Fishing Reports

It looks like the loch is doing better than the river, but then few anglers are bothering to fish the river right now so that is perhaps a tad unfair. Eddie reports at the start of the week there was a couple of anglers trying the single handed rods but apart from that, there is very little angling effort with only two anglers on the river yesterday!

It can be hard going fishing under a bright sun but there is always the chance of a fish particularly now with the likelihood of a small shoal stopping for a wee rest before heading for loch lomond, just leave the neoprene waders and get the breathables on.

On loch lomond Jim Freeman had a fruitless four hours fly fishing on Wednesday morning, covering the drifts at Torrinch, Creeinch and Inchmurrin in a cold easterly wind and bright conditions. So it was out with the trolls and off up to Inchlonaig to look for warmer conditions but the cold east wind won the day. While trolling back to Balmaha, Jim hooked a large sea trout ( seventh on the troll this year - all returned, largest 6.5 to 7lb) and promptly lost it at the net. He was still cursing his luck when the poker went mad between the Black Rocks and Manse Bay and 15 minutes later a superb 10.5lb springer was in the boat, thanks to Messrs Rapala!

Jim has a supply of scale envelopes to distribute for Andy, the Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust biologist and these can be handed to Sandy Forbes at Balmaha Boatyard or shoved under the boatyard bothy door if no one is around.

Aye bright sun might be off putting when fishing the lochs islands but we would suggest fly fishing exclusively for the salmon on the Endrick Bank in bright sunshine and an easterly wind as a good bet at this time of year. Reports of sea trout seen in the loch continue which bodes well for the season.

Water Levels: The water Board will no doubt be lowering the gates shortly for the weekend freshet. This could encourage the anglers to have a go later on this evening and on Saturday. It is worth bearing in mind the loch is now getting lower each day and the weekend freshet will reflect this.

Dont forget to display your trolling buoy when out on the loch.

It goes without saying that everyone must now have a life jacket on board the boat. However the talking point these days is should you always be wearing one? The short easy answer is yes absolutely, you should have your life jacket on at all times particularly when you are fishing from an open boat. We on the Committee have discussed this very issue albeit not at an actual committee meeting as such but between ourselves just as anglers talking to one another. The first viewpoint was that life jackets should be worn when there is a good wave on the loch. The next viewpoint was that they should be worn in any kind of wave. and the final viewpoint was they really ought to be worn at all times and by everyone and every boat. In the end it all comes down to what risk is acceptable to you as the owner of the boat. If you want to take no risks then clearly option three is the only option you have. If you feel you are being sensible about things and have no intention of wearing a life jacket in flat calm and quite possibly hot sunny weather, then option two would be your choice. But what about those who adopt option one who only want to wear a life jacket when there is a decent wave on the loch? Our bet is that a lot of loch users would take that view and feel they are fairly safe, are they safe? The only really safe option in our opinion is option three, wear your life jacket at all times.

Most angling boats have low planks and it is easy to get off balance and fall into the loch. So it would be sensible to wear your life jacket at any time really. Some might suggest they are good swimmers and falling into the surface area of the loch in the high summer is no big deal, perhaps, but there is another real danger. Each time you pass areas on the loch that are busy with speedboats and jet bikes there is a real danger that one of them could smash into your boat. You could very easily suffer head injury or worse be knocked un-conscious and fall into the loch. In that scenario there is no time to put a life jacket on and you could end up dead. How many anglers have had their trolls picked up by jet bikes and speedboats? that would be an interesting survey, but most anglers who troll have had at least one incident and bearing in mind most anglers lures are “less than 20yds” from the boat the danger is there at any time.

Some of you might think that scenario is unlikely. Well some years ago Michael Brady was fly fishing with another member between Inch Cruin and Inch Moan when a speedboat zoomed by them heading into the geggles. It hit the sand with the low summer loch level and the owner of the boat proceeded to attempt to throttle his way out of the sand. Unsuccessful, he then decided to “jump out of the boat” and put his hand on the throttle while trying to push the boat free!! The boat took off and fortunately for the two anglers the speedboat just did a fast circle and ended up back in the sand some 50 yards away. Nowadays these instances of “fast vassals out of control” rarely ever get reported so they tend to escape the attention of The Park Authority. The latest incident happened literally days ago whereupon a speedboat out of control sped towards the Golf Course and ended up in a bunker much to the astonishment of golfers nearby who were said to be running for their lives, is a prime example why everyone should be wearing their life jacket at all times.

