Fishing Reports

Water levels remain good for the River Leven. Now that we are into September the water level on the loch would have to get to the 25ft 4 inches level before the gates would be raised. It is looking good for the next week or so and quite possibly beyond that with regard water levels.

This is the arrangement that the LLAIA have with the water Board over this past number of years. 26ft level until August then 25ft 8 inches. In September it goes down to 25ft 4 inches and in October the loch has to go below 25ft before the Barrage Gates are raised.

Fish are still entering the River Leven with encouraging runs of grilse running the system.

A young lad fishes the River Leven hoping to catch a salmon.

River Leven: There were 14 salmon for the week which is not bad for a system the size of the Lomond system. On the 25th August, Rab Melville 9lbs. 26th August saw seven fish taken with Alec McElwee 6lbs, Andy Patrick 5lbs, Billy Harris 4.5lbs, Steven Gilfeather 5lbs, Bob who works in the supermarket 5lbs, George  McLachlan 6.5lbs and another angler was also confirmed as taking a fish. 27th August was blank 28th August Frank McGeachie 6lbs, Duncan Campbell 5lbs, 29th August Peter Jordan 6lbs. 30th August Andy McElwee 5lbs, 1st September saw Alec McElwee with a 6lbs fish and Andrew McDermid with a 5.25lbs fish. Sea trout were also caught. Donald Brown had a salmon off the River Leven at 7.5lbs when returning from the loch, so that makes it 15 salmon taken from the leven during the week since last reporting plus any others not reported. So we had over 40 salmon in the first fortnight of August a further 18 salmon in the following seven days and now 15 salmon in this last seven days taken from the last update plus others not reported. Anglers can feel free to judge the river as they see fit but the Association is happy with those results.

Full members children (and their wife or husband) up to the age of 18 can fish the whole system for free so long as they are accompanied by them. Some associations charge junior members the full price for a seasons permit. At the LLAIA the price of a junior leven season permit is only £16.00.

Loch Lomond: Although the loch continues to produce good sea trout sport one or two of the regular experts  commented that there appears to be a lack of fresh run sea trout in the loch. Whether this is just a blip and by next week fresh fish will be showing once again is anybodys guess. Perhaps the wet weather has meant the fish have ran the tributaries instead of staying in the loch until later on. The present conditions means you have to work a lot harder to get rising fish whilst hooking them can be even more difficult. There are signs that the weather is now cooling off and this should improve sport on the big loch.

Gus Millar’s 5lbs sea trout caught on the fly. Loch Lomond August 2008.

Angus MacRitchie and Matt Stewart went out on the loch and managed to rise sea trout and landed three about 1.5lbs range, they were all returned. John McCulloch out from Balmaha had a Sea trout of 3lb 4oz on fly at Short point last Tuesday.Alec Burns had several sea trout as did others. Hopefully in the next week or so we will see decent numbers of fresh sea trout appear.

Two nice sea trout taken on the dap August 2008 Loch Lomond.

On the salmon front an email from Jim  Raeburn:

Quote:Michael,
‘After consulting with my psychiatrist’ I decided to stay down the ‘bottom end’ today for a change. Left Balmaha at 8.00 am and headed down the Bank in a flat calm. Lost count of the number of big swirls and rises off the mouth of the Endrick on the way down. Headed over to the Fruin and up Auchentullich Bay when suddenly a slight southerly breeze arrived. Looking good. As I approached the Short point of Inchmoan I could see three or four boats had the fly rods out at the Long point. I gave them a wide berth and just before yellow maker buoy at the deep side of the Long point, connected with and landed, a fine, fresh 7lb grilse.
I noted that Dave Sunman was amongst the fly fishing flotilla and saw Denis McLaughlin heading in that general direction but have no idea how the day went.
I decide to head in for ‘an early bath’ and met a fellow Balmaha fisher, whose name escapes me, who had lost a good fish up at Firkin Point……so they’re still up the top end! Back on Wednesday hopefully. Jim    end of Quote;

Jim Raeburn with a 7lbs salmon Loch Lomond August 2008.

We are extremely busy right now hence reported catches from the loch are almost certainly higher than stated. Anti poaching patrols both on the River Leven and on Loch Lomond have taken place Our patrol boat has performed flawlessly so far and is proving to be a wise investment.

