Some fishy shots (2013 upper Clyde)

                                            
                                                      Early trout season on the Clyde
                        That's me giving it a wee cast on the first pool at Wolfclyde Bridge

 
  A visitor from Holland playing a nice trout which he tempted on a small dry fly.
     After a tentative fight he successfully landed a brownie weighing just under 2lb.

Summer fishing at its best-the Upper Clyde has many trout of this size but you need to get it right to be successful.
Match the hatch-find the fish-- then with an accurate cast - drift your fly at the speed of the current over the rise.
Another visitor enjoying the fishing --- a nice trout-- one of many he caught using a wee Clyde style dry fly.

An end of season brownie tempted on a small beaded nymph.

Into the cold months and its grayling time.
A fine sized fish--one of 6 caught by my fishing chum Garry.

Another year has nearly past on the Clyde.
There is just December to go and  hopefully there is going to be some settled weather so I can venture out on the river.

See if I can add to my blog--
Maybe a 3lb grayling?

Popped out for a couple of hours to Wolfclyde Bridge.
I managed to net two nice grayling, this one 43cm long --just under 2lb I would think.
Its nice to have great fishing on your doorstep.

My last days brown trout fishing in 2013

Its Friday the 4th of October and its my last day out fishing for brown trout on the Clyde until next year.
I only had about 3 hours  so I decided to start fishing at Wolfclyde Bridge.
Casting almost under the bridge I started to progress upstream.

My set up for the day (click on image) 10ft #3 rod - straight through mono to a sighter then 3 weighted nymphs fished well over depth.

The river had come up about 0.6m and it was nice to see a healthy flow of water coming down for a change.
Third cast and I was into a small brownie followed shortly after with another about the same size.
I was now about a hundred metres up from the Bridge nearly at the start of the fast water.
"Flow was getting too strong" I thought.
 I decided to skip this bit and go up to a slower section which I knew had the potential of producing both good trout and grayling.
It didn't take long before I was into a 0.5 kg trout then a grayling, another wee trout and then suddenly I hit into a better fish.
 At first I thought it was a big grayling but after the fish took loads of line and me having to chase it some hundred metres downstream.
I was eventually rewarded by netting a lovely trout of just over 1kg.

I would think that this is a hen fish and the one on my last entry is a cock fish.
     All getting ready for their breeding season.

 

A quick snap, then back into the water and seconds later it was away swimming strongly.

I carried on fishing for another hour or so and had another one of just under 1kg.
4 small trout and a couple of  0.7kg grayling

A great day to finish the 2013 trout season-I thoroughly enjoyed my few hours on the Clyde.
I think I will have a couple of weeks break then it will be out on the river again trying to catch a few grayling.

From Boat Bridge to Roberton Burn

5 years have now passed since my return to fly fishing.

Looking back

My very first cast with a fly rod was a long long time ago on the Water of Leith at Bonnington Bridge Edinburgh

Then as a 14  year old I expanded my fishing out to West Linton where I would spend many a long summers day on the Lyn Water.

I would explore every inch of the river looking for wee trout and grayling, going all the way down to Romanno Bridge for a bus back home.
Then at an age of 17, other things started to occupy my thoughts.
My fishing days were halted for a while as my interests had changed.
However I knew that this wasn't going to be a permanent decision.

Someday I would once again cast my fly, where and when I couldn't say, but I knew that my passion for fly fishing would return.
Things were tough in Edinburgh in the mid  sixties, so I moved down to the "Bright Lights" London, to get work.

I stayed there for 44 years.

I did take up fishing again - for carp and tench-roach, bream, etc and had some very enjoyable days fishing in many great rivers down South England, but not with the fly, that was yet to come.
 http://flymanpete.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/eat-sleep-enzine.html

So I am back in my hometown of Edinburgh, my mother sadly passed away April 2011
I miss her.

If you have been keeping up with my blog you will know that I am still fishing my favourite spots on the Clyde and enjoying it immensely, I am up here in Scotland for good, I have no intention of going back down South.
The river Clyde has so much to offer, although there are no salmon or seatrout where I fish the brown trout and grayling make up for them a hundred fold.
I am mostly to be found fishing the Lamington section of the rive
 ( Boat Bridge to Roberton Burn)
http://www.lamingtonfishing.co.uk/

However I do sometimes venture further up river to Abington and Crawford which is  UCAPA water.

