30th June 2009

June

Has been an excellent month for the anglers on Beecraigs, with a lot of quality baskets caught. The start of the month was quite cool with easterly winds and this made the fish feed a wee bit deeper. Around this time Black and Green fritzy patterns, Dancers and Boobies took the lion’s share of the fish. As the month progressed, the wind changed for a short period to a warmer Westerly and this brought the fish up to feed in the surface layers of the loch. The fish now turned their attention to the stickleback shoals and other aquatic insects. Anglers found that a floating or intermediate line was the order of the day, with Buzzers, Diawl Bach, Damsel Nymphs and Mini Cats all scoring well. At the time of writing and because conditions are just right the trout are feeding voraciously on hatching buzzers and anglers can look forward to some excellent top of the water sport.
Andrew Paterson and G. Bell from Linlithgow took a fine 10 fish limit for 27lbs, best fish being a nice fish of 4lb. Mr. George Henderson had a triploid Rainbow at 8lb. 14ozs. and on the same evening Mr. K. Dunbar fishing with Cambusbarron F.F.C. took a fish at 7lbs. 7ozs. Pairing of Beecraigs Loch regulars Bob Rintoul and Alex MacDonald weighed in 10 for 33lbs on a new undisclosed secret “deadly” lure pattern. I’m assured that the secret will be revealed soon!
Best catch of the month must go to the father and sons partnership of Mr. Ronnie Mackie and sons Thomas and Glen from Dunfermline took out a 15 fish ticket and returned with 14 fish for 43lbs. 3ozs. Young Thomas weighed in a Rainbow at 9lbs.1oz.taken on a Hothead Damsel. The fish were taken around the island and close to the weed beds where the trout were lying in wait.
Clubs also had great sport during June with the Linden A.C. weighing in 49 fish 120lbs. for 5 boats, best fish being 5lbs 14ozs. Centre 1 A.C. had 36 fish for 83lb 15ozs. for 5 boats with club member A. Donald fairing well with the Yellow Owl fished dry. Honeywell A.C’s outing recorded 54 fish for 129lbs 15ozs with Fritzy patterns and Cats scoring on the day.
Fish of the month goes to B. Muirhead fishing with Bathgate British Legion A.C. for a fine triploid rainbow of 9lbs. 13ozs. Mr. Muirhead wins for himself a tackle voucher to the value of £50, courtesy of our sponsors for the month of June, Almond Cleaning Services, Livingston.
Bookings and enquires can be made at the Park Centre on 01506 844516.