In addition to this there has been a well planned and co-ordinated operation involving Central Police, LLAIA and the Park Authority on Loch Lomond. About 30 boats were checked on the Friday and Saturday. There was also assistance from Central Scotland Police Wildlife liaison officer Paul Barr who stays in the Endrick Valley and was heavily involved in both operations. Our thanks to all who took part. There will be much closer co-operation between the groups concerned in future which should result in greater protection of fish stocks.

Night Patrols on Loch  Lomond and River Leven involving our bailiffs and chairman August 208

Our AGM report has been at the printers since last week and should be ready any day now. We anticipate it to be arriving on members post boxes sometime next week.

The new signage on the vans has being welcomed by other bodies as a much needed addition which helps to deter poachers and clearly helps to identify the vans by the police especially during the middle of the night when suspicions can be falsely raised by an unmarked van.

The company that does the signage has agreed a price (very reasonable) for our fishing signs to be done in a special rot-proof material that will allow each sign to last a long time and be easily changed to reflect the situation with regards fishing’s and memberships availability etc. This is a much better solution than having to do the signs in laminated paper and put on to a wooden frame. We still intend to do named Pool Plaques and specific signs indicating LLAIA ownership in the Western Red Ceder which is a quality material and suitable for the purpose in hand.

We continue to make progress with our plans for improving the fish stocks and other well thought out strategies. This will become clear when members read our in depth AGM/Newsletter report.

THE COMMITTEE LLAIA

All rights reserved no reproduction without permission

RIVER LEVEN: The River Leven produced 18 salmon over the last week. Which given the size of our system is not bad at all. Davy Watt had a 7lb fish to add to last weeks totals which was missed out . Others have also apparently been missed out which clearly points to their been significantly more fish over that last fortnight than we mentioned.

This weeks successes on the River Leven were: Monday August 18th, Andy McElwee Tony Smith Chic McLean and John Brady all had salmon and were reported on last week. August19th, Duncan Campbell 12lb, Alan Pryce 6lb, Gordon Pollock 4lbs and 12lbs, Kirk Philips 6lbs, 20th August Daniel Pert 6lbs which Eddie (head bailiff) kindly netted for the chap. Frank McGeachie 10lbs, 21st August Peter Jordon 7.5lbs, Steven Gillfeather 4lbs, 22nd August Chick McLean 6lbs and 5lbs both on fly, Rab Melville 6lbs, 23rd August Duncan Campbell 5lbs, 25th August Rab Melville 9lbs.the latter taken this week Monday.

River Leven still has good water levels and producing fish.

Water levels continue to hold up well. Fish are being seen showing in the river at various parts. The highlight or disappointment depending on your outlook was the loss of a fish about 20lbs by Andy McElwee at the Double Pipes area on the leven. It finally escaped after a long fight. This week there have been a lot more fish lost than usual.

Loch Lomond: Fishing even better now for sea trout. An email from Alex Bowie gives a good flavour of sport.

Quote: Hi Mike
Just to keep you abreast of what I`ve seen. Still stuff happening. Went out on Fri 22nd and Jackie (Wife) got two really clean nebs of 1lb and 1 lb 4oz on dap (returned). Moved hooked and lost another three fish. I went out next day at 3PM and rose five fish on Lonaig also hooking and losing one about 2lb. Saw a clean grilse there and got a line over it….no response! So went to Darroch last thing. Saw another grilse,got the flies over it and i got a follow with head and tail showing from the first draw till right under the gunnels!! Just after this got a nice one of 2lb (returned). Came in and went to see Bob Forshaw and Paul Davies. They had two nice Seatrout of 4lb and 2lb and also put back 3 others. Charlie Anderson had one of 2LB 8oz midweek.

CYA
Alex End of Quote:

Colin McCrory had another good day on the loch and others less known are also picking up some nice fish. Angus MacRitchie continues to add to his tally as does Peter Lyons. Though it was not all successes. An email from Wee Davy Sunman Quote: Well back to earth with a thump!! was over the loch yesterday decent conditions most of the day 2fish rose 1 landed 1.75lbs to the dapped natural daddy. Only excuse i can come up with is the loch was rising very fast all day with the endrick in the fields when we passed last nite back over to-day will give the endrick a go if the river has dropped enough End of quote.

