Season 2018

Lake of Menteith - 10 May 2018

Once again Laurie ran away with the points - he is in a fine run of form, capped by booking an appearance in the Champion of Champions competition during a Scottish Clubs heat recently. No one could match his 12 fish, caught in a variety of locations around Hotel Bay! Robin followed up with a decent basket of 6, with Pauls 4 fish earning him 3rd. Lochend fished well at times, but the greatest concentration of fish was in Hotel Bay, and that accounted for the greatest concentration of boats as 5.30 drew ever nearer. All the usual methods worked, but lures seemed to do best, and those who weren't using rubber hooks did better than those of us who were. It was also nice to fish in slightly warmer conditions than earlier in the season! The full results are:

1st Laurie 12 fish 26 lb 08 oz 10 points
2nd Robin 6 fish 12 lb 00 oz 9 points
3rd Paul 4 fish 11 lb 00 oz 8 points
4th David P 3 fish 9 lb 10 oz 7 points
5th Jackie 3 fish 8 lb 12 oz 6 points
6th Barrie 4 fish 8 lb 00 oz 5 points
7th David O 3 fish 6lb 00 oz 4 points
8th Willie 1 fish 3 lb 00 oz 3 points
9th Ian 1 fish 2 lb 10 oz 2 points
10th David P 1 fish 2 lb 06 oz 1 point

18 fish were weighed in for a total of around 49lb, and average weight of around 2lb 11 oz. A further 21 fish were returned giving a total of 39 fish among 16 anglers - 2.4 fish per rod. Please note that these results are provisional until I confirm them with Paul's final totals. Should be noted that Alastair missed out on a point - the only angler to catch and not get a point. We were also delighted to have John H fishing with us as a guest of David P. John had a relaxed day, but we always enjoy seeing him.

See you at Frandy on 2 June.

Final Club Championship Table for Season 2018

Here is the final Club Championship table after 12 outings - up to and including Black Loch on 22 September.

1st Laurie 72 points*
2nd Paul 70.5 points*
3nd Robin 61 points*
4th David O 56 points*
5th Barrie 50 points
6th Jackie 47 points*
7th Ian 45 points*
8th Willie 33 points*
9th David P 23 points
10th= Alastair 20 points
10th= Jimmy 20 points
12th John 17 points
13th Bobby 15 points
14th= Keith 9 points
14th= Sam 9 points
14th= Bill 9 points
17th Tom C 7 points
18th= Tom B 2 points
18th= Gilbert 2 points

* Best 8 scores, with others dropped

Black Loch Fishery - 28 April 2018

Well, that was a bit of a red letter day in Bothwell and Blantyre history, I reckon. I have no knowledge of any individual winning a B&B competition with 30 fish. Take a bow, Laurie - what a fantastic achievement. The conditions were as good as I can remember any time I have fished the Black Loch. If I was nit-picking, then it was a bit cold, but the usual 'stiff breeze' (howling gale) was absent and the conditions generally good. We even drifted comfortably for the first 90 minutes, but I think we were alone in that. Laurie and partner Sam found the fish from the off, and around 10.30 we passed Laurie and I heard him on the phone to the lodge checking what our kill limit was! I should have realised then that something was up. Alastair was also into fish early, with 5 by 10.45 and continued to accumulate until his self imposed (or was it Mandy?) lunchtime finish - 9 fish in a morning is not to be sniffed at - well done. Alastair. The lunchtime news was not all good. Paul and Bobby hadn't really found the fish, but we did hear that Tom B was slaying them. Tom and Barrie very kindly moved off the fish at lunchtime to give everyone else a chance - candidates for the 'public spirit award' this year? Willie was fishing with guest and prospective member Eddie and they accumulated steadily at the heather bank. But it was the High Bank where the 3 biggest bags were accumulated, although Robin and Ian did well elsewhere - not sure exactly where - school bay? Lots of different patterns took fish - cormorants on a washing line, lures at times, buzzers and nymphs at times - it's difficult to be specific because some things worked for some, and not for others. All in all, a fine day for most, and NO BLANKS. Well done, everyone.

1st Laurie 30 fish 61 lb 05 oz 10 points
2nd Sam 14 fish 29 lb 00 oz 9 points
3rd David O 12 fish 24 lb 00 oz 8 points
4th Robin 10 fish 20 lb 00 oz 7 points
5th Paul 9 fish 19 lb 02 oz 6 points
6th Jimmy 9 fish 18 lb 11 oz 5 points
7th Ian 8 fish 16lb 00 oz 4 points
8th Willie 7 fish 15 lb 15 oz 3 points
9th Tom B 7 fish 14 lb 11 oz 2 points
10th David P 5 fish 9 lb 00 oz 1 point

The final count noted 51 fish taken for 105lb and 5 oz, for an average weight of just over 2lb 1 oz. Another 78 fish were returned, with anglers receiving and allowance of 2lb per returned fish. The overall rod average (for 16.5 anglers - allowing for Alastair's half day!) was 7.81, as good as anything the club has ever experience, I'd guess. A remarkable days fishing - many thanks fo the Black Loch and we look forward to our return later in the year.

