Fishing Reports

River Leven.

Despite fluctuating water levels the Leven continues to produce good quality fish. A few reports may escape our notice, but this one certainly didn’t ‘slip through the net’.

Vinny McMenamin landed this beauty at the Bonhill Pool on 24th May. He was using a self tied fly on a single handed rod. It weighed approx. 16lbs and was returned.. Vinny’s catch has been authenticated and he can expect to receive £40 of Glasgow Angling Centre vouchers very shortly.

Other recent catches include: 28th May, Derek McKenzie (12lb) returned. Jack Ferguson (12lb) returned. 29th, Alan Pryce (13lb). Alec Doey (13lb) Top Pool returned. Alec’s catch is also being considered for GAC vouchers. 3rd June, Keith Adams, (10lb) Street Run on the fly, returned.

Loch Lomond.

The run has now entered the Loch with good numbers of fish coming to trolled lures, particularly on the Boturich and Claddich shores, Endrick Bank and Auchentullich Bay.

On 27th May, Frank Caldwell boated this 13lb bar of silver on the Endrick Bank.

28th May, Balmaha boatman Joe Brown with a 12lb springer landed at the Ross Isles, showing that some fish are already heading up to the deeper, colder water.

30th May, happy Balloch boatman John Bell with his first fish of the season, weighing 13lbs,taken in Auchentullich Bay on a copper/silver lurgan. Makes up for a blank season last year.

Stewart McBean with his first salmon of the year, 10lb, on the Claddich shore.

Other Loch catches include: 23rd, Donald Brown (14ll). 24th Euan Slowic (8lb) returned. 28th, Danny Dochetry (17lb) Claddich shore. 29th Jackie Millar (12lb). 30th, Brian Follett (14lb). 31st, Stuart McBean (10.5lb)., Paul Dorrian (11lb). Rab Strachan (13.5lb). Daniel Gray (19lb) & (7lb). 3rd June, Mark Lees (11lb) St James Bank/golf course.

River Endrick.

In our last update we mentioned that it was still early days for the Endrick. However, on 28th May, after some overnight rain, Malcolm MacCormick and Chris Turner decided to head out in search of the first salmon of the year…or two…or three..

In less than two hours Chris landed two absolute crackers weighing 14lb and 10lb……

releasing both back in to the system. Chris also landed the first salmon on the Endrick last year.

Malcolm hooked into a 10lb springer seen here jumping out of the net……..

……before it was carefully returned…..Great stuff!!!

Members and ticket holders are reminded that all fish that are dispatched must be tagged as soon as possible with the numbered tags issued. The tag must also be clearly showing in photos submitted for inclusion in the Reports section……..unless the fish is being returned of course!!

JR

Contact Reports at: reports@lochlomondangling.com

River Leven.

Over the past fortnight the Leven has been fishing very well with good sport being enjoyed by anglers on the fly, spinner and worm.

On Saturday 11th May there were at least four fish landed including this 16.5lb springer, caught on the worm by Andrew Casey at the Haldane Burn.

Malcolm Campbell with a 15lb spring salmon caught at the Glebe on the fly.

David Sunman jnr with an 8lb springer on a cascade fly at McKinnons.

Sean McAulay landed this 12lb, sea liced  spring salmon on the worm at the Piles.

On Monday 13th May sport continued. Mike Palmer landed this 15lb salmon on the fly at Factory Wall and Sam Burgoyne (10lb) at the Top Pool which was released.

On Tuesday 14th May, Tam Mitchell landed his first salmon of the season at the Glebe. Here’s his story. Angler in distress..damsel to the rescue.

‘ I left the house about 6.00pm en route to collect my wife from work via the Glebe. Fished down the straight at the rear of the church, half dozen casts but nothing doing. Moving on to the bend, after two casts I had a take and up the river it went. My heart was jumping at this time as I had left my net in the car. I was in a real panic until a lady walking along the path with her dog’s approached and asked if I had caught something. She did a bit of fishing herself and asked if she could help land it for me. In great trust I handed her my car keys and she returned with my net landing a 12lb fish. A big thank you to that lady!…………….’

The very same day, Neill Sproull connected with this fine 13lb springer on the fly at Bonhill Pool.

‘Struck lucky at last this evening with a 13-14 pounder from Bonhill Pool. Sea liced and took a size 9 Ghillie just above the Cables. Expertly netted by Alan Pryce and photographed by Jack Ferguson. The fish was returned’.…. Well done Neill!