The Fishery will be holding a Junior (under 16’s ) Open Competition (Fly or Bait) on Saturday 4th of July, It will be a four fish limit, heaviest bag wins and will cost £15.00 with trophies for first three, to book your place contact the pond on 07904469707.Some of the catches over the last fortnight are as follows;
On the Fly pond, K McMurdo, 2 for 5lb 7oz, T Atkin 4 for 9lb 8oz, Ian Skilling, 14 for 41 lb 15oz, Tam McFarlane, 2 for 4lb 12oz, Hugh McDonald, 2 for 5lb 7oz, D Muir, 4 for 12lb 10oz, Fiona Curtis, 4 for 8lb 4oz, I Gray, 3 for 6lb 12oz, G Thomson, 2 for 4lb 6oz.
On The Bait pond
Sean Douglas, (age 6), 2 for 5lb 12oz, D Kirkland, 4 for 9lb 13oz, M Kirkland, 4 for 8lb 11oz, J Hunter, 4 for 10lb 15oz, J Smith, 4 for 10lb 9oz, A Todman, 2 for 4lb 4oz, Ian Crosbie, 4 for 10lb 3oz, C Maxwell, 2 for 4lb 10oz, T Maxwell, 2 for 5lb 2oz, K Smith, 2 for 5lb, James Smith, 2 for 5lb 2oz, Jason Smith, 4 for 9lb 2oz, J Harley, 4lb 9lb 12oz, T Ronald, 3 for 7lb 5oz, A Nichol, 2 for 5lb 2oz, B Butcher, 2 for 5lb 5oz.
At the start of the week in the boiling hot sunshine the loch was fishing great, but slowly as the week progressed and it became more overcast and oppressive finding the right tactics became harder. With the depth of fish being unpredictable some days they would be just sub surface feeding in the surface film and other days for no apparent reason they would be down around 6- 8 feet. The Sunday day session was very frustrating as fish rose all day but would hardly take anything thrown at them, then around 6 o’clock there was a really good rain shower and up they came rising steady into the late evening. Water temperature is still at a reasonable 19’C with clarity now at a phenomenal 2.75M.
The Butterstone Summer league has now come to a close with an exciting final round. Four anglers had an outside chance of taking the crown with Keith Doig winning the event from Iain Law by 1 ounce. A Total of £222:00 was raised for a charity to be nominated by Keith at the Prize giving. The final results board can be found on the Summer League page of the Butterstone website. Finally a really big thank you goes out to all that fished the event and made the league the fun and friendly event that it has become and I hope that for next year we can raise the numbers back to what it used to be. Thanks guys!!
The past week’s best areas remain to be from reed end to the picnic area but the fish are getting wary and choosier as to what they will take and across the shelf and just beyond in the deeper water to three trees and the gap. There were also pods of fish to be found down the reeds from lily bay to pike point and into cottage bay
Regular angler Ian Yuill minus his boat partner Alec this week managed 6 for 15lb 12oz and returned a further 5, Messrs. Smeaton and Perrie weighed in 12 for 28lbs, Messrs. Scougal and Wilson returning from a poor fishing holiday up in Sutherland weighed in 9 fish for 23lbs, Messrs. Smeaton and Gibson 10 fish for 26lb 14oz and finally Mr Macgregor senior and Junior weighed in 8 fish for 18lb 14oz.
On the club front Stormontfield AC 19 fish for 43lb 8oz for 5 boats, Perthshire FC 16 fish for 37lb 15 for 5boats, Perth Anglers 18 fish for 42lb 5oz for 7½ boats, Stanley AC 26 fish for 62 lb 12oz for 6boats and finally Dunfermline Artisans 35 fish for 80lb 11 oz for 6 boats.
The next 5 day BBC Weather predictions are again mixed with rain due from Wednesday onwards, just in time for the Scone Game fair. Average temperatures are again due to be a muggy high teens to mid twenties. With winds mainly from the E – ESE ranging from 2 – 7 mph.

The best fly patterns last week included the Daddy Longlegs, CDC Hoppers, Kate Maclaren and Sedge Muddler and the best fishing areas proved to be the north shore from valve tower to the Dow Burn.
Featuring amongst the top catches were Mr. Campbell from Denny who had 6 fish weighing a total of 15lb 6oz, Mr. Hemmings (Kinross) 5 for 10lb, Mr. Cushing 10 for 24lb 4oz, Jim Flockhart and company (Ayr) 15 for 37lb 10oz – heaviest 4lb and A MacMillan (Comrie) 6 for 15lb 4oz. A Galloway from Kinross kept 6 fish weighing a total of 14lb 2oz, F Richardson & D McGregor (Kinross) 7 for 16lb, B Dick & G Hemmings (Kinross) 8 for 17lb 4oz, Mr. Southworth (Carlisle) 6 for 13lb 8oz, G Keith (Dunfermline) kept 3 fish for 6lb 12oz and Mr. Laird (Falkirk) kept 4 fish weighing a total of 9lb 8oz.
On the club front Aberdour A/A kept 34 fish weighing a total of 79lb 4oz, Cambusbarron F/C 19 for 44lb 15oz, Mayfield Inn A/C 19 for 49lb 14oz. Tullibole A/C 19 for 48lb 10z – heaviest 8lb 6oz and Clatto & Stratheden A/C kept 13 fish weighing a total of 45lb 11oz. Tillicoultry A/C took 20 fish for a total of 45lb 11oz and Kelty Artisans had 6 fish weighing 15lb 2oz.

 

 
 

Fish of the month was Mick Odonnell with a 9Ib 11oz rainbow caught on a sedgehog
biggest brown was Chris Lochries 4Ib on a hopper.
Doon Valley AC 16 for 32Ibs
Govan YMCA 23 for 49Ibs
S Mconnell from fife had 5 for 16lb 4oz
John Sweeney 23 on buzzers
Derel Lockwood 17 crunchers and buzzers
James Litster 20 on cdc,s and diawl bachs
Willie Munn 5 for 14Ibs
Jim Scott 3 for 8Ibs 14 returned sedge hoppers and muddlers
Early mornings have seen some awesome catches in the first hour before the sun is up with many anglers having their limits in the first hour.
Evening rise's has been spectacular with fish remaining on top even in bright sunshine..top tactics have been dries mostly with buzzers on floating lines scoring well also. Fish have also been feeding hard on fry so lures are well worth a shot.
Contact Alex 07890 082494.
 

