The Committee’s Blog

It is always greatly satisfying for your committee to see the LLAIA going from strength to strength as each year passes by.

It is also nice to see fish stocks producing good sport for anglers on the loch for a change. Increasing our stake in the fishings by purchasing stretches of salmon fishing is crucial for us to ensure that whatever work we do for the system we have not done so without at least ensuring we have guaranteed fishing for our members in the future.

Increasing migratory fish stocks is uppermost in many fisheries agendas nowadays. Achieving success by carrying out planned improvements whatever those improvements might be has never been easy, in fact very few fisheries have managed to significantly improve their salmon and sea trout stocks over the years. Whatever method or combination of methods are used to improve the fish stocks, there will always be those who think you have got it all wrong and they have the answers. We believe you only get out of the fishery what you put in, unless your fishery is blessed with extensive and outstanding areas for fish to spawn and a habitat that is suitable for the purpose.

For a number of years now we have carried out our own stock enhancement work and have been quite pleased with progress despite the set backs we have mentioned in the past (SHEEP DIP) which are happily sorted and less likely to occur in the future.

The main challenge for your committee now is to see if we can up our game in the face of increasing negatives in the marine environment and closer to home in the freshwater environment and do what most other fisheries have not been capable of doing and start to significantly increase our fish stocks on a year on year basis with the odd mishap that is naturally occurring in nature.

We hope to ensure that our current good years are our poor years and that the good years are much better than anyone could envisage under the current climate.

We are pleased with the Douglas project so far. We now have five miles of water utilised with young salmon fry. We are very pleased with our current progress this year with our other plans. The whole committee are confident that what we are doing now will give us the best opportunity to increase our fish stocks and to enable us to do so on a year on year basis. Our target is to beat each decade of catch returns moving from the lowest decade to the next highest until we reach the seventies and who knows even the sixties. Many of our members laughed when we first took over the running of the LLAIA and the system and declared that we would pay off our debts and eventually start to buy our own fishings. No one laughs now ……..do they.

As each year moved on we were making good progress and every year since then we have continued to make progress. Last year some members became impatient believing that the money the LLAIA had saved each year was not being spent. Patience is a virtue, little did they know that we were indeed making every effort to secure fishings and any setbacks we had would eventually be overcome.

Now look at the LLAIA. We are fast becoming a far more professional organisation gearing up for the future with confidence.

The new LLAIA van signage: A more professional image now standard.

This is the first van to get the signage. The rest are following within this next few days. All three vans will help to promote the association and the system. Spreading the word that the association offers some of the best fishing available for the price and a well run management team ensuring that the waters are well looked after compared to other waters.

The sign of a well run organisation: The new look LLAIA vans.

This new image and professional look is now standard throughout our operations with the new bailiffs patrol boat and engine looking the part. Our members must surely be starting to be very proud to be part of this association.

Investing for the future: The new LLAIA Bailiffs Patrol Boat 2008

This website continues to improve with absolute cracking articles on trolling for salmon with tobys. How to fish the sprats and how to dye them. A classic article on dapping and how it is done. The latest edition how to fly fsh loch lomond for sea trout.

The killer flies? What works and how to fish them: See the article on fly fishing.

We hope to have more articles to cover the Endrick and fruin and the river leven. We are developing and improving all the time. New members can now access vital information.

Fishing loch lomond is made easier now by the deal made between LLAIA and the boatyard at Balmaha. No need to purchase a boat or worry about moorings. For £300 per year we can get you a hire boat to use virtually every day between a maximum of three members joining together. That works out at £100.00 per season! Grab the deal now and enjoy some superb fishing for the next 14 weeks.

The hire boats at Balmaha: Boats that are reliable just use your own engine or hire one.

IMPROVEMENTS TO THE RIVERS:

RIVERBANK WORK: The bankside work that was carried out out on the river leven earlier in the year has highlighted the ever increasing needs place upon the llaia when managing such a huge area of riverside.

Riverbank Work is one area that can only be addressed by the llaia committee or bailiffs when time allows. Hence a lot of good work was done recently on the river leven. Some people seem to forget that the committee function is not to see that all the stretches are all manicured for members to fish. Nice as it might be there are far too many more important things to deal with that take priority.

The committee will balance the cost of all work to be done and all necessary preventative work. crucial work such as bailiffing and enhancement type work such as hatcheries and stocking take priority and rightly so.

There are projects that are important though and require our attention. That is why we continued ahead with the Cowdenmill fishings parking for our members this year.

We used 40 tons of type one aggregate: Making the car park at Cowdenmill fishings 2008

A member tries out the new car park: July 2008 Cowdenmill fishings LLAIA owned.

As well as the 20 tons of stones and 40 tons of type one we also laid down galvanised wire mesh to lay the stones on top. The area was all strimmed and weed treated prior to the laying of stones. Though we suspect that annual weed treatment will be required.

The entrance area at the barrier has been cut and pruned/strimmed to improve viability.

There is still plenty of work reqired to do on this new stretch now owned by LLAIA but that will wait for the time being as other matters get attended to first. It is important that members can park their cars now and at least fish the stretch which is over one and a quarter miles long.

We will be extremely busy over this next couple of weeks. Night bailiffing patrols and so forth are essential. So please do not expect the incidental work to be attended to over this period. Currently the runs of fish have been most encouraging this year so far. It looks like the summer salmon runs are continuing and could even merge nicely with the arrival of our grilse runs and sea trout runs. Things are indeed looking good for the rest of the season. We will give another report in the next couple of weeks but please appreciate the committee has its hands full with the new project well underway.