One other word of warning. It is the responsibility of the boat owner to ensure everyone who boards his boat has a life jacket. Another important point given the dangers mentioned above, life jackets that keep your head high above the water are essential.

Tight Lines The Committee LLAIA

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Loch Lomond’s prospects is looking up with good reports of fresh sea trout around 2lbs jumping in several parts of the loch. Much larger fish are been seen jumping out on the Clyde Estuary where the bailiffs have been active ensuring that all anglers have valid permits.

This year there has been a real effort to ensure that the “no killing of sea trout until 1st May” was being observed on the Clyde estuary and well done to our new bailiff Chris who has been active in this area along with Eddie. It is important that we ensure that the fish stocks are protected in all areas but obviously some areas require more effort at certain times of the year than other areas.

This has been a busy time for the LLAIA committee with loads of items to deal with and limited resources to complete all the required workload. The water bailiffs have been kept busy with major bankside clearances and maintenance work all being carried out as well as the bailiffing duties mentioned.

Sport over the weekend has picked up on lomond with Alistair Bruce getting a 10lb springer and Alan Robinson taking a fresh sea liced covered 8lb springer just as he took a left turn at Balmaha and started to head down the bank! Another boat had a springer but we do not as yet have the anglers name. Alistair McMillan also took a fish but the weight is unclear. Several boats said it was 11.5lbs and another boat said it was 15lbs, that is quite a difference so we will let you know in due course.

A trolling boat heads for the Endrick Bank in an easterly wind.

It is worth bearing in mind that Saturday was not a good day for fishing with bright sun and flat calm but lomond can and does surprise us in many ways so the catches were welcomed by the loch fishers.

We repeat again just in case there are still anglers doubtful of the facts! On many rivers throughout Scotland low waters prevents the movements of fresh fish into certain rivers partly due to the low flows (obviously) as salmon are very much flow oriented fish and partly because of the low “depth of water” at the mouths of some rivers.The river leven does not suffer from low depths at its mouth which carries a decent depth even in low waters. If fresh fish wish to enter the leven they can generally do so without any impediments. This gives the lomond system a slight advantage over some other systems whereby most salmon have to wait until the water conditions are suitable to enter those rivers.

This next few weeks should give us some guidance as to the runs of spring fish entering the lomond system even though the weather prospects do not look encouraging. Our advice is to ignore the fact that the weather is bright and sunny or flat calm just get out and fish, enjoy loch lomond and allow yourself to be immersed in its great beauty. Lomond is a fabulous loch to spend a day on and lucky are those who can take their boat out each week and get afloat.

The LLAIA new patrol boat has its new engine fitted and as the Americans would say the boat is ready to “kick ass” though the bailiffs will settle for ensuring everyone has a valid permit. The association has invested a lot of its own money on this new patrol boat, new engine, new trailer etc. It will be kept in a secret location that will be known only to the committee and bailiffs. The old boat is for sale so if anyone is interested let the secretaries know. Tel 01417811545. The first £1,000 will secure the sale. The old boat had over £500 spent on repairing the 50hp Mariner engine just two years ago and comes complete with Boat engine, trailer and a large tank of fuel etc.

There will be no excuses for those who have not got a permit or for those who have not renewed their permit. The fact’s are if you go out without a valid permit to fish for salmon or sea trout you are committing a criminal offence and you will be charged!

On the river leven the Saturday was quite busy with a fairly good turnout of anglers. Several fish were reported hooked and lost with more anglers seeing fresh sea trout heading through the river for loch lomond.

As we write this report the Barrage gates are probably being raised and the water level will revert back to summer low. Fresh fish will still enter the leven if they want to so it is always worth fishing as you never know when a run could come up the river and hopefully stop where you are fishing!

