Season 2019

Final Standings after all 12 outings:

Final standings in the Club Championship are are follows:

Robin 71.5 points
David 70 points (best 8 scores)
Laurie 66 points (best 8 Scores)
Paul 64.5 points (best 8 scores)
Willie 62 points (best 8 scores
Barrie 56.5 points (best 8 scores)
Ian 47 points
John 25.5 points
Bobby 25.5 points
Bill 17.5 points
Jimmy 11.5 points
Alastair 9 points
Sam 8.5 points
Gilbert 7 points
David P 1 point

Shootout at the Black Loch Fishery - 21 September 2019

The last outing of the season - how did that happen? Time flies when you're enjoying yourself! The club championship was coming to an exciting conclusion with 4 anglers in with a chance - David, Paul, Laurie and Robin. All Robin's points would count today, with David, Paul and Laurie all having registered 8 scores already and thereby having limited scoring opportunities. Paul had done the calculations and the bottom lines were that if Robin or David won on the day, they would win the Club Championship, too. Laurie still had a decent chance but Paul, in his own words, required 'a miracle'! (ie, Paul winning and none of the other 3 scoring...) It was clear from the fishery record sheet that it was unlikely to be a high scoring day, and feeling was reinforced right from the off, as our 12 anglers set off into a freshening wind and cloudless sky, seeking the fish reported to be in the weedy bays and off the high bank. Paul and Laurie opted to anchor just off the jetty in North weedy bay, with David and Robin drifting from the School Bay point, and keeping any eye on any 'happenings' ahead. We saw one net waving, but not enough to persuade us to join the melee, so we tried a few short drifts off the lilies, to no avail. We saw the odd fish taken during the morning, and Robin eventually got one in School Bay in late morning and David lost what seemed to be a good fish around noon - would that prove to be vital? The lunchtime gathering was very well attended, with Willie heading the rankings with 3 (very good) fish, Laurie reporting 2, Ian, Robin and Paul 1 each. Tough going, and the Highland Park was most welcome, for those of us who do....

In the afternoon Willie and Ian headed back to the fence at the high bank, the scene of their success in the morning, while David and Robin went back to School Bay. Robin quickly found another couple of fish in the north corner of the bay, with David eventually finding his feet and landing one or two in response. By 3pm, the score in the boat was 5-5 (all fish having been returned) and when Willie and Ian, then Laurie and Paul appeared in the bay, we suspected that we might have called it right by staying in there. Paul netted another fish along side us and in the last hour Robin's fast glass line and double goldhead set up proved to be a winning combination and resulted in Robin having 8 fish to report at the weigh in, to David's 5. I (David) was delighted to congratulate Robin, our new Club Champion, as I packed up my rod for the day. This is Robin's first win since 1997 and his 4th overall.

Robin has won this Club Championship the hard way. Our rules allow for anglers to have their best 8 scores, from our 12 competitions in the year, to count towards the trophy. Robin has fished only 8 club outings this year and has amassed 71.5 points out of a possible total of 80. In dropping only 8.5 points during the whole season, he has shown outstanding consistency, and his winning the title is thoroughly deserved. I really can't emphasise enough the skill and dedication that he has shown in B&BAC angling this season - very well done - and I learned a lot fishing with you on Saturday.

It's also worth noting that Paul has been 'ever present' and Ian has fished in 11 of the 12 outings this season. To fish all 12 outings in the year is an achievement in itself, and Paul should be congratulated on his contribution to the success of our club. The final results for the day were:

1st Robin 8 fish 16 lb 00 oz 10 points
2nd Willie 4 fish 12 lb 03 oz 9 points
3rd David 5 fish 10 lb 0 oz 8 points
4th Laurie 3 fish 7 lb 09 oz 7 points
5th Paul 3 fish 6 lb 12 oz 6 points
6th Bobby 1 fish 2 lb 04 oz 5 points
7th= Ian 1 fish 2 lb 00 oz 3.5 points
7th= Barrie 1 fish 2 lb 00 oz 3.5 points

12 B&B anglers caught 26 fish, of which 15 were returned. The 11 fish weighed in totalled 28 lb 12 oz, giving an average weight of around 2 lb 10 oz. 26 fish between 12 rods gives a rod average of 2.16 fish per angler. Willie's bag was exceptional, with an average weight of over 3 lb. It was certainly an interesting end to the season, and we can now all look forward to the AGM and Dinner - the date of which will be announced in due course.

