How To Fish

 

Thought I would tell you which book is resting on my bedside cabinet right now that we have reached the season of dark nights.This book is not as the title implies an instructional book its a book for anyone who appreciates the burns ,  becks and rivers which flow through our beautiful landscape. This book by Chris Yates is a collection of his thoughts and experiences as he sits by the riverside. Each chapter is chronicled by each cast of his rod as reminisces of days and memories of caught and lost fish and of deep pools filled with expectation. His ability to convey his thoughts in such a poetic and lyrical way is a joy to read and really makes you want to get down by the waterside all be it by a loch or burn,  river or lake. As you may have guessed I highly reccommend you get yourself a copy of this wonderful book. Even the dust cover is a delight.

Another Variant

 

Not been fishing this weekend.But managed to tie a couple of flies. I have to admit whilst tying this variant I forgot to tie in the blue beard/ jay hackles. I suppose its called a gold invicta variant. I now have to think about what name I give to my flies as I received a few complaints about the names I give to my fly dressings.  I tie for fun and dont take it too seriously so therefore for someone to take umbridge at my fly dressing baffles me as Im not a serious fly dresser. Anyway enough! Here is my latest fly.

Silver Invicta

 

Been tying a a couple of silver Invictas tonight which I have a reasonable amount of success with on highland lochs. Its a great pattern to use at Hillend when the sedge is on the water and it makes for a good fry pattern at the loch too. Once again these examples I tied are not tied to the exact original dressing. You can only use what you have at your disposal and anyway I dont believe Its that important if they are only fishing patterns as opposed to a fly tied for display.

The Hillend Dabbler Pattern

 

I cant believe I haven't tied a fly pattern yet and called it the Hillend Dabbler up until now that it is.I tied a few of these today. Lightly dressed dabblers which I know are reliable fish catchers. Before anyone gets their knickers in a twist about me calling this pattern the Hillend Dabbler and I know there a few people out there who will be untangling the elastic in their undergarments as I type. I have had complaints you know? please don't take this too serious as there is not much in flytying that is original these days. Its only a bit of fun. I give you the Hillend Dabbler!

Up the Clyde.

 

I was sitting reading this mornings papers and was deciding what to do today. Mrs Dabbler was hinting about the two of us taking a trip down the Clyde this afternoon only thing was she had Ikea and Braehead in mind. At about 2pm I decided I would go up the Clyde rather than doon. Car packed flask filled off I went.The weather was glorious. I used the trotting rod for about an hour then switched to the fly rod with weighted bugs. I didn't catch a grayling but I did manage a couple of small trout and also hooked a trout which I reckon was of about 3lb which after an initial thumb shot right out the water about two or three feet in the air came back down with an almighty splash and it was gone. I called it a day when the mist started appearing above the surface of the river. Great day to be by the river. Absolutely beautiful.

Practice Day on the Clyde!

Lets just say I had a great practice day on the Clyde yesterday! lol. Im a bit of a novice at the trotting lark. Conditions were far from ideal as the river was high and running fast but it was good to try and get a feel for this style of fishing again and give the floats a try that I got from George Lockhart who very kindly made them for me. You can see George's work and read about his fishing exploits here at http://traditionalfloats.blogspot.co.uk/ . Next time I would prefer to have an experienced float fisher with me as sometimes I was wondering if i had the line set too long or too short etc and also I havent a clue if it was worth fishing the river today in these condiions. I went with John T last November and his help was invaluable as he was always ready with advice, we both had a teriffic day so I think I will get in touch soon John about a day on the river eh?

The Five Month Wait Begins!

 

This being the sixth day of the tenth month of two thousand and twelve I decided to end the trout fishing season this afternoon by spending a few hours at my local Hillend Loch. Needless to say I didn't manage to fool any trout what so ever. Apart from the flytying and the occasional grayling outing to look forward too I will have to endure the dark nights of winter, Halloween, Guy Fox Night, Christmas and New Year before I can start thinking of the new fishing season on the fifteenth day of the third month of two thousand and thirteen.

Return to the Secret loch!

 

Today a desperate character demanded of me the location of the secret loch. Well Keeping true to the secret location reposed in me I answered that the location of this loch was known to only three men in the whole of Airdrie. namely Scott, Tam and myself and that without the co-operation and consent of the other two I neither could or would divulge the location. So I blindfolded wee wullie and drove him through the countryside until we got there lol!

Seriously! My old fiend Willie and I have climbed many mountains together but something we had not done together for many years was go fishing. So we decided to make a trip to the Secret Loch which may well be the last trout fishing I will do this year. On the way there I was telling Willie all about this little gem of a place.
When we arrived at the loch shore the wind was blowing right down the loch in a westerly direction but it was a bit strong. I gave Willie a couple of flies to tie on while I fished with a wet daddie on the point and a Kate on the dropper. On my second cast I hooked and landed a lovely trout which was fooled by the fly that was so successful on my recent stravaig, the wet daddie.  Willie must have thought we were going to be in for a trout bonanza but experience told me otherwise.I then told Willie where to concentrate his efforts while I made my way to the top of the loch and down the opposite shore fishing along the way. I saw a couple of trout leap from the water but never hooked anymore fish. I made my way back round to my friend and we had lunch which consisted of coffee and oatcakes with cheese. After lunch we fished on for about another hour or so amidst a couple of showers and then when the bad weather really started to move in we called it a day and retired to a South Lanarkshire village pub for a  welcome pint of beer.
This was a lovely way to end a mixed trout season for me in a wonderful location and will be a place I hope to visit more often next season.