"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.