A panorama shot taken on 18-9-2010
Alan Burns with
his 21lb Rainbow 12-06-2011
A 12lb fish
taken by Neill Barrett on 28-5-2011
Graham Nash with
his 18.5lb Rainbow 27-4-2011
A fine Brown taken by Marco Capozzella
30-3-11
One of Marco Capozzella's fish -
25-03-2-11
Raphael Ibanez The former French
rugby captain visits the fishery 21-03-2011
The first double of 2011 - 18.5 lbs caught by Robin Scott
An angler nets a
fish - 18-9-2010
A
recent 9 lb 3 oz fish caught by John Patrick senior on a bibio
hopper
A fine
8lb fish caught on (27/07/10) by Mr C. Stewart on a Black and
Claret Emerger.
Mr
Henderson with a 13lb rainbow, caught on a bloodworm, at the
dam.
The first double of 2010
13lb 4ozs
see the report for 7th March
.JPG)
Gordon Reekie shows off a fine Brown!
Michael Benigno and Ian McNicol
Ian Remler nets a fish
|
FISHING GUIDE
 |
Car parking is on the right just after
you pass the Fishery office. The areas
marked in red show some of the favourite spots for bank
anglers, although you can find fish all round the
reservoir. The boats are moored in the bay in
front of the office and can fish anywhere inside the
white poles located at both ends of the reservoir.
Tactics:
- Early Year - Lures such as
Dancers, Cats Whiskers, Damsels, Blood worms, Okay
Dokay..
- Spring - Buzzers, Cormorants,
Hares Ear, Diawl Bach
- Summer - Dries, Buzzers, Nymphs,
- Autumn - Lures & Buzzers
|
FISHING REPORTS -
Fishing Weather Forecast
Also check out our tweets on twitter for up to date
information. .....
24-10-2011
Last week brought heavy rain and a big dip in temperature
which made fishing difficult. We also took most of
the boats out this weekend as the fishery prepares to close for
the winter. We did however get quite a few anglers
on Saturday and some managed to land a few fish - The fish were
taken on a variety of methods ranging from buzzers (black) to
hot head damsels. Overall - October has been quite
challenging with no consistent weather patterns and anglers
having to vary tactics to find success. The fishery
closes this weekend for the winter and we look forward to seeing
you on Saturday or Sunday if you want to fit in one final
fishing session...
06-10-2011
The milder weather over the weekend was frustrating with lots
of fish rising but most anglers struggling to find what the fish
were taking. Some anglers managed good returns with
black buzzers or shipmans buzzers near the surface - the burn
end produced better results than the dam. Others
managed fish on bloodworms and a variety of lures or snatchers
with darker shades more successful.
The colder windy weather has meant that the fishery has been
quieter through the week but the forecast for the weekend should
see a slight improvement in the conditions.
28-09-2011
Fishing was
better on Sunday, despite the strong winds
and anglers had good results with
intermediate lines and lures or blobs.
The best areas were in front of cabin and
the burn end.
Saturday was
more challenging but fish were taken with
lures and cormorants - again the burn end
was more productive. The fishery is
now closed at 5pm until the end of October.
23-09-2011
The weather has
been quite windy over the last week and very
few anglers have ventured out. Last
weekend most of the fish were taken on lures
(hot head damsels) and nymphs (snatchers &
diawl bachs) on sink tip or
intermediate lines. The Dam end fished
well but fish were caught in most areas.
Some anglers persevered with dry flies and
were rewarded with good bags of fish using
small daddies and sedge patterns.
A good stock of fresh fish is being
introduced for the weekend and the weather
forecast predicts slightly higher
temperatures which should make for good
fishing conditions - tight lines.
The fishery is
now closing about 7.30pm as the nights close
in.
05-09-2011
Fishing over the
last week has been mixed. At times the
fishing has been excellent and top of the
water sport has been good with some anglers
catching well into double figures. At
other times the fish have been difficult to
locate and anglers have had to experiment
with different lines and flies. There are
quite a few Daddies around and we expect the
fish to be targeting them over the next few
weeks. The fishery now closes
just after 8pm as the light fades quickly at
this time of year.
26-08-2011
A fresh stock of
fish just introduced including a 17lb
specimen. The fish seem to have gone
down in the water and anglers today had more
success with lures on intermediate lines.
25-08-2011
Anglers have had
to vary their tactics to find out what works
on a daily basis. Sometimes the fish
have been feeding hard on the surface in
short spells and Dry Flies such as
Daddies, Sedges and CDC's are accounting for
fish. When the conditions are right
some anglers are managing to catch into
double figures and quite a few larger
trout have been successfully caught and
returned. At other times - nymphs,
snatchers, Cormorants and lures are more
successful using a sink tip or floating
lines. The Burn end has produced
more fish than the Dam end but the fish are
well distributed over the reservoir.
The fishery
continues to be stocked on a weekly basis
and good quality Brown, Blue, Rainbow and
Tiger trout are introduced.
We've also
received a small stock of the imported
floating and intermediate lines that were
mentioned in the report on the 05-08-2011.
The lines are priced at £10 and have been
quickly snapped up by anyone that has tried
them.
16-08-2011
The water
temperature has dropped significantly with
all the rain in the last week but the fish
can still be found near the surface.
I visited on
Saturday and started off with a FAB and two
buzzers at the Dam end. This tactic has
worked well recently but failed to attract
any fish. Mick Mulgrew and I then moved
round to the far side and managed to connect
with fish using Bibio snatchers. Mick had
moved to an intermediate line and I stayed
with a floating line. The fish appeared to
like a fast figure of eight interspersed
with some quick pulls. After lunch we moved
to the Burn end and had some great sport on
dries. I used a black sugar cube on the
dropper and a black Klinkhammer on the
point. Chris Verrecchia and Neill Barrett
visited later in the afternoon and were
quickly into fish from the bank on CDC
Hoppers and Buzzers at the Burn end.
The 1314
Bannockburn Club hired most of the boats on
Saturday and picked up fish on a variety of
methods - Blobs, Yellow Dancers and Nymphs
all featured in the catch returns. The Burn
end was more successful in the conditions.
Some of the catches last week
have been impressive with many anglers getting into double
figures. Last weekend - small nymphs, either snatchers or
diawl bachs on floating or sink tip lines produced excellent
results (I purchased one of the Rio Midge Tip lines from
Fishers Direct three
weeks ago and have had some great success with the line - It
casts well, has no memory and the short sink tip presents the
nymphs or buzzers at just the right depth). In the early
part of the week dry flies came into there own and anything
black or claret encouraged attention from the fish - CDC's, foam
beetles or anything close to a heather fly performed well.
The monsoon conditions have discouraged anglers since Tuesday
but weather conditions are forecast to be better over the
weekend.
I visited last weekend and
started off at the burn end with Mick Mulgrew - With warm sunny
conditions - both of us started off with a washing line rig
using a midge tip with a tequila or sunburst FAB on the point
and two buzzers on the droppers. Fish were more interested
in the FAB and takes were very tentative so resulted in only one
solid hook up. Anglers on the Dam were having more
success and Alan Burns and his Father had had 4 fish each with
striped quill buzzers on either washing line or bung. Some
of the boats did well with diawl bachs or small lures with very
few fish showing on the surface in the bright conditions.
Mick had purchased a new line
through Alex from Dave Clark who's importing them and took the
opportunity to try it out on the Dam in the afternoon.
I'm a big fan of the Snowbee XS line and was interested to see
how the new line performed because it looks and feels just like
the Snowbee. Mick was good enough to give me a cast and
not only was I impressed with the line which shoots out with
absolutely no memory - I also managed to catch a fish to break
in the line. The really good news is that the lines are
great value at about £10 per line. I've ordered one and
would encourage anyone to try the demonstration one that Alex
has if your visiting. Steve Culbert our casting instructor
was similarly impressed and immediately ordered a few.