The Loch Lomond System continues to offer great value for money and the river leven permit must surely be the best value fishing permit around! With the leven looking better than ever and bailiffing as good as it gets anywhere and far superior to other nearby rivers we can say with confidence that a lot of anglers will be looking closely and considering getting a river leven permit especially so if the good runs of grilse experienced last year (leven full member catches last year was more than double the previous year) are repeated this year again.

Tight lines the Committee LLAIA

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The spring salmon fishing has started well for May with Danny Connelly landing a 13lbs springer at the Washhouse on a flying C on Friday and Alan Pryce landed a springer on Saturday it weighed about 10lbs. Jim McDonald had another springer at 11lbs on holiday Monday.

The water board will be raising the gates today with the level likely to go to plate four, which is summer low water level.

The majority of anglers will probably wait till the weekend freshet before fishing but our advice is to get the single handed fly rod out and fish for a springer with this type of set up. The river leven mouth is easily accessible and offers no real barrier to entry to fish that wants to run the river.

We have very little reports on the loch just now but it does look as though the sea trout recovery is carrying on this year as Denis McLaughlin landed a nice fish of 3lbs which was returned.

Denis McLaughlin with a 3lbs sea trout caught last Saturday (returned)

With the sea trout prospects looking quite good for this year the management is hoping that as many anglers as possible behave in a sporting manner and return most of the sea trout that are caught. Only by doing so can we be confident that we are all playing our part to ensure that sea trout fishing is exciting and Loch Lomond is well worth fishing as a great sea trout loch now and in the future.

THE COMMITTEE LLAIA

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On Monday 28th April between 7.30am and 8.30am the water board lowered the gates to plate two, which is weekend freshet level. This as stated in our last report, was to give anglers the freshet they never received with the clean up over the weekend just passed. On Wednesday the gates were raised again. We have not heard of any springers being caught on the Monday or Tuesday. There were few anglers fishing throughout the river during both days. The water board will lower the gates to plate two (weekend freshet) on Friday and keep them lowered at that level until Tuesday morning. Naturally this will depend on the loch water levels not approaching the 26 ft level over the next few days!

PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS ON RIVER LEVEN CONTINUE

With the clean up a huge success the rest of our planned work program continues! Though the rubbish piles around the sandy hole has still to be picked up by the council. Their lorry was too big to go round that area. We are confident that the council will get the rubbish removed in due course.

Our tireless hard working chairman (Michael Brady) and Eddie the head bailiff who has done some great work so far, has been tidying up various parts of the leven with the use of the LLAIA chainsaw.

Michael Brady doing more “un-paid work” for the association on the leven.

It gives a great deal of satisfaction when you see the improvements after some hard work, cutting and hauling wet logs out of the river as can be seen below, showing the before and after affect.

The tree lodged at the Polaroid Bridge just upstream from the bridge.

What a difference a bit of hard work and effort has made to this area: All that is left is the two boulders seen in the picture.

Other areas have also seen the attention of the big bowsaws or more recently the new chainsaw by the chairman and bailiffs. The area above the Stucky Bridge was extensively cut by the chairman several years ago using very long ladders borrowed from the voldac HQ . No fear of heights when you are twenty feet up though !

This time it was the area below the Stucky Bridge that received some much needed attention.

Below the Stucky Bridge now cleared of overhanging branches and trees.

It is a pity we did not have bailiffs four years ago that were prepared to help out with this type of work. We even tried to shame them into doing some work at the time but they were unenthusiastic to say the least!

Now we have bailiffs only too happy to do the work and see the difference it makes to the river. We hope that situation will remain for some time now and all parts of the system can eventually get the attention they all deserve.

THE COMMITTEE LLAIA

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April 27th, 2008 On Fishing report: James McDonald a regular renton angler caught a springer on Friday at the managers. The fish was covered in sea lice and weighed 8lbs. He arrived and within ten minutes hooked the fish!

Gordon Pollock also caught a springer on Saturday, it weighed 9lbs.

TRANSFORMING THE RIVER LEVEN.

April 27th, 2008 On Saturday the 26th April 2008 the River Leven had its first major clean up since 1997 and 1998. Sure there had been varying small attempts to clean some parts in between these times namely the removal of supermarket trolleys. But this was a mjor effort by the anglers themselves.