THE SCOTTISH GAME FAIR: The Scottish game fair was held last weekend. We are pleased to report that member Ryan Brady (chairmans son) entered for the Juniors Trout distance /salmon distance and trout accuracy competitions on the Saturday and won the Juniors distance salmon casting competition and the accuracy casting competition. The tackle used was supplied by the sponsors Orvis.

The trout distance was won by a cast of 38.3 yards, Ryan was second with a cast of 38.2 yards. the rod was an 9ft 6 inch Orvis and Orvis wonderline.

The salmon distance was won by Ryan with a cast of 49.6 yards. The salmon distance was with a suppled 15ft Orvis rod and standard Orvis spey line. As far as we gather no junior has ever cast more than 42 yards at previous competitions.

On the Sunday competition the organiser’s decided to change the rod used for the salmon distance to one of 13ft. This was because the marker buoys only extended to 45 yards which would make it difficult to judge any distance beyond that. Long distance casts would then be restricted by the rod length. Ryan’s cast on the Saturday prompted this change of tactics.

Member Ryan Brady wins the Challenge trophy at the Scottish Game Fair July 2008
Ryan chose to enter the mens section on the Sunday giving another Junior the opportunity to win something.

The mens salmon distance casting competition on Sunday was won by Ryan with a cast of 41yards. Ryan also won the mens Challenge trophy for the most points on all three categories. The rod used was 13ft supplied by Orvis with an Orvis fly line.

Well done young man.

PROMOTING THE LLAIA: Several new members took advantage of Ryan’s offer to give them free tuition when they join the LLAIA. It is important for our association to encourage the right type of new member to our association and we are certainly moving in the right direction in this area.

New Memberships taken out through the secretaries (generally about 90% of total) are up from the previous year. The committee fully expect the association will prosper in the years to come.

Tight Lines The Committee LLAIA

All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

The accounts have now been completed and will when time is available be sent out to all of our members as a proper report and newsletter combined perhaps. Your committee has been busy moving the LLAIA forward and since most decent minded members are happy with this approach as well as being delighted with each years accounts there was never any panic to get this years accounts completed. The accounts show another excellent year for the LLAIA as members have come to expect these days. It is only those with their own destructive hidden agenda that thought otherwise and attempted to place doubt in the minds of our members.

During this period there have been several unnamed persons who have contacted our accountants asking about the accounts and additional items they wanted information on. The information concerned private matters that simply should not concern them. The bailiffs wages is one instance which are a private matter between the committee and our bailiffs.

These culprits had tried to claim that our Michael Brady had told the accountants not to tell anyone anything with regard the accounts. This was simply not true, the woman they spoke to when they first made contact with our accountants was the same lady they made contact with the second time! Our accountant lady told them that neither Michael Brady nor anyone else connected with the LLAIA had made any comments at all with them regarding the accounts.

Not content with being found out to be lying the person then told the accountants the conversation was being taped. At this point the accountant lady passed the phone to the owner who informed the person that recording a conversation was illegal and he would inform the police of such conduct. The culprit then said he was only kidding the conversation was not being taped.

Another person who spoke in a polite voice attempted to obtain similar information. We make no comment with regard such instances other than they threaten our business relations with our accountants which is both professional and impartial. It also suggests that we have permit holders that are behaving unacceptably and have nothing better to do with their time than cause mischief and resentment. Information from the RRB website inferred they knew when the accounts would be finished etc.

We get our accounts done at a very competitive rate and this type of conduct puts that at risk. It will be members that will foot the extra bill AGAIN if we have to change accountants.

Specific members of the previous banned list were also spreading malicious rumours that Michael Brady had given the accountants specific instructions and that the stretch of fishings we were going to buy called “Wilsons” had been sold to someone else. They were also emailing the secretaries asking for information about Wilsons informing us that they wanted to fish Wilsons for “spring salmon fishing! and did not want to be prosecuted if the stretch was no longer ours. Such immature behavior does not warrant a reply.

We also had comments from specific members on the previous banned list with regard the accounts and why they were not ready and making ludicrous statements. When Michael Brady hands the accounts over to the accountants he does exactly that, there is no discussion or comments made or reference to the accounts other than when we require them to be finished.

This year because of the rants and raves of certain individuals the accounts were not completed in the time required. On this occasion Michael Brady did not give any deadline to the accountants for the completion of our accounts. In fact because of the lies, inferences and despicable accusations leveled at the secretary and his honesty and the committee with regard the accounts and transparency Michael Brady felt that it would be useful to inform the accountants of such allegations, perhaps the accountants would then be even more stringent to ensure the accounts were in order as they have always been year after year since we took over.

NEW TREASURER IS APPOINTED

Alastair Mair who is on the committee is the new treasurer. Alastair is a fully qualified accountant and will be dealing with the accounts and items relating to the treasurer in his capacity. This will allow the treasurer to attend the AGM and deliver the set of accounts instead of the chairman doing this. The association had saved money over the years doing this but with one of the committee now the treasurer this allows the treasurer to answer all questions relating to the accounts.

Since Alastair Mair has been on the committee he has listened very carefully in the first year of being a committee member and thereafter gave excellent input. We are positive he will make an excellent treasurer.

WILSON’S STRETCH IS NOW OWNED BY THE LLAIA

We can now report that Wilsons stretch on the river endrick has now been signed sealed and delivered. The LLAIA now owns another stretch of the River Endrick. This particular stretch is very important for us to own for a variety of reasons which will become clear in the years ahead.

Wilsons above Ballochruin Bridge now owned by LLAIA 2008: A superb stretch

This has been another ground breaking milestone in the history of the LLAIA which will be remembered for years to come.