Speak to Alex at the fishery if your interested in one.
 This
Wednesday was also the final night of the boat league and a
total of 20 fish were caught between 10 anglers (2 fish average)
well done to Wayne Cram winning this weeks session with 7 fish.
Big congratulations to the top 5 anglers who finished the
Fishers/Loganlea boat league as follows:
1st - Ben
McBeth, 2nd
(tie) - Callum Greens and George
Charters, 4th
Derek Sibson, 5th
Wayne Cram (The final results were decided by totaling each of
the anglers individual catches and then deducting their four
worst session scores) Prizes included cash and Gift Vouchers. A
massive thanks to all those who participated in the event and
especially to
Fishers Tackle... who kindly organised the
competition.
Look out for news about next years league and join in the fun.
Finally Alex has been having some tremendous success with a
new dry fly which might be on sale soon....
The fishery has been quite busy
through the week with anglers taking the opportunity to get out
when the weather is better. However, there doesn't
seem to be a specific tactic or area that is delivering
consistent results. Anglers have had success on a variety
of methods covering lures (Cats Whiskers, Yellow Dancers &
Sunburst FAB Blobs), buzzers (Black, Lime, Orange), dries
(CDC F Fly, Daddies) and nymphs (Snatchers, Diawl Bachs).
The fish do seem to be in the top 4 feet most of the time and
floating or sink tip lines are producing the best results.
The Boat league had a difficult
night on Wednesday night with only 16 fish caught (1.6
fish average) Top rods were George Charters, Derek Sibson and
Wayne Cram who won this session with four fish each using nymphs
and dries. The anglers were frustrated by fish rising everywhere
but everyone struggled to find what they were feeding on.
The league is run in partnership with Fishers based in John
Street precinct, Penicuik,
www.fishersdirect.com There's one week to go with vouchers and cash for the
top 5 placed anglers.
Many of the large fish introduced
last Friday are yet to be caught and a fresh stocking of quality
fish was introduced yesterday afternoon. The
forecast for the weekend looks good so tight lines to everyone
planning a visit.
We've had a number of calls about
a misleading article in the paper regarding Glencourse Reservoir
- This has led people to assume that Loganlea is also closed.
The article refers only to Glencourse and Loganlea is open
for business as usual. A correction will be published
next week confirming this.
The water is still slightly
coloured from the heavy rain at the weekend but is slowly
clearing.
The Wednesday League last night had a challenging evening with
the 10 anglers managing an average of 2 fish per person. The
Wednesday league has just 2 weeks to run with a number of
anglers in reach of the 500 pounds of prizes. Congratulations go
to Callum Greens the winner of this weeks session who located
fish and successfully caught 8 in quick succession using a
yellow dancer at the shallow end.
The shallow end is fishing better than the dam end and some
anglers are still doing well on buzzers
A fresh stock of fish was introduced today with a good number of
double figure fish, including some stunning blues, browns and
tiger trout..
Saturday brought warm
temperatures with thunder and lightening throughout the day in
advance of monsoon type conditions in the evening. This
again made fishing challenging during the day with some anglers
having success on buzzers (black and red, brown) and lures
(orange variants). Lots of fish were rising but it was
difficult to determine what they were taking and connecting with
fish using dry flies was challenging. The downpour
in the evening left the water extremely coloured after the level
rose by about 4 feet in a couple of hours. The water
remained coloured on the Sunday but most anglers managed to find
fish with buzzers or lures. By Monday the water was still
coloured but fishing was good with bloodworms and buzzers
accounting for some good returns.
Fishing was more challenging over
the weekend after heavy rain on the Friday night and a mix of
thunder, bright spells and more rain over Saturday and Sunday.
I visited on Saturday morning with Mick Mulgrew and we both
started with washing line set-ups at the burn end - sink tip
lines with a FAB on the point with two buzzers on droppers.
I was quickly into a fish on the FAB and managed two others in
quick succession on the buzzers. Mick also took two fish
and dropped two more before things went quieter after a change
of weather. In the afternoon we tried the Dam end with
Alex and found it difficult to locate fish - Mick managed one on
a white rabbit but we concluded that there was more action at
the burn end. Some of the Boat anglers did well with
black CDC flies and other took fish on Nymphs and Buzzers whilst
others struggled to find any action. Fingers crossed that
the weather becomes more settled.
The weather continues to change
from day to day which makes it difficult to find a consistent
formula for success. Small lures or nymphs seem to work
better on one day and dries on others. Hence, some anglers
who get the tactics right are managing to land lots of fish,
whilst others are struggling. The fish have tended
to be in the top 4 feet of water and anglers fishing buzzers on
washing lines or nymphs/lures on floating lines have had most
success. When conditions are right - CDC's and Daddies are
attracting fish on top. The Wednesday league last night
saw anglers catching an average of just over 3 fish per rod on a
variety of tactics.
The fishing over last week was
excellent and the Wednesday league had a good night with most of
the fish taken on top of the water with dry flies and muddlers.
A fresh batch of fish was introduced on Friday including some
good tiger trout and blue trout in the 5lb - 8lb range.
However, the weather on Saturday was again cold wet and
miserable, forcing the fish down in the water and making things
more challenging. I visited on Saturday and was
joined by Gene Cavallucci who was on holiday from Florida and
headed up to the Dam area with Mick Mulgrew. Despite there
being no sign of fish rising Mick and I started with dry flies
and let Gene try a hot head Damsel - Things started well with
Mick into a fish on his 2nd cast and I connected with a fish on
my 3rd both using the new CDC pattern I mentioned last week.
Thereafter things were more challenging with Gene getting the
only action on his hot head Damsel. We all managed to pick
up other fish by moving around and varying tactics but things
were certainly more difficult than usual. One of the
Anglers from the Alexander Club was doing well with an olive
booby and DI5 line on the Dam and managed a good bag of fish
including one of the larger Blue trout.
Alan Burns caught one of the
20lb+ fish last night at the Dam on a DI6 line with a Cormorant
- Alan wasn't quite sure what he'd hooked into at first but the
fish was eventually landed (after breaking his net),
photographed and safely released for someone else to catch.
(Photographs are on the left). The rest of the week
has been about the weather, or rather how cold it has been for
June. However, lots of anglers have had good sport on the
surface with dry flies - Tam Grey who ties the flies on sale in
the cabin brought up a new prototype CDC pattern last week and
quickly caught about 7 fish in quick succession. He left 2
of the flies with Alex to try and I managed to get a hold of one
when I visited on Saturday. The weather was cold, wet and
miserable but I was delighted to catch 2 fish on the surface in
my first 30 minutes with the fly - The fly should be available
for sale soon! Despite the conditions on Saturday
most of the boats had good catches and the Seafield club average
about 3 fish per angler on a variety of methods.
Mick Mulgrew beat my total on Saturday (despite the advantage of
the new fly) using snatchers and a small black rabbit.
A big thanks to Trossachs Trout /
Invicta Trout for supplying all our fish in such prime
condition)
Last Wednesday's boat league had
their best night so far with some of the anglers catching 10
fish in the four hour session. The weather continues to
disappoint and last Friday finally brought temperatures of 25C -
However things were back to normal on Saturday with temperatures
of around 12C and this has continued since then.
Despite this the fishing has been good with most anglers
securing their limit on different tactics. On occasions, dry
flies can do well with black beetles, CDCs and Daddies all
achieving results. Others are having more luck with
lures on intermediate lines or buzzers on floating lines. I
visited on Saturday and was lucky enough to hook a fish with my
first cast from the Dam using a floating line with a traffic
light cruncher. I also managed fish on a gold
snatcher and kate mclaren whilst Alex had a number of fish on
buzzers (black and yellow stripes) - The most productive area
was the side opposite the cabin down to the Dam. Jake
Johnstone and his Brother in-law David managed some good fish
from the Dam after deciding it was too rough for a boat but some
of the boats that ventured out did well on Cats Whiskers.
