CROWN FLY FISHERS
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FISHERY REPORTS 2004
SWANSWATER FISHERY 13TH MARCH.....Favourable conditions greeted a full compliment of sixteen members as the new season got under way at this well run fishery near Stirling. This was a new venue for the club and with a total of forty seven fish at the end of the session we were satisfied with our first attempt on a new water. Lures took the majority of trout but a few were caught on buzzers and nymphs. Patterns such as Green Pea, Yellow Dancer, and the good old Cats Whiskers worked well and the Bloodworm under a bung also caught fish. Top rod was Bobby Blackley with a limit bag of five for 20:06 which included fish of 8:06 and 6:02. Second was Hugh Skeoch with five for 11:02 and third was Ron Chesney with five for 9:03. Scott McDade had one at 6:04 and Robert Irvine had one at 5:14.
New weigh-in controller Scott McDade with a fine 6:04 Swanswater rainbow
RIVER TWEED - MELROSE 9TH APRIL....Robert Irvine and Ron Chesney enjoyed a short but prolific hatch of dark olives and march browns to land some impressive brownies from a rising water at Melrose. Along with local anglers Tam McLeish and Steve Cullen they managed fifteen trout in just under an hour before the hatch fizzled out. Tam and Steve had four each including one of 1:12, while Robert had five two of which weighed 1:12 and 2:10. These superb fish were wild brown trout and took olive imitations, all were safely returned to the river. We hope to have photographs and fly patterns soon.
CAMPHILL RESERVOIR 12TH APRIL.....Camphill is situated on the A760 Largs to Kilbirnie road and has boat fishing for rainbows and browns. Electric outboards are allowed and are recommended as is a drouge as the loch can be affected by a westerly wind. We fished the shallow west end of the loch for most of the day and there seemed to be a good head of fish in this area. The rainbows are very hard fighting fish and we managed to tempt a dozen releasing eight of these back into the loch. Fast glass lines with Orange Blobs, Black Fritz lures and Dabblers in a variety of colours were the successful tactics and four brownies were also caught and released. The best brown was a fish of 1:08 in terrific condition that took a Blob to our surprise. For more details, boats, etc. contact R T Cycles in Glengarnock on 01505 682191.
RIVER TAY - KENMORE 13TH APRIL....Four club members took the long drive north to fish this stretch of the Tay where the river leaves Loch Tay. Conditions were kind and a good hatch of dark olives began at 12.30 pm, tailing off around 2.30 pm. with the odd rise continuing till after 6.00 pm. Hugh Skeoch and Wullie Watters found the fish selective but still nailed three or four each to dry olives. Bobby McCallum stuck to wets and was rewarded with four nice trout. After being broken out on his first two rises Bill Hunter took five on traditional dark olives during the hatch, two on Partridge and Orange, one on a Greenwells and a 1:08 beauty on a GRHE goldhead. All but two of the twenty or so fish landed were returned.
Bill Hunter finds success on the Tay, a beautifully marked brown trout
LAKE of MENTIETH 15TH APRIL.... Four club members took two boats on the lake in steady rain but thankfully light winds and took a total of thirteen rainbows. Dougie Hek landed one from Cages Bay on a Claret Dabbler that tipped the scales at 7:00. Rab Brazier and Tam Campbell had five each most coming to Damsels or Booby Damsels all on DI-3 lines. All these fish came from The Todd Hole area and most of them before 1.pm. Afternoon sport was slow but other areas that did fish were the Shooting Butts and International Bay.
LOCH AWE 24 APRIL....A full compliment of members set out from Ardbrecknish in what had to be described as favourable conditions after days of high winds and heavy rain. All the boats headed for the northern end of the loch with drifts on the north shore and round the islands being most productive. Sinking lines ranging from Wet-cel 2 through to DI 3 scored well although Ron Chesney caught on a floater with a gold head hares ear on the point. Robert Irvine came out on top with six for 3:06, second was Hugh Skeoch with five for 2:14 and Bill Hunter third with five for 2:05. Successful patterns differed greatly although the same names kept cropping up, Kate McLaren, Humungus, and Claret Bumble. I can't end this report without mentioning Scott McDade who not only hooked three brownies at the same time, but also managed to land them all and they were all takeable size. Some sort of club record here i think.
RIVER CLYDE 9TH MAY....Robert Irvine fished in this the first heat of this seasons Scottish Rivers Championship. Thirteen anglers managed to land twenty fish in difficult conditions. Robert qualified for the final in fourth place taking two fish with two blank sessions out of four. Fish came on a variety of patterns and Jake Harvey took six on dries. Winner of the heat was Gillies Breckenbridge with three on wets. Best areas were Crossford, Braidwood and Petinain on the lower beats and the Monument Pool at Abington and Thankerton Bridge on the upper beats. Fish seen rising were in the flats and taking Black Gnats.