15th May, Derek Hughes has similar success at the Bonhill Pool with this 14lb springer coming to the fly. A bar of silver indeed! Once again a spring salmon was released back to the river.

There are further reports of fish caught and released by Sam Burgoyne (12lb) and (10lb) returned. Scott McFarlane (14lb) returned. 17th May, Billy Quinn (13lb) double pipes, returned (above). Jim McDonald (12lb) returned.

Also on 17th, Chic McLean lost a good fish at the Bucks and then landed this 15lb springer, returned. Shortly afterwards, Hugh Russell had a 14lb fish at the top end of the Street Run.

18th May, it was Colin Smith’s turn for some rod bending stuff at Bonhill Pool…..

…..resulting in the capture and release of an estimated 14lb spring salmon…..

…..sent safely back on its way.

20th May, John Little (13lb) Chapel Hole on a flying c.  Ally Barrowman (10lb) Stuckie Bridge, flying c, returned. Tam McBride (10lb) Stuckie Bridge. 22nd May, Ian Quinn (9lb) Linnbrane Hole, returned. 23rd May, Ally Barrowman (15lb) Back Stream, returned.

22nd May, Peter Ingram is captured by our bailiff Colin, playing a good fish, caught on the fly at McKinnons.

A good 13lbs in weight, it was quickly photographed……

……and another of our spring run fish is returned into the system.

The most recent report we have had is from David Sunman snr, who on 27th May, not to be outdone by David jnr, landed a 9lb fly caught springer at the Garden Stream. It as taken on a Bann Shrimp.

Unfortunately the gates closed yesterday, but the Loch is still at a good height and the unsettled weather may produce enough rain to see them open again before the weekend…..we hope.

Loch Lomond.

May started off very quietly on the Loch with nothing reported over the first Bank holiday weekend. Last year it was towards the end of May before the spring run filtered through and some good sport was enjoyed by loch boatmen, well into June. But there are fish about…..

Saturday 11th May, Balmaha regular Geordie Fyfe has his first fish of the season. Weighing in at 22lbs and almost as deep as it is in length, it’s a memorable start to the season.

‘Saturday 11th was quite windy, blowing south westerly, so I headed along the bank down as far as the pumping station, about turned back  towards Balmaha for the third time and the poker rod let out a scream – fish on! After about 10 mins of getting tossed about the boat the fish broke the surface. A cracking 22lb Salmon came to the net, what a fight!’  Wee Geordie.

Other lucky boatmen this month include: Scott Pryce (13lb). Russell Boyd (10lb) returned. Craig John (10lb)

River Leven.

Last weekend the river was at a good fishing height with catches of spring salmon continuing on Bank Holiday Monday, 6th May.

Alec Doey landed a (13lb)springer at the Haldane Burn on the worm and Stephen Gilfeather (12lb)salmon also on the worm at the top pool.

Alec’s fish with sea lice-and tag-attached.

Brian Ward landed this spring salmon (15lbs) the same day at the Double Pipes. There were numerous reports of good fish lost including a 20lb springer from Chapel Hole which was dropped at the net.

More reports have been received of sea trout going through the system. Graham Dunsmore contacted us with this report:

‘In the last couple of days 8th/9th May, I’ve been enjoying great sport with sea trout on the Leven.’

‘I wasn’t able to fish for any length of time either day but managed 7 sea trout (all returned of course!) to the fly with a couple more lost. 

All between 3/4lb to 1lb 8oz. Not big sea trout but the largest one fought spectacularly and until I saw it, thought I was playing a fish of approx 3 or 4lbs!

I can’t remember getting sea trout on the river like this at this time of year for many years.

Interestingly only one had a single sea louse. Some were fairly lean, very bright looking and suspect that some in fact were well mended kelts.

This makes me wonder – are some of the sea trout now running later and spawning later?

I’ve attached a pic of one of approx 1lb 4oz.’

Thanks for that Graham.

On Tuesday 6th, due to the height of the Loch, Scottish water dropped the gates and the river turned into a raging torrent. Some anglers did persevere and we hear that Scott Laird (15lb) and David Watt (13lb) both landed fish at the top pool. There is an unconfirmed report of a further salmon landed and possibly four lost. This morning the river remains high, but is beginning to drop back slowly.

There’s a good chance that quite a few springers will have passed through into the Loch and spread out……. there’s no truth in the rumour that the gatekeeper is on the Loch fishermen’s payroll!

LochLomond.