We now OWN three stretches of the River Endrick that all of our members can fish forever more.

The Committee would like to thank everyone involved and hope that all members appreciate that we now have complete control of another stretch of fishing on the main spawning stream of the Loch Lomond system the River Endrick.

Whilst it is remarkable that we are in a position to be capable of purchasing any stretch of the River Endrick it does not mean we act stupidly and buy stretches at any price. That would be wasting members money which is something we could never be accused of doing period!

An angler fishes the Bridge Pool above the iron bridge at Ballochruin:Wilsons Stretch.

Therefore it is even more pleasing that we have managed to purchase this stretch at a good price that represents excellent value for the LLAIA and a very good deal for the owners. We will NOT pay overinflated prices for any stretch of fishings whether it is offered for sale or not.

Wilson’s: The whole stretch is about 525yds long. The Oak Tree Pool.

The Oak Tree Pool is the best pool in this whole area. A popular destination for Endrick members.

Note: The permitted fishing areas we have in our current maps remain unchanged. Members have full permission to fish these stretches throughout 2008.

THE STOCK IMPROVEMENT WORKING GROUP

The SIWG (Stock improvement working group) will be doing an update on the web fairly soon. It will be full of news and information. For that reason we will simply say well done to all the guys who help out and well done to Angus who has to work under restricted conditions with anything but a plentiful supply of water. Stocking our streams with salmon and sea trout fry has been taking place over a long period of years. We continue to improve with each years passing.

Hatcheries don’t work!!! The LLAIA Hatchery Fry doing well: May 2008

We firmly believe that hatcheries have a major part to play in certain fisheries that do not have an abundance of natural spawning available.

Peter Lyons our hard working Vice Chairman has continued to make a slow recovery after his stroke some 15 months ago. Hopefully Peter will get out on the loch soon and show us all how it is done with the modified lures he uses.

THE DISRUPTIVE ELEMENT WITHIN
Your committee had made a concerted and unanimous decision to ignore certain individuals some of whom were previously banned and whom we collectively felt were making a nuisance of themselves asking for information which was in our opinion done to slow the committee down and prevent continuing progress. They even had their friends emailing the secretary asking for ludicrous items that have little to do with them. We will continue to ignore such individuals, they offer nothing to the LLAIA and their constant undermining of this association is unacceptable to your committee. Those individuals were never an alternative and their recent ramblings only serve to enforce that view.

CATCH AND RELEASE OR CATCH AND “YOU DECIDE” TO RELEASE OR NOT?

When fish stocks reach critically low levels there can only be one option open to our membership and that is total catch and release. Thankfully we have no evidence to suggest that this is the case at present on the Loch Lomond system.

Last year we had one of the best grilse runs for many a year, hardly a reason to adopt catch and release is it?

Sea trout stocks have been under grave pressure for some years now which is why we acted sensibly and quickly applied a conservation protection policy many years ago. Our sea trout runs have up until last year been much reduced BUT far healthier when compared to many other Scottish Rivers and lochs that have sea trout runs.

Carrying out any conservation measures is pointless if it cannot be enforced. The ban on killing sea trout until 1st May has been very successful generally. Enforcement is always the difficult part and the most expensive part as to be expected. The Clyde Estuary is likely to be the first section to show signs of any recovery which was possibly why we were a little slow off the mark last year with effective enforcement in that particular area. This year we recognised in advance the need for more stringent enforcement in the Clyde Estuary with the appointment of another water bailiff. Our increased enforcement has worked a treat and has prevented many sea trout from being killed. It also ensures that all anglers have permits in that area.

Angus MacRitchie returning a big sea trout 2007 Loch Lomond

So it can be said that the LLAIA committee put in place measures that worked and gave much needed help at times when the negative effects of marine life such as sea lice infestation wreaked havoc with our sea trout stocks in particular.

Last year we saw a resurgence in the sea trout stocks and this year it appears to be continuing.

The latest news on the fish farm threats is that the slice treatment (sea lice treatment method) on the Clyde Area is currently been given glowing reports by those responsible for its administration on the fish farms in this region.

Apparently it is very successful and unlike other areas where it is anything but successful it has to be welcome news indeed, not quite so welcome as their closure would be but welcome nevertheless.

Over this last few years we have had quite decent rainfall over the spring months. Perhaps this has also had its effect on our sea trout fry in some of the small burns around the lochs basin. Some of us are of the opinion that once our sea trout fry start to gain weight in these smaller burns they make their way to the loch to enable them to survive on what would be a drought affected small burn.

This years spring drought might well affect our smolts as well as our fry so we can never afford to be complacent. The sheer number of Herons in and around the river Endrick this year has to be seen to be believed! It is rarely ever all good news is it!

Spring salmon stocks: How do our present spring salmon stocks compare to say twenty years ago? Does anybody really know for absolute certain? We have been waiting patiently now for about five years to find out this and other items that could help us to make a calculated and careful decision with regard our spring salmon stocks. Sure we can just rush in and make conservation measures such as catch & release throughout the whole spring. Will it conserve what stocks we have? Will those measures solve the problem? It is all very well carrying out such a policy in a strictly controlled fishery with a sparse population, try it in an area that has a large association and a large population in and around the area and then you will quickly realise that it is a different ball game altogether. Where does the income arise to allow the management to enforce such measures? Are there special grants available from the government to ensure such extreme conservation measures work? It is patently obvious that to be successful you have to ensure that  the measures that  work in theory also work in practice. If you make it catch & release without enforcing those measures you are either playing politics or you are managing the fishery by pretense.