The fish over 20lbs are yet to
appear in the returns but quite a few fish over 6lbs have been
caught in the last week.
Gilmerton Miners Fly Fishing Club
visited yesterday and had a good day, despite the windy weather.
Everyone caught fish with most of the members catching their
limits before lunch time. Most of the fish were taken on
the far side between the Dam and opposite the cabin. Blue
Damsels, Rabbits and Buzzers all featured in the catch returns.
A new stocking went in on Friday including another fish over
20lbs - a 24lb fish introduced a few weeks ago has yet to be
caught and there are now several fish over the 18lb mark.
The boat league had a good night
tonight with 9 anglers catching a total of 38 fish in just over
3 hours - get more details from the
Wednesday League section. The strong wind and heavy
showers has continued for most of the week and at times the
fishing has been impossible. This has kept the fish down
and most are being taken around three to four feet deep but some
fish have been taken off the surface when it was less windy.
Lures, buzzers and nymphs are producing results and top
flies are Dancers, Hot Head Damsels, Cats Whiskers,
Cormorants, Orange Buzzers and Small Sugar Cube Dries.
I visited last Saturday and was
lucky enough to get a fish on a dry fly (gold sugar cube) in
front of the cabin before the wind got too strong. I
also managed to pick up a couple of fish casting into the wind
from the Dam on an Orange Blob with DI3 line and 1 fish at the
shallow end with a Hot Head Damsel
The strong wind on Saturday made
things difficult for the boat anglers but the fish were lively
and just about everyone managed to catch fish. A single
lure on an intermediate line proved to be the most effective
tactic in the conditions with Yellow Dancers, Blobs and Damsels
all featuring in the returns. Buzzers also delivered
results and Mr "T" our regular buzzer expert took 9 fish in a
short session on Saturday afternoon.
The weather has continued to be
difficult but the fishing has been excellent for those braving
the conditions. One of our anglers last weekend brought up a
photograph of Loganlea when it was drained (accidently) some 20
years ago - We thought you might be interested to see this:
The new Wednesday league kicked
off this week in conjunction with Fishers Fly Fishing Shop
www.fishersdirect.co.uk
.
In a 4 hour session the 11 anglers managed to catch and release
39 fish. Ben McBeth stormed into the lead with 9 fish,
closely followed by Wayne Cram and Derek Sibson with 6 each.
The fish were taken on various flies but lures and cormorants on
intermediate lines produced the best returns. The league
will run for the next 12 weeks with the best 8 weeks counting
towards the competition - so there's still time to enter -
Details from:
http://www.fishersdirect.com/boat-league-4-w.asp .
We'll also feature a report on the Wednesday league section on
this web site.
I visited the fishery yesterday
and for a change the weather was actually better than forecast -
the heavy rain didn't arrive until later in the afternoon.
I started at the burn end where there were lots of fish rising
but I tried a cats whisker on an intermediate line and caught a
fish on my first cast. It was difficult to match whatever
the fish were taking off the surface but other anglers were
taking fish on lures and orange blobs. I ended up
with 4 fish before lunch and Mick Mulgrew had managed 7 fish on
mixed tactics. We then headed up to the Dam and found that
anglers had been having success on dries but things had slowed
down as the changeable weather had forced the fish down in the
water. Alan Burns then changed to buzzers and took about
10 fish in rapid session on orange coloured buzzers. Other
anglers were taking fish on loop bloodworms and orange blobs
fished slowly on intermediate lines. Chris Verrecchia had also
taken fish on buzzers about 200 yards down from the cabin.
The boat anglers were having success in all areas with
intermediate lines and lures or boobies - most of the anglers
from Carluke angling club managed to take their limits.
The fishing has been exceptional
since the weather warmed up a bit in the last couple of days.
On occasions there are lots of fish feeding actively off the
surface and anglers with dry flies have managed lots of fish:
Black Shipmans buzzers and CDC dries in size 10 or 12 have done
particularly well. Lures and muddlers stripped just
under the surface have also attracted lots of attention.
Yesterday brought difficult
fishing conditions - a strong easterly wind and bright sunshine.
Despite this, many anglers managed to hook into fish - lures on
intermediate lines worked well and one angler did well with
bloodworms on a floating line. Fishing on Friday
which was more overcast was better with most anglers doing well
- Cats Whiskers, blobs and buzzers all doing well.
The easterly wind is forecast to
continue with bright conditions today and more overcast
tomorrow.
Fishing has been good for most of
the week with the fish active for long periods. Graham
Nash from Edinburgh hooked and landed one of our double figure
fish at the Dam end on Wednesday evening. The fish fell to
a Damsel with dumbbell eyes and weighed in at 18.5lbs,
taking over 30 minutes to land - There are still plenty of
other double figure fish remaining including the 24lb monster
that was introduced a week ago.... Graham is pictured with
his fish on the gallery.
The fishing on Saturday was
excellent, despite the disappointing weather in the afternoon.
Bonnybridge Angling Club created a new record with 18 anglers
accounting for 62 fish on their tickets they went onto take
another 225 fish on C/R ! Most of the fish were taken
between the Dam and Cabin on Damsels and Blobs but a number of
other flies featured in the reports. Sunday was more
difficult but a number of anglers had good baskets of fish.
I visited on Monday and still found things difficult (certainly
compared to Saturday's report), but managed 4 fish on a variety
of tactics including one on a dry shipmans buzzer. Mick
Mulgrew managed about 8 fish, mainly on a Carron Rabbit but also
took a few on buzzers. We found the area between the Cabin
and Dam most productive and on occasions fish were rising freely
in the middle areas of the reservoir. No report yet
of the 24lb fish being caught!
A top condition 24lb fish was
introduced last night with our weekly stocking - It's your
chance to catch the fish of a lifetime over the Easter weekend.
The weather forecast looks good for fishing and a variety of
tactics should bring success as the fish seem to be feeding hard
on anything that's available. The fish are now well
distributed over the reservoir and the boat anglers are picking
up fish in all areas, For bank anglers the hotspots are
both ends, along the bank between the Dam and Flesh Cleugh, and
don't be afraid to try a few casts in front of the cabin.
I was away with our club -
Gilmerton Miners Fly Fishing Club to Lintrathen this weekend
(see www.gmffc.co.uk if you
want to find out how it's fishing there.) so gave Alex a call
for an update on the weekend's fishing at Loganlea.
Obviously the weather was better on Sunday but the fishing on
both days seems to have been exceptional. On Saturday, 35
of the fishers on take fish permits took good bags of fish and
21 of 23 fishers on Sunday caught all of their fish.
Buzzers were doing exceptionally well, with lime, pink, red
holographic and loop bloodworms all featuring in the catch
returns. Some anglers reported taking over 20 fish
along the Dam using an indicator with a bug and John Watson
hooked and landed a very large fish which he struggled to get
into his net -The fish was successfully released to fight
another day.
If anyone is interested in
joining a club, we're currently looking for new members -
please drop me an email for more information.
Just back from a
week's break in Tenerife and gave Alex a call to
find out how things are fishing. The
better weather continued over the weekend and
fishing on Saturday and Sunday was exceptional.
Quite a few fish were tempted by dries on
Saturday and the fish continue to be better
distributed over the reservoir. Most
productive technique continues to be a lure on
intermediate line but many fish were taken on
buzzers, snatchers and nymphs.
The fishing
yesterday was probably the best of the season so
far, despite the strong winds. Just about
every angler took fish with many recording well
into double figures. The fish were
also better distributed over the reservoir and
are obviously more active with the better
temperatures and natural feeding improving.
The fishery has
been quite quiet through the week but the
fishing has been good for most anglers.
Marco Capozzela visited again on Wednesday and
had 9 fish all on lures - including the fine
brown trout which is pictured on the left.