A good number of Bank Holiday boatmen out on the Loch, the bailiffs estimated at least twenty hopefuls out on the troll.

 Most boats were seen patrolling the Boturich and Claddich shores, and of course the Endrick Bank.

However, there were no reports of fish landed into either Balmaha or Balloch.

Even though conditions were fairly calm a few fly fishers were on the usual drifts.

Andrew Gilchrist had a near miss at the Ladies Point with a salmon rising to the fly.Unfortunately it didn’t connect.

Although the Loch surface temperature is still sitting around 8C, fly fishers are having sport with sea trout around the islands. Colin McCrory boated a fine 5.5lb specimen on Saturday and other Balmaha boats reported good catches of finnock.

River Endrick.

No more news from the Endrick, but bear in mind that the first salmon came off in May last year…..

Membership Fees.

Just a wee reminder to those who have still to raid their piggy banks and gallon whisky bottles:

‘Any Member who has failed to pay his Annual subscription by the 1st day in March in any year shall be held in arrear, and any member still in arrear by the 1st day in June in any year shall, in option of the Committee, cease to be a member but shall, notwithstanding, be liable for all arrears. Members subscriptions for any season must be paid before they fish.’

It’s getting near that time …………

JR

Contact Reports at : reports@lochlomondangling.com

River Leven.

During the second half of April the Leven stayed at a good height, the Loch having been topped up by some real heavy downpours. There were several reports of fish moving  in the upper reaches, but with no reports of catches it was apparent that they weren’t staying in the river for any length of time. Then on 29th of April at the stroke of twelve, after being open for a fortnight, the barrage closed and the level fell back.

The month of May arrived and on 2nd we had the report of a 12lb fresh fish to Chic McLean on the fly at the Street Run. This was Chic’s first fish this year and if his performance over the past few years is anything to go by, won’t be his last.

Saturday 4th May saw some real action on the river. John McGinley was fishing down from the double pipes when his season began with an 18lb spring salmon.

Bailiff Colin McFadyen was passing and seeing the commotion in the river went to Robert’s assistance….

A further two reports followed. Ally McGhee (10lb) at Pikey Hole on a flying c and John Donald (10lb) at Dalquhurn Lade. This should be the beginning of the main spring run and undoubtedly we’ll hear of more catches from the river very soon. Members and ticket holders are reminded that all fish which are despatched must be tagged. We ask that the tag is clearly shown in any photos of fish submitted for posting.

Loch Lomond.

Reports from the Leven indicate that good numbers of sea trout have been making there way into the Loch. This is indeed good news for Loch fly fishers.

Iain Morison has been out on the Loch a few times recently, enjoying good sport on the usual drifts.

A few of these fresh fish can provide a good day’s sport.

The Loch is at a good height just now for fly fishing and those out on the troll.

But it’s still very cold. Fresh southwesterly winds can make things rather uncomfortable on the east side of the Loch, which is exactly where Loch boatmen want to be at this time of the year. Although there has been an armada of boats out over the past two weekends, there have been no further reports of spring salmon caught. They’ll come soon enough.

Members will already be aware that the bailiffs have been active on the Loch. This presence will continue, with regular patrols midweek to ‘sniff out’ any unlicensed anglers….

JR

Contact Reports at : reports@lochlomondangling.com

Loch Lomond.

The springers have arrived!… The first spring salmon from Loch Lomond this season were caught on Saturday 20th April by Ernie East (7lb) (pictured above) and Gary Millar (10lb). Ernie’s fish was taken off the Long Point on the south east shore. After a spirited fight Scott Laird lost a good sized fish off the Claddich shore. The Loch has been fairly quiet recently, but this most welcome news will undoubtedly spur a few more loch boatmen into action.

Balmaha angler Scott Sinclair reports:

‘Had my first day out on Saturday, plenty of sea trout getting caught. I think most of ther lads at Balmaha had some action to report when they came in. I had three, christening my new net with this one which weighed in at 5lbs. It was caught on the north side of Inchfad on a rapala and safely returned. Not a fresh fish but in good condition. Not a bad result for day one, long may it continue!’

River Leven.

Despite good water levels at the weekend, their have been no further reports of fresh fish caught. Today the Leven was dropping back slowly and although the Loch has been topped up we’ll need a few more good downpours to ensure that the gates stay open.

JR

Contact Reports at : reports@lochlomondangling.com

River Leven.

And then the rain came….at last! This morning the SEPA website showed a considerable rise in the height of the Loch and that the Leven’s bones have been covered up again for the meantime.