The LLAIA had a good turn out on the day in question. Those who care about the river they fish and felt they wanted to do their bit for the system attended and worked hard for at least a good solid four hours of hard work!

Bailiffs Chris and Jason with Duncan Ferguson (committee) clearing the rubbish above Ritchie’s.

It was good to see the chairman had a sense of amusement with this photo though!

Trust our chairman to spot this little amusing piece of rubbish!

As the guys all quickly got down to work it was the River Leven that received some “Spring Cleaning” as many hands make light work. Though we think Chris the bailiff was getting somewhat carried away in this photo below.

Chris decided to get the Hoover out for this part!

We had a good turn out at Bonhill Bridge on Saturday. Members who regularly fish the loch at Balmaha came out to lend a hand as did our chairman Michael Brady and Duncan Ferguson from the committee.

Some of the Renton anglers turning out for the clean up on Saturday.

It is amazing what a relatively small number of anglers can achieve. The rubbish that has been lifted out of the river ranged from a plethora of tyres, several bikes and the usual debris.

The council has arranged to pick up the rubbish we left at the towpath.

The river leven has some cracking pieces of water in these middle sections, in fact the flow over the whole course of the river is what makes the river leven such a great fly fishing river throughout almost all of it’s entire length of about six miles.

More rubbish comes out throughout the river as lads get stuck in!

As we walk along the rivers edge the extent of the work done becomes more apparent.

More rubbish removed by the anglers!

The Sandy Hole part of the river is cleaned up!

There must be a lot of kids without bikes in and around the leven!

We have to say when you take a look at the River Leven after the clean up on Saturday you cannot fail to appreciate what a transformation a simple clean up can achieve.

River Leven Summer low: The leven looking nice after the clean up.

Some parts of the river were really bad for cans and bottles and plastic cups (the cups left mostly by anglers sadly) at the Bonhill Bridge but cleared away by those the anglers that turned up. Perhaps our efforts make up for others bad behavior?

A “New Look” Bonhill Bridge pool is cleared from the multitude of cups and cans.

When you look at the amount of hours some people have spent sitting beside a computer bad mouthing the LLAIA and its office bearers yet they never turned up on Saturday to do any work themselves! it does make you wonder about the type of person that behaves like this though!

The river leven looking upstream of Bonhill Bridge Saturday.

There will be a continuing work program by our bailiffs and chairman throughout next week weather and water levels permitting.

The Craft Stream: cleaner and better looking, lets hope everyone else can keep it this way.

We would like to thank the anglers who took part in the Saturday Clean up. One particular angler is going abroad to live this year and will be sadly missed. Despite this he felt he should turn up and do his last wee bit for the association. What a really thoughtful and kind member indeed. We wish him well and will ensure if he pays us a visit sometime in the future perhaps on a short holiday we will look after him, as he has looked after us.

It is now obvious that the debris cleared possibly amounts to no more than five tons of rubbish on the Saturday. This is a massive difference to the estimated 30 tons of rubbish cleared away from the river in 1997.

One thing that is noticed, is the amount of cups bottles and paper especially plastic bags removed from the river. We are confident that we can keep in check the rubbish and ensure that the river is kept relatively free off rubbish in the years to come. With more caravan parks and leisure boats on the loch the accumulated rubbish does eventually find its way down the leven.

We took a list of the names of anglers who took part. The bailiffs have discounted individuals who did not take part but were just “observing the work done”

Credit to Jack Ferguson though, he made his own effort on Friday and early on Saturday which was appreciated and noted.

Thanks to all who took part on Saturday, a job well done indeed, thank you.

SUNDAY 27TH APRIL.

The bailiffs felt that the area in need of most attention for Sunday was at Renton. For that reason those who arrived at the clean up at Bonhill Bridge were asked to help out in the Renton area as most of the cleaning up around the Bonhill area was more or less done on Saturday. There were only five anglers that had turned up at the Bonhill Bridge area and they decided to work in that area. Hopefully the huge success of Saturdays clean up had prompted them to turn up and do some good which at the end of the day is what we are all trying to achieve! We understand that they cut branches along the glebe area on the far side, which was appreciated.