Ucapa Fishing Home Page

The Upper Clyde has so much great water to fish, I don't feel the need to try other rivers,
I will be happy and content to spend the rest of my days where I am.

The trout season has nearly ended and it will soon be grayling time.
So I can continue to fish the river I love.
I can fish into the winter and into next year.
That's if the Scottish weather ain't too harsh-- I love my fishing, I may be keen--but sometimes its just too cold wet and windy to venture out.
So a nice warm pub-a couple of pints-some nice malt whisky --comes to mind.
Sit back relax, and think about the year gone by and look forward  2014.

Some pictures from 2013

                                Boat Bridge Thankerton--The start of Lamington water.

The rules of the river Wolfclyde Bridge (maybe a reason why the fishing is so good ?)

Lamington Bridge-- Miles of fantastic fishing, go up or downstream, a great place to start and explore the river.

A nice hard fighting 2lb brownie a pleasure to catch as there was only 5days left until the end of the 2013 season. 

Again another 2lber- this time a "Lady of the Stream" caught the day before.
I hope to get many more through out the grayling season.

You don't have to go far from the Bridges to catch whoppers like this.

I hope that I am able to enjoy my fishing on the Upper River Clyde for many more years to come.
Its a lovely river, running through unspoilt Scottish countryside at its best.
Why don't you give it a go?
You may come to love it like me.

Its getting near grayling time

Its not been a good year for me-the trout have played hard to get.
The start of 2013 season saw the grayling feeding well into June, and for me anyway, I found it hard going trying to catch a decent trout.
The ones I did catch were about the 0.3kg mark and they were far and few between.
I did hook some biggies but never managed to get them in the net--the Clyde trout seem to have a knack of twisting and turning and unhooking themselves.
The river has been heavily silted and up to the other day its been nigh on impossible to fish nymphs on the bottom, but the rain last week cleaned the river up a bit.
So yesterday it was down to Wolfclyde Bridge to have a go for whatever bottom feeders were about.
The wind was blowing over my left shoulder, upstream, ideal conditions for fishing nymphs on an indicator, so I headed for a section of river just upstream from the bridge to give it a go.
This part of the river is slower and with deep runs, a good holding spot for both trout and grayling.

I spent all of the afternoon going up and down this section of river resulting in a catch of 3 trout and 6 grayling the best being the one below- topping the scales at exactly 1kg.

 

                                       A nice chunky grayling poses for the camera.

My set up: 10ft #3 Marryat rod. Orvis Battenkill BBS 11 reel with floating line.
                  1.4 m tapered leader to size     # 8  hi-vis klinkhammer on a short link.
                  1.5 m to top dropper (0.150m) #16 tungsten silver beaded nymph, red body.
                  0.4 m to mid dropper(0.150m) #16 tungsten gold   beaded nymph. red body.
                  0.6 m to bot. dropper               #14 tungsten  silver beaded nymph.black body.
                                    All barbless hooks tied to 6x tippets.
With an average depth of 1 to1.5m  it was essential to get the flies upstream and across far enough for the small nymphs to get close to  bottom as quickly as possible.
As the indicator came towards me I could see the movement of the fly as the nymphs tripped the bottom.
There was no missing the takes--with most of the fish grabbing the middle dropper.

Well we are getting near to the end of the trout season--just 2 and a bit weeks to go.
There is still quite a bit of surface activity-
There is time left for me to catch a big  "Clyde broonie"on a dry.
I will give it my best.

In Canada for a little break.

My first exploration to the local nature park--phew it is hot but I'm prepared-  plenty of sun cream on but I forgot the mozzie spray, I bet the buggers will home on to me as I'm a big target for them.

                                               

                                                     All ready for a walk on the wild side

I am into my first week of my 4 week holiday over here in Canada.

I am situated way down south of the country on the banks of  Lake St Clair near the mouth of the Belle River. Just down from me across the river is Detroit City USA, next stop further round is Lake Erie---- a big big expanse of water.

Ain't done any fishing yet- maybe next week- mean time I am doing a bit of bird spotting,the odd snake, chipmunk, ground hog and whatever--- plenty of wild life about in this part of Canada.

Into my second week of my holiday.

