Gems..

by Alistair

Lots of rising trout, steady hatches of olive uprights from the moment I got there until I left and crawling around on all fours for almost two hours was just the thing I was needing after a week of hellishly bad illness – blew the old cobwebs away. Left me absolutely shattered and home by 3pm.

Olive Upright

I wanted something a little more slow paced today – Kelvin would be too busy and the Clyde too far and too big for my fragile body. What I wanted was a leafy little stream that I could lose myself in. Picking a blue line at random on the map (not really as someone gave me directions) I caught many trout on the dry fly after a rather annoying start.

Arriving at the first pool I hurriedly set up as there was around a half dozen trout rising greedily (you know the feeling) and within a couple of casts had my first trout from near the back of the pack as it were. Then after recasting the whole pool was spooked. I put it down to the first trout taking a jolly old romp across the pool – well you would wouldn’t you. Anyway, later I came back and all the trout were rising again, a couple of casts and they were spooked – this happened another couple of times. Eventually I worked out it was my new Roman Moser High and Dry Invisible leader I was using that managed to spook them – I reckon it was far too heavy and was causing a slap as it hit the surface – once I changed to a regular mono leader the takes came fast and furious as the trout did not B1 (Glasgow slang for running from anyone) under the nearest rock.

So with the Roman Moser’s leader binned (Invisible pah!) I had a great time working my way up this little stream for a couple of hours. Of course no river these days is without the obligatory burnt out car though…

Still, even this blot on the landscape made things feel rather homely …

I was using my new Orvis Troutbum 4 weight combined with a reel I had forgotten about which had half a 4 weight double taper still on it. I have been overlining my new rod by one when fishing my other rivers mostly because that is what I kept bringing to hand. With the four weight the rod was lovely and those fat trout put up a fair old scrap.

It started to rain on the way home and as I sit writing this now it is still drizzling – what we all need here is a good downpour to freshen everything up although as I doubt these light showers will do much.

Mucho work at the vice is needed – my box is full of enormous comparaduns – I need to tie up more tiny soldiers as there ranks are being depleted.

How did you guys get on?

15 thoughts on “Gems..”

  1. Thats a nice fish there Alistair don`t suppose that theres any point in asking you what littlestream that was you were fishing????

    What size of hooks you gonna be tying with????

    Anyways nice to see your feeling better and i `m hoping this rain don`t stop until Tuesday at some point as i`ll be heading up the Kelvin on Wednesday probably @the science park or the vet school.

  2. Never discount the preference of large fish to hold below the car – something about decaying upholstery or leaking gear oil attracts them.

  3. Paul – my intention is for microscopic F flies 🙂

    Kbarton10 – do you get burnt out cars in rivers over the pond? are they dealt with quickly ?

  4. Hey Alistair :o)

    Now you know that I tend to be a blob man ?
    Well my last 2 fish .. yes, not one .. but 2 .. were caught on the wet .. a black pennell no less

    Maybe I should try a wee durty dry number ??

    Luvin yer work :o)

    Saltcoats George :o)

  5. Aha, the river ****** that flows into the ***** at *********.

    Did a hares ear come in handy by any chance 😉

    Alex

  6. Alistair – plenty of burned out vehicles in the urban rivers – and they’re left in the streambed, rarely removed.

    I did catch a largemouth Bass in the boot of a small Japanese import, so never discount them – great holding water..

  7. Just spent a couple of hours on the Cart at Langside . I’ve remembered that squeezing through gaps in cast iron railings at great risk of ripping your expensive waders ,ploughing through overgrown banks ,avoiding standing on Whisky, Vodka and Rum bottles and tripping over discarded bikes etc.etc just ain’t fun..especially when there’s not a lot of watter in the river and no sign of a fush..and that’s the bits you CAN get access to …and that’s before thw flood walls are built ….
    I think next time I’ll try the Clyde ..A bit further to go but at least there things are a bit more open and no booby traps

  8. Hi guys. Spent my fourth trip to the Kelvin at the Vet Schoolpark area (sorry… don’t know if it’s called anything else locally 🙂 ) this past Saturday evening. My wife came along with chair and book in hand while I fished for about 1.5 hours. Caught 7 brownies.. all between 5-8 inches long… not much in size but pretty none the less. 5 fell to a small EHC… 2 to small Adams. While fishing… another guy worked his way upstream to me… we chatted… he commented I was fishing too small of flies for the “bigger fish” (ahem… he hadn’t caught any yet but assured me it was the only way… he was fishing what looked to be about a size 10 Grey Wulff) Just curious om your experiences… am I missing the boat here?
    Secondly… I fished Loch Leven a week ago Saturday… 10 experienced anglers from the club where I work…. and 1 fish boated the entire day among us! The guy I fished with told me to keep saying to myself: “aye, Loch Leven… she’s a dour old bitch” . Curious if anyone here has fished it recently with better results? And leads me to my next question… any lochs local with wild fish vs managed fisheries?