The Renton area was particularly bad.
There were seven anglers attending the Renton area with the street run the overall worst areas for general rubbish and accumulation of paper bottles and cans etc. This area was bad for builders rubbish which was most evident with the new housing being built in this area. The Polaroid Bridge downstream was and is the worst area for bikes and larger rubbish strewn around this area. A heroic effort was made by Chic McLean who attended again and Angus Souter and our chairman in attendance again too.

Chic McLean and Angus Souter (Chic on the right) a splendid effort by both.

Between them they lifted out of the river an impressive amount of items. Martin Mclimey was doing his “look out” above the bridge pointing out the items and the bailiffs and helped Chris and Jason who were assigned to the difficult task of hauling the stuff up the embankment, a tough job indeed!

Below the Polaroid bridge saw an accumulation of rubbish.

The amount of rubbish along this area was really awful. But it is amazing the amount of rubbish that a small gathering of hard working anglers can remove.

Underneath the Polaroid Bridge was always going to be full of rubbish.

Our fishery manager even put in a show and quickly got to work with one of the litter pickers removing what seemed like an endless supply of rubbish along the Renton street run.

Our thanks to the lads that worked really hard on this particular section.

The Street Run getting a much needed tidy up.

This area would need a few more days with the litter pickers so hopefully we will get Eddie who has been on holiday to arrange further efforts in this area by the bailiffs.

More rubbish from the street run at Renton.

West Dunbartonshire councils containers.
Despite the fact that the “old firm” were playing this Sunday we still had a decent turn out. We reckon another three tons of rubbish were cleared on Sunday. This has been a success but we look upon us as an on-going process from now on to ensure we keep on top of things.

Hopefully we will contact the Park Authority as soon as practical, given that a lot of the litter has came from the loch and again hopefully the council will oblige and get the car removed from the Bucks and also provide regular vehicle pick up patrols.

Our sincere thanks to West Dumbartonshire Council for all their sterling efforts to help in making the River Leven a much cleaner river to look at as well as to fish.

THE COMMITTEE LLAIA

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The river leven clean up is on for definite. Although the loch had risen 2 inches throughout Thursday night. More rain is forecast for Saturday. There is seven inches to play with before the water board would be forced to bring a man out and lower the gates. Hopefully everything should be ok for the whole weekend.

We hope there are sufficient members and leven permit holders to get the work done on Saturday as well as Sunday.

Health & Safety is a major concern. Everyone that wants to help out will have to sign in first. There will be a bailiff at the Bonhill Bridge AT 10am and a bailiff JUST BELOW THE FLOWERS STREAM at 10am at the bottom of the school entrance.

RULES MUST BE STRICTLY ADHERED TO:

The use of chainsaws/loppers/strimmers and any mechanical devices is not allowed. (bailiffs and qualified persons do that type of work)

No lifting of heavy objects. No lifting objects above head height.

No ropes to be used and no grappling irons. (bailiffs will do that type of work)

Gloves will be handed out to everyone and must be worn at all times. Bags will be handed out as well.

Anyone who wants a litter picker will have to sign for it.

WADING: ALL VOLUNTEERS MUST RESTRICT THERE WADING TO THIGH WADER HEIGHT MAXIMUM.

You can still wear chest waders but we limit the safe wading height to as above.

Only confident waders must enter the water! If you are unsure do not wade. Others can fetch the stuff in the river and you can put the stuff in the bags etc.

If you are unfit for this type of work or have any medical condition that might endanger by doing the clean up, then please do not take part!

Be careful at all times and please do not rush about but take your time and observe others who may be in your path if carrying objects from the river to the skips or by the towpath.

If you have any doubts about what you can do please consult the chairman/committee members who will be in attendance.

The association has carried out their own health & safety risk assessment.

Good luck and we hope to see you all there tomorrow and or Sunday.

FISHING REPORT!!!!!! GOOD NEWS

Barrage gates will be lowered to freshet weekend level on “Monday morning” giving you the full weekend period of the freshet from then on……

This has been confirmed by the water board.