In the meantime, if you have any matters to be discussed by members of our club council, please let any council member know ASAP - details in the membership booklet, and the plans are to hold a council meeting in October.

The season's podium party: Robin, our champion, in the middle, flanked by David, left, and Laurie.

Frandy Fishery - 1 September 2019

On arrival at Frandy we were greeted with the revelation that fishing was likely to be tough - and so it proved! Conditions were not unpleasant - wind was westerly and a bit blustery, but we've all fished in worse conditions - see the notes on the first Frandy trip of the season! Bill and Gilbert shunned the others prior to the start, chosing to wait patiently for the off a good bit away from the jetty. We all seemed to get on well with the still fairly new gas powered engines that Ken has bought - the reverse gear is a great help and they start and re-start easily. Laurie was spotted netting a fish early on, but that proved something of a false dawn, in that it didn't lead to his usual avalanche of fish! Robin was fishing with Laurie, and he accumulated steadily on dries, collecting a rainbow and a couple of decent browns. Willie was on the board pretty sharpish, too, catching on two different intermediate lines with a FAB. Barrie and Bobby each had a fish in the morning, too, as did John, but the lunch club, Willie and Jimmy excepted, as a real tale of woe - for most of us unable even to rely on what might have been....
If anything, the afternoon proved even more difficult, although Robin picked up another couple, Ian and David picked up fish, and Willie added one to his total. The usual mixture of flies worked, from dries, to FABs, boobies, whatsits and even a muddler. Robin continues in his rich vein of form, which we hope he takes into the National Final on 14th Sep - good luck! The results were:

1st Robin 5 fish 8 lb 00 oz 10 points
2nd Willie 3 fish 7 lb 07 oz 9 points
3rd= John 1 fish 3 lb 08 oz 7.5 points
3rd= Barrie 2 fish 3 lb 08 oz 7.5 points
5th David 1 fish 3 lb 00 oz 6 points
6th Ian 1 fish 2 lb 00 oz 5 points
7th Laurie 1 fish 1 lb 10 oz 4 points
8th= Jimmy 1 fish 1 lb 08 oz 2.5 points
8th= Bobby 1 fish 1 lb 08 oz 2.5 points

12 anglers caught a total of 16 fish, including a couple of measurable browns, for a rod average of just over 1.3. Average weight of fish (weighed in and returned) was almost exactly 2lb. Not one of our better days, but we can't expect every place we fish to be on form all the time. Looking forward to the final competition of the season, with the Club Championship wide open - the winner will be either Paul, Laurie, Robin or David, with far too many possible permutations to list here! Good luck to all.

Lake of Menteith - 15 August 2019

13 B&B anglers and two guests enjoyed a fine day's sport on the Lake. Both of our guests caught fish, and enjoyed their day out, including an excellent meal at the Lion and Unicorn. Was good to see you, Donald and Al. Almost all anglers caught fish on the day, with floating or midge tip lines being favoured. Boats were reasonably well spread out, with B&B anglers reporting fish taken from Shear Point, entrance to I Bay, Lochend and the Tod Hole, Sam's Point, Malling shore and, of course, Gateside Bay. The fish were of top quality, as evidenced in the average weight, and fought incredibly hard irrespective of their weight. The usual range of flies took fish, with various colours of booby, cormorants, nymphs and blobs all taking fish. Your scribe was delighted that nobody seemed to witness Al and me doing some comedy fish playing when a fish took one of my flies as I was trying to get out of the way of a fish Al was playing.... Both fish were around the 3lb mark and were not happy - we got them in -eventually. I was also struck on the day by the sight of Jimmy K giving out boat handling advice... 😉 Finally, it was great to have Sydney fishing with us for the first time this season, fresh from his triumph of a 4lb sea trout from his trip to the Dee in July. I'm sure that we all hope to be as fit as he is at 92 - great to see you, dear friend. The results were as follows:

1st Robin 9 fish 22 lb 10 oz 10 points
2nd Ian 10 fish 20 lb 00 oz 9 points
3rd David O 7 fish 17 lb 13 oz 8 points
4th Barrie 7 fish 16 lb 10 oz 7 points
5th Laurie 7 fish 16 lb 07 oz 6 points
6th Willie 5 fish 13 lb 00 oz 5 points
7th Paul 6 fish 12 lb 14 oz 4 points
8th Alastair 4 fish 11 lb 00 oz 3 points
9th Sam 4 fish 10 lb 10 oz 2 points
10th Bill 3 fish 9 lb 05 oz 1 point

In total B&B members caught 64 (33 weighed in and 31 returned) fish for a rod average of 4.9 fish, and an average weight of just under 2 lb 8 oz. The weighed fish averaged 2lb 14oz. Our guests caught 17 fish between them - top angling. Looking forward to seeing everyone at Frandy on Sunday 1 September.

Black Loch Fishery - 27 July 2019

It made a really nice change not to have to fish at anchor on the Black Loch Fishery. For once the wind did not blow over the 'flat roof of southern Scotland', but equally that allowed the black rain clouds to linger, ensuring that we all received a good soaking. Fishing proved to be difficult in such heavy, overcast and threatening conditions, which had followed a few days of very warm weather. A few of us thought about dries, but reckoned they'd lose their effectiveness fished on a Di3! And so it proved, with most of the few fish caught seeming to be in the fast glass/di3 zone. Successful flies were the usual culprits, mainly boobies and cormorants, with Bobby adding an orange nomad into the mix. Given the conditions it was no surprise that the lunch club meeting was well attended, with only Laurie and Alastair braving the weather for the whole day. We are all very sorry that Alastair insisted on staying out, Laurie - you missed a good lunch! The other notable feature of the day was that 4 very decent roach were reported - each around the 1lb mark. Thanks to Robin for taking the trouble to photograph his in such a challenging photographic environment, and also for the lunch/non lunch photos.

In the end, the results were:

1st Laurie 3 fish 6 lb 08 oz 10 points
2nd = Robin 3 fish 6lb 00 oz 8.5 points
2nd = David O 3 fish 6 lb 00 oz 8.5 points
4th Paul 2 fish 4 lb 14 oz 7 points
5th Ian G 2 fish 4 lb 10 oz 6 points
6th Bobby 1 fish 2 lb 02 oz 5 points

14 fish were caught in total, with 6 being kept and 8 returned, giving a rod average of just under 1.2, a total notional weight of around 30lb and an average fish weight of around 2lb and 2 oz. The Black Loch remains an excellent venue - there were fish moving sporadically through the day and we look forward to returning for the season finale in September.

Linlithgow Loch - 13 July 2019

On another nice warm summer's day 8 B&B anglers departed the jetty at Linlithgow with hope looking to triumph over expectation. There didn't appear to have been much info available ahead of our visit, but the staff at the water couldn't have been more helpful and regaled us with tales of fish caught on dates unspecified earlier in the season..... Anglers chose a mixture of lines to start off with, and Laurie was into a fish very early on. As the morning wore on, there were fish moving on and near the surface, but they were difficult to tempt. Paul had a couple in the morning and David took one just before the floating lunch table was deployed (boats tied together for a dram, a sandwich and a blether...). Sport continued to be slow in the afternoon, with Robin, Willie and David picking up the odd fish, mainly on fast glass and di3 lines, to a variety of flies from crunchers, to cormorants and boobies. In the end, 5 anglers weighed in as follows:

1st= Robin 3 fish 7 lb 08 oz 9.5 points
1st= David O 3 fish 7 lb 08 oz 9.5 points
3rd Paul 2 fish 7 lb 00 oz 8 points
4th Willie 2 fish 5 lb 09 oz 7 points
5th Laurie 1 fish 3 lb 00 oz 6 points

11 fish were caught, 4 kept and 7 returned, giving a rod average of 1.37 fish per angler at a notional average weight around 2.12oz. Ian, Jimmy and Alastair were the unlucky anglers on the day, and I should say that Alastair was particularly hard done by in losing a fish at the net while the 'Lunch Club' were cheering his every move. See you all at the Black Loch on 27th July.