We would imagine this last two windy days should get things going again. Though we could do without those bright sunny days.

when you often struggle just to save the day from being blank.

An angler comes in for a brew up during bright sunny conditions.

River Endrick: Sport continues to disappoint, though more rain forecast could change things.

The Committee LLAIA

All rights reserved no reproduction without permission

Whatever Joe public thinks about the recent rainfall the sun is shining brightly on the loch lomond system over this last fortnight! A report on the various sections:

River Leven:Anglers fish the run down into the Bonhill Bridge

River Leven : There have been over 40 salmon taken on the River Leven alone over this past fortnight. A mixture of grilse and multi sea winter fish with an absolute cracker of a fish weighing 20lbs taken on the fly at the Bonhill Bridge by Ian Taylor. It is to his credit that the angler concerned returned the fish. Large multi sea winter stock like that are our most prized fish and when someone returns such a fish he is doing all he can to provide a future for more fish like that to return to our waters.

River Leven: The river has fished well over this last fortnight.

In addition to the 20lbs fish mentioned another fish was caught on the same day by Stewart McBean it weighed 18lbs and was caught at the Glebe. Another was caught weighing 5lbs but the bailiff did not know his name. Andy McElwee also landed one weighing 7.5lbs. All the fish mentioned were caught on Saturday 16th August.

The River Leven continues to fish well with four fish so far taken off the river today Monday the 18th August.

A quick recap of the anglers catching fish over this last fortnight of August are as follows: 3rd and 4th Paul Kelly 7.5lbs, Bill Harris 4lbs, Barry Ward 5lbs, Ralph Silverstein 4lbs, Duncan Campbell 10lbs, John Harris 4lbs, 5th Keith Adams 5lbs, Davy Watt 9lbs, Jim McDonald 10lbs 5lbs 3lbs, Robert Baxter 5lbs, John Low 5lbs returned, Chic McLean 8lbs, Davy Darling 10lbs and one taken off the leven by a boat trolling up the river. 6th Duncan Edwards 4lbs and 4lbs, Andy McElwee 5lbs, Brian McCaskie 5lbs, Chic McLean 6lbs, Paul Matulevicze 5lbs, 7th Paul Matulevicze 7.5lbs. 8th Hugh McLinden 6lbs, Arron McLaskie 5lbs, 9th Colin Smith 7lbs, Andy McElwee 5lbs, Keith Adams 4.5lbs, Paul Kelly 7lbs, 12th Steven Gillfeather 5.5lbs, Hugh McLinden 7lbs, Keith Adams 8lbs, 13th Keith Adams 8lbs, Alec McLaughlin 7.5lbs, 14th an angler caught a 5lbs fish witnessed by Jim the bailiff but no name, 15th Frank McGeachie 5lbs. 16th Andy McElwee 7.5lbs. Stewart McBean 18lbs, Ian Taylor 20lbs and one chap landed one at 5lbs no name, Today Andy McElwee 7.5lbs, chic McLean 7.5lbs, Tony Smith 4.5lbs, John Brady 3.5lbs. In all probability there will have been others missed and plenty more hooked and lost. But overall the river has fished well and the vast majority of anglers are delighted with sport so far this season. The quality of fish is most pleasing indeed to the anglers fishing the system this year.

Davy Robertson with a 18lbs fish caught several seasons ago River Leven.

The committee of the LLAIA are certainly pleased with progress throughout the whole system and not just on the River Leven. This year the main thrust is concentrated on preparing for the future with investment in equipment and moving to a carefully planned stocking programme. All the vans have now being given the new signage which gives the LLAIA a far more professional look. Effective policing of specific areas as and when required has already moved into overdrive with significantly increased bailiffing (and costs) thereby protecting the larger than usual number of multi sea winter fish that have entered the system so far this year. Strimming as stated in our last report has been completed at Wilsons, Drumtian, Craigbell and the top pool of the Cowdenmill fishings has been completed by the Chairman on Sunday as well as wood and steps for free as mentioned below. Eddie the head bailiff is now back from his holidays. On the River Leven Eddie reckons he missed a bit of strimming around the Cordale Point area which he will attend to pretty soon. The rest of the river he is quite pleased with and mentioned that some of the parts that had extensive work carried out in the spring have not grown back in again which is good news for everyone.