THE COMMITTEE LLAIA

This is just a quick message to say that the mid week freshet that we said would take place today and tomorrow will not take place. This is not the fault of the Water Board. Although everything was arranged we were meant to get back to the Water Board to CONFIRM this arrangement and unfortunately the chairman had forgotten he said he would get back to confirm.

This is a massively busy time for us right now with loads of items to attend to all seemingly needing done quickly. Apologies from the chairman to anyone who had went out today (though bailiffs report few anglers out) these things happen ocasssionally!

THE RIVER LEVEN CLEAN UP IS ON FOR THIS WEEKEND!!!!

A BIG thank you to West Dunbartonshire Council. Given the short notice the council has acted quickly and has arranged for the skips to be placed at the various points. The small pick up vans will start to pick up the litter and bags and all items left at the river side later in the afternoon. This will allow our guys to concentrate on getting the “actual rubbish out of the river” and placed on the towpath edges. This will allow more work to get done in the event that we get a lower turn out.

The LLAIA will supply gloves and West Dunbartonshire council will supply bags, gloves and six litter pickers.

This effort costs money particularly for the council. Any anglers who regularly fish the leven really ought to attend. This is your chance to show you care. We can all make excuses political or otherwise but at the end of the day the anglers that fish the river are the main beneficiaries.

Our chairman will be there as will other members of the committee. We do not expect a big turn out on the Saturday but every person willing to help will be a person that cares for the river leven and how the river looks. Sunday should see a much better turn out.

Gloves will be given out at Bonhill Bridge and at the Bottom of flowers stream where the skip is in place at or around 10am on Saturday and Sunday.

SEE YOU ALL THERE THE COMMITTEE LLAIA

CLEAN UP TIMES: STARTING TIMES will be 10am Saturday and 10am Sunday. More details will be available ASAP

THE COUNCIL HAVE AGREED TO PLACE SKIPS AT LYNNBRANE , THE GLEBE AND AT THE BOTTOM OF FLOWERS STREAM JUST BELOW THE SCHOOL ENTRANCE.

We expect to get gloves and litter pickers supplied by the council They will be available at the points mentioned.

We will supply various ropes to attach to heavier objects etc.

If we can get a great turnout over the whole weekend it could avoid repeat clean ups such as these and do mini cleanups thereafter.

The fishing has been slow to start on the leven but the signs are that the fish are starting to arrive in greater numbers. Far better to get the river cleaned up NOW rather than when the fishing is well under way and anglers have to give up a “good days fishings” to attend the clean up.

The water board has lifted the Barrage gates. The water level is now going down to summer low. This is plate four at the slipway below the barrage gates. This is as low as the river gets!!! from a “water order” point of view.

Our chairman has had talks with the water board  with organising the leven clean up over the weekend. The water board has an event on over the weekend so no staff to raise or lower the barrage on Saturday or Sundays. However they will give us the weekend freshet on Thursday and Friday raising the gates on Friday late afternoon. This would allow us to do the clean up over the whole weekend. One day is hardly going to be enough. Anglers that do not wish to take part can fish on but our priority will be to get the river cleaned up for the rest of the entire season.

We would hope that all anglers give a hand but at the end of the day it is up to the individual to help or not. The last two major clean ups in 1997 and 1998 saw very little support from leven anglers for either of the clean ups. The LLAIA had to rely on its full members many of whom had never fished the leven yet they came out to help and do a days work as their contribution to helping the system.

There is no time to inform the membership by post so this website and hopefully some radio newscasts will do the trick.

It is time for the river leven angler to take pride in his river and do his bit to get it cleaned up.

WE WILL UPDATE THIS WEBSITE ON ANY FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS.

The bailiffs are continuing to do the bankside maintenance work as we write this report. We have two bailiffs concentrating on this work throughout this week. Another two bailiffs are organising the boat patrols for a swoop on those fishing without permits on loch lomond. The bailiffs along with Jack Ferguson had removed some trolleys and stuff from the bonhill bridge area today. The council was contacted and to their credit they arrived and removed the offending rubbish. Well done to all concerned.
LATEST FISHING NEWS:

The first fish off the river has been confirmed at 16.5lbs. There are springers in the loch alright. Matt Stewart and his son Alan were out fly fishing at Inch Murrin when a beauty rose right in front of Alan. On the leven the chairman seen a springer on Saturday and two other anglers down at the washhouse saw what looked like large fish plunging at around 7pm.