Lake of Menteith - 27 June 2019

It was a glorious day on the lake, with the sun splitting the trees on the shores and the most essential bit of kit for the day being sunblock. I was a bit concerned that the fish might have disappeared off to the cool water of the deeper areas, but that was not to prove the the case. Laurie and Bill started off in Gateside bay and Laurie kicked off immediately with a fish first cast. Paul was into them early too, in the same area, as was John G in the plantation/Malling shore area. David O moved a fish on dries at the plantation first cast, but it didn't take. It became obvious that the fish showing on the surface were difficult to tempt and most successful bags on the day were compiled on a fast glass line, or similar. Flies varied, with blobs, boobies cormorants and a few nymphs accounting for fish. The lunch club was well attended, with a number of different drams on the table for sampling. Most club members continued to take fish throughout the day, although the Gateside area calmed down a bit post lunch, and at one point there were 4 B&B boats doing similar drifts off the shore to the south of the Malling burn. It ended up as very good day for Laurie, finishing well clear of his nearest rival:

1st Laurie 14 fish 32 lb 0o oz 10 points
2nd Willie 8 fish 19 lb 06 oz 9 points
3rd Paul 7 fish 18 lb 14 oz 8 points
4th Barrie 8 fish 17 lb 00 oz 7 points
5th= Bill 6 fish 14 lb 00 oz 5.5 points
5th= David O 7 fish 14 lb 00 oz 5.5 points
7th Ian 5 fish 11 lb 04 oz 4 points
8th John 3 fish 8 lb 04 oz 3 points
9th Bobby 3 fish 6 lb 04 oz 2 points
10th David P 2 fish 5 lb 08 oz 1 points

Paul weighed in 4 fish for 12 lb 14oz, and Laurie 4 for 12lb, so there were some very good fish around, with club members reporting a number over 4lb. They certainly went well, whatever the size and weight. 12 anglers caught a total of 63 fish for a rod average of 5.25 fish and an average weight of roughly 2lb 5 oz. The average weight of the fish actually weighed in was 2lb 11 oz. Well done all who caught and we can now all look forward to Linlithgow on 13 July.

Loch Leven - 15 June 2019

Loch Leven was kinder to us weather-wise than in recent years, and we started off in a moderate south easterly with good cloud cover. Later we had to put up with a stronger easterly with sunny spells and variable cloud. Again many members had other plans so only 6 rods made up the 3 boats. Paul was out with Ian, Laurie with Barrie while Gilbert and Robert were in the other boat. We spoke to Alan Smith before heading out who reported buzzers were working fished static at anchor for presentation on the 14 to 15 foot contours all around the loch. Pulling was also working on di7 or di8 lines on the same contours. Ian and Paul began on the drift from Scart to Green Isle with no luck. A move to mid buoy pulling on a di7 produced a follow from a monster which chased a swiftly pulled dunkeld all the way to the boat only to turn away at the last moment. Next move was to the point of St Serfs no luck. By this time it was lunch time so the 'Paul Pasty' was out and the time was used usefully to motor up to hole of the inch. Laurie and Barrie were spied, but reported no luck either. Another move to the sluices and buzzers on tip lines fished static finally provided some action. The birds were working 200 yards out at the 15ft mark - Paul lost a decent fish then Ian got a good one. Paul and Ian finished with 2 keepers each, all fish were returned and counted as 1.25 lb each as per national qualifying rules. At the end of the day Barrie reported 2 pulls and a couple of follows and that was it. So the points work out like this:

1st = Ian 2 fish 2 lb 08 oz 9.5 points
1st = Paul 2 fish 2 lb 08 oz 9.5 points

Well done to Ian and Paul - breaking the Loch Leven duck of a few years. The Winship Quaich and Bob Stewart trophy will find proper homes for next winter! Thanks to Paul for the report, and see you all at Lake of Menteith next week. A couple of nice trout are pictured below - again thanks to Paul for the photos.

