The final competition of the year was held on the Lake, with 15 members and 1 guest taking part. These 16 anglers caught 36 fish for a total weight of of over 111lb, leading to an average weight of over 3lb per fish. 3 anglers managed to catch their limit of 5 trout, impressive angling given the stats above. The results were:
1st Billy G - 5 fish for 15lb 0 oz - 5 points 2nd John G - 5 fish for 14 lb 13 oz - 4 points 3rd Ian G - 5 fish for 14 lb 1 oz - 3 points 4th Paul W - 4 fish for 13 lb 13 oz - 1 point
Carron Valley Reservoir - 21 July 2012
It was an ideal day at Carron, but only 12 B&B anglers made the trip to see if the brownies were playing and the rainbows could be found. Carron has changed hands in the last couple of months and the the new co-owner's deeds were clear to see with a couple of new Coulam boats on the water. Pairings were changing up to the last minute, with Sam and Laurie wimping out early (Laurie was off to fish on the Lake, and helped his other club (Rainbow Warriors) to qualify for the next round of the Scottish Clubs Championship. Laurie also qualified for the Champion of Champions competition - well done!) Ian and David were having their annual day on the water, and Tom was keeping an eye on Billy G's birthday whisky stocks. Laurie and Sam disappeared off west first thing, with David and Ian having a bit of motor trouble leading to a change of boat by 10am. The GH fritz damsel took a fish for David early on, but as we moved around it was clear that not many fish were being caught. Tom and Billy hijacked us like a couple of Somali pirates and forced alcohol down my neck, the Archbishop refusing a drop of communion wine. After checking out a few folk in Burnhouse Bay a trip to the far dam in early afternoon proved fruitful, with a couple of rainbows and a couple of browns for David and a couple of browns for Ian. Meanwhile Laurie and Sam had weighed in and were off, Laurie reaching his limit of 4 rainbows and keeping a cheeky wee brown for good measure. Barrie, Tom C and Willie were all spotted with fish, but there was really very little more to report. The results were:
1st Laurie T - 4 or 5 fish for 8 lb 0 oz - 5 points 2nd Tom C - 1 fish for 2 lb 1 oz - 3 points 3rd Barrie D - 1 fish for 1 lb 15 oz - 2 points 4th Willie E - 1 fish for 1 lb 13 oz - 1 point
The rod average was under 1 (excluding returns) and the average weight was a smidge under 2 lb. Club members returned 3 rainbows and 21 browns. Given that members are now returning 90% of the wild brown trout caught at Carron is it time to declare that the Carron competitions should be rainbow trout only in terms of fish killed? The fact that so many members are returning fish flies in the face of the club's reluctance to introduce some form of C&R into competitions.
By winning this competition Laurie has secured the Club Championship - congratulations, Laurie, very well deserved.
Butterstone Loch - 7 July 2012
It was the usual early start for the 16 anglers who made the long journey to Butterstone Loch. Reports were that the loch was fishing hard and we would have to work for the fish. Most rods set off from the jetty with floating, midge-tip type lines or intermediates with all sorts of flies on display from damsels and YDs to teams of buzzers and nymphs. The boats spread out in all directions with most heading for the north shore to the cottage and round to pike point. The wind was variable from the outset starting with westerly, then easterly, then northerly, all within the first hour. Just one of those frustrating days were constant adjustment of the boat was required. Fish were still being caught with varying degrees of success. Sam was into and a fish at three trees first thing after stopping on the way out after seeing fish rise. Down at pike point to cottage bay rods were bending early on but that activity seemed to drop off after an initial flurry. It turned out the fishing was patchy they were on for a short period then they were off. Theories about atmospheric pressure and low pressure systems pushing through were discussed and blamed for the patchy fishing. Some good anglers just got on with it and managed to catch steadily throughout the day. Willie drifted the deep water across the middle and caught his limit on wets on a floating line. Other successful tactics reported were midge tip, booby, cormorant setups and floating line and bibio hoopers. The results were as follows:
1st Willie E - 5 fish for 13lb 8oz - 5 points 2nd Laurie T - 5 fish for 12lb 12oz - 4 points 3rd Sam F - 4 fish for 12lb 10oz - 2 points 4th Eric L - 5 fish for 12lb 8 oz - 2 points
The total catch for 16 rods was 47 fish for 121lb 1oz, giving a rod average of 2.93 with the fish averaging 2lb 9oz. Laurie could clinch the club championship at Carron next time out.
