Hi,

Sorry about the lack of reports, but the family holiday and the weather have played it’s part in that.

Since the last diary my spies have reported that there has been the odd fish taken on the Troll, with Jimmy Raeburn again figuring, getting a Grilse of 6lbs at the Hen Isle. There have been others who have done well braving the atrocious weather, plastering themselves from head to toe with Amber Solair Factor 65, which basically is covering yourself in plaster cast, however I don’t have their names to hand.

I did manage a day out with the fly rod and fished in good conditions the Auchentully Bay and MacDougall Bank area, the Long and Short Points and Inchlonaig, but the fish won the day. I did manage to bring a biggish fish up to my Claret Bumble on the bob, but it only swirled at the fly, gave me a wink and headed for the depths.

Bob Forshaw was out about three weeks ago and managed to get a couple of Sea Trout in the 1.5lb to 2.5lb class on the fly. He was telling me that just about an hour or so before the sun went down he was drifting along Inchlonaig when the water became alive with fish sloshing and leaping about all over the place. Some of the fish he saw were in the 3lb to 6lb size. So remember that when you’ve been out all day and there seems to be nothing doing just persevere.

A similar incident happened to me last year at the end of July, John Brice and I had been out all day fly fishing going over and over the Long and Short Points with not so much as a pluck from a Parr, in fact we never even saw a fish, when, just as we had decided to give it one last drift before we chucked it I hooked a cracking 6lb12oz Sea Trout.

Some of my contacts reported seeing a few heavy runs of Grilse heading up the River Leven, from mid July onwards and over a period of a couple of days about a fortnight ago (the beginning of August) I was reliably informed there were about 20 Grilse caught from the river.

I know that the Endrick has produced a fish or two also, and I’m anxiously waiting for the rain to come so I can head up there for a cast or two. So, until then and during this hot spell I have been tying up some Ally’s Shrimps and a couple of Stoat Tails which I hope will do the business on the river, and some Daddies for Dapping on the loch, come a decent blow.

Well that`s about it for now, I’m off to pray for a weather change before the wife decides while the weather is still good she`ll want me to paint the house or something silly like that.

Tight Lines for now.

In the picture is Willie Caldwell fly fishing along the shore of Inchlonaig.