Catch returns have been completed for last years season and will be commented on shortly on the committee blog. They give encouraging news indeed. Sea trout catches on the loch have more than doubled compared to the previous year.

Salmon catches on the leven has more than doubled compared to the previous year.

The recent reports of two anglers catching twenty sea trout on loch lomond recently highlights the recovery which appears to be gaining strength. Whether these fish were mended kelts or fresh we do not know but it certainly gave the two anglers enjoyable sport.

The committee LLAIA

We have had an unconfirmed report that an angler trolling the loch has landed a 16lb springer when heading back home to Balloch and hooked the fish in the river leven. If this is true it will add further insult to injury for the leven angler as the loch angler has already managed to grab the first springer off the system with a 12 lb fish from loch lomond some time ago and now another loch angler has landed a springer form the river leven.

It was a bitingly cold day out on the loch (or river for that matter) as the cold east wind made it feel more like winter.

The cold east wind: More like winter than spring fishing.

In these conditions the Balmaha anglers have the advantage over the Balloch boats in that they can leave Balmaha and start to fish the Endrick Bank and Net Bay areas almost immediately without having to face the white horses on their way up from Balloch.

The bailiffs were out on vehicle patrol of the loch and noted several “members boats” out trolling without having renewed their permits for 2008. This is breaking the law and committing a criminal offense. Please we will not warn anglers a third time. If members who have not renewed decide to go and fish the loch without having renewed their permit then please do not moan when you find yourself caught without a permit. The LLAIA has invested heavily this year on a new patrol boat and new engine etc. The boat will be out patrolling shortly and will treat all anglers the same. If you fish without a permit expect to be prosecuted!

A balloch boat heading home in much better conditions. 19th April

The river leven was not as busy this Saturday, perhaps the cold east winds had anglers making alternative arrangements. The river was at least being fished with sufficient anglers during the morning and early afternoon. By late afternoon however the river was largely deserted. Our chairman seen a nice springer head and tailing up river when he made a check as he was passing through with the new bailiff patrol boat heading for its engine fit out. That would be at 5pm or thereabouts which sort of vindicates our point that if anglers are not fishing the river then they could be missing out on fish going through. Clearly the time to have been fishing the river leven this Saturday was in the late afternoon and evening period when possibly this was a shoal of fish going through.

The water level indicates that the gates could be raised any day now though it could depend on the weather forecast for the week ahead.

The river leven major clean ups could be taking place next weekend if the weather forecast for the week indicates no heavy rain forecast. We shall just have to wait and see. Decent notice would be nice but hey the weather does not give us such luxuries unfortunately. It would obviously be nice to get the river spanking brand new just ready for the springers over the next five or six weeks. With the Tweed angling fair the following week (3rd and 4th May) it could mean the major clean ups not been tackled until 11th of May. In any case it is hoped that we could run the clean ups consecutively for two or three weeks if necessary. Just keep an eye on the website for updates.

The Committee LLAIA

LATEST LOCH NEWS:

Last year saw a big improvement to the sea trout catches on the lomond system. So far this year it is encouraging.

We had a look at Balmaha Bay mid week as you can see below there were four boats moored and none of them were out obviously.

Balmaha Bay Wednesday 16th April 2008.

It has been slow this spring to warm up with wintry conditions fairly constant and off putting for most anglers. However here is a report from Jim Raeburn below. The anglers concerned were possiblyBob Forshaw and his boat partner, we will check it out and report next week..

Michael,
I was talking to Sandy McFarlane at Balmaha yesterday. He tells me that the two English lads (whose names escape me at the moment) who own the big wooden boat, shown in your recent picture of the bay,’Greylag’ were out last weekend and had over 20 sea trout on the fly off Lonaig. Jim Freeman had a sea trout of 5lb recently but I’ve no further info. All fish were returned. My brother and I hope to get our boats in on Sunday, so the Bay won’t look so empty. One or two other regulars still tidying up their craft and should be in soon. The Balmaha fleet will soon be out there!

Regards,
Jim Raeburn.