One example of the theory which does not work in practice and lacks proper enforcement is clear for all to see on Loch Lomond!

The Park Authority has, quite rightly so, imposed speed restrictions on various parts of Loch Lomond. The Park Authority and rangers along with the presence of Strathclyde and Central Police combined have set about trying to enforce those restrictions. They have spent a huge amount of money in doing so. It is turning out to be an expensive operation. The Park Authority suggest they need much more resources (that means more money in our language) to properly enforce these restrictions. Their biggest problem is that their attitude to offenders is deeply flawed. They both have a NON CONFRONTATIONAL POLICY……. enough said.

Relate that to our current situation and it is clear that enforcing catch & release on all our permit holders would not be successful on a large area like Loch Lomond. We could make it partly successful if we decided to ban all members that broke the catch & release policy. Is that what we want?

There is a long tradition on Loch Lomond to go out on the loch and put in the hours to attempt to catch a springer. No one can suggest it is an easy thing to accomplish……well a few of our members this year might argue with that but you have done well if you catch a springer on either the River Leven or Loch Lomond in any season!

A large part of that pleasure is not only related to playing and landing the fish but it is a great pleasure to pass other boats receive the BIG O and be able to hold up the springer. The more boats you pass the greater enjoyment for all who are out fishing the loch that day. Thus the successful angler not only gives himself a large confidence boost but he injects a part of that enthusiasm and confidence to all the other boats. All of that disappears when you introduce catch & release. Do we really need this measure?

The committee of the LLAIA is divided on this issue. Possibly in equal measure which makes it even more difficult to come to a conclusion.

One of the main key issues is on choice. Some of us return almost every fish we land. We also return all coloured fish that are well past their best. If we want a fish for any particular reason we want to take it and feel perfectly entitled to do just that. We do not want that choice taken from us by anyone UNLESS it can be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the fish stocks of that particular species is seriously in danger.

Every anglers definition of a coloured fish is different, so returning only coloured fish presents its own set of problems. That does not mean the committee are against any proposals to adopt catch & release of say coloured hen fish in October. It is whether we make it all fish whether they are coloured or not and can we enforce the measure on all areas. By the time October is upon us most fish caught are coloured whether they are caught on the loch the leven or the Endrick or Fruin. It is near impossible to enforce on the loch therefore do we concentrate on the tributaries then? Is that fair? Both the loch and the leven anglers have had a fairly lengthy season by the time October arrives.

A fish killed is a fish killed but a coloured fish landed on the tributaries might be the only class of fish available to our members who solely restrict there fishing to that particular stream! If we made it all hen fish to be returned then how would the members who fish the tributaries feel if they land a fresh fish?

Over this last few years we have had fairly dry years and the opportunity for sport on the Endrick and Fruin could be restricted to a matter of weeks. In those circumstances coloured fish may be the only fish available. Again we ask is it fair to remove the CHOICE from those members who fish only that stream yet pay the same as everyone else?

The majority of our members who fish the Endrick and Fruin return most fish caught. But FORCING them to return the fish is a different matter altogether. Is it fair?

Others on the committee feel that we are simply playing into the anti blood sport hands when we use fish as play things and start to adopt mandatory catch & release forever more.

With the sea trout we knew that the sea trout stocks would become seriously endangered by the fish farms and sea lice fiasco so we acted in advance of the expected impact and we believe it has saved our sea trout stocks and kept them at decent enough levels that they could make a quick recovery should conditions in the marine environment improve as they appear to have done with the slice treatment etc.

The Loch Lomond Fishery Trust was set up to research items that would/ could give us a clearer and better understanding of our fish stocks. Unfortunately it has had to spend this last five years establishing what the likely numbers of fish are in the system in general and to form a database to use in the future.

There is a huge difference between experimenting to gather useful information rather than gathering specific information that assists the fishery managers to protect/enhance or improve the fish stocks in the system.

We do not as yet know which direction the trust will proceed or give preference to but we hope they will give preference to projects and work that will improve or enhance the migratory fish stocks.

The other side of having a properly run Fishery Trust in our view is there has to be a proper code of conduct set up to ensure that any engineering works anywhere near the system (waterways) cannot be started without a proper survey carried out by our fishery trust. We must then have proper enforcement on those rules and on the work carried out. The trust must also inspect all the habitat to ensure there is no previous negative engineering work carried out and if so steps taken to reverse such negative works if at all possible. The recent fiasco with the building house scheme at Bonhill on the river leven whereupon no safety measures were taken when moving a large diesel tank which resulted in a major diesel spill on the leven which could be seen for miles out on the Clyde Estuary could have been avoided as could the illegal cutting of the trees that form good cover for the fish in that section of the river. Overseeing such works in and around our rivers is just as important as getting the preparative works done. In the case of the illegal tree cutting it should be noted that West Dunbartonshire  Council had stipulated in the planning application that the trees were to remain in the area, yet the sub-contractors cut them down! Did the well known building firm use sub-contractors  to enable them to achieve their objective (houses sell better if they have a nicer viewpoint) knowing that they would not be punished if the planning stipulations were broken by others and not them or was it just an unintentional error on the part of the sub-contractors?

There must also be a proper survey done on the number of fish eating birds in our system but mainly in our spawning streams and to work closely with the respective bodies to ensure the numbers are acceptable to the available sustainable food supply chain (numbers of small fish available) otherwise we have problems within the freshwater environment.