The new Trailer purchased by the LLAIA committee has been put to good use on the Sunday with wooden steps been acquired and various bits of wood to be used for stiles and paths etc. We hope to us the steps on a part of the Cowdenmill Fishings which would make it easier for members to access at that particular point.

The new trailer purchased by the LLAIA Committee August 2008.

The new trailer will be used for a variety of jobs by the LLAIA throughout the system.

Loch Lomond: It is probably not necessary to say anything about the loch and how it has been fishing, others can say that for us! Suffice to say it has been fishing really well for BOTH salmon and sea trout providing those who troll with salmon and those who prefer to fish the fly have also been catered for rather well with both sea trout and salmon.

Over the years the loch man has had some pretty lean years but with carefully laid out plans progressing well, perhaps this year will be the norm for anglers who fish the big loch and the years ahead will become even better.

Paul Davies seen here with a cracking 6lbs sea trout. Loch Lomond August 2008

Paul Davies wondered what on earth is going on when he hooked two sea trout at once. The two fish were abut 2.5lbs and 5lbs and eventually he was broken with none landed. The following day he ventured out and returned with two sea trout at 2.5lbs and 5.25lbs. He followed this up with a 6lbs sea trout as pictured above.

Dave Sunman gave us an email after his red latter day mentioned in a previous report whereupon Gus Millar and Dave rose 19 fish between them. Below is his latest email.

Quote Davy Sunman: Well Friday,s are quickly becoming my favourite time out on the loch . Just when i thought it couldn’t, get better the big loch proves me wrong again. I went out on Friday morning trolled down the bank and round the hen isle -nothing . I then headed up the murrin with a nice westerly blowing i had a quick drift on the north side of creinch and returned a seatrout of about a 1,1/2 lbs i then started just above the midbank on the murrin when i met Paul Davies who was going over to try auchentuly as he had not risen anything on the murrin. I had no sooner started drifting when a salmon showed tight in on the point i was just making my way towards it when i was startled by Paul who had snuck up on the elected outboard behind me Davy could you do me a favour and take a photo of me and my fish its my best seatrout from the loch on the fly and duly produced a lovely fish of 6lbs which was such a surprise had he had only been away for about half an hour. Photo session over we decided to have some lunch. Soon we were joined by Angus and Matt and after a natter Angus and mat rowed out and started drifting i followed soon after shouting at them to stir them up with the dap and i would catch them on the wetfly no sooner had we started when i had a vicious take approaching the point i thought it might be one of the grilse i had seen earlier but it turned out to be a nice seatrout of about 5lbs a bit coloured so back it went .I rowed back up to cover the point again as i knew that at least one salmon was in residence. And just where i was expecting it a salmon rolled over the bob fly and the fight was on!! it led me a merry dance and i had to start the engine a few times to keep out of the shallows after about ten minuets it came to the net and was mine which was just as well as Denis Mclaughlin and boat partner were watching events unfold a nice fresh 6lb grilse. I added another seatrout of about 3lbs further down the shore before i had to call it a day at 5pm as i was having the grandkids overnight. So to summarise a very different day to last wed when we rose dozens of fish and had hectic sport. 2 drifts down the murrin 5 fish rose 4 landed superb!! back over on monday cant wait:) end of quote:

Dave Sunman with a 6lbs Grilse on the fly. Loch Lomond August 2008.

Dave Sunman landing a 5lbs sea trout which was returned. Loch Lomond August 2008.

An email from Angus MacRitchie below sums up the flavour of the loch.

Quote from Angus: Michael,
was out on the loch today with Matt over at Murrin, we rose 14 fish getting 4, all between 1 to 1.5 lbs. on the dap, all returned

It was a good fishing day, with Paul, Bob Foreshaws partner taking a six pound sea trout on the wet fly over in the area at the mouth of the Finlas Burn. He also had a 5.25lb and a 2.5lb. seatrout yesterday on Murrin using the wets.

Dave Sunman had 3 sea trout of 1.5, 3 and 5lbs all returned on the wet fly and he also had a fly caught grilse of 6lbs., all taken on Murrin.

Denis McLaughlin and Jim Bonelly were out and they had two sea trout on the wets as they drifted in front of us at one stage.