Black and Green lures were attracting the fish,
although the brown trout was taken by a yellow
dancer using a very slow figure of 8 retrieve.
Alex tells me that orange lures were also
working and fish are now better distributed over
the reservoir. New stock arrives today
including some double figure rainbows in advance
of the weekend. Tight lines to everyone -
I'm actually off to the Watch this weekend for
my first club outing of the year so I'll get an
update from Alex to let everyone know how things
are fishing.
Many thanks to Marco
for sending his photograph and note - Let me
know if you want to share any feedback or photos
in the fishing report. just email me @
webmaster@loganleafishery.co.uk
The better weather
continued on Saturday and the Cormorants that
have plagued the fishery for the last few months
seem to have headed back to sea for their mating
season. I turned up on Saturday
morning to find things busier than usual - Mick
Mulgrew and a few others were already fishing down at the shallow end when
I arrived and had managed fish before I even
started. I started with an intermediate line
and the same Damsel that's pictured in the 13th
March report. This produced a fish first
cast but I unfortunately lost the
fly when the second fish took but was lucky
enough to get 4 more on a hot head damsel and
lime green dancer. I then tried the far
bank and changed to a lime green beaded buzzer
about 5 feet under a bung -
this accounted for another 3 fish before lunch.
Mick also picked up fish on buzzers.
Regulars Kenny and Billy were out in a boat for
the first time and were regularly hooking fish
on okay dokays and lures. Mick and I tried
the Dam after lunch and managed 1 fish each on
lures - There were lots of fish rising but they
were difficult to tempt. We then headed
down to the burn end and I was struggling to
tempt fish. Mick had moved down further to
the point and was getting interest with every
cast on a Damsel. I then tried wading in
front of the burn and managed a few more
fish - all on lures - Either Electric Blue
Damsels or a "Bigio" with pink tail and black
and blue fritz. I ended up with 14 fish
and left Mick still fishing with 14 fish caught
and released - Kenny & Billy managed 22 fish
from the boat. The fish still seem to be
congregating in tight groups and I'd suggest
people move around to try and find them. Some
anglers were really successful - Whilst other
anglers struggled to find fish.
On the subject of
mating - The reservoir is full of frogs just now
and Alex captured a photo of one getting amorous
with a Brown Trout in the Harbour. At
first Alex thought the Brown Trout was dead and
managed to lift them out and separate them - The
fish then darted off leaving the question how
did the frog manage to catch the fish in the
first place. A quick check on the internet
and I discovered that this is quite common with
many reports of goldfish and carp being killed
by frogs trying to mate with them. In this
case the Brown Trout was able to live for
another day and might be lucky enough to be
caught by an angler in future!
Things have warmed
up quite a bit and the fish are in a more active
mood. Robin Scott visited today and caught
over 20 fish on a Damsel - at the burn end + in
front of the cabin. Others have also had
better results after struggling on earlier
visits - This is a note we received from Marco
Capozzella from his visit on Wednesday (you can
see his photo on the left):
"Was up at the fishery again on wednesday some
photo's from the great day i had landing 11 fish
in total not big but nice and clean and missing
a good few as well, most of the fish being
caught on a Green Dancer and a Black and Green
Montana also stirred a few, again a pleasurable
day for me after blanking on my previous 2
visits this month.
thanks again
Marco Capozzella "
The fishery has
been very quiet through the week with mixed
weather. Thursday was the busiest week day and
we had a surprise visit from Raphael Ibanez
The former French rugby captain He was
commentating on the Scotland v Italy game for
French TV and decided to check the fishery out.
Fortunately most of the fishers on Thursday
managed to catch all their fish with most of
the action taking place during a two hour spell
in the afternoon with best results using a lime
green dancer on a floating or intermediate line.
Raphael was delighted to catch a couple of trout
and we hope to see him back in future. He even
correctly predicted a win for Scotland against
Italy!
Saturday was extremely cold and the fishing in
the morning was again difficult with only a
couple of anglers picking up the odd fish. Like
most anglers I managed to blank during the
morning and retired to the cabin to rethink
tactics for the afternoon. Mick and I returned
to the burn end and I decided to try a lime
dancer This brought a fish after a couple of
casts on an intermediate line fished as slow as
I could manage. Mick then picked up another
using similar tactics with a hot head damsel. I
then tried a minkie using a very slow retrieve
and immediately picked up hits before hooking a
good fish. Unfortunately I had to leave at this
point and left Mick to what seemed to be better
fishing conditions. I heard later that he had
finished up with 5 fish the latter fish taking
buzzers towards the end of the afternoon.
The forecast on
Thursday changed from a reasonable outlook
to predicting the temperatures would
plummet bringing a good load of snow. And
sure enough I opened the curtains on Saturday
morning to see grey skies and heavy snow.
I made a quick call to Loganlea to check the
conditions and Joyce confirmed "It's snowing but
the road is fine and the forecast looks better
for this afternoon". She forgot to mention
that they have a 4x4 and it's very good in the
snow - I really struggled up the hill to the
fishery but eventually made it. Mick wasn't so
lucky and had to be towed by Alex in the 4x4!
All of the effort was rewarded when I eventually
made my first cast at the burn end - Two fish on
straight away and one landed and safely released
- the other took my point fly for keeps after
heading in opposite directions to the one on the
dropper. I decided to keep fishing with
just one fly, an electric blue damsel (pictured
opposite) on a Cortland Blue line. I then managed
a fish on each of my next 3 casts and Mick was
also picking up fish on lures. In spite of
the conditions - the fishing was good all day
and we took fish on buzzers (lime green) and
nymphs as well as lures. There were even
fish rising in the afternoon - I ended up
with 9 fish and Mick got 12 (although he did
stay longer than me!). Let's hope
this is the start of some better fishing and
improved weather. The fishing up to now
has been difficult - despite the large number of
new fish introduced over the last 3 weeks.
A further batch of
new fish were introduced on Friday ahead of the
opening weekend. Saturday brought a cold
easterly wind and challenging fishing
conditions. The boats found things
harder than the bank anglers with only one or
two boats managing any fish. The bank
anglers had better results at the shallow end
with the fish mainly falling to lures with
intermediate lines.
I started in front of the cabin and was lucky
enough to catch 2 rainbows (white lure with
black fritz and green bead) before moving down
to the shallow end. After trying a variety
of nymphs and buzzers - I finally tempted
another fish on a yellow apps bloodworm before
lunch. Other anglers managed fish on a
variety of lures and the odd fish was tempted by
buzzers. After lunch Mick Mulgrew and I
tried the Dam end with no success before
eventually walking down to the shallow end.
I then headed to the cabin for a coffee whilst
Mick continued fishing - only to hear that he'd
caught 3 fish in quick succession on a green
lure. I tackled up with the same lure and
connected with a fish on my first cast in front
of the cabin but lost the fish before it was
landed. A few casts later - I
connected with another fish, which was landed
and carefully released to leave Mick and I 4
fish each.
Fingers crossed that the weather and fishing
warms up over the next week. Big
thanks to Tom Grey for tying up a batch of lures
for Mick and I that tempted most of our fish
(The flies were based on a Dave Downie pattern
and christened a Bigio by Ian McNeil!).
A good selection of
Tom Grey's flies are on sale in the cabin priced
at 80p each.
The opening day
brought good weather but fishing was more
challenging than anticipated. The
highlight of the day was Robin Scott from
Penicuik who caught and carefully returned an
18.5lb rainbow which was tempted by an Okay
dokay (see picture on left). Other anglers
found the fishing hard which was surprising
after the large stock of fresh fish.
Looking forward to things improving over the
course of the week.