Herons appear to be increasing on the Endrick (2008)

Gravel extraction and the effects on fish has already been carried out by SNH. However it is currently left to the anglers and the LLAIA to monitor and report any contraventions. The fishery trust should also be ensuring that SNH are making a positive effort to see that none of the land owners are breaking the rules and extracting gravel at either the wrong times (throughout the close season) or when they are illegally breaking the rules and extracting when they do not have permission. Such enforcement does not go down well with some owners but that is not a reason to ignore it.

As can be seen the situation is rarely ever simply black or white. But we need action on these fronts NOW not further down the line. The fishery trust relies solely on grants. Grants are rarely available for the type of work that we feel SHOULD be done and so we either learn to live with this or we try to change that viewpoint.

Our top priority would be for the trust is to present us with the required information that indicates where exactly do our spring component stock reside within the system. If we can get that information it will allow us to concentrate on the spring component which most of us believe require the greatest protection.

We believe that current fishery trust management policy in a general sense has flaws that are deep rooted. Until they are improved upon we have to look at other ways to improve our fish stocks and relying on the fishery trust networks to do that for us is just not going to happen soon, it at all. That said we do believe that the fishery trust will start to obtain grants for items that will in time give us more information and that might well be vital in the years ahead. Anglers invariably expect a magic wand to be waved and somehow all problems will be solved….we wish. We have had to endure five years of getting all the required electro-fishing surveys completed by the fishery trust. Now hopefully we will start to see some kind of benefit, we hope so.

Whilst the mortalities in the current marine environment remain high we believe our hatchery policy over the years has managed to prevent our stocks from reaching critically low levels in any given year. We have yet to see any signs that the fishery trust is going to do anything to offset this, though it is early days yet in the greater scheme of things.

We also believe there are other ways to increase the fish stocks. We are currently working hard on this front…enough said!

The Committee LLAIA

All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

The Tweed Festival held last weekend was an important milestone for one of our junior members. Ryan Brady is just sixteen and entered his first competition at the Tweed show at the weekend. There was no junior competition category this year, so Ryan had to enter the mens “Distance Spey Casting Event”

Ryan Brady casting at The Tweed Show on May 2008

The preliminaries took place in the first half of the day with only six competitors being allowed to qualify for the finals. Amazingly Ryan managed to qualify for the finals even though he was up against some of the best distance spey casters in the world.

With the finals underway later in the afternoon, Ryan Brady to the amazement of everyone took “Third Place” in the event and was mighty pleased with himself as he was not expecting to qualify for the finals let alone be placed!

Casting champions with Trout & Salmon editor and the Duke of Roxburghe.

Right to left: Andrew Flitcroft, Ryan Brady, Gordon Armstrong (current world spey casting champion) and Norwegian champion Knut Syrstad and The Duke of Roxburghe.

The week before the event Ryan was brought into the exclusive world renowned Carron team who compete throughout the world. That is quite an achievement. We spoke to Ryan and asked him for his thoughts once he got back home. This is what Ryan had to say:

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would like to thank everyone for making my trip so enjoyable. There are so many people to thank throughout the whole weekend and in the short period of weeks i have started to learn distance spey casting. i would not know where to start. Jimmy Jack of Carron for giving me a variety of lines to use. I would like to thank the “Quarry Boys” they all know who they are but every one of them have been so kind and helpful to me, so thanks guys.

I also met Ian Gordon who spent a day with me and took me round to see the ghillies on the Spey and kindly gave me tackle to practice with. The kind person who gave me an invite up to the Tay at Cargill. This allowed me to practice whilst wading AND enjoy the fishing.

One special mention must go to James Chalmers Carron’s rod and line design specialist and organizer of Carron Team. James has unselfishly showed me everything he has learned in all his years of casting and i owe him a huge big thanks!

Ryan casting on the Tay at Cargill with the ghillie at his side.

The organizer of the Tweed festival Eoin Fairgraive has asked Ryan to demonstrate at the event for next year. Eoin was commenting on Ryan at the show and reckoned he must have been born with a rod in his hand, he said said that he had been watching Ryan practice casting in the morning and was hitting the other side of the bank on the Junction Pool which is probably over sixty yards!

There are many anglers in America, Canada and other parts of the world who travel over to get expert instruction from members in the Carron Team. Getting top class instruction particularly if you are new to the sport is money well spent!

Anyone who joins The Loch Lomond Angling Improvement Association as a new member from the 1 st June 2008 will be delighted to learn that Ryan (Carron Team Member) has indicated he will give new members full instructions on casting with either single or double handed rod completely free of charge provided he has the time available and the new member wants to take the offer up.

On behalf of the Committee of the LLAIA and all of our members we would like to congratulate Ryan in his achievement.

Well Done!

THE COMMITTEE LLAIA

PLANNED IMPROVEMENTS ON RIVER LEVEN CONTINUE

With the clean up a huge success the rest of our planned work program continues!

Our tireless hard working chairman (Michael Brady) and Eddie the head bailiff who has done some great work so far, has been tidying up various parts of the leven with the use of the LLAIA chainsaw.

Michael Brady doing more “un-paid work” for the association on the leven.

It gives a great deal of satisfaction when you see the improvements after some hard work, cutting and hauling wet logs out of the river as can be seen below, showing the before and after affect.

The tree lodged at the Polaroid Bridge just upstream from the bridge.

What a difference a bit of hard work and effort has made to this area: All that is left is the two boulders seen in the picture.

Other areas have also seen the attention of the big bowsaws or more recently the new chainsaw by the chairman and bailiffs. The area above the Stucky Bridge was extensively cut by the chairman several years ago using very long ladders borrowed from the voldac HQ . No fear of heights when you are twenty feet up though !

This time it was the area below the Stucky Bridge that received some much needed attention.

