I was walking to the river when I realised that I had forgotten my new net. Luckily I dd not need it anyway however the Kelvin has been throwing up enough surprises to make me think about it as I walked down.
I have not fished for trout at all this year and I was hoping that my first trout would be from the Kelvin and on a dry-fly. Thinks were certainly looking good with some heat bringing up some olives which the odd trout were responding too.
Again, the Kelvin has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Last week a missing girls handbag was found next to the river and it was searched by police divers. It turned out they were looking in the wrong place however the whole area was finger tipped searched.
As I walked to the river I whistled at the Blackbirds copying their songs. I whistled as I strung up my rod and stuck on my standard deer hair emerger – annoyingly I lost it in the trees later on. When I went to get it back it must have fallen back into the river. This means my final stock of deer hairs are now gone. I am not someone who ties up during the close season so I now need to get my ass in gear. I seem to teeter on just having enough flies to do me for that session and not the next one.
I started out at the Dog Pool, so-called because all the dogs splash in it however did not get a touch. It was not until I fished up at the top of the next pool that I finally caught my first trout of the year. It was even better as I had actually stuck on a nymph as a duo and I watched the trout dive up from the deep to engulf my fly.
At the final count I caught five all on the dry, I took my nymph off as their was trout rising. The water was still cold with that green shiny tinge the Kelvin is famous for. Later I heard the river had turned pink and was reeking of some chemicals. A few of the members had already let us know and Atkins was contacting SEPA.
The trout were in great condition and all took the fly confidently.
I am glad my account has been opened on the Kelvin. I know that some guys have been hitting it hard and a salmon has already been caught by a new member on the fly. When I recommended that we stop stocking the Kelvin and put a catch and release policy in place I do not think anyone thought it was going to get this good. In my mind it is still getting better each season!
Lets see what happens next!
Nice!
Nice post, enjoyed reading aboot yer first troots. Always great to get them on the dry.
Hi there
from me here south of the border. Always enjoy the blog and look forward to hearing of your exploits. I think your thoughts on catch and release and, stopping the re-stocking are on the button. I fish a small stream in NE England and up until a few years ago [when finally the majority of members were persuaded otherwise] we stocked the river. Since we changed our policy the indigenous fish have come-on a treat and the benefits are beginning to show up in catch results. Personally, I’d much rather fish for and hopefully catch a few trout like those in the pictures than thrash the water looking for stock fish… Tight lines
Thanks guys!
Hey Peter, it took a lot of persuading to stop stalking but I would say that 4 seasons in we are reaping the benefits with bigger and more numerous trout. There are some guys saying that the trout fishing is as good as it was 10 years ago. Personally I do not think the trout fishing has ever been this good!
I would say that is a very successful first trip!!