The things you do for a pint

On my way to the pub

Across the field

Just round the corner

Not far now

Nobody in the garden

Hope it's open

I'm going to enjoy this

A perfect pint for a winters day

What a change in the weather.

Woke up this morning and looked out of my bedroom window to find a blanket of snow.
I am glad I filled up the garden feeders, musnt forget my feathered friends.
Hope this is just a brief snowfall and not the start of a long spell like last winter as I would still like to do a bit of fishing before this year is finished. It was only last week I went fishing on the Clyde and what a glorious day it was for the end of November.
Caught this little grayling just by Wolfclyde bridge.
Looking forward to catching some big ones.

Back to the Clyde

It was a lovely November day,I had to take this shot

No wading today-deep water

My best grayling to date

Its been an up and down week weatherwise.One day it's wet,then another day its dry but windy and when it looks OK to go to the river its in spate and not fishable.
Anyway, there was a break in the weather,the river was on its way down, so I thought I would give it a go.
Got to Biggar around mid-day to find a few cars parked on Wolfclyde bridge.
The nice weather had brought out the anglers "Its a big river so there would be plenty of space for me" I thought. Besides it would be nice to meet fellow fisher's and have a chat.
At normal river levels you would be able to get in the water to fish,but not today.
The water was up to the grass banks and I had to be careful that they wouldn't collapse.
I had my life-jacket on but the current was very strong-I don't think it would save me.
Managed to catch one good fish,which I returned to the river and went home a very happy man.

Nice November day up the pond.

I was going to go to the Clyde today but after checking out the river water levels and finding that they were still a bit high, I decided to venture up the pond instead.
My mum had been pestering me about a trout for her tea, so I decided to give it a go,must try and keep my mum happy musnt I.
First it was into the hut to make a hot coffee and a bacon roll, while having a good look out the window across the water for rising fish." Nothing moving-so its going to be a bit hard" I thought.
Pushed - out in one of our rowing boats to mid way down the pond and gave it a hour or so -changing flies every dozen casts with no luck.
Moved a couple of times and ending up at the top of the pond without a bite.
It was now mid afternoon,I had been on the water for 3 hours and I was getting a bit cold.
Although there was very little wind and it was a cloudless sky,when the sun gets low, the temperature plummets.
"Looks like my mum is going to be disappointed today-I will start rowing back towards the hut and maybe give it another half hour near the moorings.Last chance." I said to myself.
First cast- bang! I was into a good fish-short tussle and safely in the net.
"My mum will be pleased with me" I thought, while walking across the field to my car.



A nice 2lb blue trout caught mid November 2010.

The River Clyde near Biggar

A nice little spot to catch trout and grayling.

Looking upstream to Wolfclyde Bridge.
The pillars you can see just before the bridge are all that is left of the railway bridge.
I must look up the local history of the line to find out where it came from and where it went.
It was said that Wolfclyde Bridge got its name being near to the spot the last wolf in Scotland was shot.

Wildlife on the pond and river

As well as being a fly fisher I also take an interest in wildlife ( a birdwatcher ex-twitcher)
So if the fish aren't biting I can just sit back and enjoy the surroundings.
When on the pond I can see our resident swans,moorhens and coots.
If I am lucky a water rail
(heard in Spring but seldom seen)
In the air- buzzards,sparrowhawk and peregrine falcon.
Occasionally if I am really lucky get a sight of the osprey
(a far better fisherman than me)
Redstarts,grey wagtails, crossbills and kingfishers all come to my pond.

On the river there are dippers,wagtails and kingfishers.
Mink (not wanted - an accidentally introduced animal that can decimate fish stocks, ground nesting birds and water voles) could do without them.
Early morning or late evening,if you are very lucky you may see the otter fishing along the river edge.
Being a fisher/birder I get the best of both worlds and I feel fortunate to be within easy access to some wonderful places.

My trout pond

A nice 5lb + brown trout caught by me on a lure at the end of the season 2009

The biggest brown trout that we have stocked was no bigger than 2.5 lbs.
So this fish must have been in for a few years.
The big browns are seldom caught until late season.


I belong to a syndicate who have the lease on a 7 acre pond south of Edinburgh.
Fishing is mainly by boat-but there is a few spots where you can fish from the bank.
The pond has its own wild brown trout and we stock twice a year with rainbows-blues and browns.

When the rivers get hard and fish are scarce its nice to be able to pop down and catch some big fish (though never guaranteed) but my heart is in river fishing,especially the Clyde.

One of our members helping the stocking of double figure rainbow trout end of season 2009

A bit of progress

Ive been at it for a few hours and-well! you can see for yourself.
I think that I have got the gist of it-well! enough to start anyway.
So no looking back-"watch this space"

Tenkara trout

Brown trout caught on the dry fly at Wolfclyde Bridge, end of season 2010.
The 13 foot Tenkara enabled me to present my fly over a faster part of the swim and the fish took first drift.

Tenkara grayling

Grayling caught on a nymph at Wolfclyde Bridge
start of season 2010.
My first"Lady of the river"using my Tenkara.
It wasn't a big fish but it gave me a bit of a tussle on the pole.
There is a technique to landing a fish on the Tenkara-I will need to learn it-fast.

Will I be able to work this out?

I have registered my blog, so now its only a matter of following all the instructions which is not going to be easy for me as I am computer illiterate.
My grammar sucks and I cant spell,so what hope is there for me to be able to complete this task?
Time will tell.