Below the Stucky Bridge now cleared of overhanging branches and trees.

It is a pity we did not have bailiffs four years ago that were prepared to help out with this type of work. We even tried to shame them into doing some work at the time but they were unenthusiastic to say the least!

Now we have bailiffs only too happy to do the work and see the difference it makes to the river. We hope that situation will remain for some time now and all parts of the system can eventually get the attention they all deserve.

THE COMMITTEE LLAIA

All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

FISHING REPORT:

James McDonald a fairly well known angler down the Renton caught an 8lb springer on Friday covered in sea lice caught at the managers.

On Saturday Gordon Pollock also caught a springer it weighed 9lbs. The gates will go down to weekend freshet on Monday as explained in last report.

On Saturday the 26th April 2008 the River Leven had its first major clean up since 1997 and 1998. Sure there had been varying small attempts by previous bailiffs to clean some parts in between these times namely the removal of supermarket trolleys. But this was a major effort by the anglers themselves.

The LLAIA had a good turn out on the day in question. Those who care about the river they fish and felt they wanted to do their bit for the system attended and worked hard for at least a good solid four hours of hard work!

Bailiffs Chris and Jason with Duncan Ferguson (committee) clearing the rubbish above Ritchie’s.

It was good to see the chairman had a sense of amusement with this photo though!

Trust our chairman to spot this little amusing piece of rubbish!

As the guys all quickly got down to work it was the River Leven that received some “Spring Cleaning” as many hands make light work. Though we think Chris the bailiff was getting somewhat carried away in this photo below.

Chris decided to get the Hoover out for this part!

We had a good turn out at Bonhill Bridge on Saturday. Members who regularly fish the loch at Balmaha came out to lend a hand as did our chairman Michael Brady and Duncan Ferguson from the committee.

Some of the Renton anglers turning out for the clean up on Saturday.

It is amazing what a relatively small number of anglers can achieve. The rubbish that has been lifted out of the river ranged from a plethora of tyres, several bikes and the usual debris.

The council arranged to pick up the rubbish we left at the towpath.

The river leven has some cracking pieces of water in these middle sections, in fact the flow over the whole course of the river is what makes the river leven such a great fly fishing river throughout almost all of it’s entire length of about six miles.

More rubbish comes out throughout the river as lads get stuck in!

As we walk along the rivers edge the extent of the work done becomes more apparent.

More rubbish removed by the anglers!

The Sandy Hole part of the river is cleaned up!

There must be a lot of kids without bikes in and around the leven!

We have to say when you take a look at the River Leven after the clean up on Saturday you cannot fail to appreciate what a transformation a simple clean up can achieve.

River Leven Summer low: The leven looking nice after the clean up.

Some parts of the river were really bad for cans and bottles and plastic cups at the Bonhill Bridge but cleared away by those anglers that turned up. Perhaps our efforts make up for others bad behavior?

A “New Look” Bonhill Bridge pool is cleared from the multitude of cups and cans.

When you look at the amount of hours some people have spent sitting beside a computer bad mouthing the LLAIA and its office bearers yet they never turned up on Saturday to do any work themselves! it does make you wonder about the type of person that behaves like this though!

The river leven looking upstream of Bonhill Bridge Saturday.

There will be a continuing work program by our bailiffs and chairman throughout next week weather and water levels permitting.

The Craft Stream: cleaner and better looking, lets hope everyone else can keep it this way.

We would like to thank the anglers who took part in the Saturday Clean up. One particular angler is going abroad to live this year and will be sadly missed. Despite this he felt he should turn up and do his last wee bit for the association. What a really thoughtful and kind member indeed. We wish him well and will ensure if he pays us a visit sometime in the future we will look after him, as he has looked after us.

It is now obvious that the debris cleared possibly amounts to no more than five tons of rubbish on the Saturday. This is a massive difference to the estimated 30 tons of rubbish cleared away from the river in 1997. Nevertheless it is a transformation and has made the river a nicer place to look at and to fish.

One thing that is noticed, is the amount of cups bottles and paper especially plastic bags removed from the river. We are confident that we can keep in check the rubbish and ensure that the river is kept relatively free of rubbish in the years to come. With more caravan parks and leisure boats on the loch the accumulated rubbish does eventually find its way down the leven.

We took a list of the names of anglers who took part. The bailiffs have discounted individuals who did not take part but were just “observing the work done”

Credit to Jack Ferguson though, he made his own effort on Friday and early on Saturday which was appreciated and noted.

Thanks to all who took part on Saturday, a job well done indeed, thank you.

SUNDAY 27TH APRIL.

The bailiffs felt that the area in need of most attention for Sunday was at Renton. For that reason those who arrived at the clean up at Bonhill Bridge were asked to help out in the Renton area as most of the cleaning up around the Bonhill area was more or less done on Saturday. There were only five anglers that had turned up at the Bonhill Bridge area and they decided to work in that area. Hopefully the huge success of Saturdays clean up had prompted them to turn up and do some good which at the end of the day is what we are all trying to achieve! We understand that they cut branches along the glebe area on the far side, which was appreciated.

The Renton area was particularly bad.
There were seven anglers attending the Renton area on Sunday with the street run the overall worst areas for general rubbish and accumulation of paper bottles and cans etc. This area was bad for builders rubbish which was most evident with the new housing being built in this area. The Polaroid Bridge downstream was and is the worst area for bikes and larger rubbish strewn around this area. A heroic effort was made by Chic McLean who attended again and Angus Souter and our chairman in attendance again too.

Chic McLean and Angus Souter (Chic on the right) a splendid effort by both.