The fishing has been at times excellent this week. Fish have been moving steadily in front of the hut, dam wall and top end. Top flies have been suspender buzzers, CDC`s, sedges and zonkers. Robert Lamb 6, Danny Quigley 6, G. Boyd 8, John Holding, S. Banks and J. Milne all returned fish of 10lbs plus. P. Howitson 3, Scott Millar 4, Ricardo 11, Derek Langsfield 9, P. Clark 4 for 9lbs 10oz, W. Hodgson 2 for 4lbs 4oz, Mr. paris 2 for 4lbs 2oz, Mr. Monaghan 5 for 12lbs 12oz including 1 at 5lbs 4oz, Tony 2 for 4lbs 4oz and Mr. Millar 3 for 6lbs.Contact John on 01505 702688.
 
Flat calm conditions for most of the week have put the fish well down in the water with anglers on the Specimen Pond having to use sunk lines pulled along the bottom to pick up fish .Water quality is still improving on the specimen pond with very little rain it has had a chance to clear up a fair bit. The fly patterns working well have included the Miller Skunk, silver/gold Humungus, Cat’s Whisker and some fish have also been caught on more traditional flies such as Watson’s Fancy, Silver Invicta, and the Peter Ross. Only one double came off the pond this week a nice rainbow of 11lb 9oz went to Shane Busher from Dunkeld who managed to land two fish for 17lb 8oz both of his fish were caught on a Silver Humungus. Other notable catches came from T Thompson 4 for 29lb, Ian Fraser 2 for 16lb 6oz, J Thompson 2 for 16lb 4oz and J Milner 1 for 9lb 10oz. The Bankside Pool has seen some more great rises but with the water being so calm catching fish has been difficult. Small flies and light lines has been the only way to get about the fish but with some big fish about a lot of people are being broken. This week also saw the 2009 Macmillan Cancer big fish event held at Kingennie with 20 rods taking part and raising £3000 so well done and thank you to all participants. The winner of the competition was Paul Cowley with a limit of 6 fish for 15lb 8oz and he also managed one of the special tags that was worth £300.
Fishing has been steady during the day but early and late are becoming the best times. Top flies have been sedge, CDC`s, diawl bach, crunchers, buzzers, cormorants, damsel, minkie and picric blob. St Benedicts High School had 14 on bait, Matthew Condie 13, Mr. Sullivan had 10 up to 9lbs, Dean 12, Mr. Melvin 6, J. Currie 8, Mr. Watters 5, Mr. Tweedie, Hudson, Wedlock all had 4, J. Meighan 2 including fish of 9lbs and 4lbs 8oz, Mr. Tweedie 3 for 5lbs 4oz, Mr. McGovern 4 for 10lbs, Mr. Watson 4 for 7lbs 12oz, Mr. Ralston 3 for 8lbs 4oz, Mr. Moore 2 for 7lbs 2oz, Mr. Hutton 2 for 8lbs 12oz and Mr. Corrie 2 for 6lbs 8oz. Contact Billy on 01505 874182.
 
With the wind calming down and the temperature rising there have been some very nice catches on Lintrathen Loch this week. The floating line has come into its own, although some of the regulars have been taking good fish with the midge tip and using the washing line technique of a booby on the point and a couple of droppers with buzzers or crunchers on them
The best fish out this week was an 8lbs 3ozs rainbow taken by Willie Smith, who was up with Loanhead and District A.C.
SANA also fished a heat with 16 boats on the water, taking 67 fish for 119lbs.
Club results
Ferry Fly Dressers 3 boats, 24 fish for 43lbs
Change Homes AC 2 boats, 13 for 26lbs
Loanhead & District AC13 boats, 51 for 94lbs
Individual boats
R.Maxwell & A.Davie 9 fish for 17lbs
Tom Melville & Jim Galloway 9 for 19lbs
Messrs Smith & Bremner 10 for 19lbs
John Browning & Duncan Campbell 9 for 19lbs
Mr Thom & J.Thompson 10 for 20lbs

Jim Hardie
President.

For more information call (01575-560327)

 Contact the fishery on 01651 872787 or 872000.

