MARCH 15th ROWBANK

 

This picture is in colour

Great day if you like to fish in whiteout conditions. I got a pull in the morning , maybe 11 ish but that was as exciting as it got. Saw a total of three fish rising, there were a lot of small buzzers on the water despite the snow, although only a very few fish were picking them up. Everything  I had  on my line, even the illegal flies, were ignored by the fish that I saw rising, which were all within easy reach of the bank. I guess the water was really too calm so, the only way would have been to fish fine.

River Dalalven

Cycled to Sweden during May and June, borrowed some fly gear and caught an 11lb Baltic Salmon. This is a small fish for the Dalalven where fish of 10kg+ are regularly caught.

Rowbank on Fire

Hey got myself up to Rowbank late this morning(Fri 19th), seeing as the stock trout were committing suicide earlier in the week, well, cricket scores are always a possibility.
Wind was feckin awful, full on gale force SWesterly, i guess that's why i had the place to myself, till around 2 in the afternoon. Anyway, ended the day with 11 brownies, most being in the 1.25 to 1.5lb range, great fun and i know it wont last. Took two for the frying pan, as i love them fried. Usual patterns doing the damage, Peter Ross, Viva etc, size 12, traditional wets, no problem, they want them.

Day 2 and its 12 Stockies to 2lbs

Started off at the carpark, straight away into a fish, then another and another, fresh stockies, up to around the 2lb mark. Anyway within two hours i had landed 8 and lost another couple, it was too easy so i headed off up the dam to look for more of a challenge. I got another couple about half way up and then headed over to Beach bay. Got nothing up this end so as it was now mid afternoon headed back down. Got into another two fish at the house on the bottom end in the local of the picture above. If i had stayed here all day God knows how many i might have banked but 12 plus another 3 lost wasnt a bad day. The stock fish seem to be concentrated at the bottom end, they just dont seem to have spread out that much. Traditionals on an intermediate were doing the damage. The weather was mild early on but in the afternoon the wind got up and it got colder.

15th March 2010

A new season at last, the ice has finally gone. I was thinking that one good thing about the ice is that it will have kept the Cormorants off the water for long periods this winter so the fish stock may be in better shape this March. Not a bad day today, quite cool with a strong SWesterly breeze and a bit of rain at times but nothing heavy. Managed two Brownies one of 1.75lb and another of 1.5lb, while i also lost another. Not a bad start for the first day of the season. The fish took a PT and a bibio althoough i dont think the patterns are important as the fish savaged the flies, they seem hungry, and hit the flies with a lot of force.

Misty day today

A bit of a drab day, little or no wind, from the SE and almost total cloud cover. However it was quite mild. No fish today on the Booby, which i have come to expect at this time of year. Over the last couple of years i have found it to be very difficult to catch fish from Barcraigs from December through to the end of February.

What the fuck!

Booby score's during T break. Strictly speaking, its just not Cricket, how can i catch a trout when im sitting on the dam wall having a cup of tea and admiring the scenery.

Here is how you do it. Cast a booby out as far as you can in the deepest water you can find, let it sink, sit down, have a cup of tea and relax. If you get lucky the line will tighten and next thing there is a nice Rainbow in the net. Its the first time its happened to me and i dont care what anyone says, it was fun.