The fishery was
stocked on Friday and some prime fish were
introduced to join the residents - A few double
figure fish, including one at just over 18lbs
should create some excitement for early season
anglers. Alex allowed a few of us an
early try at the fish on Saturday in the fine
Spring conditions. As usual for this time
of the year most of the fish had migrated
towards the shallow end away from the Dam and
responded to most flies that were put in front
of them. Lures, buzzers and nymphs all
brought action - Most fish were taken on
intermediate or floating lines with slow
retrieves.
Tight lines to
everyone for the start of the new season......!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010 REPORTS:
Anglers using
buzzers and nymphs have had more success than
lures over the last week. A lime green
okaydokay suspended about 4ft under a large dry
fly managed to tempt 8 fish at the shallow end.
Others using lures struggled to tempt fish but 1
angler reported some success with blobs on a DI3
line. The weather continues to vary from
one day to the next making it difficult to find
tactics which are successful.
Fishing over the
last couple of weeks has been extremely mixed -
much like the weather. Some anglers have
managed to catch fish whilst others have
struggled. There doesn't seem to be
any specific tactic that produces better results
- some fish are being caught on lures of all
colours with intermediate, floating or even DI3
lines depending on the conditions and during the
better spells dry flies are still taking fish.
I suggest that anglers ask Alec what tactics are
producing results and some indication of where
the best locations are.
Things turned very
much colder this week with a lot of rain on
Thursday - As a result - the lower water
temperature has sent the fish down deeper and
made them more difficult to locate. The
fishing on Saturday was mixed with some anglers
doing well and others not catching any fish.
The shallow end produced the best results with
one of the boats catching 11 fish on
intermediate lines and orange blobs on the
dropper / hot head yellow dancer on the point -
using a very slow figure of eight retrieve.
In front of the cabin produced good results for
some of the bank anglers - one even managed a
tiger trout on a viva lure with a very slow
retrieve. I'm afraid to say that I managed
to blank this week after recording 11 fish last
Saturday - All I had to show was two missed
takes on a white rabbit - I fished buzzers and
dry flies in the morning with no success.
Unfortunately - It
was another windy Saturday which made life
difficult for the boats. The fish had
moved down in the water with the colder weather
and the more successful anglers hit fish with
intermediate lines and lures. I visited on
Saturday and decided to try my luck at the Dam
end into the wind using a single Hot Head Damsel
with intermediate line. After trying
different retrieves and depths I managed to
connect with a fish at the far corner of the Dam
and managed 7 fish in the morning between the
Dam corner and the small bay on the opposite
side from the fishing cabin. After
lunch I managed one fish in front of the cabin
and another 3 after returning to the Dam to make
this my most successful visit for a few weeks.
Most of the boats and the other bank anglers
favoured the shallow end and generally found it
more difficult to find fish. The
harbour also produced fish for a few bank
anglers.
The fishing has
gradually improved over the week - About 50% of
the fish falling to lures and the rest caught on
top of the water with a variety of dries and
emergers. The fishery was stocked
yesterday so the new batch of fish should
probably stir things up and cause a bit of
competition for food.
This week has
continued pretty much like last week. The
fishing has been very mixed with some anglers
doing well and other not managing to connect
with fish. Successful anglers used
everything from small nymphs through to orange
lures on floating and intermediate lines.
On Saturday fish were rising everywhere but
everyone struggled to find what the fish were
feeding on.
The wind this
weekend has again spoiled things - Many of the
boats struggled - especially those without an
electric motor. There was no pattern to
the fishing with successful anglers using lures,
nymphs or dries. Hot Head Damsels featured
prominently in the catch reports but many
anglers struggled to find what would tempt fish.
The colder wind seems to have sent the fish
slightly deeper and there has been little sign
of fish feeding on the top. However some
anglers managed to tempt fish with a variety of
emergers and dries.
Fishing over the
last few days has been mixed with some
reasonable spells mixed with difficult periods.
Nothing in particular is attracting the fish
with anglers reporting success on a variety of
tactics - lures, buzzers, dries and nymphs.
The weather hasn't helped with a variety of
temperatures, winds and rain - Let's hope things
settle down a bit so that the terrestrial life
can get back to normal.
We've had regular
reports of 6lb+ fish being caught by anglers on
dry flies and hoppers just below the surface.
We're trying to feature these through the
photographs on this page so please take a
picture if you're lucky enough to catch one and
send it to
webmaster@loganleafishery.co.uk.
Most anglers are having success with floating
lines and dries or nymphs near the surface.
Fishing has been
good on most days and most of the fish were
taken by dry flies - small and black! On
Saturday their was a light North Easterly wind
which favoured the Dam end. Members of the
Bon Accord club from Shotts had a good morning
catching fish from the dam - Hot Head Damsels,
Dries and nymphs all produced fish. I
started in the far corner of the Dam and caught
my first fish on a size 14 Bibio, then had some
luck on a Bibio emerger before being broken.
The afternoon was more challenging and although
lots of fish were rising it was difficult to
find out what they were taking and most flies
were ignored.
The average weight
of fish since the start of the season is 2.5lbs.
Many of the boats
struggled to cope with the wind on Saturday (Why
does it always seem to be windy at the
weekend!). Some anglers did better than
others and the fish responded to different
things throughout the day. My own
experience reflects this - I fished the bank on
Saturday and ended up with 5 fish - 1 on a
Sedge, 1 on a green and white lure, 1 on a
yellow buzzer, 1 on a yellow dancer & 1 on a
Cats Whisker. The last 2 fish were taken
on an intermediate line and the others on a
floating line. Most of my fish were taken
at the Dam end fishing into the wind or the
small bay opposite the cabin. Fingers
crossed for more settled weather.
Please note that we do not supply anchors for
the boats so please bring your own anchor if you
wish to use one. We have a small
number of spare anchors but they are of varying
quality. Drogues are also allowed.
The average weight
of fish since the start of the season is 2.5lbs.
On the windy days
the fish tend to go deeper and intermediate or
midge tip lines produce the best results with
lures or nymphs. On the better days the
fish move up into the top few feet of water and
floating lines with dries or small nymphs do
well. The boat anglers tend to do better
than the bank anglers when the fish are on dries
with plenty of action in the middle of the
reservoir.
The weather forecast for the next week appears
to be more settled with temperatures about 19
and light winds from the west.
CDC emergers and
F-flies have been bringing the fish up to the
surface over the weekend. Hooking and
landing the fish continues to be a challenge and
a keeping a steady eye on the fly is required.
Others have had success with lures and cats
whiskers, yellow dancers and hot head damsels
have all featured in the returns.
The wind has made fishing challenging for the
banks fishers and makes casting from the Dam
difficult. We've now got a more extensive
range of flies for sale!
The conditions on
Saturday were ideal for dry flies with a light
easterly wind and overcast sky. I tried
the bank first at the Dam end and had 2 fish
within 30 minutes on a size 14 sugar cube fly
and a Daddy. It wasn't always easy
to hook the fish but the dry flies got plenty of
attention. Others managed to get
fish on lures and nymphs - Black and yellow
lures worked well along with snatchers or Diawl
Bachs. I tried a boat in the
afternoon and had a good session from the Dam to
the Cabin - The fish were very active and any
Sedge imitation attracted attention. Small
CDC F-Flies also worked well. - these are
available from the Cabin.
Fishing on Saturday
was more challenging than the last dew weeks
with a strong westerly wind mixed in with some
bright sunshine. The most successful
tactic was lures on floating or intermediate
lines. Bank anglers who were willing to
cast into the strong wind managed to tempt trout
off the dam wall with yellow dancers, cats
whiskers or hot head damsels. Some of the
boats did better than others but most managed to
tempt some fish - Orange blobs brought success
to a number of the Bank of Scotland club who
managed to catch their limit.
Snatchers and dries were less productive than
previous weeks but still managed to tempt the
occasional fish. The conditions on Sunday
were terrible with winds gusting to 60 miles per
hour at times but the outlook for the next week
is mixed with some good spells and rain.