March 2012 - Excitement Tempered with Sadness
The new season is almost upon us. Secretary Tom reports that there is now a waiting list for places at the 1st outing of the season at the Lake of Menteith on 31 March 2012.
Club members have been saddended to learn of the loss of members Hamish Leith and Dan Fletcher in recent days. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these fine gentlemen. We were similarly saddened to hear of John's loss and will be thinking of him in the days ahead.
Lake of Menteith - 21 June 2012
Not much evidence of summer on the longest day, but lots to tell you about! Laurie was into fish early on, fishing off Sam's point towards the island and by all accounts bagged up very swiftly. David and Eric were doing a similar drift from the shallows red bouy to the island, although the way the boat was crabbing we ended up closer to Armnach point. There were pods of fish in that area and if you cast into one, you would usually get an offer or a follow. Meanwhile Robert and Keith (welcome back, Mr President) were filling their boots off Kate's Brae and later on across towards the entrance to the Butts. Gilbert and John M were having fun with drogues and motors, and Mr M was seen sporting an umbrella during a heavy shower! A suggestion to Gilbert and John that we retire to the lodge for lunch was swiftly acted upon and we were joined by Paul and Ian (welcome back, Archbishop), who had been catching intermittently during the morning. An afternoon trip to International Bay found a familiar boat struggling with an unfortunate meeting of drogue and motor (again!). Two motors on the boat and nowhere to go! After a bit of assistance and an assurance that this incident would not be reported on the club website, Gilbert and John snuck off under electric power. If it had been cricket it would have been recorded as 'retired hurt'! In the end, 14 rods weighed in 27 fish for 68lb exactly. Points were accumulated by:
1st Ian G - 5 fish for 12lb 0oz - 5 points 2nd Keith J - 5 fish for 11lb 15oz - 4 points 3rd Laurie T - 5 fish for 11lb 14oz - 3 points 4th Robert C - 5 fish for 10lb 6oz - 2 points
Well done the returning sickies in finishing 1st and 2nd, but the prize for perseverance goes to Jimmy K who dropped Sam off to the shelter of the lodge after almost everyone else had given up and then went back out in the pouring rain to catch a fish. Well done, Jimmy! (and sorry about getting grumpy about the door!)
Just when they thought it was all over, there was the great fish theft. When Alex G came to weigh in, some one had stolen his fish! Now that was a hard-earned fish, and it deserved to be weighed in to a fanfare of trumpets, because it was undoubtedly a good, heavy fish. In its place had been left a poor looking crow-pecked specimen of about 2 and a quarter pounds, rather than the splendid 3lb plus fish that Alex had worked so hard for. A bit of detective work revealed that the unofficial early weigh-in included a fish for Eric of about 3lb. Your scribe was able to confirm that as he had netted, unhooked, killed and placed Eric's fish in a bag that it did not weigh anything like 3lb - more like 2 and a quarter. Your scribe had also removed Eric's fish from the clutches of the crow, and placed it where Alex found it! The gloves were now set for removal with Gibby up for fight! Fortunately Kofi Annan was on hand to administer peace and alcohol to all involved (except Eric) in the ACAS headquarters better known as the Lion and Unicorn Hotel. It was a fine end to a damp but very amusing day! Oh, and club members rescued 2 boats that had drifted off the shore in the east wind. Could one have been the President's boat?
Grateful if someone could do a report from Butterstone (good luck, too), and see you all at Carron.
