CROWN FLY FISHERS
WINTER REPORTS 2006/07
MIDDLETON FISHERY - 2/12/06....Strong winds made casting difficult but the conditions did not affect the rainbow trout and sport was consistent all day. Eight rods fished the first winter outing of the season at what has become one of the top small stillwaters in Ayrshire. The pegs around the cabin end of the fishery were certainly very productive in the first couple of hours with fish coming to small nymphs fished close in with slow retrieves and Bloodworm patterns swung round under a sight-bob. Fish were also congregated at the top right corner of the loch where the wind was blowing into and could be caught two feet from the bank. Craig Osborne and Tam Campbell managed eight apiece, both fished small nymphs and lures, Tam on a fast glass and Craig with a floater and slow sinker. Bill Hunter and Wullie Watters had four each, Bill's all came on Bloodworm and Wullie four with a small white lure. Other patterns proving successful were Yellow Dancer, Makay, Humungus and black PTN. This fishery is well worth a visit and has improved tremendously in the past couple of seasons.
Wullie Watters shows Rab what a rainbow looks like
RIVER NITH - 9/12/06....A cold frosty start turned into a beautiful winters day as Tam Campbell, Wullie Osborne and Rab Brazier turned their attention to grayling for the first time this season. The river was still high but clearing and falling and was just fishable. Wullie had the most productive start swinging a couple of small goldhead nymphs down and across. He had a small fish and missed a few more before hooking the one he can be seen playing in the picture below. This was a perfect specimen around the 1:12 mark and certainly gave a good account of itself. as is the norm with grayling there was some long quiet spells punctuated with some hectic sport and a pull every cast was not unusual. Tam found success long lining a couple of heavy bugs and had the best fish of the day to this method a lovely grayling that was 49cms long and well over 2:00. Rab had earlier hooked and lost a good fish (dodgy knots probably) and just couldn't get a fish to stick apart from the odd hungry brownie. We finished with eight nice grayling returned, many more lost, but the important thing was being back on a river fishing for wild fish on a cracker of a winters day.
Wullie Osborne nets a fin perfect River Nith grayling around the 1:12 mark
COWANS LAW - 16/12/06.... Once again heavy rain the week before this outing meant a change of venue from a river to this well managed fishery near the Ayrshire village of Moscow. A cold north easterly and a couple of heavy showers didn't put the fish down and the eight rods who fished finished with a total of 33 rainbows. For a five minute spell in the early afternoon fish could be seen feeding near the surface and Stewart Wallace and Tam Campbell managed to hook a fish each on Black Hoppers fished dry although Tam lost his as he played it. Top method was patterns suspended under a sight bob and Bloodworm patterns in various guises certainly did the trick for Bill Hunter who finished second with six fish. Winner Hugh Skeoch had ten, most of these fish took a small Minkie about six feet under the sighter. The fish seemed to be concentrated along the south bank and these pegs were consistent all day. Both Hugh and Wullie Watters had two rainbows on at the same time proving fish were moving around in shoals. Other patterns to do well included Black Fritz Gold Head and the Red Head Damsel and other anglers had fish on white lures.
Hugh Skeoch plays one of his ten fish at the well run Cowans Law fishery ( right) in Ayrshire
RIVER NITH - 23/12/06.... A very mild winters day meant that grayling were well up in the water and could be seen rising for the smuts that were on the rivers surface. This did not make them easier to catch however and sport was sporadic to say the least with fish very fussy and difficult to tempt. Tam Campbell did find some fish early and he cracked the tactics right away. two spiders on the droppers with a weighted fly on the point fished down and across in the slower flats brought some nice grayling to the net early, the best about 1:12. Top pattern proved to be an old favourite from the River Irvine a humble Bluebottle Spider size twelve on the top dropper. This accounted for six out of seven good fish (ten inches and above) and another decent one lost. Heavy bugs generated no interest until Wullie Osborne took two fish late on in the bottom run of the beat. On a day when conditions could be described as perfect with weather and water levels spot on, the fish decided not to show. But this is still one of the best places in Scotland to fish for grayling and even on a slow day its a pleasure to be there.
