Stolen Gold

So I managed a couple of stolen golden hours after work to try and again tempt some Kelvin trout and to be quite honest I was almost going to be waxing lyrical about spooky trout and pricked lips.

Not my lips, the trout I managed to prick. You see the first few trout that I managed to tempt to my dry fly were pricked and away quicker than I could say “Ya Beauty” As it was I felt a deep thump thump and felt solid trout and then they were gone – the takes appeared solid enough, in fact the flies were pounced on like a tiger and a lamb. Maybe it was the downstream drift that caused the problems.

I walked, well scrambled, along the bank to where I had spooked some trout a few days ago. I would like to say this time I went after them in a different way however as expected with the exact same tactic of casting directly upstream and lining them they promptly fu*ked off.

I took a few moments to drill into my head again the need for stealth and wariness and then took a few steps upstream.

At this precise moment both soles fell off my Orvis wading boots.

At the next pool I spotted a tiny rise on the surface about the size of a saucer – the water was so clear that I could see the trout come up from the depths (a foot of water) to take stuff off the surface.

There was a huge hatch of grannom I think hatching and for once the trout were feeding on them. Well, not every trout and in fact it turned out only the big ones as I proceeded to catch within the space of a few mins two of the finest trout I have caught from the Kelvin in quite some time , real proper rod benders that leapt all over the pool and back again.

The second trout was in roughly the same pocket of water as the first, I only had one wee sedge thing left so knew that if this one got stuck in a tree (I had already lost a few flies) then my session would be over. The trout was dimpling the surface and I cast over it a few times, when it took the fly it shot all over the pool in an absolute fury before jumping out the water a couple of times – it actually flashed into my head that maybe we had accidentally stocked this year however again it was a lovely truly wild Kelvin trout in my hand ready to be returned to get even larger.

Over the last few weeks I have been hearing great reports (and we have also been chatting about it in the Kelvin Forum) of the trout fishing on the fly being exceptional this year – you know what, folk said we were crazy to stop stocking trout and impose a catch and release policy for them however this year we are really seeing the benefits. Just wait another couple of years, guys who solely fish for trout on the fly should take advantage of the £15 trout only ticket and fish absolutely nowhere near me.

Anyway, on the way back to the car I spotted another swirly rise which was so easy to cast to as a tree had fallen down behind me and it was a rod length away it would have been churlish not to take it up on its offer, the trout appeared to be patrolling as it would boil on the surface a foot away each time it rose, I judged my cast and the fly was bored down to the depths before again another stonker of a trout came to the bank..

All first trout looked like a lot of the trout that I catch from the Clyde with lots of small spots while the other two were your typical Kelvin bastards who have no idea who their parents are – probably a cod or something.

I had wondered where all the good trout at this stretch had vanished too and a thought occurred to me, last season I kept on meeting guys fishing downstream with wet flies (a lot of guys do this), the problem is this will ruin the whole stretch of water and the trout will be thoroughly spooked for a few hours anyway. It stands to reason that if someone is tramping down through pools then trout will be spooked. Another thing to keep in the head is that if you are fishing upstream then the trout will not actually see you – unless like me you cast your fly directly on top of their heads in a big tangled heap.

Raining tomorrow seemingly, and the a showery day on Friday.

Fingers crossed n’ all that I may well see you on the river.