Lets start with the failures shall we – so I popped into the Glasgow Angling Centre on my way home from work to buy some replacement felt soles (they don’t sell em’) and to drop off some Kelvin permits only to find it was the first day of the “open weekend”. I am glad it was a Friday and not so busy so I got a chance to have a donner around
I ran into reader and honorary Kelvinator Paul Young who was telling me about his recent fishing trips when he said – “just checking out your face to see if you have had a shave – you do talk some shite about razors”
Obviously Paul’s a Mach 3 man – either that or he has some kind of flunky to shave him when he is “on set”
Anyway – I then ran into Nicolas Valentin – the Glasgow Angling Centre Dude – who asked me if I still actually went fishing – well played sir well played!
Anyway, so fishing life has actually been slow of late due to repeated bugs that have been passed around the kids and me pretty much constantly over the last few weeks. The first day of the trout season is today and the Kelvin will be having its opening ceremony on the Saturday which should be a bit of fun.
With both the salmon and trout season officially underway, this Saturday (17th) the opening ceremony will take place on the banks of the Kelvin inside Kelvingrove Park. The ceremony has been delayed this year to give all anglers the chance to attend, and to increase the chances of a fish!
Meeting at the Islay Inn on Argyle Street at 11.30am, the piper will march us down to the river around 12pm. Following the ceremony we can then meet back at the Islay Inn at 2pm for food and a few drinks.
I have been checking through my gear and have found myself to be lacking some key items: felt soles, tapered leaders, tippet and fly lines – and also flies. Well to be fair I probably have enough flies however it is always nice to start the season with some freshly tied dries.
I tried to get some new felt soles at the GAC however seemingly they do not sell them anymore – rather than pay the £15 to get them online decided to take the advice of a pal and use some old carpet that I have in the loft – the carpet coupled with some evostick should be a mighty combination.
I decided on the grey Wildfisher line sold by Fred from the Wildfisher forum – I got myself a four weight which I will bang on to my old Lamson and have found a Scientific Angler five weight which I will bang on to my new Lamson. Speaking of which I got a bit nostalgic over the winter while moving stuff around in my attic and had my old two piece Greys GRX 8 foot 6 rod out and wobbling it about – it felt great and I have not fished with it in some time – that will be changing this season. I am pretty sure I have said before I always loved casting with this rod as it is pretty soft and forgiving however has enough backbone to chuck out a dry and nymph combo. The GRX coupled with the Lamson was a lovely combination and I am looking forward to getting into the action.
Does anyone think it is mild out there? The temps are hovering around the 9- 10 degrees point during the day and I think there is a good chance of olives coming off during the day.
Oh – the success is that I was interviewed by the most excellent “Fishing Jones” a couple of weeks back – you can read it here.
Happy New Trout Season All!
Great tip about the carpet by the way! Sustainability at its finest. Watch out someone may steal the idea..
Hi Alistair, hope you get out soon – as a dad of a young and about to expand-any-day family, I sympathise. I’ve pretty much resigned myself to accept that my next fishing trip is an if rather than a when. Had a nosey along the Kelvin on Tuesday lumchtime while out with the wee one, would be rash to call it a hatch but there were olives coming off, and spotted a couple of risers….
On the river at 7.30 this morning, decided to give my old Partridge S series 8`0″4wt an outing. Just got through the entrance of Glasgow Golf Club, couldn`t believe what I saw. Gone are most of the trees that had branches overhanging the water, that almost always held a few decent trout.I walked along the bank to the clubhouse, same story all the way. The river here, almost resembles the canal, bleak and desolate, logs lying all over the place. This was once a lovely tree-lined trout filled stretch, butchered for what? I did notice quite a few branches stuck in the ground for makeshift rod rests, so no doubt someone is happy with the carnage. Did someone oversee this….you can`t call this work….and think that`s much better? Unbelievable.