Tactics will change from day to day so speak to
Alec at the fishery for the latest advice.
Weather wise and
fishing - Saturday turned out to be a better day
than Sunday. Most people on Saturday
caught their bag limits on a variety of tactics
and the fishing was good all over the reservoir.
Floating lines or slow intermediates were all
that was required and fish took everything from
dries through to lures. Sunday started off with
a colder wind and this seemed to move the fish
down, consequently they were much more difficult
to tempt. The weather for this week should
see the fish returning to the top few feet of
water - Snatchers and nymphs have been doing
particularly well in these conditions. A
good selection of flies is available for sale in
the cabin......
The fishing over
the weekend was good - The wind on Saturday
resulted in the Dam being the best spot and
anglers had good results with lures, nymphs and
dries. More fish were rising when the wind
dropped slightly and CDC emergers or black foam
beatles were able to tempt the trout.
Emergers and nymphs (snatchers, diawl bachs,
bibios) proved to be the most successful tactic
on Sunday - this should continue if the weather
proves consistent.
Snatchers on sink
tip, floating or intermediate lines (depending
on weather) seem to be the best tactic. I
visited on Saturday and opted for a floating
line with a gold snatcher on the dropper and
diawl bach on the point. This produced 3
fish in about 6 casts at the far corner of the
dam all on the gold snatcher. Others
managed to tempt fish with buzzers and lures but
things proved to be more challenging after the
hectic start. I managed 6 fish in total -
the others falling to a hot head damsel, kate
mclaren and white cat. Fish were rising
regularly in all areas but matching the hatch
can be a challenge. The worst pot holes on
the road are now filled and the drive up to the
fishery is much easier..........
Saturday was
frustrating with fish rising everywhere but
anglers struggled to match the hatch. The
best tactic was casting into a group of rising
trout with a cast of snatchers. The top
boat had over 30 fish using this tactic and most
anglers managed to catch their limits.
The Dam end was more productive for bank anglers
and the fish were tempted by lures and small
nymphs. Sunday brought heavy rain which
caught most anglers by surprise but the fish
were still in a cooperative mood and easy to
catch. Repair work has started on the road up to
the fishery but anglers are still advised to
take it slowly to avoid damaging their cars.
The bright sun on
Saturday made fishing difficult throughout the
day. Lures delivered results for
some anglers on intermediate lines - Green was
mentioned a number of times. Fishing
was much improved on the Sunday with fish taking
a selection of buzzers, nymphs and dries.
Free casting instruction this Thursday from
10.00-14.00 - come along and sharpen up your
technique.
The warm weather
has certainly brought the trout to the surface
and anglers are having great sort with dries and
muddlers. Weather forecast remains good for the
weekend.
We've also heard the Water Board intends to do
some repair work on the road and we're
trying to ensure they do this right up to the
fishery this time. There appears to be
some dispute about who's actually responsible
for the stretch of road from Glencourse to the
house at the top of the Glen! We'll keep
you updated but in the mean time please drive
very slowly up to the fishery and this should
not cause any harm to your car.
The wind on
Saturday resulted in lures being the most
productive and again - most angler caught their
limits. Many of the boats reported 15 +
fish but the wind made casting more difficult
for the bank anglers. Intermediate, sink
tip and floating lines were most successful and
the fish remained in the top 6 feet of water.
Hopefully the weather will settle down over the
next week ....
The 3 clubs this
Saturday - Cleland, Rolls Royce & Monkton -
caught a total of 158 fish weighing 390lbs.
The unseasonably cold wind restricted the top of
the water tactics but anglers caught fish with
lures, buzzers and nymphs. The shallow end
fished well in the morning and most anglers had
caught their limits with lures in the first
hour. The dam area also fished well first
thing. The fish were more interested
in buzzers and nymphs as the day progressed -
red and black buzzers produced results and the
fish were active in the top 8 feet of water.
Quite a few large fish were stocked on Friday
and only one of these was caught and
successfully returned on Saturday - Hopefully
these fish should start to feature more
regularly in the catch reports over the next few
weeks....
The fishing is
excellent with the majority of anglers catching
their limits - Carluke angling club had 73 fish
on Saturday for 161lbs. The
reservoir is fishing well in all areas and fish
have been caught using a variety of tactics -
lures, nymphs and buzzers all producing results
- The colder temperature has made it more
challenging to find fish on the dries but
hopefully things will warm up again over the
next few days.
Settled weather
conditions have brought the fish to the surface
in search of food and a few anglers managed
their first fish of the season on dries.
Lures, nymphs, buzzers and dries all produced
good results for bank and boat anglers.
The fish can be found all round the reservoir
and floating lines were most productive.
Anglers fishing the bung had good results at the
Dam with orange and black holographic buzzers
about six feet under an indicator. Yellow
Dancers, Hot Head Damsels were the most popular
lures and red holographic diawl bachs and
crunchers were the most productive nymphs.
Small sugar cube dries brought the fish to the
surface when conditions were right.
The fishing has
been consistently good over the last week with
many anglers catching their limits and some
reporting double figure returns. The
fish seem well dispersed over the reservoir and
black and green or black lures on intermediate
lines have worked well + buzzers in black and
red stripes on floating lines. Quite
a few 6lb+ fish have been reported by catch and
release anglers. Favourite areas -
in front of the fishery office and both ends.
Hope to see more activity on top of the water in
the next week or so....
Spring at last -
Bright sunshine and light winds all weekend.
The fishing on Thursday and Friday had been
exceptional with most anglers catching their
limits and some recording 20+ fish.
Saturday was more difficult and the fish were
harder to tempt - Yellow lures, buzzers and
orange blobs all featured in the catch reports.
Buzzers suspended about 4 feet under an
indicator and drifted on the light breeze seemed
to work consistently at the shallow end.
DI3 or intermediate lines worked better for the
bank anglers. Two tiger trout were caught
this weekend and one doubler + a couple of 6lb+
fish also featured. The overwintered fish
are now starting to become more active and
searching for food........ Thanks to Jimmy Dunn
for supplying the scenic photograph of Loganlea.
Just when everyone
thought winter had ended - Heavy snow arrived on
Tuesday and the fishery had to be closed until
Friday because the road was blocked with the
heavy snow. This had started to clear by
Saturday and the snow began to melt rapidly -
This meant that a great deal of icy water was
flowing through the reservoir which made fishing
challenging. Some anglers on Saturday did
well and bagged up whilst others didn't touch
fish. The hottest area was in front of the
cabin and the shallow end next to the road -
Buzzers, lures and small vivas all featured in
thae catch report. Darren Watters from
Gilmerton Miners Fly Fishing Club had a 6lb
13ozs rainbow. Hopefully spring will
arrive next week.
The weather has
remained windy all week and has made things
difficult for boat anglers. Bank anglers
have done well and the fish are now well
distributed over the reservoir. A fresh
stocking went in this Friday with quite a few
large fish and they seem to have motivated some
of the overwintered fish to move around and
become active. Hot spots were in front of
the cabin and both ends - Lures and buzzers
producing results on floating and intermediate
lines. Some anglers on Saturday managed
20+ fish, whilst others struggled - Being in the
right spot was important. Ask Alec for
advice when visiting because the hot spots do
vary from day to day.
The ice has
completely cleared after the warm weather last
weekend and the fishing has improved
considerably. Last weekend the bank
anglers had good bags with intermediate lines
and small lures or bloodworms. Most of the
fish are congregated at the shallow end and are
easy to tempt - The boats had mixed results with
some blanking and one boat catching 28 fish!
The fishing over the rest of the week has stayed
consistently good with most anglers catching
their limit and going onto double figures on
catch and release. Small lures in black
and green, bloodworms and okay dokay buzzers all
featured in the catch reports.
We've also featured
in the Trout Fisherman magazine this month -
They visited last July (see the report in the
listing below) and had a great time fishing with
Ian McNicoll (Mick) and Colin Broadhead (Nobby)
- They've given away lots of good tips for
improving your catch rate.