The weather has been hot and humid with downpours in the evening together with thunder and lightning. Not the type of conditions to be outside too long unless you have a big sunshade to protect you and a nice ice cold beer or two to cool you down. Mind you all the bars/ pubs are air conditioned so I've been spending some of my time cooling down in them - you have to sample the local brew --don't you.

No fishing yet, the Belle River is high and dirty and the spot that I usually go at the mouth of the river is unfishabe-- it maybe ok in a few days providing we don't have more rain.

So I will just have to put up with the hot weather for now. Keep my self refreshed sit back in the shade and think of Scotland.

Today I'm going to attempt a 4 k walk to the local marina to see if I can charter a boat to do a bit of bass fishing.

There is no rain forecast but its still hot and humid at 26c 

Going to be sweaty but there is a pub at the end of my trek, so I will soon cool down.

Well, I started to walk but soon found out that it was madness.

It was hotter and more humid than I thought  I was knackered, so a quick phone calI saw me picked up and driven straight to the bar for a much needed pint of the local brew. 

A welcome site that greeted me as I walked in the door of the local watering hole.

It took me some while to cool down.

So I have been in Canada for 2 weeks now-- half way through my holiday and i have still not been fishing.

I've been having a great time with my daughter and grandchildren so what the heck that was the main point of my holiday anyway----too see them.

The fishing is secondary, maybe give it a go this coming week, my rod hand is getting itchy.

Booked a charter boat for next week, have to give it a go I suppose.

The weather is that hot, I hope it cools down a bit, I don't fancy a long session out on the lake in 90f, it would kill me.

Last time I was out on St Clair we trolled for musky, caught a few but I thought it was a bit boring, not my cup of tea, I prefer the hands on fishing.

The trolling is very technical and there is a lot of skill involved ( by the skipper) but me, the angler, just sits there,waiting for a fish to grab the lure, then reels it in.  Not for me.

We are going to do some bass fishing this time, so I am looking forward to it.

Hopefully I will have some pics. to post on my next entry.

I am now coming into the third week of my hols, a whole week and a few days left, then I'm on my way back to Scotland.

After the thunder storms of last night the weather has finally cooled down a bit and I will need to confirm with the skipper the day I would like to book for my long awaited fishing trip.

It's still going to be hot but not as bad as it has been with temperatures over the 90c and very humid, the forecast is mid 70c for next week.

The cost to charter the boat for the day is $500 with a lesser option of $300 for a half day trip.

I would think that the half day one would do me, I don't think that we will be travelling far, so a couple of hours fishing would be OK.

Or should I not bother,

Leave the fishing till next time, maybe just go and drop a line off the wall at the marina if the river ain't belting through too much.

Had a call from the skipper saying that he was available in the morning.

As I was the only one booked to go, he said he would take me at a reduced price.

I accepted his offer and I would look forward to meeting him at the local marina.

Fishing at last

We steamed out from the marina for about 20 minutes heading for a feature that runs from Belle River out into Lake St Clair 

I think he said it was called "The Hump"--- an underwater ridge that heads NE..

"A good spot to catch Bass" he said.

I sat in the boat in anticipation, waiting for the skipper to give the go ahead to drop my line.

The skipper was right-- it was a good spot to catch bass--dropping my rubber lure to the bottom it was only  5 minutes into the drift when our rods were bent over-- we were into our first fish of the morning.

The pictures tell the story of my trip from Belle River out into Lake St Clair.

Into my first hard fighting small mouth bass

A nice fish of about 3lb

The first of many netted that morning.

I don't normally take fish for the pot but I was told that these were very nice to eat, so I had to try the local produce. A couple of nice fillets, some French fries with a salad, all washed down with ice cold beer, Thats what was going through my mind as I posed with this nice brace of small mouth bass.

 

A big thanks to skipper Art Thibert and his brother Rob  http://www.reelhappycharters.com

I finally managed to get out fishing and caught some nice fish.

Just a week and a bit left of my holidays, lets see if I can catch some more fish.

Well its the last Sunday of my stay over in Canada, 4 more days and I am off back home.

The temperature has dropped down to 18c, a pleasant change from the stifling heat.

Today will be the only day left that I will get my grandson and his dad together to go fishing.

I'm going to try and teach my son in law the basics, so he can take him when I am way.

We arrived at the marina to find it a bit windy and not too warm, in fact there is a chill in the air.

