Fishing Reports

Loch Lomond.

Even with the recent wet and windy conditions, Loch anglers are heading out and finding fish. The Endrick Bank still remains the most productive area for those out on the troll.

Last weekend, 15-16 June, boat partners Bob Forshaw and Paul Davis made the trip north of the border and enjoyed success on the Bank. Paul landed this 10lb salmon on the Friday and Bob followed suit the next day with a 9lb fish at Cemetery Bay.

Both fish fell to the early season Loch fisher’s favourite, the orange and gold rapala.

The same weekend, despite the wet and windy conditions, Scott Sinclair camped overnight. With no luck on the Friday, he set out again the following morning. After a couple of runs past the Endrick mouth he connected with a good sized fish near Net Bay, which when eventually landed weighed in at 11lbs. It had taken a copper and silver toby.

A special mention must go to Voldac member Kevin Gath, who that same day, successfully netted and returned his first salmon of the season, an 11lb sea liced salmon. This fish was also caught on the Endrick Bank and it’s release was witnessed by other LLAIA members. Hopefully more anglers will follow Kevin’s fine example.

Earlier in the month Alex Burns and Donald Smith were out out from Balmaha on one of the calmer days of the month. After spending the morning on the troll they decided to break the monotony and set up the fly rods.

As you can see, the conditions for the fly were far from ideal when Donald hooked into this 9lb salmon at the Ladies Point of Inchcruin.

Alex was not to be out done and his skill with a fly rod produced a fine 4lb sea trout caught in the same area. For the record, each fish was caught on a size 8 silver invicta.

On Tuesday 19th June, Danny Docherty returned to Voldac with a 12lb salmon caught at the yacht club.

That infamous trio of Jace Chatham, Albert Biddulph and Alex Workman headed up the ‘Tap End’ on Friday 22nd June, an area to which they are certainly not strangers by any means.

Their trip resulted in a 12lb salmon taken at Rowchoish showing that fish which have entered the system in the last few weeks are now, as expected, settling in the deeper, colder areas of the Loch.

While Jace and Co. were marauding up at the north end, Alan Price landed his first catch of the year, a 12lb salmon in Net Bay.

River Leven.

This bar of silver was caught on 12th June by Iain Morrison on the fly at McKinnons, in low water and very bright conditions. Samples were taken and it was quickly returned to the river.

On 15th June, Chris Lloyd landed a 12lb summer salmon from the Top Hole near to Haldane Burn.

The combined effect of the weekend freshet and recent heavy rain hasn’t had that much effect on the river level, but things seem to be moving again. It’s reported that on Saturday 23rd June at least nine fish were accounted for.

Pat Casey landed this 17.5lb specimen at the Double Pipes on a gold rapala.

While Gareth Bourhill netted a 13lb salmon, caught on the fly at the start of the Linnbrane Hole.

June saw the tail end of the spring run and as we move into July we can expect the arrival of the grilse and heavier summer salmon. For those who fish the fly, here is Gareth’s recommended pattern.

Any more takers?

Contact Reports at: Web@lochlomondangling.com

River Leven.

A fairly quiet week on the Leven, the spring run now over and the arrival of summer salmon and grilse runs awaited. There are however still numbers of fish entering the system. Last week an overnight bailiffing patrol spotted a small shoal of salmon, all in the 4-8lb range, moving at first light. The fish were closely monitored as they headed upstream at a fast rate of knots, even in low water conditions.

On Monday 4th June, Chic McLean had his first salmon of the year, a 12lb fish taken at Ritchie’s Lade on a black and silver flying – c, which he returned.

Wednesday 6th June saw Mark Gibson land an 8lb salmon and a 4lb salmon from the top pool. Both were taken on the worm. Interestingly, the larger of the fish was fin clipped, the first reported this season. There will be no prizes awarded to those catching fin clipped salmon, but we would like to hear about those that do come to the notice of members and ticket holders. On the same day, Neil McSporran had a 4lb fish from the Street Run.

Loch Lomond.

On Friday 8th June, with a strong, cold easterly wind blowing, Balmaha angler Kenny McDonald set off down the Endrick Bank. There’s been a theory going about that the Bank fishes better with an offshore wind…….  After completing a run down to Net Bay and turning about to head back up the Bank, he was left in no doubt by the screaming of his inside reel, that he was into a fish. Shortly afterwards he netted a fresh, sea liced salmon which weighed in at 8lbs. It took a ‘brown trout’ toby and had been lying in about 4 feet of water.

About 10 minutes later, just to the north side of the river mouth, his inside reel sprung to life again. After playing the fish, kneeling on the floor due to the rough conditions, a similar sized salmon was brought to the net, lure removed and the fish quickly released. Well done that man! A double to the ‘brown trout’ toby, a good pattern throughout the season.

