Season 2017

2017 Final Standings

1st Paul W 73.5 points
2rd Laurie T 64 points
3rd Barrie D 57.5 points
4th Jackie N 57 points
5th Ian G 49 Points
6th Robin B 47.5 points
7th Tom C 44 points
8th= Willie E 32 points
8th= Alastair S 32 points
10th David P 29.5 points
11th Bobby R 20 points
12th David O 12.5 points
13th Robert C 11.5 points
14th Gilbert 10.5 points
15th Sam F 7 points
16th Bill M 6 Points
17th    Tom B    5 points
18th Keith J 4 points
19th Alex G     3 points

Note 1: Best 8 scores from 12 competitions to count.
Note 2: Paul has scored on 10 outings and has dropped his lowest scores of 6 and 3.
Note 3: Jackie has scored on 11 outings (well done!) and has dropped his lowest scores of 1, 3 and 4.
Note 4: Barrie has scored on 9 outings and has dropped his lowest score of 3.5.
Note 5: Ian has scored on 9 outings and has dropped his lowest score of 1.

Black Loch Fishery - 23 September 2017

With the club championship effectively settled after the Loch Leven debacle, the final day shoot out at the Black Loch (there must be a film title there somewhere) turned into a gentle day's pleasure fishing for most. The weather was pretty kind to us, with no rain and the wind being not too bad. In fact, for a short time around 8.30, it was positively balmy, with buzzer type flies hatching off and the odd fish rising. 12 of us set off with great hope, and by 4.30 there was not a blank to report. I wouldn't say the fishing was easy, but Paul and Jackie managed to record 9 and 8 respectively over the course of the day, with fish being caught all over the water, or, at least, all around the margins. The High Bank, the Dam, Heather Bank and School Bay all fished well and as usual a variety of patterns caught fish, from Cormorants to DBs, with boobies and yellow dancers doing a bit of damage, too. In the end we weighed in 37 fish, returning another 8. Of the 4 limit bags, Alastair recorded the heaviest at 11 lb 08 oz, with Paul, David and Jackie running close behind. The full results are:

1st Alastair 5 fish 11 lb 08 oz 10 points
2nd= Paul 5 fish 11 lb 02 oz 8.5 points
2nd= David O 5 fish 11 lb 02 oz 8.5 points
4th Jackie 5 fish 10 lb 10 oz 7 points
5th Ian 4 fish 09 lb 02 oz 6 points
6th Barrie 4 fish 09 lb 00 oz 5 points
7th Gilbert 2 fish 04lb 05 oz 4 points
8th David P 1 fish 02 lb 02 oz 3 points
9th Willie 1 fish 02 lb 01 oz 2 points
10th Bobby 1 fish 02 lb 00 oz 1 point

Sam had 2 fish, but weight unknown. David's guest John also had 2 fish, and would have finished 7th - good to see you again, John. This was a decent way to end the season, and many congratulations to our Hon Sec and Treasurer for his first outright win with the club. The final points table is here.

Loch Leven - 2 September 2017

Deliberately Blank

Lake of Menteith - 17 August 2017

It looked like brain a decent day for angling as 16 club members set off from the beach, with only Sam and Gilbert going a bit early! However, as events unfolded, the morning proved to be much more difficult than the conditions might suggest. A few boats headed for the malling shore and there were long faces and O signs from the boats that we passed as the Malling burn, shore, silage pit and plantation failed to offer much encouragement, other than a fish with a rubber mouth. Robin and Barrie picked up a fish each in the Stable Point area and Robert C had one in the deeps of the Butts! The rookery shore had produced a couple of pulls in the morning, and Willie E and Tom C confirmed that there were fish along from Sam's Point to Hotel Bay. (Tom having his 4 by 2pm.) The afternoon proved much better for most, with fish being found in lots of places. The favourite spot seemed to be the leeward side (west) of Gateside Bay, where I counted 9 boats in the afternoon. Robin and Barrie continued to do well, ending with 15 to the boat - good angling, gents. Paul found fish in the afternoon, as did Laurie, Ian and David O. Most of the rest of the field managed 1 fish each, but there were one or two blanks, too. In the end, the scores were:

1st Tom C 4 fish 14 lb 04 oz 10 points
2nd Paul 4 fish 12 lb 06 oz 9 points
3rd Robin 4 fish 09 lb 10 oz 8 points
4th Laurie 4 fish 08 lb 12 oz 7 points
5th Barrie 4 fish 07 lb 12 oz 6 points
6th Ian 3 fish 07 lb 08 oz 5 points
7th David O 1 fish 04lb 06 oz 4 points
8th Jackie 1 fish 04 lb 02 oz 3 points
9th Robert C 1 fish 03 lb 03 oz 2 points
10th Willie 1 fish 02 lb 10 oz 1 point

Tom C had a superb basket of 4 fish, including a fish of 6 lb 6 oz (see pic below) and another of over 4lb. David had a fish of 4lb 6 oz, and Paul's 4 fish averaged over 3lb. 29 rainbows were weighed in for 79lb, and an average weight of 2.72lb. With 12 fish returned, the rob average was just over 2.5 fish per angler. The Lake of Menteith is an excellent, often challenging, fishery. Looking forward to next year already.

Carron Valley Reservoir - 29 Jul 17

I'm not really a great fan of Carron Valley Reservoir and the day lived up fully to my expectations. The weather was horrible, culminating in a very wet afternoon and the rainbow trout didn't really play! Apart from all that, it was great. Laurie and Paul were the men who found the trout, doing well to record 4 and 3 respectively. For everyone else (apart from Willie and me) 1 fish sufficed. What is remarkable is that a few big fish were caught - see below. Well done to all the brave souls who got wet - the results were:

1st Laurie 4 fish 9 lb 05 oz 10 points
2nd Paul 3 fish 8 lb 01.5 oz 9 points
3rd Barrie 1 fish 6 lb 10.5 oz 8 points
4th Ian G 1 fish 1 lb 14.5 oz 7 points
5th Jackie 1 fish 1 lb 09 oz 6 points
6th Robin 1 fish 1 lb 08 oz 5 points
7th Tom C 1 fish 1 lb 07 oz 4 points

Some of the Carron Big Fish

Linlithgow Loch - 15 July 17

One dozen anglers fished on the 15th - if only Robert C had been there, we would have had a baker and a baker's dozen! It was a bit of a dreich day, with lots of cloud, the promise of an increasing wind and rain to come. In the end, we got a bit wet in the last hour, but the wind wasn't too bad, I'm pleased to report. The fishing was challenging throughout, but 11 out of 12 anglers managed at least 1 fish, and some did a bit better than that. Davids O & P both had a fish in the 1st 20 mins, and then a long spell of nothing much. Laurie accumulated during the day in that corner between the lodge and the Palace, with Ian G almost matching him bu the 4pm finish time. Willie looked as if he might stretch a lead over Jackie, but Jackie caught fish in the dog hours of 12-2 when there was no other rod bending action to be seen. Bill and Alastair managed a couple each, but Barrie and Bobby struggled to get more than one. There was a wee bit of activity in the last hour - Ian G finishing his limit and David O tempting a few on the Di3, but only 25 fish were weighed in and 8 were returned. Successful flies varied from cormorants to blobs to DBs and I understand one gentleman even used the Yellow Dancer with some success. the results were:

1st Laurie 5 fish 12 lb 10 oz 10 points
2nd Ian G 5 fish 12 lb 04 oz 9 points
3rd Jackie 4 fish 11 lb 08 oz 8 points
4th Willie 4 fish 11 lb 02 oz 7 points
5th Bill M 2 fish 6 lb 04 oz 6 points
6th Alastair 2 fish 6 lb 02 oz 5 points
7th= David P 1 fish 3 lb 08 oz 3.5 points
7th= Barrie 1 fish 3 lb 08 oz 3.5 points
9th Bobby R 1 fish 2 lb 08 oz 2 points

Rod average was just over 2.5, and the average weight of the fish was north of 2lb 8oz. A decent if unspectacular day, and what was not in doubt was the quality of the fish. The meal at the Bridge Inn was much enjoyed by 6 diners. Carron next, on 29th July - can't wait.......