Frandy Fishery - 1 June 2019

We had a really interesting day at the Frandy Fishery and it was a pity that so many club members had other plans, or, in the case of the Sec, had other commitments thrust upon them! First of all, the weather - it was actually pleasant, which is a nice change for this season, so far. 7 anglers set out after seeing rising fish from the car park and jetty and it was interesting to note that almost all boats, not just the B&BAC boat, turned left and headed up the reservoir. Paul found fish on the south shore around the island, Barrie and Bobby found fish on the same shore near the lodge and I'm not sure where Jimmy and Bill were at this stage. Gilbert and I tried the north shore off the gorse and each had an early fish, but later found greater success in and around the wee bay and point right by the jetty. We hung around there most of the day. Paul was on dries and doing well, while Barrie had a good morning but couldn't get them to hang on so much in the afternoon. Lunch was a most social affair, with all B&B anglers congregating in the lodge for half an hour or so to exchange info and tales of derring-do...(and have a dram.) Lots of different methods accounted for fish, including dries, muddlers, nymphs, godheads and boobies. The trick seemed to be to find the fish and persevere! The results were as follows:

1st Paul 14 fish 30 lb 04 oz 10 points
2nd David O 11 fish 22 lb 00 oz 9 points
3rd Barrie 8 fish 14 lb 15 oz 8 points
4th Bill 7 fish 14 lb 00 oz 7 points
5th Bobby 3 fish 6 lb 00 oz 6 points
6th Gilbert 1 fish 2 lb 04 oz 5 points
7th Jimmy K 1 fish 2 lb 00 oz 4 points

7 anglers caught a total of 45 fish for a rod average of just under 6.5 fish and the total weight of 90lb suggests an average weight of 2lb per fish. Thanks to all who attended and good luck to those heading for Loch Leven on 15 June.

President Will and current Club Champion Laurie fished in the Bob Church Classic at Rutland Water on 2 June. Willie came a very creditable 8th with 7 fish on what seemed to be a difficult day and in a very strong field. Laurie had a more relaxed day, but I'm sure both gents had a tremendous day.

Lake or Menteith - 9 May 2019

Well, that was a bit different. It was still cold when our 14 anglers gathered at the lodge, but thankfully the whole day was fished in fine conditions and with, for the most part, co-operative fish. No Bothwell and Blantyre angler finished with fewer than 4 fish, with the Butts, Todd Hole, Lochend, Kate's Brae, Sam's Point and Sandy Bay all producing fish. Our Sam produced a 4 fish bag of 14lb, suggesting a high average weight of fish. (Robin wants his fly back, by the way...) Paul accumulated steadily during the morning and reported 10 fish by lunchtime in a variety of locations. David had a decent start in Sandy Bay and Willie and Laurie did well on various Lochend drifts. Buzzers proved to be the best fly for many, but a mixture of DBs and junk food accounted for numbers of fish, too. The full result is as follows:

1st Paul 15 fish 32 lb 08 oz 10 points
2nd David O 14 fish 28 lb 12 oz 9 points
3rd Laurie 13 fish 25 lb 14 oz 8 points
4th= Robin 12 fish 24 lb 00 oz 6.5 points
4th= Sam 9 fish 24 lb 00 oz 6.5 points
6th Barrie 10 fish 20 lb 11 oz 5 points
7th John G 9 fish 19 lb 08 oz 4 points
8th Willie 9 fish 18 lb 10 oz 3 points
9th Ian G 8 fish 16 lb 00 oz 2 points
10th Bobby 7 fish 14 lb 00 oz 1 points

Bill, Alastair, Tom C and Jimmy K all returned 4 or 5 fish but didn't make the points list. Highly unusual in the B&B. We caught a total of 123 fish, of which 79 were returned. Average weight of fish killed was just over 2lb 4 oz, and the rod average for the club was 8.78. A tremendous day's fishing and many thanks to Quint and Douglas at the Lake.

