ANGLING PRESS SERVICES

JIM BOYD - angling journalist/photographer

Issued by Jim Boyd on behalf of the following fisheries on Monday 04 August 2014. The report is for the week ending Sunday, 03 August 2014.

1. FRANDY (Gleneagles) Jim Sheehan & Peter Tong from Bridge of Allan kept 12 fish weighing 30lb and released a further 3, Colin McLuckie & Son, Airth, 8 fish for 17lb 4oz, Bill Ramage, Alva, 4 fish weighing 9lb 8oz, Kenny MacMillan, Perth, 6 for 13lb 8oz and Philip Bryant & Matthew Nicol from Falkirk kept 12 fish weighing 27lb. Robert Peden from Kelty had 2 fish weighing 5lb 8oz and released 9, Sandy Falconer, Dollar, 2 fish weighing 4lb 8oz and released 2, James & George Ross, Pitlochry 6 for 13lb 8oz and Andy Anderson & Andy Winton from Edinburgh kept 6 fish weighing 16lb 8oz and released 20. Malcolm Hendry from Cumbernauld, fishing with a sporting ticket, released 15, Steven Hamilton, Kelty, kept 4 fish weighing 9lb 4oz, Robert Westwater, Glasgow, kept 2 fish weighing 6lb and released 3, Eddie Collins, Bannockburn, fishing with a sporting ticket caught and released 8 and Brian Young from Menstrie kept 2 fish weighing 6lb 4oz.
On the club front the Seafield A/C kept 12 fish weighing 32lb, Bank of Scotland, West, 18 fish weighing 46lb 4oz, West Lothian Fly Dressers had 16 fish for 39lb 8oz, Grangemouth Railway A/C took 2 fish weighing 5lb and released 2 and the Perth Civil Service A/C kept 8 fish weighing 24lb 6oz.
Once again all areas are fishing well and the top taking flies included Muddlers, Black Hopper, Daddy Longlegs, Kate McLaren and various Snatchers.

2. FORBES OF KINGENNIE (Broughty Ferry) As enjoyable as the hot summer weather has been recently the rain and lower temperatures last week has cooled the water and the fishing has really picked on all the ponds as a result. The Burnside has been the top fly pond over the last week with fish much higher in the water and that has made them a lot more catchable. The clarity has been very good with around 5 feet of visibility There has been some big blue trout getting caught that have been fighting incredibly hard with a few people getting caught by surprise and being snapped. Fish have been getting caught on most methods, dries have been very effective when they are right on top but Buzzers and Nymphs have been really consistent. Small Damsels and Black Lures have been the best lures.  Mr Ellis had 2 for 7lb with a blue at 4lb 14oz. Mr Clark took 2 for 7lb 4oz with a blue at 5lb 7oz. Mr Patterson had 5 fish for 14lb 8oz including two 4lb rainbows. Mr Costello, Mr Gaul and Mr Thompson have all returned big blues as well. The Boathouse is still quite clear with fish visibly cruising around, Buzzers and Nymphs have been the most consistent method taking fish all day but lures have been good at times when the fish are active but most of the time there not keen at chasing. Mr Miller had 2 for 8lb including a good blue and put back 8 then came back the next day and had a 4lb 9oz blue. Mr Watson had a good day returning 7 on Buzzers and lost a much bigger fish. The Bankside has still been suffering from an algae bloom but we have been flushing fresh water into the pond and it is improving steadily. Yellow Dancers and Cats Whiskers seem to be the top lure and Okey Dokey the best buzzer. Mr Marshall has been persevering on the pond recently when it hasn’t been fishing great but was rewarded with one of the big fish around 11-13lb on a Yellow Head Okey Dokey as well as another handful of smaller ones. Mr Clark had a great day taking 4 fish for 9lb and returned another 15 mostly on Yellow Dancers. The Woodside has been very clear and this has seen the weed worse than we have ever seen before on this pond but we have been in with the weed cutter and at the moment around one third of the pond inset fishable with patches of weed around elsewhere. This really hasn’t affected the fishing with the fish staying in the clear water and there have been really good bags of fish caught. Over the weekend there were 97fish caught for a total weight of 173lb by 57 anglers. There wasn’t a stand out method taking fish, the float, lead and spinners were all working with Powerbait as usual being very effective. The biggest fish of the week was taken by Mr MacLauchlan weighing 3lb 8oz on a worm.

3. MARKLE (East Lothian)  Benny Gribble from Edinburgh had the heaviest fish last week – a nice rainbow of 9lbs 2oz that took his Bloodworm. Ray Baillie from Edinburgh took a brace weighing 6lbs on a Black Nymph, George Barton, Dalkeith, 2 for 10lbs on a Daddy and Colin Shillinglaw from Edinburgh used a Black Dancer to catch 4 and release 4. Also doing well on the catch and release front was T Hogg from Gorebridge with 6 on Buzzers, A Gillie, Dalkeith had 4 on the Daddy and David Savage from Edinburgh used a Diawl Bach to take 5.