Angus end of quote:

Alec Bowie continues to take sea trout on lomond he is pictured below with a 3.25lbs sea trout.

Alec Bowie with a 3.25lbs sea trout. Loch Lomond August 2008.

Colin McCrory went out with Colin Rioch. Colin McCrory landed two the best at 4lbd and Colin Rioch also got 2 both at 1.5lbs. They rode other fish ad well.

Angus MacRitchie went out with Terry Doyle and Terry got two fish at 1.5lbs. Angus rose five fish and never got any of them! In fact one of the fish was a salmon that rose three times and was hooked briefly before parting company. No two days are the same on lomond!

One of the old hands in the voldac was telling one of our guys that there was ten fish into their club HQ last Wednesday. That would be the day that Harry Gulbranson had three fish to his own boat. On Saturday 16th Paul Davies was telling Angus that a trolling boat had went past him and landed a fish, the angler said that was his second fish that day. It would appear that the loch is fishing really well for both salmon and sea trout. There is certainly a good head of sea trout around and fresh grilse are coming up through the leven as well. Duncan Ferguson landed one today Monday it weighed 6lbs.

Anglers are still asking for advice on the best flies to use on Loch Lomond. The easy answer might be the one’s that are landing the fish!

A nice selection of flies for loch lomond. Take your pick from that lot!

Dont get too hung up on flies though. Observe and take note where the fish are being caught or risen. Sooner or later you will find yourself in amongst a good head of fish, just don’t lose yours! when they start rising.

Dapping is becoming increasingly popular on Loch Lomond.

Well thats it for another short while, Apologies to all the loch anglers who caught fish and were not mentioned.

Fairly soon now we will be getting the AGM report sent to the printers. It will contain a lot of information in fact it is over thirty pages. Members can then read, think, pause and conclude whatever they want from the report………………..

To most of the members and permit holders fishing the Loch lomond waters it has been a good fortnight and progress continues to be made. As a management team we always look at the bigger picture and do what we can using the available resources wisely and sensibly.

Tide Times can be seen at

http://www.mobilegeographics.com:81/calendar/year/2292.html

The Committee LLAIA

The Committee LLAIA

All rights reserved no reproduction without permission

August has started off with no shortage of rain and looks like it is going to continue over the weekend. So lets start off with a brief update of the various sections of the system;

Loch Lomond: The loch still continues to produce fish with grilse now featuring more in the catches, though the summer fish possibly multi sea winter stock are still showing up in the catches. More and more members are mentioning how good the fishing on loch lomond has been this season. This is encouraging for the committee but ultimately it is the present and future plans that will ensure the fishing improves and that is where the effort is bing put into this year.

The most difficult aspect has been keeping track of the catches on the loch especially mid week. Balmaha regulars have been reading the article on modifying the tobys and have been successful with catches of salmon. John Bennet, Colin Lewis, Frank Donnelly and Denis McLaughlin have all taken fish with the modified tobys.

A modified Toby prepared and ready for use.

Once the fish takes the Toby any leverage action by the fish is minimised as shown by the picture below.

Leverage from the fish against the metal body of the Toby is eliminated.

An email from Jim Raeburn on 10th August:Michael,
Just back from our annual ‘tap end camp’ which lasted from Monday till Saturday. On Monday it was quite bright and warm but there were a good number of boats out. Alan Raeburn and I were the advance party and headed out.On the way up I saw a Balloch Boat land a fish at Culness, about 6/7 lbs I reckon. As I approached the ‘Cave’ My inside rod took off and before too long I had netted the first fish of the week - 9 1/2lbs.