Black Loch - 27 April 2019

The 9 members of the B and B ( low turn-out:- all in the points?) arrived at the black loch with a flat calm to light northly wind and a loch with fish rising all over. The weather was forecast to change during the day to 14 mph N/E to N to N/N/E to N/W by the afternoon with the possibility of storms. For once we were lucky in that although the wind did change many times we missed the storms we and we missed the rain with only one light shower. When we went in Davie reported that lightening was spotted in the distance and the storm clouds just passed either side of the loch and apparently there were floods in the clyde valley!!. To the fishing:- the word was midge tip or floater, dam bay to high bank with red holo diawl bachs with a candy booby on the point. At the off the wind had picked up and the fish seen rising all over disappeared in the ripple. Most boats headed to the sunken island, dam, fence to high bank areas. Early on no rods were seen bending and Laurie’s boat was observed to be doing a systematic search all around the sunken island with not much success. John Gould landed an early fish but surprisingly not that much was happening. I was fishing with Ian who started to hook the odd fish and then proceed to have premature catch and release. By lunch time we found ourselves in school bay, Ian had 2, I had nothing so I cast out a team of buzzers on the floater and got the pasty out. That did the trick the line shot away and that was one to the excellent bill marsh method. Ian did the same. After lunch we went over to the top southwest corner and spotted Willie at the start of the high bank. He reported 8 on the floater and black buzzers. Other boats soon spotted this as well and a line formed all the way down the top of the south shore. Most were fishing static but Laurie was now doing well covering rising fish figure of 8 with a booby on the 5 foot ghost tip. Willie and Ian continued to steadily put together excellent bags on the static buzzer. With everybody catching fish all were in the points as follows:

1st Laurie 12 fish 26 lb 02 oz 10 points
2nd Willie 12 fish 24 lb 07 oz 9 points
3rd Ian 7 fish 14 lb 05 oz 8 points
4th John 5 fish 12 lb 11 oz 7 points
5th Barrie 5 fish 12 lb 09 oz 6 points
6th Paul 3 fish 6 lb 00 oz 5 points
7th Bobby 2 fish 4 lb 06 oz 4 points
8th Alastair 2 fish 4 lb 04 oz 3 points
9th Gilbert 1 fish 2 lb 02 oz 2 points

So all anglers did get a point or 10! The totals for 9 rods were 19 fish kept, 30 returned, with a total weight of 102lb 08 oz, for an average weight of just over 2lb and a rod average of just under 5.5 fish per angler. Thanks to Paul for the report and see you at Frandy on Saturday.

Frandy Fishery - 14 April 2019

Wow. That was some day. We arrived at Frandy to find the water looking good - I say 'looking' advisedly, because looks can be deceptive.... It wasn't until we started to kit up that the extreme cold of the biting easterly wind made itself fully known. It was strong and blustery and as a result, fishing proved exceptionally difficult. We were also hampered by having to use electric outboards - Scottish Water having advised Frandy that horrible polluting petrol outboards were no longer acceptable on the water - no doubt the Scottish Water officials enforcing this new rule were driving around in petrol or diesel automobiles (just saying'). (Frandy's new LPG outboard motors arrived at the fishery the day after our visit.) In the meantime, thanks to all those Club members who provided electric motors and batteries at very short notice - much appreciated.