RIVER LEVEN UPDATE:
Today Friday the water level is looking good. There are three anglers on the whole river!

What is the chance of a springer old chap! Well that depends? What does it depend on?

Catching a springer is rarely easy on most rivers, it would appear to be much harder on the River Leven this year though!

So far as we know we are still waiting for the first springer to come off the leven. This is late for sure, so what can we make of the situation so far. Well lets examine the facts and whilst we are at it lets look at what is happening on some of the famous spring rivers. Only a fool or an inexperienced angler would compare the lomond system to the likes of the Dee, Tweed or Tay given that most of the beats on those rivers probably cost more for “one day” that what anglers pay for a “whole season” on the lomond system.

When you talk to a variety of anglers/ghillies etc on these rivers they will often give their opinion as to how things are going or what the conditions are like. If you are one of the unfortunate anglers then you might, when arriving to fish your particular beat be told, oh the fishing was good last week but this week we have had nothing off or just one off etc. You could also be one of the lucky ones and be told, oh it is just starting to fish we had three off yesterday and your quid is in so to speak. Then again you could be really unlucky and arrive when the river is chocolate brown and others sharing the beat with you have arrived and are now leaving or they had phoned, told of the conditions and cancelled the journey. So you pay your money and you take your chances on the conditions being good, bad or awful on the day or week you have booked. In salmon fishing there are no guarantees thats for sure but in spring salmon fishing the chances vary greatly depending quite often on how deep your pockets are, how conditions and perhaps how many resident fish there are in the beat (if you are lucky) or more likely how your chances are of fish stopping for a rest on your particular beat.

There are some beats on these famous rivers that rely mostly on fish passing through and taking that necessary breather (a wee rest) before pushing on further up the river. If you are lucky and they happen to stop at the section you are fishing then you could be in for a great days fishing with a springer or even two on the bank. But then again the fish might just pass right through without stopping and your days is blank.

Given that most well known productive spring salmon rivers have a number of rods per beat and are fished either every day (if they have both banks) or perhaps alternate days (if single bank) it usually means that there are a good number of rods out throughout the beat fishing on any particular day. Some chaps might just potter about, but more likely the anglers will fish fairly hard given they have paid a fair amount of money for their days fishing. When you start to evaluate the total number of rods on these rivers combined with the total number of beats it all adds up to a far number of rods all trying hard to catch a springer. One beat may have seen the odd fish but nothing to report, the same with the next beat up, but the beat further up had two off that day as the fish took that necessary breather and the angler fishing on that part is in with a great chance, provided naturally that at least one fish is in a taking mood.

Now back to the leven and some observations on the previous weeks fishing on the leven leading up to the Saturday. There were on average (according to Eddie) about two anglers occasionally three anglers out on the “whole river” on any particular day during the week. it has according to Eddie been like that for many weeks. No fish were caught or hooked as far as we know though a small number of sea trout were taken. On Saturday there must have been at least “twenty anglers” out on the river. There were about six sea trout landed some of them nice fish of 3lbs which were all put back (rule:all sea trout returned until 1st May) one chap John Donnelly had three sea trout to his own rod, Bob Baxter had one at 3lb as well. An angler fishing the Bucks hooked a good salmon which took sixty yards of line in its first run but it got off shortly after that. To save any arguments go figure…. fresh springer?

Any reports of lost fish seem to be about larger fish. But the main point is that with twenty or so anglers on the Saturday we get reports of fish caught and fish lost. With two anglers or maybe three we hear of no fish other than a few sea trout…..go figure.

Taking the number of rods into account and realising that any small shoal of springers could stop anywhere within the river leven briefly before moving on, it stands to reason that two anglers or three are pushing there luck to be fishing in the right place at the right time!

It looks like the spring season is going to turn out a poor one for overall “salmon catches” but lets wait and see. Hopefully another good turn out tomorrow and we could see the first springer coming off the leven. In any case from about now onwards is the best of the spring salmon fishing in any season usually. All we can do is give an opinion on what the situation is up till now, our opinion based on a lot of experience is that it is hard to imagine even with the low rod counts that the season is anything other than disappointing so far……..

The Committee LLAIA.