 

It was a cracking week for big trout with Mark Anderson from Edinburgh using an Okey Dokey to land a belter that tipped the scales at 17lbs 4oz. Robert Smith from Kinross wasn’t far behind with a beauty of 16lbs 8oz that was included in a basket of 3 for 21lbs all taken on a Damsel and Tom Russell Jnr. from Earlston used a Buzzer to catch one at 15lbs 6oz whilst Dad Tom Snr. also used a Buzzer to bag one at 9lbs 8oz. Keith Kettles had one at 15lbs 4oz on a Black Buzzer, John McKay from Edinburgh took one at 13lbs on a Buzzer and Bradley Muir, Tranent, used a Black Sedge to take one at 9lbs. Darryl Young from Edinburgh had 3 for 17lbs 8oz – best 11lbs 4oz on a Diawl Bach .

Fishing has been challenging at times due to strong easterly winds, when conditions are right fishing is great with fish taking most things best methods have been small dries fished static or lures fished slow.
Catches: S Bruce had 2 fish for 6lb 2oz and released 3, R Howe had 2 fish for 4lb, J Allan had 2 fish for 4lb 12oz, J Wright had 2 fish for 5lb 8oz, M Birkett had 2 fish for 6lb, J Anderson had 2 fish for 6lb, D Findlay had 2 fish for 6lb 7oz, D Beattie had 3 fish for 7lb 8oz, A Cook had 3 fish for 7lb 5oz, JP Forbes had 2 fish for 6lb 2oz.
Catch and release: B Fitzpatrick released 12, A Kennedy released 3, R Sambells released 6, R Williamson released 6, C Sutherland released 6, J Boylan released 6, A Coutts released 6, W Weir released 6, S Cockburn released 6, S McLeod released 6.
Flies: Yellow Owl, Black Fritz, Yellow Head Damsel, Orange Blob, Yellow Dancer, Black Booby. The fishery would like to thank the 3 clubs who attended the fishery on Saturday weather made the fishing hard but a good day was had by all. Contact the fishery on 01475 689692
 
 

With the warmer weather the fish are taking that bit slower and are still taking something different from all the natural abundance of food they have to choose from just now. Most days there has been a good ripple on the water which is helping hide the angler’s lines in the clear water. The Damsel Nymph, Yellow Dancer, various coloured Fritz patterns, Buzzers, Diawl Bach, Hares ear, and Dries have all been doing well on a floating line.
Last Saturday Fisons Club from Bo'ness had a good day taking 20 fish for 55lbs 8oz with Tom Brogan taking the heaviest basket with 4 fish for 12 lbs. Also doing well last week were Gavin Stevenson from Cowie with 4 for 11lbs on a Hot Head Damsel, Shannon Mack, Killin, 1 fish at 3lbs 4oz on a Damsel – this was his first trout, Bill Stewart, Dunfermline, 3 for 11lbs 8oz on a Yellow Dancer and Bob Gray, Dunning, 3 for 8lbs 8oz on a Viva. Robert Hunter from Alva caught 3 fish for 7lbs on a Black & Green Fritz, L. Hunter, Alloa, 3 for 8lbs 8oz on a Black Pennell, Paul Dickson, Alloa, 2 for 6lbs on a Damsel and
Rab Mitchell, Menstrie, 3 for 9lbs 8oz on a Yellow Dancer. William Carrigan from Menstrie used a Damsel to bag 3 for 11lbs 12oz, Peter Paterson, Menstrie, 3 for 8lbs 8oz on a Damsel, William Alexander, 3 for 9lbs 4oz on an Orange Fritz and William Smith had a brace for 4lbs 8oz on a Yellow Fritz. David Bell from Tayport caught 2 weighing 4lbs 8oz on a Black & Green Fritz,
Crawford Millar, Tillicoultry, 3 for 9lbs on a Black & Green Fritz, Ian Wilkie, Auchterarder 2 fish for 6lbs on a Hot Head Damsel and Alec Sidey, Perth, 1 fish at 4lbs on a Green and White Fritz.

John Bradley from Wishaw, visiting with the Kypeside Fishing Club, caught two fish for 17lbs 8oz – the best being a brown trout of 12lbs 12oz that was put in last season. This was a lovely fish and looked in great condition after coming through the winter.