There was no one fishing at our favourite spot on the wall at the mouth of the river 

( the Canadians are late risers and some anglers turned up soon after we started fishing) 

We cast out our rod, sat back and waited for a bite.

We didn't have to wait long before the rod tip pulled over and we were into our first fish

        A nice fresh water drum ( the local name for them is sheep head)

The fish put up a good fight bending the light rod left and right as it tried to escape the hook.

My wee lad held on tight and with a look of determination in his face pulled the fish up the marina wall safely into his grasp.

Not a big fish, just a bit of excitement never the less.

Not nice to eat, so back it went to fight another day.

One more fish was caught, a little perch, before we decided to pack it in, the lad was getting bored and wanted to get back home to play with his chums.

As for his dad, he took the photos and seemed to have enjoyed the short time we spent fishing, but will he take him out when I am away ? only time will tell.

Well that's it, my holiday is finished, packing my case now all ready for my return home tomorrow.

It's going to be a long winded trip back. 

Coach- plane-bus-coach and finally bus ending up about 200 yards from my wee "Buck and Ben "in Edinburgh.

Going to be tired when I get back and of course the dreaded jet lag which usually takes a couple of weeks for me to recover, but I will eventually get back to my usual routine.

I am going to miss my daughter, grandson and granddaughter -- better not forget my son in law--I love you all.

I will return next year.  Byeeeeee.

 

The one that got away ( Sorry--No pictures)

It's the last Saturday in June and there is just 2 days left before I am due to fly across the Atlantic to Canada for my eagerly awaited months holiday.
"So why not get down the river and give the trout a go" I thought.
"The weather is good and with everything sorted for my holiday, it would be a shame to waste the day."

I had been experimenting with some small dry flies (having progressed from tying bugs)
The #19 barbless hooks were about as small as I could manage and with a few c.d.c feathers, yellow thread and a couple of fibbets, my efforts resembled something like an emerger.

I had tested them in a glass of water and they sat through the surface film looking good,
but would they fool The Clyde,s wily brown trout ? I was eager to put them to the test.
 A short drive along the side of the Pentland Hills, heading down and through  Biggar, I was soon parked up at my favourite fishing place on the Clyde at Wolfclyde Bridge.

The spot I had chosen to start fishing was just 200 metres upstream from the bridge, there always  seemed  to be rising fish there and today was no exception,
 "A good place to try out my efforts." I thought.

A 10ft #3 rod with a 12ft tapered leader down to a 6ft 6x tippet ,was the set up for my attack.

In the past I had been having trouble when  picking up the fly from the surface, it always seemed to be sodden.
The reason I soon found out was that my fly line/leader had been sinking resulting in the fly being pulled under the water on the retrieve. 

This time I coated the fly line the leader and half of the tippet in muslin, so it would all sit on the surface.

The last 3ft of tippet I applied leader sink to try and sink the remaining line to the fly.

All looked good and after a few casts I was happy that I had solved my problem.

I was now able to flick the line off the surface keeping the fly dry.

I sat back to work out my line of attack.
The water was no more than 18" deep with maybe an extra foot towards the far side of the river.
I knew by past experience that the trout were very spooky here, I would need to keep my distance and a long cast would be necessary to succeed.
The breeze was coming down stream so I decided I was going to approach up stream of any target and let the fly be first to go over a feeding fish.
The conditions would make it difficult to make an upstream cast and in any case

I'm not the best of casters, I am always frightened of spooking the fish with the fly line.
I had been watching  the Italian style of casting on YouTube and with some practise, finally getting a double haul ( of sorts) into my rhythm , I was feeling confident that I would now be able to get my fly to any rising fish with some control and hopefully fool the trout into taking my offering.