Lake of Menteith - 29 June 17

Thanks again to Paul for this report:

WET,WET, WET non stop from 9:30 till 5:30 but someone said it was fine early afternoon for 10 minutes. It was cold as well, strong north east to north wind. You could warm your hands by dipping them in the lake, very uncommon in Scotland. One of our more senior members retired early the weather was so bad.

Anyway to the fishing - it wasn’t easy - they were in the mood early if you were in the right place which seemed to be the rookery to port end bay and to Sam’s point early on. Robin reported 3 fish there before it went dead at lunch time. Others struggled in the morning reporting lots of follows but fish turning away at the last moment or following the just disappearing as the fly began to sink. Laurie got it right in the afternoon fishing an “olive and black grunter dry in the pouring rain” good angling! taking 7 fish in total including having to return number 6 which he estimated was a 10lber. Successful tactics pm also included washing line, fabs and small crunchers on the midge tip and various dries. Alastair and Paul both reported losing good fish after playing for quite a while. In the end 14 rods landed 31 fish for 89 lb and with 6 limits and 7 fish returned. The results are:

1st Tom C 4 fish 12 lb 02 oz 10 points
2nd Barrie 4 fish 12 lb 01 oz 9 points
3rd Robin 4 fish 11 lb 12 oz 8 points
4th Jackie. 4 fish 11 lb 06 oz 7 points
5th Laurie 4 fish 11 lb 03 oz 6 points
6th Willie 4 fish 11 lb 00 oz 5 points
7th. Ian 2 fish. 6 lb 11 oz 4 points
8th. Paul 2 fish 5 lb 14 oz 3 points
9th. Sam 2 fish 4 lb 08 oz 2 points
10th. Alastair. 1 fish. 2 lb 09 oz 1 points

Amazing average fish weight - well done to those with a limit bag. See you at Linlithgow.

Carron Valley Reservoir - 17 June 17

Thank you very much to Paul for this report:

Very hard day on Carron lots of small, just undersized, browns reported, especially in morning with good westerly and cloud cover, rainbows hard to find as you will see from results below. Sun came out and killed the top of the water fishing. No stocking carried out since start of season but should have been stocked now on the 20th. 12 rods only 8 fish. Laurie did well 3 fish with one at 4lb 10 oz, but used a method which I won’t mention (ok then bung with beaded whatsit 5 ft below). Cloud made partial return for last hour which allowed a couple late fish but all in all disappointing.

Here are the results:

1st Laurie 3 fish 7 lb 1 oz 10 points
2nd Tom C 1 fish 1 lb 12 oz 9 points
3rd Robin 1 fish 1 lb 11.5 oz 8 points
4th Robert C 1 fish 1 lb 07 oz 7 points
5th Paul 1 fish 1 lb 06 oz 6 points
6th Jackie 1 fish 0 lb 11 oz 5 points

I'm sure everyone is looking forward to fishing the Lake of Menteith on 29th June - tight lines!

Frandy Fishery - 3 June 2017

A very fine day was enjoyed by 12 of us at Frandy, as we fished through a fine variety of weather conditions and saw fish moving on or around the surface for most of the day. Robin sussed the required tactics returning a most impressive 14 fish on the day, while Barrie, Ian and Paul had 7. Dries worked for some, nymphs for others and the ugly stuff for many of us! Lines varied from floater to fast glass - I didn't hear of anyone having to go deeper. Results are:

1st Jackie N 5 Fish 11 lb 02 oz 10 points
2nd Paul W 5 Fish 10 lb 09 oz 9 points
3rd= Barrie D 5 Fish 10 lb 02 oz 7.5 points
3rd= Ian G P 5 Fish 10 lb 02 oz 7.5 points
5th Robin B 5 Fish 10 lb 00 oz 6 points
6th Bobby R 5 Fish 9 lb 04 oz 5 points
7th Tom C 4 Fish 9 lb 00 oz 4 points
8th Laurie T 3 Fish 6 lb 06 oz 3 points
9th Tom B 2 Fish 4 lb 00 oz 2 points
10th -

Interesting that Ian and Barrie finished 3rd=, same weight, same boat, and each played their fifth fish exactly the same time!

