Bridge

Photo © Copyright Val Vannet and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Looking upstream at the Bridge of Earn

Photo © Copyright Paul McIlroy and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The River Earn approximately 700 metres before its confluence with the Tay.

Tay Estuary at its confluence with the River Earn on the left.

Jock’s Tips and Advice on the River Earn

Click here for information on guided fishing trips on the River Earn.

Fishing Links for the River Tay

• Comrie Angling Club Several miles of salmon, sea trout, brown trout and grayling, and there are also some rainbow trout on the rivers Earn and Ruchill in the vicinity of Comrie, Perthshire. Day tickets available.
• Crieff Angling Club Crieff Angling Club controls three beats on the River Earn in Perthshire: Upper Strowan, Braidhaugh, and Drummond Castle which together cover some 5 miles of the river, mostly both banks. Permit is by Day Ticket or Club Membership.
• Dupplin Estate Day ticket brown trout fly fishing on the Foreteviot/Aberdalgie Beats of the River Earn, Perthshire. tackle,
• Kinkell Fishings Beat Salmon, sea trout and brown trout fishing on the River Earn near Auchterarder, Perthshire over 30 named pools. Day tickets available.
• Lochlane & Laggan Fishings 2.1 miles of double bank salmon and sea trout fishing and 0.32 miles of single bank fishing on the River Earn in Perthshire.Day tickets available.
• Lower Aberuthven Lower Aberuthven offers 1 mile of right hand bank salmon, sea trout, brown trout and grayling fishing onnthe lower River Earn, by Aberuthven near Aucterarder in Perthshire. Day tickets are available at very reasonable cost.
• Moncrieffe Estate Salmon trout and sea trout fishing on approximately 2 miles the River Earn, Perthshire.
• Perth and District Anglers Association Perth & District Anglers' Association offers access to a variety of fishing including salmon, brown trout, sea trout and grayling. The waters covered by the club are extensive and extend on the middle River Tay from the Junction with the River Tummel down to the tidal mark and include many of these beats. The club also has fishings on the River Almond, the River Earn, Loch Horn and the Frandy Fishery (Lower Glendevon Resevoir).
• River Earn Improvement Association River Earn Improvement Association was formed in 1977 to preserve the natural environment of the River Earn in Perthshire, its native and migratory fish.
• Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board The Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board is the statutory body empowered to protect and improve the salmon fisheries in the Tay district.
• Trinity Gask Fishing Syndicate 5 miles of excellent single bank salmon & sea trout fishing on the River Earn near Auchterarder, Perthshire.
• Upper Aberuthven Upper Aberuthven offers nearly a mile of left bank salmon, sea trout, grayling and brown trout fishing on the lower River Earn by Aberuthven near Auchterarder in Perthshire. Day tickets are available at reasonable cost.