A fresh fish taken up the loch: August 2008. Jim Raeburn.
On Wednesday it was a bit on the wet side and the Loch fairly rose. It didn’t put us off and I had another run off a decent fish at Rowchoish that evening.
We were joined by Gerd Elsweiler and Peter McLean on Thursday but despite seeing a few fish move only had some sea trout, the biggest being 3lbs at Doune. At one point Alan took out his frustration on the Ardlui pike population with numerous up to 10lb in no time.
I had a message from Donald McKellar during the week to the effect that he had lost three fish on the Bank.
On Thursday one of the Balloch camp had a fish of 6lbs just south of the cave. Apart from that the top end was quiet and very few boats ventured up during the week. The Balloch camp only consisted of Eric Donnachie and two other boats. When alan spoke to them on Wednesday they hadn’t had anything.
On retuning to Balamaha yesterday I quickly learned that a good number of grilse had come into the Loch. Andy Buchanan had a fish of 6lbs earlier in the day and a Balloch boat had taken another fish at ‘Ivy Cottage’.
I suspect that many of the fish will quickly head up the Endrick and other feeders, but hopefully a few will remain for the loch anglers.
On a side note, for the attention of the bailiff boat - we spotted a white cruiser up the top during the week with four rods out. Two anglers onboard. I didn’t recognise it and it wasn’t displaying a ‘trolling marker’ neither did it have any sense of the rules of navigation, forcing Alan Raeburn to pass ’starboard to starboard’ When I made the usual signal - ‘any luck’ there was no response. The boat was displaying the number - L8708. May just have been day ticket fishers but one to watch out for.

Regards Jim. end of quote:

Note: In actual fact there may have been three fish onto Balmaha on Saturday 9th August and four fish into Balloch. seven in total. Our vice chairman Peter Lyons took another fish which weighed 6.5lbs. Andy Buchanan and John Bennett and Kevin Gath also took one. We heard that on Tuesday Harry Gulbranson had three fish two at 5 or 6lbs and one about 10lbs. Pat Millar also had one. Euan McGrandle has done well this season and added to his tally with his fifth or sixth fish (will need to ask him how many).

An email from Colin McCrory on Tuesday 12th August.

Fished yesterday with a lad (Gerry McCartney) that spoke to me at the AGM and was interested in a day out and it really was a day of two halfs.

It was a pretty big westerly.

Drifted Murrin in the morning and rose two fairly substantial fish (I think one might have been a grilse) but they wouldn’t stick.

Moved up to Lonaig but didn’t turn a fin.

at about 2:00 tried the big rock at the North of Inchcruin and got a neb and had a long follow from a fish of about three pounds - could see him plain as day following after the fly - he eventually nosed it but failed to stick.

Came across a wee shoal of fish on the south side of Buccinch - we rose four and I got one about two pounds.

South side of Darroch held a few as well - I briefly hooked and lost one, rose another two and Gerry had a fish of 5 or 6lbs take the dap and pull his floss away before he struck - despite me roaring at him across the boat - STRIKE!!!!!! He also rose another couple there.

I could see the biggie dropping down in the water as the fly came up from the depths on its own.

got one about 1lb 6 oz at the Fad and Gerry rose another couple.

Rose another one in the Geggles and that was about it.

All in all we rose about 15 fish and got two and a neb - not a great return but lots of action in the afternoon.

Colin

Colin McCrory pictured landing a nice fish last year.

Another email from Alec Burns referring to Saturday 9th August:

Hi Michael,

Donald Smith and I caught two sea trout on Saturday.

Donalds was 2.5lb and I had one about 2lb. Lost the wave about

12.30pm and also managed to lose another sea trout in the ensuing

flat calm, it came off after a few seconds. Last Wednsday I caught

two sea trout during my afternoon escape from work (kept the largest

3.5lb). I also rose a few fish and noticed fish rising on most of the

drifts.

Cheers,

Alex Burns.

Alec Bowie also had some sport when he landed two sea trout one at 3.5lbs and 1.5lbs and rose another good fish on 2nd August.

More and more anglers are seeing sea trout showing around the various parts of the loch. August is proving to be a good month so far for runs of salmon and sea trout.

River Endrick: A decent number of salmon and sea trout entered the river endrick since our last report on August 7th. The river rose about 4ft at the gartness Bridge that day and a fair number of anglers came out to give the river a shot at one or two selection parts notably at the meetings and at Drumtian. Over this last few days good numbers of fish were present at the meetings area and in the last couple of days also at Drumtian. Successive rises to the river height over this period should start to see fish spread further upriver. A large fish was hooked and lost at Netherton. Malcolm Prescott had two fish as far as we gather and Kenny Johnstone had one up at Drumtian. David Shaw took three fish at Drumtian and Mr Coppola also took one again at Drumtian. Further upriver at Wilsons and Black Lynn a fish was taken and two were lost. All the fish were returned which is great news. Denis McLaughlin took a nice fish of 11lbs at dusk on the 13th August.