Some great fishing to be had at Pinbraid over the past week.
During the prolific hatches small traditional's and a variety of Dry's  have been working well as have Black Buzzers, white minkies, damsels and cats.
Some of this catches this week have come from Mr Paul Delosse from Castle Kennedy who released 17 fish in total including a cracking Rainbow of 9lbs 8oz and a Brownie of 5lbs. Mr Ward from Ayr released 3 fish including a 12lb Rainbow. Mr D Wilson of Tarbolton kept 3 for 7lbs 4oz and released 3 including a 5lb Rainbow. Andrew Scobie from Dailly returned 9 including a 16lb 2oz and a 14lbs 3oz Rainbow during another visit he released 13 including 2 Rainbows 1 at 9lbs another at 7lbs and a Brownie of 4lbs. Many other exceptional catches were also recorded.

Boat fishing continues to be available, for more information contact Bill Wood on 07881764437

The hot, sunny weather made fishing a pleasant experience but anglers had to work a little harder than sometimes in order to find the fish. There were still plenty of top quality trout being landed by those who chose the correct tactics. Sometimes they were deep and required a lure such as Dancer, Cat's Whisker or Black Fritz to tempt them out, but at other times they were just under the surface and taking Hare's Ear, Diawl Bach and Damsel nymphs or wet or dry flies with Black Spider, Bibio, Sedges, Hoppers and Daddy Long Legs being the favourite patterns. Despite the heat the fish were still active and looking to chase flies so a fairly quick retrieve was usually the best method. A large number of Blues feature in this week's returns, although the Browns seem to have been a little less common probably due to the heat.
Best bags this week included John Moyes, Grangemouth, 2 Blues for 9lb 4oz bigger one at 6lb 8oz, Willie Irvine, Falkirk, 3 for 11lb 12oz including 6lb 5oz Gold and a Brown, Paul Mitchell, Westquarter, 5 for 16lb 4oz including 6lb 4oz Rainbow and a Brown and Petrina Williams, Alloa, 2 for 9lb 8oz including 6lb Brown. Peter Bryce, Alloa, 3 for 11lb 8oz including 2 Blues bigger one at 6lb and a Brown, Martin Stewart, Glasgow, 3 for 11lb 4oz including 6lb Rainbow and a Blue, Eddie McNeill, Greenock, 2 Blues for 9lb 4oz bigger one at 5lb 12oz and Stephen King, Kirkcaldy, 2 Blues for 9lb 4oz bigger one at 5lb 12oz. Chris Harkess, Edinburgh, 2 for 8lb 12oz including 5lb 10oz Blue, James McIntosh, Perth, 3 for 12lb including 5lb Rainbow, Danny Doherty, Denny, 5 for 14lb including 2 Blues and a Brown, George Kochanek, Tullibody, 4 for 12lb 12oz including 2 Blues and Davy Neilson, Carronshore, 4 for 11lb 12oz including 2 Blues.


John Moyes of Grangemouth landed a superb 14lb 14oz specimenBrown Trout

LOCH LEVEN (Kinross) Competitors in the World Fly Fishing Championship found the fishing at Loch Leven challenging.   That said, the fish caught were of a very high average weight and in superb condition.  The biggest recorded over the three days at the loch measured some 27” which would have been a fish in the 7lb plus category.  The other feature of the competition was the number of fish touched, or moved and turned away from the flies.  Our congratulations and thanks go to all the competitors and organisers and especially to the winners and Ian Barr who came out top as the most successful individual angler.  A special mention must be afforded to the recorders, who sat in the boats and remained cheerful to the end.

Evening fishing is starting to show signs of improvement; Kinross A C out on Friday evening had 12 fish for 25lb 8oz.  Lindsay Barrie had a fish at 5lb 3oz but was pipped by a fish at 5lb 11oz caught by “PJ” McIntosh.  Burleigh AC out on Tuesday evening also recorded 2 good fish.  Steven Clark thought he had the biggest fish at 4lb 2½oz but his father Dave had a fish at 5lb 1oz.

Best areas are North Shore (Green Isle to Old Manse area) Hale “O” Inch and just recently the area just south of Reed Bower. Water clarity remains good at 3.5 meters, weed growth is now prolific and the temperature is 16.8°c.

Fry are beginning to show in numbers in a few places but the fish do not appear to be interested at the moment. As high summer approaches the buzzer hatches should appear (yellow owl) at dusk, these big buzzers will get the fish on the move and liven things up a bit!