This was the scene at the Haldane Burn today at lunchtime, a bit dirty but we can’t complain. The Loch has now reached a level which should see the gates open and the news from our bailiffs is that all five will open gradually tomorrow between 7am and 3pm. With more rain forecast for next week could this be the break that we….and the springers have been waiting for?

Last weekend fish were seen moving at the Bucks, though were not for giving themselves up. This river regular was spotted recently at the Double Pipes with a good bend in his rod, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

SEPA staff were out on the Leven last week testing their new toy for measuring water flow. Hopefully it’ll have plenty to measure this season.

We don’t often hear from anglers out on the estuary but Robert Alexander reports having landed and returned three fresh sea trout at Cardross making it a worthwhile day out.

Loch Lomond.

The tides out at Balmaha Bay……..any Loch regulars looking at this photo will realise just how low the loch has fallen. No reports of fish into either Voldac or Balmaha but a few regulars have been out after sea trout. Each season at this time there are some really big specimens landed. Who knows where they disappear to for the rest of the year……….

River Endrick.

Colin McFadyen has been busy again improving the upper Endrick. New bridges and stiles that he has constructed will make access much easier. An Endrick work day is planned for Sunday 21st April, meeting at Coolies Lynn Bridge at 10am. Refreshments and gloves etc will be provided. All welcome. Leven cleanup weekend will take place in early May, depending on the weather and water height.

Glasgow Angling Centre Sponsors Spring Catch and Release.

Mr Paul Devlin of Glasgow Angling Centre has again agreed to sponsor our ‘release a springer’ initiative. Every angler who catches and releases a spring salmon before 31 May will receive a £20 tackle voucher from GAC and the LLAIA will increase this to £40. All claims should be forwarded to the committee for decision and must be witnessed and supported by photo or video evidence.

This could be your lucky weekend…..

JR

Contact Reports at : reports@lochlomondangling.com

River Leven.

‘Return’ of the Spring Salmon.

The landing of the first spring salmon of season 2013 was reported on Saturday, 30th of March. The fish, weighing 9lbs, was caught on the fly at the tail end of the Street Run by John Low. It was quickly photographed and returned to the river, indeed a very sporting gesture. John has just recently returned to the Leven after several years absence. Well done sir!

Photographs of the fish have still to reach us, but it’s capture has been verified. It took this Willie Gunn variant brass tube fly.

The first spring salmon last year was fly caught at Stuckie Bridge……also on Easter Saturday! What are the odds of that happening?

Needless to say the word has spread on the system like wildfire….

with a few hardy souls braving the cold easterly wind to wet a line…

Where there’s one there’s bound to be  more……..

Loch Lomond.

Only a few Loch boatmen ventured out over the holiday weekend. The bailiffs reported seeing less than a dozen craft each day. Still very cold on the water, but the news of the first spring salmon will encourage a few more anglers out of hibernation.

Next month should see spring fish begin to enter the Loch in numbers. The bank holiday weekends at the beginning and end of May usually produce salmon and big sea trout to boats on the troll. After the cold winter, it’ll probably be a while before the water warms up sufficiently to please fly fishers.

Due to the lack of rain recently the Loch is very low, much lower than some have seen for years. So if you do head out, be mindful that underwater hazards that don’t normally pose a problem will be much nearer to the surface. We all know that high water isn’t good for the Loch boatman’s cause, so at least when the heavy rains do come it’ll take a bit longer for the Loch to fill up…………

JR

Contact Reports at : reports@lochlomondangling.com

River Leven.

A very quiet fortnight on the Leven with only a few fresh, liced sea trout reported. Due to the Loch level, the gates closed on Monday and the river is at a summer low. The above photo, sent by Bryan our bailiff, shows the level at the Black Bridge on Tuesday, very low and partially iced over. No sign of  rain in the weather forecast for the next few days either and unlikely that the snow melt from the hills will raise levels much. We’ll just need to sit tight and pray.

River Endrick.

The system may be quiet, but there’s a power of work going on out there. Our bailiffs and volunteers have put in a lot of hard graft. The construction of the car park at Mill O Glenboig was a major task.

With a lot of effort and bailiff Colin McFadyen’s expertise…..

this square of rough, muddy land was transformed….

in to a sound, level car park………..

…..which will allow parking for four vehicles.

On behalf of the members, a big thanks to Colin and the volunteers for their hard work. it’s very much appreciated.

One job completed and on with another. At the end of last season Colin began erecting new stiles on the Endrick.

