Last trout….

I am more used to scrabbling through bushes and casting between trees rather than walking over marshy uneven ground to get to my fishing. It was strange then that my uneasiness about falling and twisting an ankle couple with my nimbleness improved after some whisky as a few pals and I toasted the end of the season before starting fishing.

We decided that the end of the trout season needed something a little bit different, as the Kelvin and most other rivers were out of action the sport was provided by a trip up to a loch. The whiskey was provided by Alex in little white plastic cups!

The forecast was to be breezy and warm for the day and this was kind of true apart from the fog that descended on us at one point reducing visibility to a hundred yards or so.

I am woefully equipped for loch fishing, my 7 weight is in storage and even then it is not an enjoyable rod to fish with especially now that I have borrowed Paul’s Hardy 7 weight which was great to fish with the whole day – it had one of those “Shark Skin” lines on the reel which gave a funny zinging sound every time I cast and retrieved which kind of cut through the stillness of the day.

It rained on and off, this made the ground slippy and brought out the shrooms..

I was using a two cast set up with a Kate McLaren on the bob fly and I am not sure what on the point. I walked up to the top of the loch where a burn flowed in and started to fish. Within a few casts I had a couple of takes and after the second I covered the same water and caught a lovely hard fighting almost black trout. I always find catching trout in lochs strange as I feel they have nowhere really to go unlike rivers where they usually head straight for a shopping trolley or other handy snag.

Alex meanwhile had caught one on the other side of the loch which he said would have been nearer 2lb if it was not so thin. We took a bit of a gamble on this loch as one of us had heard it was full of Perch however there were no spiny beasts spotted at all.

Alex as usual was hauling in fat fish as he worked his way down the shore. I asked him his opinion of the loch and he was suitably impressed – from a guy that grew up stomping all over the hills of Northern Scotland that means something..

The trout liked a good splash…

Jim was catching trout on the dry while Paul was struggling with his 5 weight in the wind. He was very chivalrous in not asking for his damn rod back!

Meanwhile I caught another couple of trout within minutes of each other..

Of course after a bit the fog began to rise, Alex positioned me next to this cliff face and had me cast across it. It sure looked fishy however on this occasion nothing came from it.

How annoying that on the day of the season I find a brand new appetite for fishing lochs from the shore. In terms of tackle I used Pauls Hardy which begrudgingly I admitted was nice however it made me realise I need a nice fast actioned 10 foot 7 weight for next season. If anyone has any recommendations for a rod well under a ton let me know.

I had a look on the Glasgow Angling Centers Preloved Tackle page on facebook  and was amazed at some of the bargains that have been their in the past, will let you know what I end up with!

So, I will give a good round up of the season later on in the month however when it comes to trout that is pretty much that!

You guys have a good season?