Between them they lifted out of the river an impressive amount of items. Martin Mclimons was doing his “look out” above the bridge pointing out the items to the bailiffs and helped Chris and Jason who were assigned to the difficult task of hauling the stuff up the embankment, a tough job indeed!

Below the Polaroid bridge saw an accumulation of rubbish.

The amount of rubbish along this area was really awful. But it is amazing the amount of rubbish that a small gathering of hard working anglers can remove.

Underneath the Polaroid Bridge was always going to be full of rubbish.

Our fishery manager even put in a show and quickly got to work with one of the litter pickers removing what seemed like an endless supply of rubbish along the Renton street run.

Our thanks to the lads that worked really hard on this particular section.

The Street Run getting a much needed tidy up.

This area would need a few more days with the litter pickers so hopefully we will get Eddie who has been on holiday to arrange further efforts in this area by the bailiffs.

More rubbish from the street run at Renton.

West Dunbartonshire councils containers.
Despite the fact that the “old firm” were playing this Sunday we still had a decent turn out. We reckon another three tons of rubbish were cleared on Sunday. This has been a success but we look upon us as an on-going process from now on to ensure we keep on top of things.

Hopefully we will contact the Park Authority for assistance as soon as practical, given that a lot of the litter has came from the loch and again hopefully the council will oblige and get the car removed from the Bucks and also provide regular vehicle pick up patrols.

Our sincere thanks to West Dumbartonshire Council for all their sterling efforts to help in making the River Leven a much cleaner river to look at as well as to fish.

THE COMMITTEE LLAIA

All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

On reflection after recent events, this article could have been written by your committee…

You can view the article in PDF format by clicking here .

(Thank you to Trout Fisherman magazine for permission to reproduce the article).

AGM Tuesday 26^th February 2008

The Annual General Meeting was held in the Partick Burgh Halls on Tuesday 26^th February 2008.

This is a brief report on the AGM last month. We have deliberately not posted until now to allow us to meet and discuss a number of matters following the AGM.

The committee would like to thank once again those members who turned up at the meeting for their continued support. The meeting itself was not an orthodox AGM due to the underlying problems of recent takeover bids and bans on members. No elections took place as agreed at the recent EGM and unfortunately no Annual report was issued before the meeting due the extenuating circumstances present. A set of annual accounts were presented in draft form but could not be ratified until such times as they have been through the audit process. They did however show another surplus for the year of over £20,000. The formal Annual Report will be sent out to all members as soon as it is complete.

Our Chairman commented on the recent turmoil and said it was damaging our association, he hoped that the committee’s conciliatory tone would also be adopted by the alternative committee. Malcolm MacCormick who was the proposed chairman of the alternative committee was allowed to address the hall. It was decided that the subject of bans would be addressed after the formal AGM agenda items.

The hatchery report indicated that there are at present 118,000 salmon and 63,000 sea trout eggs in the hatchery. We have 10,000 salmon eggs from returning second generation Douglas salmon. It is our intention to thoroughly investigate the possibility of raising the resultant fry from these eggs to smolt stage using a commercial facility. There is a significant cost implication to this but the potential returns could move the fishery into a whole new field. There are a number of fisheries ranching salmon in this way and the normal return rates are well documented at between 2% and 10%. That means between 200 and 1000 extra salmon into the system for 10,000 smolts. The £20,000 from this years surplus will be placed in a separate account to help finance the smolt programme.

It is our intention, if it is successful to expand this programme to other areas above impassable falls. There is obviously a limit to how many smolts we can afford to ranch but one of the main reason for us becoming cash rich (along with the purchase of fishings) has been to allow us to support this programme in its early years. It will obviously need to become self financing if it proves to be successful but increasing runs will no doubt attract new members and visitors as our reputation grows.

We are not putting all of our eggs in the smolt programme basket – we will continue to look at other fishery management tools and how best they can be implemented in our system.

The AGM ended with a vote on the lifting of the bans on full members – the committee supported this decision for two reasons. There was doubt cast on the legality of the bans in relation to the wording of our constitution was one factor. The main reason and very miuch the overriding reason was that the committee were prepared to recommend the membership lifts the bans in an attempt to reconciliate and allow the Association to move on.

The vote was passed by a significant majority.

A number of points were raised from the floor but time precluded any lengthy discussion and the meeting was closed.

A copy of the final minutes for the AGM will be placed on a new members only area of this website as soon as we can make it happen.

We will be using this website over the season to keep members informed via regular bulletins, articles and tips. We will also be sending out more comprehensive information by post to cater for those members who do not have access to computers, again when time allows.

THE EGM HELD ON 23 JANUARY 2008

CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS? REPEAT ELECTIONS? DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS!

Following the recent EGM there has been some suggestions that the process was flawed and that the result of the elections were in some way suspect.

There have been cries by the defeated of “foul, unfair and we didn’ae get a real chance“, with subsequent allegations and further threats made on two public web sites.

To clear up any misconceptions as to the calling and conduct of the meeting, the aggrieved should take the time to read the following, and ask if it might have been better to have read the Constitution before, rather than after, the EGM.

Following the resignation of the previous committee, it was necessary to call an EGM to quickly install a new management team to direct the LLAIA.

The constitutional requirements for calling an EGM (Article IX) were met by the receipt by the Secretary of a letter signed by Ten Ordinary members requesting this. A copy of this letter, together with the Agenda, was included in the documentation sent to members prior to the EGM. There is no item in the Agenda allowing candidates to address the hall on the night of the meeting, and this was clear to both parties. The terms of the meeting were clearly expressed in the notice calling the meeting.