I thought the blog about the razors was brill. Purchased safety razor,blades,brush and soap from ebay for a nominal fee.No more wasting a fortune on mach 3 etc for me!
Anyway tight lines for the new season , port glasgow angling clubs season kicks off sat with opening comp.
keep up the good work.
ps whats your thoughts on sana sponsoring youth team with dirty money!!!!!!!!!!
Olives on the go today. I had four between about 1pm and 230pm. I’ll stick a picture of the best one up on the forum. Great to get some dry fly action on the opening day -will try for a bigger one tommorow weather permitting.
Campbell – if you ever need any other tips just give me a shout 😉
Robw – I have decided not to buy any new gear until I am able to fish a lot more regular – and by that point it will be all lazer guided flies!
Peter – that was the work that was carried out by the association – wait until spring and the leaves start filling the trees until you make a final judgement. Make sure you give the bailiff a phone if you see any headbangers.
Alan – Top Tip – buy a razor selection pack to find out what razors are best for your face – I have been using the palmolive shaving creme and loving it. I even bought an old spice shaving mug off ebay and some aftershave – I reek of manly musk.
theswami – I hate you and want you to get a 9-5 Monday to Friday job, you spend far too much time fishing. We should fish soon – you coming along tommorow?
thanks for the top tip but think il pass on the old spice!!!
Alistair, if the trees are no longer there, are the leaves going to hover in mid air? Have you actually seen what`s been done to the banks? During the Summer months when the water levels drop due to the hot weather, the effect will be exacerbated by the lack of cover. I`m surprised Glasgow Golf Club Gave permission for such a drastic cull.
There are still trees on the left hand bank facing upstream – none of the trees have been touched on the other bank, this means you can now work up that whole bank with a dry fly. Cover is good however so is getting some light on the river bottom as is stimulates weed growth and insect activity ! It might seem a bit extreme just now however you got to imagine how it will be in the future – no ?
We`ve covered the whole of the golf club stretch with a dry fly and back down with a team of wets, just wearing thigh waders without any major problem. Isn`t this just to appease the salmon fishers, with so many stretches being battered to death? This was an excellent fly stretch with only an odd salmon beig caught every now and then. As for weed growth, filamentous weed covers this part of the river for about a month and takes about 3 spate runs to clear it. We`ll wait and see how it pans out throughout the season though.
As a mostly tout fisher I am kinda excited at the difference the arbour work will make in the future – do I think we will get hoards of anglers descending on these sections? Nope! Simply because these guys will go where they always go. I have fished the Golf Club stretch for many years and now think we will see its true potential shown to us – I think you will see the bonus of the work at dusk during the summer months.
I have no idea how you could walk down the whole stretch in thigh waders – it was because of this stretch I bought chest waders!
A*
You bought chest waders `cause you`re a big feartie.lol
🙂
You coming to the opening day?
No leaving for Edinburgh in about 20mins, for a Christening. Will probably read about it on official site.H.aN.D.
Have a good season lads.I envy all of you,to have this more or less free fishing available to you (40 pounds a year is a steal)And tight lines to everybody.Jealous from Germany.:-)
Hi chaps, got my first Kelvin ticket this year. Have had couple of years fly-fishing the fisheries but this will be my first season on the river, so if you see a guy stumbling about in cheap waders,trying to open a pack of pre-tied, bought flies, getting snagged in every tree and bush; have a bit of patience please… And any advice gratefully received. Sorry I couldn’t make the opening day, but hope to get a chat with you down the Kelly somewhere… Cheers
DUde – you sound like every other angler on the river – enjoy and try not to fall in 🙂
Popped into GAC during their Open Weekend along with the other half. Thought she would have me out in about 5 minutes. Boy was I wrong, I had to drag her out. She was fascinated by the Cookhill Stand and the feathers. She has a small gift shop and likes making things with feathers and fur. Upside was that she bought lots of pheasant tales, peacock herl etc, which has slowly been making it’s way into my fly tying boxes.