RIVER CLYDE 10TH MAY....Bill Hunter and Bobby McCallum fished around Thankerton on a very warm and bright day. The river was in good order and sedges were hatching in good numbers. Bill had five on wets and two on dries (Grey Hen and Rusty) and Bobby had two on wets. Plenty of Gnats and Hawthorns and the odd Olive were on the wing.
The sedge that the Clyde trout were on
RIVER ANNAN 22ND MAY....Unbroken sunshine and low clear water greeted the thirteen rods on the Johnstonebridge beat of the Annan. Even though fly life was in abundance only very small trout and parr seemed interested and as the day wore on it became quite obvious that the majority of members would remain fishless. However every cloud has a silver lining, step forward Bobby McCallum. After he got over the shock of seeing a decent fish rise, two casts later and after a short struggle he managed to beach a nice brownie of :15 1/4 ounce. Others who deserve a pat on the back were Bill Hunter with one for :12 1/4 ounce and Robert Irvine one for :07 !/4.
LOCH AWE 23RD MAY....The sunny weather of the previous day continued with a stiff westerly breeze the only saving grace. The southern shore around and beyond the Portsonachan Hotel provided the days sport albeit slow at times. When fish did come to the net they were in superb condition and with three around the pound mark they were also good quality. Wet cel 2 lines with small black lures, Peter Ross and Claret Dabbler were the successful combinations.
RIVER CLYDE 30TH MAY....Low clear water and bright sun made conditions very difficult indeed in this the last qualifying heat of the Scottish Rivers Championship. Club members Wullie Osborne and Hugh Skeoch along with fellow Dreghorn angler Stevie McKendrick were attempting to reach the final but unfortunately Wullie didn't go through. Stevie qualified in fourth behind winner Grant Gibson with Hugh taking the last spot in fifth. Dries worked well for those who caught fish and Hugh scored with a Yellow May pattern taking three with Stevie took one on a light olive CDC and his other on a Goldhead Greenwells Spider. Areas that did produce fish were Thankerton Bridge, the Graveyard between Crawford and Abington, Garrion Bridge and Rosebank.
PENWHAPPLE RES 31ST MAY....The bright sunshine seemed to have no effect on the free rising trout in this South Ayrshire reservoir.All day browns and rainbows hoovered up the small bright green beetle that had appeared on the water in their thousands. Fish could still be taken with Hoppers in many shades, Black Gnats and Balloon Caddis, in fact nearly any well presented dry fly. Club members Tam Campbell and Dougie Hek had a tremendous days sport with browns to 1:08 and rainbows to 2:12. Dougie alone had sixteen trout to hand , the smallest around the eleven ounce mark and with each rod rising over thirty fish during the day with many missed or lost it was indeed the highlight of the season so far. Highly recommended.
A calm Penwhapple Reservoir
RIVER ISLA 5TH JUNE.... Although conditions were far from ideal some recently stocked browns kept some of the rods who fished the Blairgowrie AC stretch busy on this lovely little river. This was a tale of two beats as those who ventured upstream of the Crathie Bridge starting point found the stockies in a taking mood while those downstream struggled badly with only a few fish caught. Dry patterns accounted for some of the fish hooked but the most successful tactic was a small goldhead on the point with a couple of wet spiders on the droppers. Three anglers caught their limit with Craig Osborne faring best with six for 4:14, second was Hugh Skeoch with six for 3:13 and Ron Chesney with six for 3:09. Largest fish of the day was taken by Bob Logan who had a nice brown of 1:08.
RIVER TUMMEL 15TH JUNE....Robert Irvine had a tremendous evenings sport in and around the A9 road bridge near Pitlochry. Trout were up top and feeding heavily on hatching sedge, the rise lasting till around 11.15 pm. A Balloon Caddis on a floating line did most of the damage with over a dozen fish coming to the net, all of which were returned to the river. Best of the night was a fine brownie of two pounds four ounce pictured below.