Several other sites requiring similar stiles have been identified and work, which is well in progress……..

…. will be finished very soon. The programme of improvements to access, removal of obstructions and bank maintenance will continue  on the Endrick over the next few weeks before we move on to the Fruin. Plans for the River Leven clean up will be announced shortly.

Loch Lomond.

The bailiff boat has been out on the Loch already and it’ll be a regular sight this season, not only on weekends and public holidays.

The new bailiffing strategy will allow for more time to be spent on Loch Lomond during the week by our full time and volunteer staff. With the spring run due any time, Loch anglers will be getting their boats spruced up, engines serviced and lures prepared, but don’t forget guys, you can’t go out there without a current permit….our Treasurer awaits.

Obituary.

It is with much regret that we announce the passing on 13th March 2013 of Malcolm Prescott. He was a member of the Association for many years and a regular on the River Endrick. Malcolm was a kind, friendly man who always had plenty of time for his fellows anglers. He will be sadly missed. Our thoughts at this time are with his family, to whom we offer our condolences.

It has been announced that Malcolm’s funeral, to be attended by family members only, will take place on Wednesday 27th of March at Cardross Crematorium. A service of remembrance will be held in Killearn Church at 1.00pm for friends and anyone who wishing to attend.

JR

Contact Reports at : reports@lochlomondangling.com

River Leven.

Since opening day the Leven has been fairly quiet with only a handful of anglers on the banks during the week, but busier on Saturdays. Accordingly, there have been few reports of fish seen or caught apart from kelts.

New member Jamie Strachan took a wander up the river last week to get to know some of the lies and soon found himself into a decent fish at the ‘Double Pipes’. However, when the fish was netted it was found to be a kelt.

At the weekend six junior permit holders, including Aiden Montague, Josh McKeen and Lewis White had their first day out on the Leven this season. Lewis landed this 10lb well mended kelt at the ‘Hole in the Wall’, which was carefully returned to the river to spawn another day. Aiden and Josh had  similar ‘success’. Good to hear that there are some keen, responsible, young lads on the river and we hope they enjoy their season.

Still early season and it’s been a few years since the first springer was caught in February. However, one angler is adamant that last Wednesday he saw a good sized fish heading up river towards Chapel Hole. So you just never know……

Bailiffing.

Our full time bailiffs, busy as usual, have found an increase in anglers fishing for sea trout in the Clyde Estuary without permits. Very recently a group of six, who were spinning at Rhu, were warned in no uncertain terms. Needless to say, patrols of the Estuary have been increased to detect further offenders.

Earlier this month, two males appeared at Stirling Sheriff Court charged with poaching offences at the River Endrick’s Craigbell Pool. Both were found guilty and fined. This incident was the result of a joint bailiff/police operation.

The first of our new vans has now arrived, decked out in LLAIA livery. It will already be a familiar site on the Estuary and River Leven. The majority of our patrols are carried out overtly and what could be more noticeable than this?

From time to time the bailiffs find themselves involved in incidents requiring emergency service assistance. To distinguish them, they have now been issued with high visibility caps and vests.

Water Levels.

Over the last fortnight there has been very little rain, if any, and the levels have been dropping back slowly. Today the SEPA website shows that the River Leven has dropped back to 1.22m and the Loch down to 7.98m. The weather is to remain dry for the next week so it’s inevitable that Scottish Water will close the gates. Last season started in a similar vein. Very little rainfall at the beginning, but by August Noah was seen sailing his Ark past Dumbarton Rock….

unfortunately none of these blighters were aboard…………..!!!

JR

Contact Reports at: reports @lochlomondangling.com

Endrick Work Party.

Early season is a good time to get some work done and last Saturday’s weather window provided an opportunity to tackle the removal of the fallen trees at Drumtain.

The band of budding lumberjacks assembled on the bank and wasted no time in setting about the largest of the three…

…quickly reducing it to logs.

A well earned lunch break……

then on to the second ……

……which was quickly dealt with.

The third  has been stripped of it’s branches……

…….ready to be removed with the use of a tractor when the ground firms up.

Work parties focusing on all aspects of riverbank maintenance will continue throughout the season on the Leven, Endrick  and Fruin. Dates to  be announced on this webpage. Just turn up on the day. If you’d like to help out and are available at short notice, please drop the Chairman an e-mail on our ‘Contacts’ page.

A tree-mendous days work guys!

JR

Contact Reports at: reports@lochlomondangling.com