The Constitution (Article IX) states that the meeting can only discuss items specifically noted in the notice, which in this instance was one point namely , “election and appointment of replacement office bearers”. The persons requesting the EGM therefore have the opportunity to set the agenda and specify the items to be discussed. This opportunity was open to both sides but was not taken by the defeated candidates.

Thereafter any members wishing to stand for election to the Committee have to be nominated , proposed and seconded in accordance with the Constitution (Article VIIc). Both sides managed this within the timescale stipulated in the Constitution (31 December preceding the AGM).

It was then down to the two parties to get their message over to the members as best they could. For the successful group this took the form of a statement of conditions and the stipulation of their intention to stand as a full committee, not as individuals. This opportunity was again available to both parties but only taken by one, and is not expressly prohibited by the Constitution. This carefully worded statement was sent to members in the notice calling the meeting prior to the EGM. All costs of this were underwritten by the candidates themselves and this can be verified by the Secretary who still holds the cheques.

The defeated candidates, “in the interests of fairness”, demanded that the Secretary provide them with stamped addressed envelopes giving all members addresses so they could forward their manifesto, thereby expecting members to underwrite their campaign. This request , together with several others for information they were not entitled to, was refused by the Secretary in writing. There are obvious legal reasons why members addresses are not given to anyone. They also availed themselves of the opportunity to use the RRB web site on a daily basis to expound their intentions when, not if, elected, to personally attack fellow LLAIA members and the opposition candidates and to generally bring scorn on the recently resigned Committee in a disgraceful way.

After the announcement of their resignations, no use what-so-ever was made of the LLAIA web site by the resigned committee. The LLAIA site was utilised by the Secretary on only two occasions to make general information statements relating directly to the EGM, and of equal benefit to both parties, .

On the night of the EGM the hall is in effect the polling booth. Members are there to cast their votes for the candidates of either party who should by that time already have carried out any electioneering and informed members of the policies on which they intend to stand. For either side to turn up and expect to be allowed to address members in the polling booth with a view to swaying the vote is optimistic to say the least, and is an admission that they failed to reach their audience during the election process.

It is actually illegal in political elections to canvas within a certain distance of the polling station. It is certainly not, for obvious reasons , allowed within.

There has been a great gnashing of teeth by the defeated on the basis that they were not allowed to present their case on the night, and this is given as the main reason for their defeat. It is worth noting that neither side addressed members on the night , but only one side is complaining. Their unruly and offensive attempts to enforce a change of EGM Chairman, to present their case for election and to override the agenda were shouted down by the body of the hall. They were also resisted successfully by the Secretary presiding as the Chairman for the EGM purely to enable the election, and again perfectly in accordance with the Constitution.

The attempt by a small number of persons to disrupt the meeting was defeated by the solidarity of the majority of members present who were determined to see fair and free elections and were not prepared to be intimidated by a noisy minority.

All attempts to disrupt the meeting having failed, voting was carried out in accordance with the agenda and in compliance with the constitution (Article XIII), and the previous committee was re-elected by a substantial majority.

Votes were counted (twice) by Bailiff, Eddie Stone, under the scrutiny of two of the defeated candidates who were then asked by the Secretary if they wished to proceed with a further vote for their candidates. This offer was declined by them to save further embarrassment. At this point it should be mentioned that the need for certain specified disciplinary measures was therefore endorsed and confirmed by the majority of the Members attending, who decided that they did not wish to be associated with the persons indicated. Therefore the agreed disciplinary measures will be implemented by the Committee at the insistence of the members, and with their approval and consent.

None of the defeated candidates objected to the results on the night and it is only in hindsight and generally by persons who were not actually there, or who are not members, that any doubt is being cast on the proceedings.

There are now threats, instigated by the same recently defeated alliance, to remove the newly elected committee. This, apparently, will be attempted at the AGM, following which any disciplinary measures will be overturned.

Anyone considering embarking on the road to a repeat of the recent EGM at the forthcoming AGM or anytime after, would be as well to consider the likely attitude of the majority of members at any attempt to overturn their legitimate election of a new Committee and the implemention of disciplinary measures against a small number of persistent agitators. Members are unlikely to look favourably on being required to repeat the procedure again so soon, and will not be easily persuaded to change a decision reached after careful consideration by an overwhelming majority.

They are more likely to decide to deal firmly with any attempt to belatedly interfere in the result, and to put in place measures to ensure that in future when they elect a Committee that it stays elected because that’s what they really meant to happen the first time.

The LLAIA Management Committee

Following the EGM at Woodside Halls Glasgow the committee would like to thank the membership for the very healthy turnout. We would also like to warmly thank all of the members who voted for us knowing that the only way forward was with the old committee running the system.

We have left this announcement for a few days to allow the dust to settle after the EGM but would now like to get back to business.

The vote to re-elect the resigned committee was carried by a substantial majority.

It was gratifying that the membership turned out in numbers to vote on the future of the Association. We take it as a vote of confidence and will now again get down to the business of running the Association.

The past few months have been a harrowing time for us all, with the EGM itself a particularly trying experience, handled in the face of attempted disruption with dignity, firmness and fairness by the Secretary.

We would now like to put this whole sorry affair behind us and get on with delivering improvements to all parts of the Loch Lomond system.

We will use this website, as originally intended as a primary means of communication with members and have some first class plans for the coming year. There are many issues to be dealt with which will directly affect our Association in the coming year.

We will announce our plans at the AGM which is to be held at the Partick Burgh Halls on Tuesday 26^th February.

Once more – Thank you all for your support.

The committee LLAIA