Carron Valley Reservoir - 9 June 2012
Well, the conditions were just about perfect with a light westerly wind and a nice warm day and the 11 of us who arrived promptly were looking forward to a good day on the water and, hopefully, a bit of a fish-fest. There were a variety of lines being employed, from the flaoter to the Di5. It looked the sort of day when the fish would be on the surface, but you just never know. Jimmy K, sitting in the point of your scribe's boat, got the day off to a good start with a couple of brownies, on a cormorant, but unfortuanately neither were of the minimum size. about 11.30, after a couple of wee brownied, David O took two rainbows in quick succession, on the GH damsel, as the boat drifted down the south shore, having started down from Burnhouse bay. We then saw Tom B's guest, John, get a fish very near to the dam, again on the south shore. By this time Gilbert had joined the party, having attended and early funeral and tackled up with size 16 CDCs. After a while, BP Laurie was wishing he hadn't bothered as Gilbert took 3 fish, 2 good browns and a nice rainbow. But the winning bag was being complied by Barrie, who took a fine Brown (pictured) of 3lb 12 oz to add to a rainbow and proved that in this case a pair beats 3! The lovely trout, which puts Barrie in pole position for the Winship Quaich, took that well known natural imitation, the coral blob! There was little other excitement to report, but Tom B got a rainbow in the afternoon, and there are some pics here of a nice powan (my first) being returned. Thanks to Jimmy K for being Lord Lichfield behind the lens.
A total of 9 fish were caught by 12 anglers (RA 0.75) for a total weight of 17lb 8 oz (average weight 1lb 15oz). Well done to all the guys who returned a few wild brownies, too. The winners were:
1st Barrie D - 2 fish for 5lb 9oz - 4 points 2nd Gilbert O - 3 fish for 4lb 10oz - 3 points 3rd David O - 2 fish for 3lb 10oz - 2 points 4th Tom B - 1 fish for 1lb 12oz - 1 points
The only other fish caught was by guest John and it weighed 1lb 15oz. See you all at Menteith on 21 June.
Frandy Fishery - 26 May 2012
It was a lovely day at Frandy, with shirt sleeve angling being the order of the day, in stark contrast to the previous two club outings. There were 14 of us, again, well, actually, 13, as a certain well known pie executive decided to spend the day in his garden rather than come fishing. Perhaps we will have to introduce a text messaging service to remind our ageing members when the outings are! Too bad, Robert, you missed a fun day. Fish were caught all over the reservoir, although you certainly coudn't consider it to be an easy day. Paul and Laurie showed the way early on, with Paul picking up fish on a green tailed kate McLaren variant on a fast glass line, as he and Tom drifted the full length of the reservoir in the morning. The Laurie/Billy S combination providing the only boat where both members took their 6 fish. The fish were of very good quality, fighting strongly when hooked. There was a pod of fish in the small bay to the left of the jetty and a number of B&B boats were seen going in and out of that bay. Your correspondent held the moral high ground, going in only once, to allow his boar partner, Sydney, to hook and land a fish after a few pulls had failed to make the (borrowed) net. At the end of the day the good anglers were:
1st Laurie T - 6 fish for 18lb 0oz - 5 points 2nd Billy S - 6 fish for 17lb 14oz - 4 points 3rd Paul W - 6 fish for 17lb 10oz - 3 points 4th Willie E - 6 fish for 15lb 6oz - 2 points
Well done, gents, and the rest of us contributed to a total of 36 fish for 95lb 3oz. Now looking forward to Carron on 9 June - see you there!