39 fish were weighed in for 80lb, giving an average weight of just over 2lb, and with returns, 60 fish were weighed in giving a rod average of 5. A good day all round.

Lake of Menteith - 11 May 2017

Interesting day on the Lake, today, with 41 fish weighed in and another 28 returned. The usual mixture of methods, with buzzers to the fore, but Barrie found the fish happy to take a lure on the intermediate later in the day. The feeding depth seemed to vary, with some fishing straight lining buzzers and others using the washing line. Weatherwise, it was a pleasant day, but there was still an edge to the (lightish) wind. Laurie, Robin and Willie were all into double figures by the end of the day, with Paul ending up with 8. There were 6 limit bags and the results are:

1st Paul W 4 Fish 10 lb 00 oz 10 points
2nd Barrie D 4 Fish 9 lb 13 oz 9 points
3rd Laurie 4 Fish 8 lb 06 oz 8 points
4th David P 4 Fish 8 lb 05 oz 7 points
5th Willie E 4 Fish 8 lb 04 oz 6 points
6th= Robin 4 Fish 8 lb 00 oz 4.5 points
6th= Bobby R 3 Fish 8 lb 00 oz 4.5 points
8th Alastair S 3 Fish 7 lb 08 oz 3 points
9th Tom Co 2 Fish 6 lb 00 oz 2 points
10th Jackie N 2 Fish 5 lb 10 oz 1 point

Average weight was around 2.25lb, with an overall rod average (including returns) of 3.8. Good quality fish, as ever.

Black Loch Fishery - 29 April 2017

Well, that was a bit chilly again! After a beautiful day on the Lake at the end of March, the temperature control has been cranked down on the last two outings! Still, the fish kept most B&B anglers warm during the day as the Club recorded 11 limits in a total of 18 anglers. Laurie Taylor was the unlucky angler who didn't record a point, despite catching 10 fish during the day - that must be some kind of unwanted record. Gilbert and Sam headed for the Heather Bank and each completed limits by mid afternoon. Barrie and David P sat just off the lodge all day and accumulated fish, with Barrie catching 11 altogether - David recorded a limit, too. Willie (Mr President) and Ian G each managed a limit, with Paul also having 5 while BP Jimmy K just couldn't manage that 5th fish - unlucky, Jimmy. Fish were caught on a variety of methods - all the usual stuff, in fact, from YDs, to buzzers, crunchers, cormorants, boobies and traditional wets. A fine day all round, but don't mention that to Tom C, Robert C Alex G or David O. 2 boats just could not find the fish! On the day the good anglers were:

1st Paul W 5 Fish 11 lb 09 oz 10 points
2nd David P 5 Fish 10 lb 15 oz 9 points
3rd Robin B 5 Fish 10 lb 14 oz 8 points
4th= Barrie D 5 Fish 10 lb 12 oz 6.5 points
4th= Gilbert 5 Fish 10 lb 12 oz 6.5 points
6th Sam 5 Fish 10 lb 10 oz 5 points
7th Jackie N 5 Fish 10 lb 08 oz 4 points
8th Willie E 5 Fish 10 lb 07 oz 3 points
9th Alastair S 5 Fish 10 lb 06 oz 2 points
10th Ian G 5 Fish 10 lb 05 oz 1 point

Barrie finishes 4= and Jackie finishes 7th for the 2nd competition in row. Consistent, gents. 63 fish were weighed in with 19 returned. Average weight was over 2 lb. Paul's bag was well clear of the other 10 limit bags, which were separated by 12 oz. Closer than a very close thing. Well done all, well, almost all, and see you at the Lake on Thursday 11th May. No pics from the Black Loch (because it was so cold!) but here are a few quality fish from Pitsford and Ravensthorpe:

Frandy Fishery - 15 April 2017

Well, that was a bit chilly! 18 of us started out at Frandy on a bitterly cold day with a biting NW wind. Unfortunately John G didn't feel well enough to continue after lunch - hope you are back to full fitness soon, John, and thanks to Jimmy for making sure you got home safely. There seemed to be a right mixture of methods with success coming to those on likes from intermediate to Di5. I didn't think the fish were that deep, but you needed to get down a bit. Barrie and Willie were into the fish early right up at the burnmouth, and Robert C and Bobby R had morning fish in the area from the wee island (at high water levels) right down to the dam. Alastair and David found the going slow until they too ventured to the head of the loch and there were a few fish to report amid the lunchtime revelry. Laurie was rarely seen but put together a fine bag of 5 fish and as can be seen below a few people seemed to crack the requirement while others struggled. In the end 18 rods weighed in 40 fish for a rod average of 2.2 and an average weight of just over 2lb. The good anglers are listed here:

1st Laurie T 5 Fish 10 lb 12 oz 10 points
2nd Paul W 5 Fish 10 lb 10 oz 9 points
3rd Willie E 5 Fish 9 lb 04 oz 8 points
4th= Barrie D 5 Fish 9 lb 00 oz 6.5 points
4th= Bobby R 4 Fish 9 lb 00 oz 6.5 points
6th Alastair S 3 Fish 6 lb 10 oz 5 points
7th Jackie N 3 Fish 6 lb 04 oz 4 points
8th= Ian G 2 Fish 5 lb 00 oz 2.5 points
8th= Robert C 2 Fish 5 lb 00 oz 2.5 points
10th Tom B 2 Fish 4 lb 04 oz 1 point

See you all at the Black Loch on 29 April.

Season 2017 - Lake of Menteith - 25 March 2017

The 2017 season started at the Lake of Menteith as per usual, but we were treated to some very nice spring-like weather this year. Oh, and the fish co-operated, too, for most people.

As you can see from the pic, it was a beautiful day. Jackie N continued his fine form of 2016 with a very swift limit bag of 4 fish by 11am, the envy of a few of those of us who got together at lunchtime. A few seemed to be struggling but Raymond G opened his account as a club member early on in the day, and Alex G was setting a bit of an example with lots of fish coming to his exquisitely-angled yellow dancer. By mid afternoon there were reports of many more fish being caught with 9 anglers weighing in limit baskets of fish by the end of the day. Lines varied from floaters to Di3, and there were reports of fish being caught on traditional, (Kate McLaren) buzzers, nymphs, cormorants and lures. 8 fish over 5lb were weighed in, with 4 of these fish being over 6lb. A quite tremendous days fishing, with a total of 59 fish weighed in and many more returned. The results are as follows:

1st Jackie N 4 Fish 15 lb 13 oz 10 points
2nd Paul W 4 Fish 13 lb 00 oz 9 points
3rd Ian G 4 Fish 11 lb 11 oz 8 points
4th David P 2 Fish 11 lb 00 oz 7 points
5th Alastair S 3 Fish 10 lb 02 oz 6 points
6th Tom C 4 Fish 9 lb 01 oz 5 points
7th Keith J 4 Fish 8 lb 14 oz 4 points
8th Alex G 4 Fish 8 lb 03 oz 3 points
9th Tom B 2 Fish 8 lb 00 oz 2 points
10th Bobby R 4 Fish 7 lb 12 oz 1 point

Here are a couple of fishy characters with fish - see you at Frandy on 15 April.

Competitions in 2017

Sat 25 March - Lake of Menteith - 0930 - 1730 - 10 boats
Sat 15 April - Frandy Fishery - 0900 - 1600 - 10 boats
Sat 29 April - Black loch Fishery - 0900 - 1615 - 10 boats
Thurs 11 May - Lake of Menteith - 0930 - 1730 - 10 boats
Sat 3 June - Frandy Fishery - 0900 - 1600 - 10 boats
Sat 17 June - Carron Valley Reservoir - 0900 - 1700 - 10 boats
Thurs 29 June - Lake of Menteith - 0930 - 1730 - 10 boats
Sat 15 July - Linlithgow Loch - 0900 - 1600 - 10 boats
Sat 29 July - Carron Valley Reservoir - 0900 - 1700 - 10 boats
Thurs 17 Aug - Lake of Menteith - 0930 - 1730 - 10 boats
Sat 2 Sep - Loch Leven - 0930 - 1730 - 6 boats
Sat 23 Sep - Black Loch Fishery - 0900 - 1615 - 10 boats

Council Outing:

Thursday 8 Jun - Dunwan Time TBC 3 boats