Frandy Fishery - 14 April 2018

14 of us fished in reasonably pleasant conditions at Frandy, although the pre match info was that fishing was 'hard' and not being helped by a water temperature of a chilly 4ºC! It certainly seemed that the day was going to be tough for most, with Jimmy K recording a couple of fish in the morning, Mr Pres nailing one on a top secret classified 'fly' and a few others reporting the odd jerk - at one end of the rod or other. Glum faces (almost) all round at the 'lunch club', at least until Barrie's excellent water of life made an appearance - thank you! Paul had nabbed a fish just before lunch down at the sluice corner, and during the afternoon proceeded to add regularly to this total, catching on a cat booby, iirc. Laurie and Jackie meanwhile were picking up fish and building to decent bags on a mixture of buzzers, cormorants and YDs. Alastair entered the fray late on with a couple of fish on a bloodworm and David's trusty Frandy 'Kate McLaren' variant came good in the end, but only after David and Alastair had nicked Paul and Jimmy's prime spot at the sluice! Willie managed another couple to finish respectably and most other members managed a fish or two. Your spy noticed only one bit of dodgy boat handling, as yours truly managed to wrap the (barely needed) drogue round the prop. Muppet. Now looking forward to the Black Loch on 28th, but in the meantime the good anglers on Saturday last were:

1st Paul 10 fish 21 lb 04 oz 10 points
2nd Jackie 5 fish 14 lb 12 oz 9 points
3rd Laurie 4 fish 10 lb 06 oz 8 points
4th Alastair 2 fish 6 lb 02 oz 7 points
5th Robin 3 fish 6 lb 00 oz 6 points
6th Jimmy 2 fish 5 lb 04 oz 5 points
7th Willie 2 fish 5lb 02 oz 4 points
8th= Ian 1 fish 4 lb 00 oz 2.5 points
8th= David O 2 fish 4 lb 00 oz 2.5 points
10th Barrie 1 fish 3 lb 10 oz 1 point

22 fish were weighed in, with another 10 returned, giving a rod average of 2.3 fish per angler, and an average weight, of fish killed, of around 2lb and 10 oz.

Advance warning - please gather for a club photo at 9.15, in front of the lodge, at Lake of Menteith on 10 May.

Lake of Menteith - 24 March 2018

18 of us set off for our opening day on Saturday, with the weather a little bit milder than it had been for the Fishery opening the week before. Laurie was into fish early on, as was Barrie although respective boat partners struggled bit. Early method seemed to involve a Di3 sweep and some things called 'boobies'. Nope, I don't know, either. The lunch group met up at the lodge at 1pm, with Barrie's generous gift much appreciated - plenty left for Frandy! The general consensus of those of us who lunched was that we must do better in the afternoon. Laurie continued to prosper, and Robin, in Keith's company, had a golden drift netting 7 fish as the boat nudged a long the south shore at the holiday lets. A right mixture of methods succeeded in the afternoon, from midge tip to Di3, and the aforementioned boobies, buzzers, cormorants and lures doing well. in the end, 39 fish were weighed in, with a further 45 returned, for a total of 84, and a rod average of 4.66. The average weight of the fish weighed in 2lb 11 oz - remarkable for this stage in the season. My spies tell me that there were a couple of early departures from the beach, and that not only did members have motor issues involving ID10T (user) errors, but that there was a drogue in motor episode, too. I'm sure we'll all do better at Frandy.... And the good anglers were:

1st Laurie 18 fish 38 lb 08 oz 10 points
2nd Keith 10 fish 27 lb 00 oz 9 points
3rd Barrie 9 fish 22 lb 10 oz 8 points
4th Robin 11 fish 22 lb 00 oz 7 points
5th Bill 6 fish 16 lb 04 oz 6 points
6th Ian 6 fish 13 lb 12 oz 5 points
7th Willie 5 fish 11lb 00 oz 4 points
8th Jackie 5 fish 10 lb 10 oz 3 points
9th Paul 4 fish 09 lb 04 oz 2 points
10th David O 4 fish 07 lb 12 oz 1 point

Keith returned a fish estimated at 5 lb 8 oz and Paul one of 4lb. Pics below.

Outings for 2018

The following outings have been confirmed for Season 2018

Sat 24 March Lake of Menteith 9.30 - 5.30 10 Boats
Sat 14 April Frandy Fishery 9.00 - 4.30 10 Boats
Sat 28 April Black Loch 9.00 - 4.15 10 Boats
Thurs 10 May Lake of Menteith 9.30 - 5.30 10 Boats
Sat 2 June Frandy Fishery 9.00 - 4.30 10 Boats
Sat 16 June Loch Leven 10.00 - 5.30 6 Boats
Thurs 28 June Lake of Menteith 9.30 - 5.30 10 Boats
Sat 14 July Linlithgow Loch 9.00 - 4.00 8 Boats
Sat 28 July Black Loch 9.00 - 4.15 10 Boats
Thurs 16 August Lake of Menteith 9.30 - 5.30 10 Boats
Sun 2 September Frandy Fishery 9.00 - 4.30 10 Boats
Sat 22 September Black Loch 9.00 - 4.15 10 Boats

Please note the Frandy outing on 2 Sep 18 is a Sunday