RIVER TWEED - 6/01/07....After weeks of seemingly non stop rain that had caused the first two Winter League venues to be changed the club was under pressure to hold one of the three scheduled grayling outings, so it was off to the Tweed at Melrose where the river was running two and a half feet up on the guage but clear enough to fish. It was still unseasonably mild and as this stretch of the Tweed is popular for grayling anglers, members knew it would not be easy contacting fish. This proved to be the case with only five grayling caught. Both outing winner Bill Hunter and Hugh Skeoch had two with Wullie Osborne landing one. Bill also had the best fish of the day with one at 41cms. Patterns that worked in difficult conditions were, Pink Shrimp, Brown Shrimp and Red Bead Hare's Ear. A few other grayling were hooked and lost and some nice brownies were returned.
Wullie Osborne lands his fish on a day when grayling were hard to come by.
RIVER NITH - 28/01/07....Recent snow melt and fluctuating river levels seemed to put the dampers on consistent sport even though weather conditions were quite favourable as six members began their session on this lovely stretch of the Nith. Alex Watson had a good fish first cast with an Egg Fly and at 44 cms this turned out to be the largest fish caught on the day. Bill Hunter won his second outing in a row with three fish taken on a couple of versions of the Pink Shrimp. Hugh Skeoch also had three, these fish were slightly smaller and all fell to a Red Head Hares Ear. Tam Campbell continued to catch with the Bluebottle Spider proving that grayling fishing is not all about heavy bugs even on cold days. Most of the ten fish landed did however come from close to the river bed and Czech Nymphing and Long Lining had their own levels of success.
Alex Watson plays a nice 44cm Nith grayling
RIVER NITH - 10/02/07....This was a tale of two beats on a bitterly cold day on the Nith as a strong east wind coupled with persistent rain made conditions very uncomfortable. The catch return of fifty six grayling from the upper Dalswinton beat compared to one from the lower beat tells it's own story. The shelter afforded by high banks and trees seemed to make the difference as well as large shoals of fish willing to take the patterns offered to them. Hugh Skeoch had eighteen, seven down and across on an Olive Shrimp and was forced to change to an Olive Glister Shrimp fished dead drift below a sighter after losing his first pattern on the branches of a tree. Craig Osborne had nine from the same run and added two later on from further upstream with all his eleven fish coming to Pheasant Tail Nymphs. Bill Hunter had nine from the same area With Greenwell's Spider, Pink Shrimp and Dark Brown Shrimp patterns working well. In total thirty seven grayling were taken from this run, part of a very large shoal indeed. At the top of the upper beat Wullie Osborne had ten on a Red Bead Hares Ear and Rab Brazier who fished along side him had six, again with Hares Ear variants. To sum up, a memorable days sport for the majority of rods but a long cold day for others. That's fishing for you.
Hugh Skeoch ( left ) reaches for the net as he plays a Nith grayling and Rab Brazier with a nice fish of 46cms from upper Dalswinton
DRUM FISHERY - DALSWINTON - 3/03/07....This was the first time any club member had fished this eight acre loch set in the grounds of Dalswinton Estate and it certainly won't be the last. Eight anglers and one guest fished the last winter league outing and had a memorable days sport as the nine rods returned eighty eight fish on a variety of methods and patterns. At its deepest Drum is around ten feet so there is no need for fast sinking lines and the majority of fish came on floaters and intermediates. Early success came for some with Bloodworm patterns under a sight bob and for others mini lures pulled with varying retrieves, but as the day wore on lures took over and for most the afternoon involved long casts with one or two small lures retrieved with dead slow figure of eight or a faster pulling style that at one point seemed to attract fish on every cast. Bloodworm apart, the tried and tested winter colours of black, white and green featured in most of the patterns anglers were fishing. Hugh Skeoch had a tremendous day with twenty one fish, the majority taking a Humungus fished dead slow. Second was Craig Osborne with seventeen, a mini black Wooly Bugger accounting for many of these and third Bill Hunter with eleven on Bloodworm and small Pheasant Tail, the latter fished very close along the bank. Other patterns that worked were, Montana Nymph, Green Pea and Cats Whisker with red eyes. Young Evan Reid fishing as a guest had his best ever day rainbow fishing with eleven. To fish Drum contact Andy Ross on 01387 740573 or 07803 228664. A beautiful little loch in wonderful surroundings well worth a visit.
Alex Watson ( left ) into a fish at Drum Fishery, one of 88 landed on the final day of the Winter League