Free casting
lessons are now scheduled so book yourself a
place to improve your technique and catch rate.
First the good news
we've managed to get all the boats in and the
ice has cleared up until the last 200yards at
the shallow end. The bad news is that the
fish seem to be lying under the ice near the
burn mouth. The few fish caught on
Saturday were caught in the few yards of clear
area at the burn mouth. Mr McIndoe had 2
fish for 16lb 2 ozs - the heaviest at 13lbs 4ozs
was our first doubler of the year, caught on a
small black lure on an intermediate line.
The ice is forecast
to clear over the next few days and we hope to
see fishing improve.
The road up to
the dam has been damaged even more by the cold
weather and visitors should drive slowly through
the pot holes to avoid damaging cars. If
you drive slowly it's quite safe and
straightforward - even for cars with low profile
tyres.
The weather remains
uncertain and the Reservoir has some ice cover -
We hope to take a stocking of fish this weekend
and be open for business on 1st March.
Give us a call before visiting to make sure
conditions are OK
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010 Archive
The fishing on
Saturday was particularly difficult with only a
few anglers managing to connect with fish.
Black lures on intermediate lines worked for
some anglers but the fish seemed less than
interested in buzzers, nymphs and dries.
The weather forecast for the next few days
predicts more rain and wind. The fishery
is open until the end of the month so fingers
crossed that the weather settles and sport
improves.
Anglers have been
having more luck with lures and intermediate
lines at the burn end. Although, Alec
managed to catch 3 fish on buzzers (including a
Tiger Trout) on Saturday morning in about 45
minutes. I'd tried various tactics during
the same period - other anglers had success with
black and green dancers, yellow dancers and cats
whiskers. Finding consistency is
difficult with the wide variation in weather
conditions - On Saturday the wind changed from
West to East and back again about 3 times!
Fishing continues
to be quite mixed with some good and bad spells
- A drop in temperature and bright conditions
meant that Saturday was difficult with a number
of anglers blanking and one or two having
success with small grey dry flies, small diawl
bachs or hares ear's. Lures were less
successful, despite lots of anglers trying a
range of patterns on floating , sinking and
intermediate lines.
The first couple of
hours on Saturday brought a light wind and good
conditions which brought lots of fish to the
surface. However, the winds picked up over
the day and the temperature fell, forcing the
fish down. Most anglers found success on
lures - Yellow Dancers on intermediate lines
produced consistent results for a number of
anglers. Others reported good results at the
burn end with Diawl Bachs and one or two anglers
took fish on Cormorants. The wind on
Sunday was much stronger and most anglers found
it more difficult to get fish interested.
Lures were again the most successful tactic but
some anglers managed fish on Diawl Bachs and
size 12 olive buzzers.
The pictures on the
right show some of the fish recently caught by
Alan Gray - 3 fish for 9lb 12ozs including a
fine tiger trout. The fishing has varied
again along with the weather but most anglers
have managed to find fish with dries, nymphs or
lures depending on conditions. Best option
is to check with Alec what's working best on a
specific day. Most of the fish have been
caught in the upper layers on floating lines.
The fishing this
weekend was challenging with the bright
conditions and a fall in water temperatures
combining to make the fish less than willing.
The Loanhead Miners club visited for their last
outing of the season and only managed 10 fish
from 9 anglers. I McNicoll Snr and Junior
had success with a white egg about 14ft under a
bung fished between the cabin and dam.
Others had some success with Daddies fished on
the far bank. Otherwise lures seemed to
produce the best results for a variety of
anglers. Fishing from the dam was
difficult in the strong winds but fish seem to
be favouring the deeper water.
The weekend anglers
had success with lures on floating lines - coral
dancers, yellow dancers, cats whiskers and hot
head damsels all featured in the catch reports.
Anglers fishing nymphs and buzzers had less
success but still managed to catch some fish.
The strong winds and rain continued over the
weekend and the weather forecast for the next
week looks better.
The fishing on
Saturday proved difficult with high winds
keeping the boats off the water. George
Dale and his friend managed 1 fish at the burn
end before trying the Dam end at the mercy of
the wind. Mick Mulgrew and myself went one
worse with no fish for 3 hours of effort at the
burn end and after an early lunch we tried the
Dam end and managed to locate fish on the
opposite bank. I managed 3 fish
on an orange lure, a yellow okay dokay then a
black lure. Mick Mulgrew hooked up with a
rainbow and then a Brown on a bibio and Neil
Barret who had spent the morning at the bay
opposite the cabin had 7 fish on a hot head
Damsel. Earlier in the week the fishing
had been better and Gordon Reekie from
Cowdenbeath (pictured left) managed to
hook the fine wild brown just outside
the cabin. Ian Remler and Michael Benigno
from the United States visited on Tuesday
afternoon and were both delighted at managing a
fish each after some coaching from Ian McNicol.
Heather flies and Daddies promise some good
sport if the weather improves.
The fishing
continues to be exceptional with many anglers
catching 10 or more trout per visit. Mick
Mulgrew had great success last Thursday evening
on the Dam with Black CDC emergers with a red
butt (these can be bought in the Fishery Cabin).
Fish were taking confidently on just about every
cast and Mick safely caught and returned one of
the rare Tiger Trout. The weather
continues to change from one day to the next
which makes it difficult to predict which
tactics will work on a particular visit.
Dries have brought consistently good results -
with Daddies and Hoppers standing out in the
catch reports. Floating lines and nymphs
or lures have also produced good results on
particular days. The fish seem to be
well distributed across the reservoir with
no particular area standing out. As always
it's best to ask Alec for an up to date report
when you visit.
The weather this
weekend has brought strong winds and plenty of
rain which made fishing difficult. Lures
tended to be the most successful tactics in the
adverse conditions with fish falling to hot head
damsels, yellow dancers and gold head daddies.
Earlier in the week the dry fly fishing had been
exceptional with shipmans buzzers proving to be
irresistible. Some fish have started
fry bashing at both corners of the dam and
reports and one very large fish has been noted
by a number of anglers. The weather for
the next week should see the winds dropping and
the rain easing after wednesday.
The warmer weather
has brought some good evening rises and anglers
have been getting good results on dries - size
16 cdc emergers have been very successful.
The fish are well dispersed across all areas and
bank and boat anglers have had no difficulty
finding fish. Floating lines are all
that's required because the fish are in the top
few feet of water - Lures, nymphs and snatchers
have also produced results with diawl bachs
(size12) working particularly well on a slow
retrieve. Lures need to be pulled faster
with some anglers resorting to a rolly polly
retrieve to get the fish chasing.
The Fishery was
quiet on Saturday as no clubs were visiting and
anglers in the boats did very well, fishing cats
whiskers on floating or intermediate lines.
Fishing from the bank was better at the burn end
and two anglers had an excellent day's sport,
caching 18 fish each on an olive woolly bugger
and hot head damsel on a midge tip line. Mick Mulgrew managed 4 fish on snatchers on his
Cortland Blue line and I had some limited
success with a Kate McLaren. Another
doubler fish was caught, photographed and safely
returned by a catch and release angler on Friday
+ several other have reported their lines
snapped after hooking into good fish. The
right weather conditions brings good surface
action with Daddy Long Legs and CDC emergers.
Bloodworms and red
lures have been noted consistently in the catch
returns this weekend. Small nymphs and
dries have also been noted with most anglers
using floating lines with a slow figure of 8
retrieve. One catch and release angler was
lucky enough to hook and land one of the 17lb
fish that was introduced a couple of weeks ago.
The fish was returned safely after removing 4
flies from its mouth - so it looks as if a
number of other anglers have made contact
briefly before being broken.
The fishing has
been consistently good despite the changeable
weather. Floating lines have been
most popular with a mix of dries, nymphs and
lures all having periods of success.
