Well that’s it over for another year, personally I was not able to get out as much as I would have liked to, due to bad health, however I‘m looking forward to next year with relish.

Right lets get down to the nitty gritty, firstly the weather was dead against us from June virtually right through to the last day of the season, there was little or no rain, certainly not enough to fill a puddle in the ground. Secondly, the hot sun day after day was becoming extremely irritant. So much so that I overheard a few regulars to one of the local tanning establishments complain about how they’re were trying to get a refund when they had booked in advanced 25 sessions, and were wishing the weather would get back to normal and rain.

Looking on the positive side of things, for those that managed to get out and persevere with the conditions, they had plenty to be pleased about for the Sea Trout were in abundance from June right through to the last day of the season. Not only were the fish there but they were willing to have a snatch at the fly. As in past years the month of August and beginning of September can often be a hard slog as the fish seem to switch themselves off, and come back on the take once the heat begins to leave the water and the back end rain begins to fall. Not this year the fish seemed to be on the take right through from June till 31st October, with anglers reporting lots of offers, plucks and slashes at the fly. Some of the more lucky anglers even managed to land some fish.

I did notice that whenever I managed to get out, they’re were very few boats actually fishing the Loch, in fact it reminded me of the early eighties when I started to fish the Loch in mid week, and you had the whole system almost to yourself. This could certainly have been put down to the weather putting off a number of anglers from venturing out, or is it the fact that we’re becoming that bit more fussy, in that we’re always looking for the perfect day. The weather must be just right, providing just sufficient cloud cover so that an occasional ray of light can reach the water, the wind is blowing steady from the south west, the fish are in the loch in numbers, and are on the take and a number of other excuses. Talking with some regulars in the Oak Tree one back end day recently, it was mentioned that when we began fishing Loch Lomond, you would arrive at the crack of dawn, and set off, trolling round all the Islands and up and down the shorelines covering every inch always expecting a run or something. Nowadays, all we seem to do is troll along the main shoreline forgetting all about the great lies on and around the Islands. Could this be familiarity setting in or is it just lethargy. I am as guilty as the others in this and should take heed of what I’m saying, maybe we would do better if we adopted the attitude that we had back when we started fishing the Loch, and every day was an adventure full of expectations. This can also be said of the fly fishing, I realise that this is wind direction dependent, but there are drifts all over the loch, which would suit any direction. The rocks and islands out from Luss, would suit any wind direction, and there are others. It’s something to think about when your sitting at home looking out of the window and thinking if only the wind was from the south west or just a bit more cloud and it would be perfect. Remember it’s a long time gone before the start of the new season.

So to reflect on the season on the loch, it started fairly slow, but when May came so did the catches, Walter Gilchrist, Frank Donnelly, Ernie East, Jimmy Raeburn only to mention a few all did well. They’re wasn’t a great Grilse run which was on a par with the rest of the country, but the numbers of double figure Salmon caught in July was pleasing. Frank Donnelly was unlucky twice losing big fish near the net. John Brice, Davie King, Jimmy Richardson, Brian Follit, Jimmy Raeburn, again all doing well. At this time messers Colin McCrory, Angus and Gary McRitchie, Matt Stewart and his son were doing a bit of damage with the Sea Trout dapping and wet fly fishing. They continued their success with the fly and dapping rods right through to the end of the season.

I have just been told that Ewan McGrandle caught four Salmon in August, the biggest weighing in at 23lbs ….well done Ewan.

To sum up, alright we never had a good Grilse run but we had great sport with Salmon, and as for the fly fishing you couldn’t beat the action with the Sea Trout. Roll on next year.

One last thing I’m sure the Stock Improvement Working Group would appreciate any help from members willing to offer their services. If you are interested call Angus McRitchie or Matt Stewart, or any other member of the SIWG .

Well that’s about it for this year, I will try and keep you all updated with all the gossip from Balmaha next year so for now I wish you all the best for Christmas and the New Year.

In the picture is Colin McCrory with Ben Lomond in it`s Autumn coat in the background.