That is correct, you were like a crazy girlfriend. On one hand you promised so much (the sex was good) however on the other you turned up at crazy times at my house and made unreasonable demands.
You were like two separate people, the problem was the crazy part far outweighed the good part.
The good part of the relationship was from the start of the season until June the 22nd when Chuck from the states came to visit. This was the getting to know you stage, you were totally great and I was happy getting to know you. The spring was mild and I spotted my first rising trout on March 25th in just about every pool of a wee burn in a park I where I was having some family fun. Of course, forums and the Central Scotland boys were already talking about the great amount of rising trout even before the season opened so it was not really a surprise to most folk. We had a mild winter after two rotten ones and almost immediately a hose pipe ban was slapped on most of England, up here in Scotland we do not get hose pipe bans as we know it will rain “during the week” at some point which is why the fishing is better.
Being out at the start of this new relationship was great even though there was lots of sitting around and gazing at each other – I will always be reminded of you when I smell wild garlic and the buzzing around of busy insects reminds me of your voice.
Early and mid-relationship was made even more interesting by the fact my soles kept falling off my wading boots, I found some old carpet in the street and tried to stick them on to my sole as my local stopped selling felt soles for some reason. You found this pretty funny even though I was getting a bit pissed off by it all.
It took another couple of months before I finally got the right carpet (taken out of someones bin) and the correct glue (Evostic) and I was happy with them, of course just at that point Orvis kindly sent me a new pair of boots so the old ones were lovingly placed in my shed. Every trip was a trial of some new glue that I had bought, waterproof no more nails is no good, by the way.
Of course, during this early part of the season I was catching trout in the few snatched hours..
Oh yea, and Theo Pike published his book [amazon_link id=”1906122423″ target=”_blank” ]Trout in Dirty Places: 50 Rivers to Fly-fish for Trout and Grayling in the UK’s Town and City Centres[/amazon_link] and I went on the radio to be the Glasgow punter fishing while he sat in a studio in London. That was great fun and to see my picture in a book was ego boosting.
The sex was amazing Kelvin was fishing its socks off however it was anything but easy. I remember creeping up behind a few rising trout and presenting a dry to them and after a few refusals they were gone. I started to meet other trout anglers who were also marveling at the big trout. You played me well, you knew what I wanted and was a bit of a tease about it.
Our good weather stated in mid May and we started being able to head out for dusk sessions – they were amazing. Slipping away from the wife felt all a bit dangerous even though she knew where I was heading too. However there were some flies in the ointment. It was around this time that I started to notice the amount of assholes out fishing without permits. I printed out a leaflet to give these guys as I could not be bothered talking to them any longer than needed. It was around about this time that I started to think that the evening sessions were going to be very productive come proper summer in July and August. I could just imagine heading down to the river before dusk and plonking myself down at a pool and watching the trout rise. There was some pools opened up by some arbour work and I was looking forward to exploiting it to its full advantage. I tied small flies, lots of them and even bought some new tippet.
However, it was around June the 20th (just after) that Chuck visited from the states and you showed yourlsef to be an absolute pyscho that would drive me crazy with your downright bizarre behavior. I remember it well, the day was warm and humid and I was sure Chuck was going to be in for a belter of an evening. Instead we found ourselves down at a pub feeling pretty cold remarkably early, a cold front had moved in and killed the action. That action never returned for the rest of the season. The next day it started to rain and did not stop, the river rose and fell however never cleared as normal, eventually the ground became so saturated that some rain upstream hit the river almost immediately. One evening fishing buddy Jim Burns phoned me to tell me the river was looking great, in the time it took me to drive to the river and set up (around 20 mins) the river had turned a chocolate color and was rising, we continued to watch it rise for another hour and were amazed at how fast it shot up. The secretary for the association discovered run off from a building site on the Luggie was making the river turn the color of clay when it should have cleared.
Up, down, Up, Down – a chocolate river that never cleared and the rain just kept on coming. Sometimes you gave a reprieve for a few days and just as soon as the river was about to return to something that may resemble normal you rained again.
I still managed to winkle some trout out however they were hard fished for and it wad difficult going. I also found that the rain was affecting other rivers when I visited the Lake District and was almost washed out on the Eden however it turned into a great session.
I also caught some lovely trout down on my shit pipe river – somewhere I hope to be fishing more of next year.
I cannot remember the exact date that I bust my Greys GRX however I was not happy with the response from Greys. In the end I swapped a filleting knife with reader Dougie for his GRX and the issue was resolved – yippeee!
Where was I?
Oh yea, when the season went totally psycho I decided to go after Pike they were not playing ball either.
The one positive and total saving grace was that a wee burn that I often pass by due to work holds plentiful trout which are eager to take the dryfly when it is high with a tinge of color.
I spent quick half hour sessions on this wee urban burn whenever I could squeeze the time in, unfortunately on my last visit I was told someone had killed over a dozen trout for pike bait. I just hope it will be able to recover for next year.
2012 season – it will take me a while to get over you, you crazy batchit like a horse wench!
Did you guys have a love affair or was it like a visit to a strip club?
You really have to stay off that man beer lol,
What kind of season did you have Peter? Do you ever explore further downstream?
Worst one yet on the kelvin, only mamaged out about 14-15 times in all, fishing was really good just as the water levels were dropping. fished a couple of other rivers too with good results, as well as quite a bit of hill fishing. Did some boat angling off Ailsa Craig too, although most of the catch was mangled by seals. Best fishing was done abroad though.
Sorry, about fishing further downstream, we saw some terrible practices there a few years ago, and haven`t ventured down since, We prefer fishing for trout rather than migratories, (even though we buy the full permit), so further upstream is far better, especially the small burns, with my 5`0″ 2wt rod.
If you did not get out on the river early on in the season then you missed the best of the season. After June it was good we had the work party’s on the river at lease this got us down on the river and getting some work done at different parts of the river.
That is a shame Peter, all I was hearing about this season was all the big trout being caught. Where abouts did you see the poor fishing ?
I didn`t say the fishing was poor, quite the opposite, that the “fishing was really good, when the water levels were dropping” It`s just a pity the rain spoiled so many days fishing, It seemed as though every time we were going to go, the heavens opened and down it came. I have to agree though the early part of the season up to mid July, was some of the best fishing on the Kelvin for years.
It has been the best it has ever been Peter, not for years ! It was just ok ten years ago however it gets better every year and its recovery gets better every year !
Next year will be even better !
Seems we differ on what constitutes a good season Alistair, we like the scenic stretches of the river, the trout are just an added bonus. I have pics of deer that crossed the river yards away from us, foxes and cubs at the river`s edge, kingfishers, mild mink, herons and cormorants, pissed locals (baskets lol), We`ve been on the water at 5am-ish watched the river come to life, amazing to see and hear. My biggest fish this season was just over 2lbs, but my best was a 3/4lber on a 5ft 2wt rod, Your pics show quite large trout, so with that in mind, I said it was a good season, but I`ve had better fishing over the last few years, due to better weather.