I had spotted some rising fish in the middle of the river, so I decided to start off entering the water some way upstream of them and keeping low, gradually work down to them.
Everything looked good, by throwing a bit of slack in the line and making an upstream mend, I was able to get a good 8ft + of dead drift .
The fly would then swing round in the flow and I was then able to pick up the line well out of the way of the fish and re- cast.
I spent some time targeting these fish but to no avail, I just couldn't get any of them to have a go at my offering.
As I sat back on the bank wondering what to do next I noticed a rising fish close to an overhanging bush on the far bank.
I had seen decent fish being caught in the past from that area and decided it was worth a go.
I once again entered the water some way up from the spot and started to cast as I moved across and down to my target.
I knew that I had to put my fly just above the fish without spooking it and dead drift it into its feeding zone.
I gradually inched my way across the river and at half way decided that if I was to approach further the fish could spook and dart to cover.
I perfected my long cast and on the first go I got it near perfect but had no take.
My second attempt was again spot on and as I held my breath and watched my home tied wee emerger pass over the spot---it was sucked under -- I lifted the rod -- it was on.
Success at last, but my initial feeling was this ain't a fish of any size its just a tiddler.
Then my #3 rod bent double, my catch must have woke up, it head downstream--I held on not wanting the fish to get into the current.
I couldn't quite see the fish, just a lot of splashing----this wasn't a tiddler this was a proper fish.
I tried to get some line back but it refused to come upstream towards me.
A cry from the bank by a passing fellow angler was. " it's a good fish mate"
I nearly shouted to him to stay put as it would be nice to get a picture of my capture to put on my blog but I decided not to tempt fate.

Then suddenly--
The line went slack--damn! it was off.
"Hard luck mate" from my spectator."

" You couldn't have done much about it"

"You had a bit of excitement though" he shouted  "We'll done"
My wee hook was still attached to my tippet-- it wasn't bent -- my hook hold just couldn't have been good enough.
Maybe I was too hard on the fish? Maybe I should have gone downstream towards it? Maybe eased of the pressure? but if I had done that the fish could have gone into the faster water making things even more difficult.
I sat back on the river bank and contemplated the result.
I then fished on for a while but no more takes.

As I finally drove home I thought "what the hell " that was a success, the guy was right, I had got a bit of excitement in the fight.
 I had fooled the fish and it was with one of my first ever home tied dry flies.
Just the last bit was missing -- I don't know how big it was--- definitely well over a pound--2lb--3lb?
No picture to put on my blog--- just this story "the one that got away"
I'm on my hols now.
But I will be back as keen as ever.
To my favourite spot on the Clyde.

"Welcome back to Scotland" Guys

            All tackled up and ready to do battle, these lads have come over from
            Europe to pit their wits against our wily "broonies."
            Peter, Berd, Reiner, Jan from Holland and far right Ismo from Finland (via Wales)
            are all accomplished dry fly fishers. They are all looking forward to sampling one
            of Scotland's best wild brown trout river here on the Upper Clyde
      

            Arriving on the 7th of June to an unusually hot spell ( for Scotland anyway) clear
            blue skies, very little wind and with 3 full days fishing it was going to be tough,
            but these guys were up to it  and were soon into fish.

 

 

A wee dry fly - a long fine tippet - a delicate cast to the far bank - a drag free drift.

That was the method for their success.

 

 

Keeping down low and getting ready for the cast to a rising trout.

 

 

It was a long day but just as the light started to go-now was the time to tempt a shy fish or two.

 

 

 

 

That's why they came all this way.

  To catch  bonnie wild trout like these from

 Scotland's River Clyde.

 

 

Although the conditions and  fishing wasn't easy for them this year, I hope they had a great time here in Scotland and they will return again next year.

I bet they will. 

Summer is here at last

Well its now June and things are hotting up here on the Upper Clyde.
Plenty of specimen brown trout are being caught by those prepared to hunt their quarry, put the distance in and spend a bit of time on the river bank.
With hatches of flies sporadically throughout the day, you have to be there at the right times to succeed.
At the end of a nice summers evening its worth hanging on for the biggies to start feeding as the light fades.
The Lammington sections of the river are by far the best, but there is no fishing on a Sunday which means that you would need to go on UCAPA water if you want to wet a line.
The post office in Abington is one of many outlets that issues tickets (its open on a Sunday)

Ive been out a few times, searching the river up and down from Wolfclyde Bridge with not much success. My bugging methods,whether it be by french nymphing or czech nymphing ain't working, not for trout anyway but getting plenty of good size grayling.
You need to fish the "wee" dry fly--stalk your fish---that's how to succeed at the moment.
That's what I should be doing but I still don't feel confident with my fly work, casting and presentation is lacking I think--maybe I'm just getting too old for it all now.
Still I am enjoying my fishing up here in Scotland can,t think of a better place to be.

