I had a couple of hours free between dropping the wife and kids off at a party and going to another kids party in the afternoon which I had to attend because it was a family one. My life has now become incredibly rock n’ roll. I now tell people in work on Mondays that I attend wild parties at the weekend where fights break out and everyone is running around crazy but omit the fact the attendees are under the age of 6.
As I had this free couple of hours I decided I had a choice of either actual fishing or popping by the open weekend at the angling centre. I was glad I was not a day late like last time when I turned up to view a couple of empty crisp packets blowing in the car park as opposed to stalls and boats blocking the spaces.
So I parked up a side street after being stung by the tiny car park in the past and was glad to find it was still on unlike last year when I turned up a day late. I wandered past the boats on display and went on the hunt for Paul Young for a natter however ran into Gary Wingate who is the Game Fishing Manager. He roped me in to a casting competition with a few other guys round at the back of the store. As we walked around the back I kinda felt like we were a bunch of schoolboys with some rizla and a bit for a joint but this was totally legit.
Gary showed me the new prototype Greys reel which was on the rod which we would be using. “string it together” he told me as he went to place wee orange cones to help with the competition. He told me that the reel should under no circumstances be fucked up in my hands or words to that effect. I thought he was half joking however realised the seriousness of the situation when I rested the reel on the ground to assist with lining the rod and one of the guys put a wee blanket under it after checking it for scuffs. I was going to make a quip about Greys warranty not being that bad but decided not to push things considering I was going to have to cast in front of them.
I was up first and felt the gaze of far more competent casters on me. I was glad then that the Gods of the Kelvin sent a gentle breeze which assisted in wafting the line out ahead of me which made me look half decent. I swear to goodness I have never actually cast that far in my puff.
Humiliation averted I got to wander back through the store room of the shop and was impressed by the sheer size of the place back their, it is huge. Rows of fishing tackle in in order with guys walking around I can only assume filling mail orders.
Throughout all this I was musing on something that Gary had said. I had told him about my problems with having too much choice down here in Helensburgh and he then regaled me with his exploits with light rock fishing which sounded like one helluva lot of fun. I knew about LRF due to Brian and Colin over at Streamside Diary who appear to less stream side fishing these days than I do urban. They seem to catch an unbelievable amount of species and looks fantastic fun. It also looks like a fun way to get the kids into fishing, and by kids I mean my kids.
I walked back through the store and ran into Paul Young and we had a good chin wag about the cost of fly rods and how you can buy a good rod at any budget as long as you are willing to try out a few. We were joined by Stevie Munn for a bit and we talked about kids and fly fishing.
Alas my time was soon up and after a quick stop off at the Pike Anglers Alliance for Scotland to pick up a membership form it was time for me to be off home.
Anyone into this LRF malarkey?
started lrf fishing this year in my local harbour as the sea fishing was a bit slow , caught some strange looking fish which I had to google to ID , also caught some great pollack and rock cod , my next trip I’ll take a light fly outfit as most of the lures I use a very small Japanese rubber with amino acids soaked into them , it’s the most fun I’ve had fishing this year especially when the summer mackerel hunters were laughing at my gear until I started pulling in plenty of fish of all sizes
Thanks for that Thomas that is what I like hearing !
I had thought about trying it with a fly rod as well, in fact I may well do down at my local marina! Do these types of fish stick around all year ?
I think the young coalie and pollack are around all year not sure about the cod and some of the stranger fish like bullhead , hopefully I’ll find out this winter
Whereabouts you thinking of ?
i was lucky enough to move to lossiemouth about 7 years ago. So all my fishing is local , the estuary can be great when the sea trout are running and the beach produces lots of flatties most of the year , my LRF fishing is usually done round about the harbour as you can get into deep water without having to cast very far .