LAKE of MENTIETH 3/07/04....Fishing on the Lake has been up and down recently and unfortunately for the club this was one of the down days. A stiff north westerly was the main culprit and with no fly life on the surface the fish stayed down. It was no surprise that sinking lines took the majority of the fish landed and Cats, Damsels and other mini lures scored well. Bobby Blackley worked hard to come out on top with four for 6:09, Ron Chesney had three crackers for 9:05 including the heaviest fish with one at 3:03 and Robert Irvine had three for 5:13
HARELAW DAM 25/07/04....A very disappointing day considering the favourable weather conditions started brightly enough with a terrific hatch of sedges and the odd trout rising to them. However after the first hour or so sport was almost non existent. Sixteen rods could only manage seven rainbows and three browns and half the club returned blank. Bobby McCallum continued his excellent season with his second win landing two for 5:00. Dougie Hek also managed two(one a brown)for 2:10 to secure second and Stewart Wallace was third with one for 1:12. Fish were taken on Hoppers, Nymphs and wets such as the Kate McLaren and lures failed to stir up any interest at all.
RIVER CLYDE 5/08/04....Bill Hunter and Bobby McCallum fished an evening session at Coulter Bridge in favourable conditions despite the occasional thundery shower. A variety of sedge species were on the water and fish rose at regular intervals taking those caught in the surface from the quieter margins and eddies. The main rise started in earnest at 9.30 pm and continued till approximately 10.20 pm. Three decent fish were caught and released with Bill taking two on his small Red Spinner and Bobby one on a Paul Buchanan Olive Nymph.
A lovely Clyde specimen taken by Bill Hunter
RIVER CLYDE 21/08/04....A cold northerly kept fly hatches to an absolute minimum on a bright late summer evening at Wolfclyde bridge near Biggar. Robert Irvine found a sheltered spot and as the wind eased and fish started to rise he made the most of the last hour taking four for 2:10 1/4. Three of these came to an olive Campara Dun fished dry, tight to the far bank. This bag not only won the outing but clinched the rivers championship quaich as well. Second was Bill Hunter with two for 1:10 including one at 1:03 1/2 (pic above) and third Hugh Skeoch with one at 9 1/2 ounce. A few nice grayling also showed up and a few big browns were lost, these fish use the current to twist on the leader and are expert at escape.
CARRON VALLEY RESERVOIR 11/09/04....This outing came very close to cancellation and around 5.00 pm it was easy to see why. Huge rolling waves caused by gale force winds and heavy persistent rain made conditions very unpleasant and most of the boats were in early as a result. The loch had fished well earlier however and credit must go to the eventual winner Craig Osborne for perseverance as he took his last two trout with fifteen minutes of the session to go. His limit bag of six weighed a respectable 4:14 and this edged out Scott McDade who also had six for 3:09 3/4. Third was Bobby Blackley with five for 2:09. All sorts of combinations proved successful with fast glass lines right through to DI-5 all doing well. Killing flies included Humungus, Green Tailed Kate and Soldier Palmer.
MIDDLETON FISHERY 25/09/04....A lovely little fishery in the hills above Largs on the Ayrshire coast with crystal clear water and superb fin perfect rainbow trout. Surprisingly well sheltered from the strong westerly wind and drizzle there was plenty of fish moving on the surface as we began our session. Like most small waters fish were being very cooperative early on and small Black Fritz lures and Damsels on floaters and intermediate lines were doing well. Sport started to tail off and a change to dry sedges brought some very good fish (up to six pounds) up from the depths. Another change to nymphs and a couple of blue trout were landed before we called it a day. A most enjoyable day with plenty of fish spread all over the loch, hard fighting and in excellent condition. Highly recommended.
WATCH RESERVOIR 2/10/04....Very windy conditions made casting hazardous but worthwhile as most of the fish caught were along the north shore of this reservoir high in the Lammermuir hills. A total of thirty nine rainbows were landed and considering conditions it was agreed that it had been a successful day. Fish came on floaters and intermediate lines with the Yellow Dancer and Humungus performing well. Pulling lures was not the only method working and dries like Balloon Caddis and Hoppers in various colours also brought results. Of the four bag limits taken Craig Osborne was top of the pile, his fish weighing 9:05. Robert Irvine and Tam Campbell were second and third respectively, and Rab Brazier took the heaviest fish honours with a fine rainbow of 4:08
Seeking shelter in a bay at Watch Resevoir
LOCH of BUTTERSTONE 24/10/04....The `fun' day turned out to be anything but fun as the weather once again proved to be the winner. Another three day spell drying out all the gear, boat outings have not been blessed with favourable weather this season. Twelve rods did manage to take nineteen rainbows on a variety of methods. Everything from pulling lures to drifting buzzers and hanging nymphs on a `bung' proved successful at some point during the day. The last hour when the rain finally ceased was the most productive time of the session although a few of the rods had given up by then trying to dry off before the journey back home. Hugh Skeoch fared best with five fish for 12:02 including the heaviest at 3:03. A small Humungus was the fly doing the damage with a variety of retrieves right down to static taking fish.
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