Battery Pool

The Battery is one of the most swirly pools in Scotland. It is formed where the river hits a solid rock wall at right angles and is forced back on itself. This has dug out a deep hole. Anglers should take great care when wading as the sides are steep and it is easy to slip in. Not surprisingly the lip to this hole is a favourite for a resting salmon. There are also three burns which run into the pool to further confuse the fish and persuade them to hang around.

Cars can be brought right up to the pool and for those less able the pool offers a good chance of a salmon. If you stand on the "nose" and let your line out the lure will work itself. Much of Taymouth is best fished from the right hand bank, but this is a pool where it is worth crossing over. Fish will often lie along the rock wall or just at the tail before the next set of fast water begins.

Much work was done to the banks of this pool some ten years ago. As often happens when a pool is worked on it stops holding fish for a while until it settles down. This happened here, but it is pleasing to note that in the 2000 season the pool has held resident salmon (several over the 20lb mark) as well as grilse and sea trout.

The Ardnaballoch Burn runs into the Battery pool. In June 2000 we did a quick study of the invertebrates present in both the burn and the main stem. We found that the burn was almost devoid of life while the main stem was heaving with bugs. We concluded that the burn had too dense a covering of snow berry bushes, which were blocking out the light. We set about clearing the shrubbery and at the same time removed a lot of old wire fencing. It is pleasing to note that fish have already moved into the cleared stretch/

The Battery is surrounded by some magnificent trees. Be sure to check out the Spanish Chestnuts just by the bridge. These are thought to be over 450 years old.