Anyway... Alastair and I headed for the dam area, intending to drift down the south shore towards the lodge. The wind had other ideas and our progress was swift and erratic. We each managed a fish, but Alastair's didn't hang on long enough to count - mea partially culpa for getting in the way. We saw Barrie take a fish and a couple of other rods bending, but action was intermittent, to say the least. By 10.30 I was cold and grumpy - actually, very cold - and suggested to Alastair that we go in for a coffee. We were not alone - El Pres and bro were not far behind us, and Robin and JK had decided to fish off the bank, such was the wind and the motor/battery situation. Laurie and Ian/Bill win the endurance prizes - the latter pair sitting under the dam steeple casting in the erratic and swirling wind for most of the day, managing to snare a hard-earned fish. (I spent 10 mins under the dam at one point and my admiration for Bill and Ian sticking it our knows no bounds.) Laurie, meanwhile, was accumulating steadily doing a variety of drifts from the dam wall. While all this was going on, Robin was catching a few from the bank, as were Willie, Paul and Millar. After Alastair departed to a birthday party appointment, I went back out for a couple of short sessions and managed a few fish. In all, 15 of us accumulated 23 trout, of which 7 were returned, with the average weight being over 2 lb. A mixture of lures took fish - blobs, boobies and goldheads. I didn't hear of any nymph or dry fly caught fish, but you never know. The full results are:

1st David O 5 fish 10 lb 08 oz 10 points
2nd Laurie 4 fish 10 lb 01 oz 9 points
3rd Robin 5 fish 10 lb 00 oz 8 points
4th Willie 3 fish 6 lb 12 oz 7 points
5th Barrie 2 fish 4 lb 01 oz 6 points
6th Paul 2 fish 4 lb 00 oz 5 points
7th Bill 1 fish 2 lb 00 oz 4 points

Guest Millar E also managed a fish. I don't recall a season before when we failed to register 10 scoring anglers in each of the 1st 2 competitions. Good luck to all those heading for the Black Loch on 27th - your regular scribe will be elsewhere on that day, but hopefully Paul will pen a few words and drop the results to me. Happy Easter!

Lake of Menteith - 23 March 2019

Well, every opening outing seems different each year. From ice a few years ago, to pleasant sunny day couple of years ago, to wet and windy on some occasions. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised, given that it's still March in Scotland, and even the early March Browns were laughing at us from their nymph stage. This year, I think our opening day could be described as deceptive. There was much car park bonhomie in evidence, black pudding sandwiches being consumed and casts being tied - and then we went round to the other side of the lodge and BLIMEY, that's cold. It was. It didn't change. 4 anglers made a wise early tactical retreat, your scribe was seen in gloves between drifts and the fishy operation was patchy. As ever, some found the method, which seemed to be in the fast glass - Di3 range, with fly not being too important, although my straw poll after the event suggests that lures did much better than the imitative stuff. Mr President spooned a couple of fish, to find not much and a few small buzzers - at least one of these fish had taken his pink blob, but funnily enough pink daphnia in its natural state was conspicuous by its absence in the spooned fish....

Anyway, Barrie found the method and boated a number of decent fish among his 10 - well done - very good angling on the day. Robin was nearly as good with 9, but he obviously kept the method and the effective flies a secret from his boat partner - enough said. David and Willie managed 10 between them, taken from a fairly large area around the south east of the lake. We seemed to have missed out a bit in that Malling fished well, but I'm not sure if any of the B&B boats ventured that far west. Anyway, the full results are as follows:

1st Barrie 10 fish 20 lb 00 oz 10 points
2nd Robin 9 fish 18 lb 00 oz 9 points
3rd David O 6 fish 12 lb 00 oz 8 points
4th Willie 4 fish 6 lb 08 oz 7 points
5th Paul 2 fish 5 lb 06 oz 6 points
6th Jimmy 1 fish 2 lb 01 oz 5 points
7th John G 1 fish 2 lb 00 oz 4 points
8th Alastair 1 fish 1 lb 08 oz 3 points

34 fish caught by 13 anglers gives a rod average of 2.6. I'm not sure there's much point in calculating average weight, as 27 of the 34 fish were returned, but those weighed in averaged just under 2, helped by Paul's fish of 3lb 6 oz.

Fish caught by Robin and Barrie are pictured below - click on them to see them properly. See you all at Frandy.