Tel/Fax 01877 385664

www.menteith-fisheries.co.uk

Lake of Menteith 20th March

6ft Water Temperature –7C , Clarity (Secchi disc) 2.6m.

Opening Day on the Lake in 2012 is Saturday the 24th March and the weather looks set to be reasonably kind.
Water temperature at 7C is showing a considerable improvement in comparison to the last couple of years (4.5C
and 5.5C). Prior opening we will be introducing around 1500 rainbow and brown trout, with an average weight
in excess of 2lbs. It is likely that the shallow bays of Lochend and the Hotel will be the hot spots as usual but this
may be dependent on wind direction as this can increase the surface temperature downwind by 2 or three degrees.
Opening Day is followed by the Chairman’s dinner (courtesy of the fisheries) at the Forth Inn in Aberfoyle. James
Litster (above) from Kilmaurs caught and released these two, a few weeks ago – whilst lure fishing for pike.

The mild and ice free winter will no doubt be associated with greater cormorant predation on stock numbers of
fish (trout, roach, perch, pike, eels) in the Lake, but numbers of cormorants have not been excessive and hopefully
the effect on the trout will not be too significant.

In the stock ponds, the mild winter has facilitated a faster than usual growth rate. As a result of the past two severe
winters, we have been bringing forward stock size of our rainbows to maintain weight of the initial stocking for
the new season. Thus not only have the fish grown faster over the winter – they were bigger to start with. As a
result stock size will considerably up on last April and May.

Many of you will know that our caterer, Davie Stewart, has taken up an option on a restaurant premises in the west
end of Callander. His new venture, named a Taste of the Trossachs, is opening on the 16th March. All the best
Davie and Rachel! We have a new van operator taking over the pitch, Dianne from Stirling.

With another new season – almost upon us, it is time to tie up a few loose ends from last year.

Kirk and School 2011

Our last day of the year for trout fishing - the Kirk and School Fishing and BBQ day raised £1800 for these two
local establishments. The School used their money to give the children skiing lessons and a trip to the panto and
the Church put their allocation towards roof repair. Both have extended their thanks (see fishery notice board) to
the fishery and the anglers. The children sang an inspirational song about the Lake of Menteith - which you can
hear on the Lake’s Forum Page under “The kids were the real stars” (who else?) or by following the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNf9kKkpRsY&feature=player_embedded#

Thanks to Fishy Piper aka Stewart Marshall for the footage.

Fishery Stats 2011

YEAR
FISH STOCKED PER BOAT HOUR
FISH CAUGHT PER BOAT HOUR
AV. WT (LBS) CAUGHT PER 2 MAN 8 HRS
TOTAL CATCH NUMBER PER 8HR BOAT
MEAN WEIGHT OF FISH
% OF CATCH RETURNED

The above data speaks for itself but the obvious trend is for a massive increase in catch and release, coupled with
steady or marginally increased stocking rates to result in a big increase in fish caught (numbers up by 49%). The
big increases in catch and release, coupled with a drop off in angler numbers since 2008 have also resulted in
longer residence time of stocked fish – with a noticeable rise in overwintered type looking fish in the catches.

Permit Changes

This year we have introduced lower permit prices for lower bag limit permits. Thus a 10 fish boat limit is £2 more
than a 6 fish permit, which is £2 more than a catch and release permit. These prices do not reflect the difference
in fish limit cost per permit (a fish is valued at around £7) but are an attempt to differentiate between likely kill
number according to permit, as opposed to bag limit. We have also had to be cautious with the introduction of
variable bag limit prices as we are not sure what the anglers will desire and thus we have reduced risk by this
gradual introduction (see website Tariffs).

2011/12 Winter Pike Fishing


Pike fishing with fly pike gear is a fast growing past time. It is now available all season at the Lake.

Facebook

If you can’t beat them join them. We now have a Facebook page – what more can I say. So far we haven’t upset
anybody as far as we know – and there have been one or two laughs and hijacked threads. If you haven’t done so
already, you can enter a draw for a free boat by liking the Free Boat Draw message.

Youth Lessons

We are planning block lessons for young folk during the Easter and Summer Holidays. The Easter block lesson
dates are 9-13th April. More information on the website (Youth).

HALF PRICE FISHING OFFER Persuade a novice to participate on one of our taster days or

introduce a newbie to the Lake and get your fishing half price.

AND BEST WISHES FOR 2012 SEASON



The PAAS were out on the 5th Nov with a lure only day, and it
wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they were a little
disappointed with the stamp of the fish. The result a week later
on 12th for the PAC outing (30 two man boats) was remarkable
in that many bigger fish were caught – with anglers likening
catches to the days of old at the Lake. Catches in March were
again not earth shattering for the pikers but a look at the table of
catches (left) shows that relative to a typical trout day, the pike
anglers fair comparatively well and the Lake is without doubt
one of the Scottish premier piking venues.