Lake of Menteith - 10th May 2012
14 rods assembled at the Lake for the fourth B and B competition of the season. For May it was very cold with the car temperature reading between 5 and 6 oC on the way up. It was raining as well, it rained all day, nonstop, it was cold too, all day and the wind was strong north east to east to south east to east. It was agreed before we went out that the weigh-in would be early at 5pm. At least we knew where the fish were and what they were on, that was the theory anyway. Laurie and Paul had done well in the past few days both qualifying for the semi-finals of the Scottish National in different heats. With the wind coming from the east for the past few weeks and the amount of food from the tremendous buzzer hatches there were still plenty of fish in the butts and in sandy bay up into the heronry. Most of the boats headed for the butts and were greeted by hundreds of swallows actively feeding on the buzzers. The strength of the wind made the buzzers hard to see but they were there and the birds fed on them all day. The fish were not so cooperative though. Paul fished all morning in the butts on the successful buzzer tactics from the national for two pulls and no fish. Laurie meanwhile, fishing with Eric, was on the candy booby and cormorant setup on the midge tip and was bagged up by lunch time. Eric also had a couple of fish. John Moulds, fishing with Paul, showed the way on a homemade sink tip and cat's whisker to pick up a couple of fish. Paul eventually changed to the midge tip/lure/cormorant set up and quickly started to put fish in the boat. Other boats in the butts were seen to get the occasional fish with Barrie and Billy both seen playing fish. With the strengthening wind around lunchtime most of the boats sought shelter on the road shore or round the corner in sandy bay. At the end of the day, which was early, all the boats were in by 4:30, most well before that, the talk around the stove in the hut was which waterproofs had actually stood up to the conditions (old oil skins did well as did a certain brand from America).
In the end, the final results were:- 14 rods taking 28 fish for an excellent weight of 75lb 10oz 1st Laurie T - 5 fish for 14lb 9oz 5 points 2nd Paul W - 5 fish for 13lb 4oz 4 points 3rd John M - 5 fish for 12lb 0oz 3 points 4th Barrie D - 3 fish for 7lb 14oz 1 point.
Thanks to Paul for this excellent report. Your usual scribe will be back in action on Saturday at Frandy, so no concealing these rod breaking stories from me. Sinrtix owners beware these rod-eating cars!
Butterstone Fishery - 28 April 2012
There was much optimism in the car park as 18 B&B anglers and 2 guests (welcome, David and Jim) prepared to venture out onto Butterstone Loch to seek an elusive trout or 5. Ian G had 'form' for this place as evidenced by the big fish in the glass case which leered at us from the cafe as we drank our morning coffee and that form hit off as he headed off up left of the boathouse towards the top of the loch and had 5 fish in the boat by 11am. Others fishing down the north shore struggled, with the odd fish being caught by Billy G, Tom C and David O, although there didn't seem to be much consistency to the action. Around lunchtime a few boats started gathering along the shore from the lodge to the cottage and there were signs of fish being caught. Some signs were more subtle than others, with the Kirkland call of 'on the hang, on the hang, again' being in the not so subtle category. Yellow Dancer on the hang - whatever next, but well done Jimmy. Robert began to catch Jimmy up, and then Paul and guest Jim joined in, Paul having had a very lean morning by his high standards. Judging by the noise and the banter, everyone seemed to be having a good time, and I'm sure that our new Secretary has found the secret of happy boat partners - eHarmony. Nice one, Tom, although one of our members was overheard referring to his boat partner as a 'drama queen'. There will be a prize for anyone who guesses the correct identies of those involved - Robert and Jimmy are diqualified from entry, though. At the end of the day 20 rods weighed in some 52 fish for a total weight of 112 lb and 10 oz. A number of fish were returned, with Ian G, Laurie and Jimmy K being mentioned in that respect. Sorry if I have missed anyone out. The 1st 4 places were filled by:
1st Paul W - 5 fish for 11lb 12oz - 5 points 2nd Laurie T - 5 fish for 11lb 8oz - 4 points 3rd Ian G - 5 fish 10lb 4oz - 3 points 4th Willie E - 5 fish 9lb 10oz - 2 points
Jimmy K is awarded 1 point for his limit of 5 fish. Well done to all the good anglers and to everyone else. I will see you all at Frandy at the end of the month, but in the meantime, good luck at the Lake on 10 May. Some pictures from the Butterstone outing are here.
