One of the things I love best about fishing is looking at flies – they look so interesting – here is a small gallery, and a snail thrown in for good measure.
Click on the pic for a larger view..
yellow may
snail on tree
Olive
olive on rod
This is a personal request Stuart.
I took up fly fishing a year ago. I find it fascinating; your site has certainly enhanced my appreciation and enjoyment. I`m on my second permit for the Kelvin and I joined the Walton angling club this season. However, I also want to fish in less urban but accessible rivers were I will find trout or salmon. Which are the best spots on the Clyde (and the Kelvin for that matter)? I appreciate that you might not want to publicise them too freely but I would be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction. Somewhere scenic and tranquil and teeming with wild fish? I spend a small fortune on fisheries cause I enjoy the buzz of actually hooking fish (catch and release) but they are `Stockies`which is a transient pleasure.
I`ll obviously obtain appropriate permits. Thanks in anticipation.
Harry Nolan.
Hi Harry – do you drive?
Hi Alistair – yes I drive. I generally fish the Kelvin down from the football parks at Garscube sports complex (I coach the uni football during the season) for about 600 yards where its quite secluded. Is this a good spot? Four /fiveweeks ago on a beautiful saturday afternoon I caught my first fish on a dry – a very small brown trout – using a daddy (I think). There were several similar rises but I didn’t see anything bigger. Should I persevere here?
Yup, that is a good place to fish – that is where I cut my teeth on the Kelvin. When you start river fishing i always think a good idea is to get to know one bit of river – say around a mile – very well – a mile with a good selection of pools, riffles, slow stretches and pocket water and then you will have the skills to tackle any river.
You are within driving distance of some lovely stretches of the Clyde which is a bit more rural although there is never a busy road too far away!
Congrats on the trout – for drys you cannot go too far wrong with an F fly, a klinkhammer or a comparadun.
Thanks. Where exactly are these stretches on the Clyde? How do I get access to them, are they near New Lanark and the Clyde falls? What are `riffles` and `pocket water`?
There is a great article on the Clyde in an early issues of Fish Wild – http://www.fish-wild.co.uk/
You will be hard pressed to get people to give you info on their favourite spots however if you get a UCAPA ticket and take a drive along the Clyde Valley Tourist route you will see plenty of laybys to stop at next to the river.
Hmmmm – how to describe a riffle? Well, I suppose one mans riffle is another mans glide however I would describe a riffle as being a stretch of water that has a nice flow but the water is slightly broken. If you were on a loch a riffle is when the wind makes wee waves 🙂
Pocket water is an area of water where it is split up by boulders and possibly even small islands – or possibly just shallow water where you can see some deeper holes. Pocket water is hard to fish but very productive. It can be a big area or a small area.
If you walk down through the park and woods and into Dawsholm Park there is some lovely water which is difficult to get to because you need a pair of waders – I usually start at the bridge and work my way up to the Vet School – A very productive method is to use a very bushy dry fly like a balloon caddis with leader of about a foot tied to the bend of the hook – tie a nymph to that – you then use the dry fly as an inicator and strike anytime you see it go under. Cast the flies upstream starting at the bottom of a pool and working your way up.
Thanks again. That is specifically what I`m looking for. I`ve got waders so I`ll possibly try either that stretch of the Kelvin or the Clyde tourist trail tomorrow. I`ll take my camera and hopefully be able to share any life-affirming experiences.
P.S A riffle sounds very similar to a ripple. Do fish hang out there?
Harry…If you go down the M74 to Abington Services and turn left at the roundabout you’ll see the Clyde to your right …thats United Clyde water up and downstream
http://www.ucapaltd.co.uk
It changes to Lamingtonfishing.co.uk downstream (Roberton to Thankerton) but reverts there back to United Clyde. The Tourist Info at Abington Services sells UCAPA permits ( 0900 to 1700 daily) and Lamington permits can be got at the filling station on Coulter Road Biggar .
Thanks Alastair and Stuart B, your advice was invaluable. I fished the Clyde on Monday at Abington and just by Lanark and encountered lots of fish, beautiful surroundings and a number of inspirational anglers. Coincidentally Monday was this year`s summer so conditions were stunning. No, I caught nothing but researched most of the river up to Hamilton and experimented with the New Zealand dry-with-a-nymph-dropper-on-a-hook. I can see why its so productive (which nymphs do you recommend?). I`m off to Portugal and maybe some sea angling but I`ll return to the Clyde frequently.
I was fascinated with your pictures of the otter recently. If you go onto the Walton Anglers website there is a brilliant account from one of our members who released a brown trout in the Cart and then witnessed it nonchalently being eaten by an otter as it lay on its back. He was so excited that he repeatedly tried to take a picture with his metal fly case!
Sounds great Harry – that is a lovely bit of water – another place to go is the Tummel – dont be put off as it is so big, you pretty much just use the same techniques.
How is the Cart fishing this year? I decided not to take out a ticket due to time constraints but am hoping to get back some time in the future – it is a lovely bit of water the Walton run – very well maintained!
havent fished the cart for a couple of weeks, trying to hold off till i hear the salmon and seatrout are running, might be too late by then as im moving house soon. Will be right on the bank of the lower clyde, carmyle area 🙂 cant wait.