We hear that on Saturday 9th June, Pat Millar returned to Balloch with his second salmon of the season, a fish of 12lbs taken of the south shore of Inchfad on a toby. Scott Pryce had his third fish, a 10lb salmon, at Rowchoish the same day.

On Monday 11th June, Voldac members Billy Quinn and Bobby Paterson both had fish off the Loch, Billy with a 11lb salmon which he caught in Auchentulloch Bay on a green and gold toby, while Bobby netted a 10lb fish.

Anglers out on the drift are enjoying good sport with sea trout. Glasgow University members June Donald and Craig Carr were out recently and had fish several fish over the 3lb mark.

River Endrick.

The first phase of the Endrick clean up took place on Sunday 10th of June. Despite the rainy conditions, four pools were opened up. A large tree was removed at Cowdenmill and the main run is now clear. There were various sightings of a man in a wet suit wielding a saw assisted by another man in a rubber dinghy.

Good effort!

There have been no reports of sea trout in the River Endrick, but Chris Turner and Colin Ferguson have had some good sport with yellow bellied browns up to 2lb.

River Fruin.

The River Fruin clean up continued on Sunday and the with the removal of a very large tree.

Another example of a great team effort………

Gone……

Still too early in the season to expect any runs of fish, but the Fruin is certainly looking good.

Voluntary Catch and Return Policy.

Friday 15th June is the last day of the Volutary Catch and Return initiative. We’d like to thank Mr Paul Devlin of Glasgow Angling Centre for his interest and support. We hope that this partnership may be extended in future projects.

Since the scheme went live, we are aware of four salmon having been returned by anglers. One on the River Endrick, two on the River Leven and one on Loch Lomond. Not great numbers, but it is encouraging to know that some anglers are prepared to make a choice, even without any inducement.

We will continue to post photos of anglers with their catch, but would still prefer them to be of fish being released. Try it………

Contact Reports: web@lochlomondangling.com

Loch Lomond.

On Saturday 2nd June the Loch produced a Diamond Jubilee weekend salmon for Balmaha angler Russell Boyd netting an 11lb fish at Carraig Rock.

This mark regularly produces fish at this time of year and shows that the spring run of salmon is now beginning to move further up the Loch.

Loch angler Gregor Gilmour celebrated the weekend with this fine sea trout. Gregor was out fly fishing on Saturday with Jim Muir, putting his new boat through it’s paces. The fish, which weighed 6lbs, was taken on a dapped daddy longlegs imitation on a drift between the Long and Short points of Inchmoan. It was quickly photographed and returned. A great way to christen a boat.

There are two excellent articles on this website posted by Angus MacRitchie, explaining dapping technique and the tying of the daddy longlegs. An Australian angler recently recently contacted the LLAIA after reading them to find out where he could buy dapping floss. It seems that dapping has never been tried in Oz. Hopefully he’ll let us know how he gets on.

Kenny McDonald took full advantage of the Diamond Jubilee holiday, returning to Balmaha on Tuesday 5th June with a 12lb spring salmon. The fish, which was taken while trolling on the Endrick Bank, put up a spirited fight for about 20 minutes before coming to the net. Regretfully Kenny had to despatch the cock fish as it was bleeding heavily and unlikely to survive. It was caught using a green and gold toby on the poker.

Loch Anglers on Saturday 2nd June.

Bailiff Patrols.

LLAIA bailiffs were on Loch patrol at the weekend. On Saturday 2nd June, a total of 25 boats were checked out. One angler was found to be fishing without a current permit. The lapsed member was warned in no uncertain terms and allowed to continue fishing after purchasing a day ticket.

The bailiff force has now been increased with the addition of three warranted bailiffs. Patrols of all LLAIA waters including the Loch will be stepped up. A further two warranted bailiffs will join the staff very soon and this will include another full time member.

River Leven.

There have been no significant catches reported from the River Leven in the past week. Anglers are hoping that some heavy rainfall will bring a fresh run of fish in from the Clyde Estuary.

River Endrick Clean Up.

The River Endrick clean up will take place on Sunday 9th of June, meeting 10am at the Cowdenmill Car Park. All volunteers are very welcome to attend.

Smolt Traps.

The smolt trap on the River Blane has now been dismantled. The trap on the River Endrick will also be removed.

The traps have been closely monitored over the last two months during the smolt migration. Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust will evaluate the findings and report in due course.

Tales From The Loch.

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, the Loch diary has returned with the latest monthly entry.

EGM/Members Survey. 

All members should have received a copy the Members Survey Questionnaire. We strongly urge you to take the time to complete and return it to us as soon as possible. The EGM will take place on Wednesday 13th June at the Woodside Halls, Glasgow. It is hoped that we will have been able to compile the results of this survey as it will form a basis on which the LLAIA will move forward. Remember, admission to the EGM will only be on production of a current full membership card. We look forward to seeing you there.

Contact Reports at: web@lochlomondangling.com