Frandy Fishery - 14 April 2012
After the spring sunshine of the 1st competition at LOM it was a harsh reminder that the Scottish weather can bite back at Frandy on April 14th. There were many reports of early car scraping, and when the temperature dropped from 4.5 oC at the Gleneagles turn off to 1.5 oC when we arrived at Frandy, we knew we were in for a cold one. At 9am 14 rods braved the cold north westerly and the boats split between heading for shelter of the north shore and fishing the normal early season hotspot of the south shore from the jetty to the dam wall and the shelf. There were plenty of dark lines in evidence, with the majority opinion that a DI3 was in order. Early on rods were bending on the drift from the middle just off the tower on a drift into the shelf but the activity soon dwindled off and the boats spread out. Jim Kirkland, Willie Edmond and Ian Glassford, all in different boats, were seen into the fish early on. Flies reported were everything from peach muddler to cormorant and damsels. The weather was a factor all day and definitely affected the final numbers with snow showers and winds variable from the initial northwest, to north, to north east and if sheltering on the north shore all directions every few minutes. At the end of a hard day there were reports of good fish lost including Barrie reporting a maybe double figure fish lost at the net, hard lines Barrie. At the end of the day the good anglers were
1st Ian G - 5 fish for 10lb 0oz - 4 points 2nd Billy G - 3 fish for 7lb 0oz - 3 points 3rd David P - 2 fish 4lb 10oz - 2 points 4th Barrie D and Willie E - 2 fish 4lb 0oz - .5 point each
Thanks to Paul for this report. See you all at Butterstone on 28 Apr. Remember, bright and early, and no stopping at Broxden services for a bacon roll. I will have my camera with me at Butterstone, so sort out your make-up out before you start attaching these killer flies. A nice wee trout is pictured here to get you in the mood. Does it not remind you of some cleric?
Lake of Menteith - 31 March 2012
The Lake of Menteith basked in spring sunshine as rods, reels, flies and anglers were dusted down for the opening outing of the season. Fish had been seen rising in International bay before kick off but the reports from the previous week were patchy after a bumper opening day. The Bothwell and Blantyre boats spread out well (no recall for Tom or Sam this year) with Eric off the mark very quickly, and having 3 in the boat by 10.15. Willie reeled him in, though, over the rest of the day! Ian and Alistair accumulated fish steadily, but the star boat of the morning was shared by Paul and Alex, who both bagged up by lunchtime, Alex with a couple of fish in the 4 - 6lb category. Robert and Sydney struggled and a few others were nowhere to be seen - Billy and John had headed off to Gateside Bay, finding it was maybe a wee bit early in the season for that usually productive area. David and Tom were accumulating fish, Tom completing his limit by 3pm, including a double header which ended with both fish in the net. All sorts of different flies caught on the day, from traditional patterns to blobs and boobies, taking in crunchers and DBs along the way. Your scribe thought it was FAB! In the end, 20 anglers weighed in 60 fish for 162lb 4oz, for an average weight of roughly 2lb 10oz. Another 20 fish were returned. The best anglers on the day were:
1st Alex G 5 fish for 17lb 0oz - 5 points 2nd Wille E 5 fish for 13lb 0oz - 4 points 3rd Paul W 5 fish for 12lb 8oz - 3 points 4th Tom B 5 fish for 12lb 4oz - 2 point
Ian and Alistair each get a point for a limit, too. Well done everyone, well, nearly everyone, and can I have a volunteer to write the report for Frandy, please? We used to have rule in the RAF Angling Team that the person who caught the fewest fish wrote the report for the website. Any takers? :-)
2012 Competitions
Sat 31 Mar - LoM Sat 14 Apr - Frandy (6 Boats) Sat 28 Apr - Butterstone Thurs 10 May - LoM - Change Sat 26 May - Frandy Sat 9 Jun - Carron (7 Boats) Thurs 21 Jun - LoM Sat 7 Jul - Butterstone Sat 21 Jul - Carron (7 Boats) Thurs 16 Aug - LoM
Sat 25 Aug - Leven (5 boats) (Does not count to Club Championship)