Sorry I ain't got any nice trout to show, but heres me again standing in the middle of the river looking up stream with my back nearly touching Wolfclyde Bridge.
Another nice grayling caught on a beaded nymph
( This is definitely the last post with a grayling picture on it.)

I,m off to Canada the end of the month to see my daughter and her family.
I will be taking my grandson to the mouth of the Belle River, Lake St Clare.
Just sit back on the wall of the marina, drop our lines and catch whatever comes along.--- Bliss.

May 2013

 

 

                 This month has seen snow, rain, high winds, temperatures well below the
                 average and we now have a downpour, so the river will be un-fishable for the
                 next few days.
                 Since I have started fly fishing this is the worst start of the trout season
                 I have known.
                 Scotland is not the best place in the world to be for good weather but this year
                 so far has been dreadful..
                 Its now the middle of May and I have now only managed to get out 4 times
                 this month.
                 My tally so far is 2 brown trout over the 0.5kg - 3 very nice grayling
                 over 0.65kg-4 trout released at a distance.
                 (off before netted, all well over 0.5kg ) and one blank day.
                 Ive had plenty of offers(when the fish are rising that is) on the dry- but I
                 haven't managed to hook up with any yet.
                 I am getting lazy in my old age and I don't venture far, all my fish have been
                 caught in sight of Wolfclyde Bridge.
                 When the weather improves I must get a move on and explore the river.
                 My trout were taken on a selection of North Country Spiders and the grayling
                 were caught on a selection of beaded nymphs (home tied)
                 Its not all bad news though, the river is in fine condition and the average size
                 of fish caught is around 0.5kg.
            
                There have been some biggies caught- one of 2.4kg with many over the 1.kg.
                The larger trout are taken by anglers who are prepared to wonder some
                distance along the river in search of a big rising fish.
                The most successful method has been a small Clyde style dry to imitate the
                hatches of large dark olives, March browns and iron blue duns.

                The river Clyde has not come into its own yet--give it another week or so and
                the fishing should be at its best.
                So my friends from Holland who are coming over to Scotland the beginning of
                next month are in for a treat.
               
                

At last-I catch a trout

                         Not a monster trout, but worth a little snap, as it was my first of 2013

My sixth visit to the Clyde and I finally catch a trout-in fact I had two-a result at last.
Ive caught plenty of nice grayling since the start of the trout season but now they have stopped feeding, its their breeding time, so I wont see many of them again for two or three months.
Both the trout came to a beaded gold ribbed hare-ear nymph fished "New Zealand style " only the two takes in 5 hours fishing so it was hardly an action filled day.
There was a hatch of olives, LDO,s I think, early afternoon-it lasted for about an hour,with a few fish rising I went on a dry fly.
I had six offers but no hook ups--don't know what they were doing to the fly-was I too slow or too fast -who knows?
The river is in perfect condition, so all we need is a bit of warmth to get things going and i,m looking forward to putting on my shorts, getting a bit of nice sunshine for a change.
Its certainly been a long winter but I now feel confident that summer is just round the corner--the birds are singing and busily making their nests.
The local osprey has returned, a great sight to see--watching him/her dive down for fish.
So the river is now livening up-- I am looking forward to many fishing trips this summer on my favourite Clyde.

A long long Winter

 

 

In my sixty sixth year now and enjoying my fishing up here in Scotland.
A day on the river- maybe catch a fish or two, then back home to a couple of pints of beer, followed by a home cooked meal.
I can go fishing all day- every day, if I want
Don't need to work anymore  "Bliss"
How bad is that.

Its the beginning of April and I am wondering when Spring is going to arrive.
The trout season started on the 15th of March and Ive only managed to get out twice.
Once on open day and again the other day.
Its just too bloody cold to be venturing around on the river.
This time last year I was in shirt sleeves and shorts, global warming? - strange - whats happened to the warming bit?.
Anyway! they say that its going to heat up next week, so I look forward to that.
I haven't managed to hook up with any trout yet, but I have been getting plenty of nice grayling .       
They say its the close season for them and you shouldn't target the species - I don't know if that's correct, I didn't think there was a close season for grayling.
They have provided me with excellent sport when times have been hard and none have been killed, all of them have swam away strongly.

Nice 1lb + grayling- this one and three of her chums warmed me up on a very cold April day

 

 

Here's me trying to get an action shot- not very good.

I must try and improve my camera work.