The heavy rain at the weekend stirred up the
burn end and bloodworms worked well in addition
to nymphs. The majority of anglers managed
to catch their limit - However, one or two
visitors were washed out by some of the heavy
showers at the weekend and finished early.
I visited yesterday and the weather provided
strong winds and periods of bright weather which
presented challenging conditions. I managed to
catch a fish on my second cast in front of the
cabin and had some success at the burn end with
gold diawl bachs size 12 & 14 on very slow
retrieves and managed to also tempt some fish
with a red holo cruncher pattern. I'd
suggest visitors ask Alec what's working best on
any particular day. A number of 15lb +
fish have been introduced over the last few
weeks and are yet to figure on catch reports
although some double figure trout have been
reported by catch and release anglers.
Trout Fisherman
magazine visited on Wednesday afternoon and Alec
tells me they enjoyed a good afternoon and
evening fishing with some of the regulars' - Ian
McNicoll, Tom Gray & Colin Broadhead spent time
with them on the dam and everyone managed to get
into fish on dries - Small Shipman's buzzers
tied by Ian were popular with the fish but a
selection of nymphs were also successful.
Tom Gray is the designer behind the famous
yellow dancer and he provided a range of flies
to keep things active - The full range of Tom's
flies are available in the cabin.
This Saturday brought a light easterly wind and
bright sunshine which sent the fish deeper than
usual. The burn end fished better in
the morning with anglers catching fish on small
goldhead yellow dancers. After trying the burn
end with dries, nymphs and buzzers without
success .- I decided to try the dam end and
managed to land one rainbow and a brown trout on
a cormorant before taking a break for lunch.
After lunch I persevered with dry flies for a
while but couldn't seem to match whatever the
fish were taking so changed tactics to an 18
foot leader with a hot head damsel and
immediately had success on a very slow retrieve.
Two fish later and the next fish then managed to
escape with my full cast of 7lb fluorocarbon
attached.
The warm weather
made fishing a pleasant experience but anglers
had to work a little harder during hot spells in
order to find the fish. There were still plenty
of excellent trout being landed by those who
chose the correct tactics. The fish seem
to favour the dam end during the hot spells but
have been caught all over the reservoir.
Sometimes lures on intermediate lines are
successful but small nymphs and dry flies are
bringing the greatest success - Speak to Alec to
find out what's working best when you visit.
Most of the
activity has now returned to the surface with
dry flies and muddlers doing well for visitors.
This weekend some of the regulars caught 20+
fish and most visitors caught their bag limits.
Some anglers also did well with small nymphs -
bibios and diawl bachs size 14 on floating
lines. Buzzers also produced results but
these were limited to short time frames when the
fish were less interested in the dry flies.
The forecast for this week is warmer weather so
this should see the surface action continue...
The fishing has
continued to be good despite the variations in
temperature. The colder weather last
weekend turned the fish off dry flies and lures
were most successful. One boat angler
caught 30+ fish on a large gold head damsel and
most anglers caught their limit. The
differing weather through the week saw the fish
more focussed on dries and small nymphs.
Small sedges and sugar cube flies worked well
but sometimes needed a bit of movement to catch
the attention of the fish. The
weekly stocking over the last few weeks has
included some monster trout that were too big to
go down the pipe.
The weather this
weekend was glorious with blue skies and
unbroken sunshine. Fishing the previous
week had been very good with most anglers
catching their limit on dries. Small
sedges, Klink hammers,sugar cubes were all
popular until Friday evening when fish were
rising everywhere but anglers all struggled to
match what the fish were after. I visited
on Saturday and started off on small dries and
despite the number of fish rising in the sunny
weather, had only 1 fish in front of the cabin
on a size 14 black kinkhammer. I then
moved up to the Dam and caught 3 fish after
changing to a sedge. Regular - Ian
McNicoll was also catching fish on a size 14
sugar cube. I then changed to a small
white cats whisker and caught 5 fish in quick
succession on a floating line with a slow figure
of eight retrieve. The fishing on
Saturday evening was reported to be excellent -
Tom Grey and Alec catching almost a fish a cast
from the Dam wall on dry flies.
Boats also reported good catches from all parts
of the reservoir.
Fishing has
continued to be excellent with most fish caught
in the top few feet of water.
Fish have been caught at both ends and the boats
are starting to match the bank anglers for bags.
It continues to be that no single tactic seems to be
bringing greater success - floating,
intermediate and even sinking lines have
been used by anglers with lures, nymphs and
buzzers all productive. CDC flies have
been very successful at the burn end during
better spells of weather and dries including
small Daddies, Alec's Big n Ugly, Sugar Cube
Shipmans and Klinkhammers have all worked well. Top flies -
Hot Head Damsel, Orange buzzer, Kate
McLaren, Diawl Bach (Red Holo).
The weather has
been dominated by fresh cold winds over the
last couple of weeks which has resulted in
the fishery being quiet through the weeks.
Most anglers have managed to catch their
full quota of fish despite the adverse
weather and bank anglers have generally
faired better than boat anglers.
The fish are now well dispersed across the
reservoir - both ends and the area in front
of the lodge have been fishing particularly
well. No single tactic seems to be
bringing greater success - floating,
intermediate and even sinking lines have
been used by anglers with lures, nymphs and
buzzers all productive. CDC flies have
been very successful at the burn end during
better spells of weather. Top flies -
Hot Head Damsel, Orange buzzer, Kate
McLaren, Diawl Bach (Red Holo).
Fishing has been
good and buzzers have produced good results
on most days. During the warmer spells
fish have been taken on dries - Alec's Big
and Ugly fly has done particularly well.
The fish are near the surface and floating
lines have been most successful.
Saturday proved
to be difficult for the boat anglers but
most of the bank anglers caught fish. The
most popular flies were nymphs or small
lures - Damsels, Dwial Bachs and black
and green lures all featured in the returns.
The weather was bright but still cold in the
sunshine which kept the fish near the bottom
and slow retrieves were the order of the
day.
The weather
continued to be unkind at the weekend and a
strong cold wind brought rain. Many of
the anglers who visited threw in the towel
at about 2pm but most had managed to get
some good sport throughout the morning.
The fish continue to take all sorts of flies
and the main criteria for success is
locating the fish - The area close to the
burn continues to be most productive and
Yellow Dancers through to small buzzers and
nymphs all featured in the returns.
Fingers crossed that the weather improves -
the long range forecast is for a lighter
wind on Saturday coming...
The reservoir
offered some shelter from the strong North
wind on Saturday which also brought low
temperatures. The forecast had
obviously kept most anglers away and the
small handful of customers who visited had
good sport. Unlike the previous Saturday
when fish had been very difficult to find -
Most anglers had good results on floating
lines with lures or nymphs. The area
in front of the lodge and the burn end were
most productive.
The weather on Saturday brought extremely
strong winds which stopped any boats going
out on the reservoir. A few hardy bank
anglers fished the burn end and were
rewarded with good bags of fish. As
with the opening weekend - lures,
bloodworms, bibio's all seemed to work and
the fish were tightly congregated at the
burn mouth.
The season kicked off on Saturday with a
handful of bank fishers and just one boat to
try their luck... Most of the fish
were congregated round the burn mouth and
the anglers that got there first had a
bumper time. The two anglers there first
ended up with more than 60 fish each before
moving off to allow others an opportunity to
access the prime spot. Mick
Mulgrew had 20+ fish to a variety of flies
ranging from lures to buzzers on a floating
and intermediate line. The fish seemed
happy to take any fly presented in the right
place at the right depth and fish were taken
all round the reservoir - A bumper day for
all that were lucky enough to visit.
All anglers commented on the quality and
fighting ability of the fish - A large stock
of overwintered fish have been freshened up
with a fresh stocking of A1 quality
rainbows , blues and tiger trout.
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