Two identical north-east brothers have become the first twin gillies to work for the same family in Scotland.
Alastair and William Peake will be working alongside each other next year after landing adjoining beats at estates on the River Dee in Aberdeenshire.
The 25-year-olds have been life-long fly fishermen and are thought to be the first twins to grace the sacred salmon grounds.
Earlier this year, Alastair started work on Dinnet and Kinord Estate as a full- time gillie on a beat of the river owned by Edward Humphrey.
Next year his brother William will take up the role as gillie at Aboyne Castle, owned by Edward’s brother, Simon Humphrey.
William said it was never their intention to end up working together but having each other for company has its advantages.
He said: “Alastair and I have always been close but we’ve never wanted to do the ‘inseparable twin thing’.
“It’s more about two people who love the same sport – and it just so happened there were two roles here.
“It works quite well for us. Normally a gillie is on his own but this way we can work together to get things done.
“It’s great fun working on adjoining beats and there’s always the chance that if something goes wrong we can blame each other.”
The twins, who live in Aboyne, first became fascinated with fly-fishing in their teenage years.
Since then they have both studied relevant courses at college and university and travelled the world – always with a fishing rod in hand.
Alastair took up a job as a gillie at Grimersta Estate on the Isle of Lewis last year.
Meanwhile, William decided to take some time out from fishing to pursue a career in business.
But moving from the great Scottish outdoors to an office cubicle proved too much to take – and he was later lured to join his brother in the Outer Hebrides.
Alastair then started work at Dinnet earlier this year and William seized the opportunity to join the adjoining Wester Coull Estate team. When the season opens next spring they will be sharing stretches of the stunning riverbank to fight over the salmon.
Dinnet Estate’s Edward Humphrey said: “To get two such enthusiastic young men is a real boost to the estate and to Deeside.
“The only problem is when you bump into one of them on the riverbank, sometimes it is difficult to tell which one you are talking to.”