 

Looking forward to the weather warming up and getting amongs the big Clyde broonies.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

My favourite spot on the Clyde

 

 

 

Wolfclyde Bridge on the A72 Nr. Biggar South Lanarkshire

Water controlled by  http://www.lamingtonfishing.co.uk/

Miles and miles of  river through lovely countryside.

 

 

 

 

Looking downstream towards the bridge

A great place to have a go with the dry fly.

A long cast towards the far bank is needed to have a chance of hooking a spooky trout.

 

 

Looking down through the arch towards the pillars of the old railway bridge.

A good place to shelter from the rain and have a chat with fellow anglers.

 

 

 

That's me--Having a cast by the bridge.

 

 

 

A visitor from Holland into a nice fish just down from the bridge.

 

 

There he is--a quick picture and safely returned.

 

 

Some visitors from Holland.

They all had a great time and vowed to be back in 2013

 

 

The river Clyde is a fine trout and grayling river.

What better a place in Scotland is there to start your fishing holiday.

From Wolfclyde you can explore the river, going up or down stream for miles.

Or should you just want to relax-take it easy-have a chat.

Just cast your fly within sight of the Bridge.

There's some nice fish lurking there.

 

Looking foreward to 2013 trout season

Ive been back from Canada for over 2 weeks now and haven't been able to wet a line.
The first few days back saw me trying to recover from jet lag, so I never attempted to go out on the river.
 (it takes me ages to adjust back from the time difference)
After that it was snow and freezing conditions that kept me away.
With only 2 days left now to have a go at the grayling, the snow has gone but the river is high,

Update-- Lamington water is now closed and it will not open again until the trout season starts on the 15th of March.
I can carry on fishing for grayling further upstream on UCAPA waters, which no doubt I will do, but the fishing isn't as good as my favourite stretch of the Clyde at Wolfclyde Bridge.
So I have a month and a bit to set my plans and look foreword to this coming trout season,
So what were my successes of last year?
 Most of my time was spent czech and french nymphing and both methods caught me a lot of fish.
I didn't manage any big brownies, my biggest being just over the pound, with my largest grayling topping the scales at just short of 2lb.
I didn't, as I had originally planned, spend more time fishing the dry fly.
That's the method that produces the big trout:
From early season the tactics are to wonder up and down the river bank looking for the rising trout.
Cast my wee fly upstream of  him - in expectation of hooking one of the Clyde's big broonies -- 2-3 or maybe 4lb of pure muscle--- I,m getting excited thinking about it.
Yes! that's what I am going to do.
From the start of this coming season I will leave most my nymphs behind and just concentrate on the dry fly and some spider patterns for sub-surface fishing.
I will rig up my 10ft #3 Marryat ( a great rod- I used it most of last year) it will cope with both methods.
So for now I am going to be doing a lot of fiddling around with my fishing gear, tie a few flies and maybe buy some not needed bits and bobs -just bide my time until the start of the new season.

Holiday all but over

Just a day left here in Canada and its the long track home.
That's the worse thing about holidays, they come to an end.
Getting a lift from Lakeshore to Windsor-bus to London-45 mins stop- then change bus and on to Toronto
6hours 30 mins flight to Glasgow- airport bus to Buchanan St - bus to Edinburgh city centre- then finally bus to my home- should be indoors by mid-day Thursday 10th January-knackered.
I suffer terribly from jet lag so it will probably be a good few days before I am back to tip top form.
I hope the weather is going to be good so I can get out fishing my favourite Clyde, I have missed it.
Well, its been a restful holiday,
Most of my time was spent, shopping, building Lego with my grandson and playing over and over and over again "Gangnam Style"on YouTube for my granddaughter.
I was presented with some nice food, compliments to my daughter.
Must get back into training, to get rid of the Xmas pounds.
Watched the local bird life on the garden feeders-- house finches, chickadees. juncos, mourning doves and a crafty Cooper's hawk who dived down and snatched one of the unsuspecting diners.
Done my usual trip to Bass Pro and kitted myself out with some nice clothes and the odd bit of fishing tackle.
Paid frequent visits to the local bar-- think I am one of the regulars now.
I went over to Canada 3 times last year.
This time for almost 4 weeks, I thought it might have been too long a stay but the time soon past.
I will miss them all.
Next trip over could be the beginning of August - hot weather and a bit of bass fishing---that will do me!