    Thirdly (is that word ??), I’ve purchased a season ticket for the Avon River… fished it twice in early Marxh… a few small brownies and 2 rod-ripping, broken leader, 30 second hook-ups. I haven’t been back since but wonder if any here have experience on the Avon?

    Thanks.

  10. Hi Stuart and thanks. This does look interesting for a day ticket… I also like the idea of releasing all the browns. Will have to check it out the day ticket availability.

    Yes, the Avon I’m referring to is in Lanarkshire. I have a funny story story about my first time to the river. I had read on their website where the club building was… but got lost looking for it. I stopped in Stonehouse at a gas station… long story short an elderly gentleman offered to show me to the club secretaries house.. he knew what neighborhood and roughly what building. So we get there ( he just jumped in my car with me) and knock on the first door. Nope… but the woman advised me two doors down was an old guy who liked to fish. So I knocked on that door and was immedaitly invited in by an elderly woman and introduced to her husband.. the retired club secretry. After 30 minutes, tea, and plenty of talk… he sent me on my way with a handwritten “day pass” on him and better directions to the water. I found the club.. met the president and another regular who were working on “native” stocking program they carry out by rearing some 50,000 fry from Avon trout stock. I got a tour of the facility… walked into a small room and turned around in place 🙂 Nice guys all the way around. Oh.. the guy who showed me the secretaries place realized that his mother and the secretaries wife were old friends. He also insisted on walking home… so I could get to the river sooner!

    So sorry about the long-winded answer… yes, the Avon I mean is in Lanarkshire.

  11. Ron, i have fished the Avon for the last 5 seasons and know her waters very well. The Avon can be a frustrating river, but does hold some lovely trout especially , as per usual, in tyhe more inaccessable areas. From June onwards, there is always the chance of a sea trout , but these fish seems to be confined to certain pools. I would be more than happy to offer you advice and direct you to some of my favourite spots, so you can contact me at alan.atkins@eastdunbarton.gov.uk. Where are you from in the states? My wife is from Seattle!

  12. Hi guys – what a lovely story Ron – thats what I call being friendly – will drop you a mail.

    Alistair

  13. Nice river Alistair, despite the burnt out car, I know there’s no point so I wont ask….

    On the Moser Leaders, I’ve been using them for years now and would urge you not to give up on them. What I’ve found is that the “Invisible” leader is a lot stiffer than the “Ultrafloat” and performs a lot better for turnover on longer casts, windy conditions etc I use a good 10ft off nylon on the end of it and leave it for 5wt rods and up. The “Ultrafloat” is the dogs doo da’s for more delicate work, very light and limp, I think you’d like that better on your 4wt. It’s down to personal taste and casting style though, some folk like them and some don’t.

    Great story Ron. I live near the Avon and take out a permit for it every other year, there’s some nice water there but I agree with Alan it can be frustrating. A friend from work lives on the banks of the river and has fished it all his life, he’s had some huge fish from it (his friend had one of 5lb last year on wet fly), he’s helping me out this year. If you take Alan up on his kind offer maybe you can miss out on some of the frustration, I’m hoping my friend can do that for me.

  14. Hi guys.

    Alan, thanks for the wonderful offer on the Avon and I’ll definitely contact you via your email. I was originally born in central Pennsylvania but was raised in western New York State. My “home” now ( at least for last 5 years) is in Raleigh, North Carolina. I’ve also lived in Boulder, Colorado. I moved to Glasgow in mid-January after spending 7 months in Portsmouth, England. (had some great fishing on the rivers of Hampshire… but I prefer rivers a lot less manicured and tended… but I understand why they are that way down south)

    Jim…I’m hoping your friend as well lessens your frustration level. I’ve fished three areas on the river. The very upper end of the club water, a middle section starting at the Strathvaeven Brewery upstreram for about 1.5 miles, then further downstream below a big brdge that crosses the road (maybe Browns Bridge or soemthing like that) All three times I never saw another angler… of course the weather wasn’t great… but maybe that would indicate I was in not so “good” areas! 🙂

    Alistair, looking forward to hearing from you and appreciate the prior offer of maybe getting a line wet together.

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