4. ORCHILL LOCH (Braco) Last week the fish have still been taking slowly on the top or just under the surface on a wide variety of small flies to lures with long tails.   The warm water has been giving the anglers quite a challenge to tempt the fish to take as there is such an abundance of natural life for them to feed on just now - good sport. John Patrick from Kilsyth had 3 for 11lbs on a Diawl Bach and a Kate McLaren, Jack Gibb, Clackmannan, 2 fish for 8lbs on a Black & Green Buzzer, William Stanfield, Bridge of Allan, 2 for 10lbs on a Black Nymph, S Stevenson took 3 for 15lbs 4oz on a Black Nymph and Gavin Lindsay from Tullibody had a brace for 6lbs 8oz on a Ha Ha. Jamie Deans from Auchterarder had a nice brace weighing 9lbs 8oz on a Buzzer, Jimmy Young, Alloa, 2 for 7lbs on a Black & Blue Fritz, Paul Young, from America used a Green & Black Fritz to bag 2 for 5lbs and Colin Campbell from Lochgelly took 4 fish for 10lbs 12oz on Buzzers. Sandy Ritchie from Lochgelly took 4 for 10lbs 4oz on Buzzers and Davy Black from Lochgelly caught 2 for 5lbs 12oz on a CDC.

5. SWANSWATER (Stirling) With the weather still hot and sunny at the beginning of the week the fishing remained challenging at Swanswater.    Although many anglers were reporting that the fish were showing definite interest in their flies, with plenty of knocks, bumps and follows, getting them to actually take was more difficult.   Sometimes the boats did better as the fish were hiding in the deeper water in the middle of the pond, but this was not always the case as fish were also being found in and at the mouth of the burn.   The two small ponds provided some good sport and many anglers tried their luck there when the main pond was at its hardest.   Favourite patterns this week included Kate McLaren, Bibio, Greenwell Glory, Yellow Owl, Diawl Bach, PTN, Damsel, and Buzzer with fish also showing an interest in Daddy, Muddler and CDC on the surface.   The heavy rain at the weekend and the breezy conditions at the start of this week mean that things are a little fresher and at long last the oxygen level is creeping up and the water temperature is beginning to drop.   Hopefully conditions will continue to improve over the next few days.
This coming week sees the Stirling International Angling Festival taking place at various venues around the region.    The Millpond and Meadow Pond are being used next weekend (9 and 10 August) for taster sessions during the day.   The main pond, Swanswater, will be open for fishing as usual.
Graeme Arthur, Stirling, 5lb 12oz Tiger, John Moyes, Grangemouth, 5lb Rainbow, Frank Barr, Falkirk, in two boat outings, 8 for 27lb 12oz including 4lb 8oz Rainbow, a Blue and a Tiger, Donald McMurchy, Fallin, in three visits, 8 for 26lb and Stephen Mason and son, Jordan, Cumbernauld, 4 for 13lb 4oz including 4lb 4oz Rainbow. Brian Murray, Hamilton, 4 for 12lb 6oz including a Blue, Barry Hamilton, Wishaw, 4 for 12lb 4oz including a Brown and 2 Tigers, Frank Turner, Alloa, 4 for 11lb including 3 from the Millpond and Ian MacDonald, Alva, 3 for 9lb 12oz. Charles Haig, Stirling, 2 for 6lb 12oz, Davy Quinn, Dunfermline, 2 Browns for 6lb, Jim Craig, Balloch, 2 for 6lb including a Tiger and Mark Thomson, Bannockburn, 2 for 6lb.

6. WOODBURN (Milton of Campsie) The best catching flies last week included the Yellow Dancer, Red Buzzer, Daddy Long Legs and the Damsel Nymph. Craig Russell from Kirkintilloch had 1 for 2lbs Jamie Black, Stirling, 2 for 6lbs 7oz, John Shaw, Kilsyth, 2 for 6lbs 5oz and Mr Wilson from Kilsyth took a brace weighing 3lbs 8oz. Mr McClain from Glasgow had 3 for 5lbs 7oz, Joseph Alexander, Coatbridge, 4 for 10lbs 9oz, Brian Hannah, Kilsyth, 2 for 4lbs 3oz and Mr Tanner from Kirkintilloch caught 4 for 8lbs 2oz. Mr Murray from Kirkintilloch had a nice rainbow weighing in at 3lbs 2oz, Jim Taylor, Kirkintilloch, 3 for 7lbs 8oz and Mr Barr from Kirkintilloch took one at 2lbs 4oz.

ENDS