Into my last week in Canada

It's -5 c today and I had decided the only thing worth doing was to spend a couple of hours in the local bar.
Well it ain't quite local, it's about 3 miles away.
I've walked it a couple of times but today there was just a little too much snow and ice about.
My daughter suggested that she could drop me off about a mile from the bar, then go off and do her shopping.
I gladly took up her offer and was duly dropped off just after 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
With just the short distance left, I would soon be in the warmth of the bar.
Well so I thought.
I had walked about 200 yards when a sudden panic hit me "O my God " is it going to be open.
It's been opening later in the day around Xmas and New Year.
Is this going to be one of them.
10 minutes later there the pub was.
"Yip," fking shut.
Doors all bolted- not a sole about-- bloody shut-what the fick am I going to do now.
It was 2-30 and the sign said not open until 4pm
Freezing cold, standing outside the only pub within 20 odd miles and it was shut-what a prick!
"Nothing for it" I thought- cant get hold of my daughter, she's miles away shopping, I will have to pass the time away just walking about.
"Think I will retrace my steps and have a look down the marina - only thing to do"
Decision was made-- off I went.
The walk kept me warm and I soon arrived at the marina.
A frozen Belle River looking stuck in time as it joined the ice covered Lake St Clair.
"It's a very different place now " I thought. The last time I was here it was +30c and the place was bussling with fishermen.
There was just one car parked up by the deserted marina, all the boats had been pulled out, presumably by the owners, to be covered over to spend the winter in their back yards or drive ways.
Wonder where the owner of the car was, I couldn't see anyone, probably walking his dog I thought.
As I was about to turn and head off I spotted a movement out on one of the jetties.
Theres a guy out there sitting on a box - Wow!!
A guy was out there fishing, all on his own
I must have a look at this-
Out I went, carefully negotiating my steps on the frozen jetty towards this lone angler.
Funnily it wasn't too cold out there, the marina jetty was sunk down a bit and was out of the light but very cold breeze.
He was well wrapped up and looked quite comfortable sitting there by a small hole in the ice holding his miniature rod.
"I don't expect to catch anything"he said- "maybe, who knows' they may be biting today.
" Better here than indoors stuffing myself with festive food and drink"
I knew just how he felt.
I spent ten minutes with him talking fishy things,turns out he was from Poland and had been in Canada for 20 years.
" I love my fishing, cant get right out on the frozen lake yet" he said
But give it another week or so of this cold weather and I will be out there.
" Yip I love my ice fishing."
"Better you than me " I thought
"Tight lines to you" as I deserted him to make my way back to the pub.
"It must be getting near to opening time."

I asked him-should you catch a big fish - how would you get it through that small hole in the ice--   he just laughed.

No chance of me doing any of them.

 

 

A pint of Michigan stout- Yip your right it is in a jam jar.

Something to do with Hill Billies.

It tended to drip a bit from the threaded top, but it was nice.

Looking forward to a new trout season

It's January 1st and I am over in Canada spending the festive season with my daughter and family.
Another week to go, then back home to Scotland.
I have been keeping a weather check on the river conditions and it looks like I have not missed much.
No fishing over here this time, although I have seen guys at the mouth of the Belle River with their rods out -- there doesn't look like they are getting much action--they look as if they are freezing--I've done it in the past, out in sub zero temperatures, but too old for all that now.
I've been looking at the fishing over here up near Toronto, looks good for trout on the upper stretches of the River Grand, late spring ,so I may arrange a trip - must count my pennies first.
Anyway when I get back there will be to the end of January to fish the Clyde at Lamington, then it closes unit the start of the trout season in March.
So hopefully I will try my hand up at Abington and Crawford on UCAPA water -- see if I can bag a grayling or two.
Looking back on last years trout season on the Clyde, I had a few trout, not big, but a good size 10oz to 1lb and a bit maybe, so I am quite happy with that but they were mostly all caught on the nymphs only a handful on the dry.
So one of my resolution for next year is to get out right from the start of the season with the dry, see if I can bag a biggy, that's how they seem to come out--early season on the dry.
My other resolution is to try and take better shots-learn to use my camera properly- if I am going to have a blog I must be able to post decent photos on it.
Hopefully my next post will be of me with a nice winter grayling but if not, I am sure I will have some nice reports of my start of season trout catches.