A member fishes the river endrick at Barnsford August 2008.

Some of the stretches were in need of some strimming, though we remind all members that what you are paying for when you purchase your annual membership is for the right to fish all the fishings available. Strimming and tree pruning as well as removal of trees are all an extra bonus if they are carried out. Our chairman has strimmed Craigbell, Wilsons and Drumtian so far. Hopefully if time allows Cowdenmill will be strimmed at specific points, but only if time allows.

One member who had decided to fish elsewhere and having got a taste of other association controlled waters nearby decided that having to muscle into a pool to fish was simply not his idea of fishing. He then phoned the secretary got his permit renewed and hours later landed a nice fish of 8 or 9lbs on his first visit to the endrick. The association has that many stretches on the endrick that we would be surprised if you could not find a stretch to fish all by yourself right now with no other angler present. Collies Lynn, Netherton and Cowdenmill fishings are prime examples over this last few days with either one or no anglers fishing on these stretches.

River Leven: After the great sport since our last report The river leven actually disappointed anglers by failing to produce any fish over the next day or two but since then sport has picked up again. On Saturday 9th four fish were taken two in the morning and two in the evening. Paul Matulevicze 5lb, Colin Smith 7lb, Andy McElwee 5lb and Paul Kelly 7lbs.

Steven Gillfeather continues to pick up fish with another 5lbs fish (possibly one the day after ?) Big Keith adds to his tally with a 6lbs fish, Hugh McIlinden 7lbs. Davy Watt 7.5lbs fish. Davy Robertson and Stewart ingles had fish on the latter lost two as far as we have heard.

Davy Robertson had asked the association if he could borrow some tools and do some pruning at the Piles. The bailiff Jim Fleming got the big strimmer out and between them they did some good work tidying up in that area. Not sure who else helped but our thanks to all of them in any case. Davy Robertson is one of those guys you know you can trust to organise and attend to such matters without placing the association in any danger re-health and safety etc. He is also aware of what to prune and by how much, which is most important since once a tree is cut it is too late and damage could result from work done and fish stop resting there, perhaps because the shade has been removed.

These days with health and safety a major issue the future with regards bankside work lies with paid employees of the association and paid contractors and not with unpaid members who could be injured with the end result a possible claim against the llaia.

Water levels: remain high on the leven and with the new level of 25ft 8inches for August before the gates get raised there is plenty of water to drain before we are anywhere near that level.

Bailiffing continues to be strong in presence during the day and at night particularly on the endrick. There will be more part time bailiffs coming on stream in the next few days. The association will be producing their long awaited AGM report. It is a large report, the vast majority of members will then appreciate why the committee have left the report until time allows as much more important work has been done to ensure the future is all the more promising for all anglers who fish the system.

The Committee LLAIA

All rights reserved no reproduction without permission

Quick update: Just to say that the endrick is in spate and running dirty 11am Thursday 7th august. We doubt it will clear for tonight but should be in fine order for tomorrow morning provided we do not get another downpour. The leven although coloured at the moment should be a better bet today

…………………………………………………..

With ten salmon off the river leven on Tuesday expectations were running high on Wednesday. The only negative is the Haldane burn which when we get any amounts of rain runs very dirty due in our opinion to the landfill site and the problems it is causing. Our chairman will bring the matter up with SEPA again to see if something can be done to minimise the problem. Nevertheless it did not stop the river leven from producing six salmon for the day. Chic McLean got another fish at 6lbs, Duncan Edwards caught two at 4lbs apiece. Andy McElwee got another fish at 4lbs and Brian McCaskie a 5lbs fish. Another fish was caught in the evening at the Craft stream it weighed 5lbs and the same angler also caught a sea trout at 3lbs. Paul Matulevicze landed a nice 5lb fish and a 3lbs sea trout. several other anglers landed sea trout one chap at the Piles landed a nice sea trout and returned it, so well done for a sporting outlook. another chap had two nice se trout. The leven is at a good level and fish are still moving through so sport could be just as good again tomorrow?

The bailiffs patrolling the Endrick on 4th August 2008.

There has been a heavy presence of bailiffing both on the endrick and on the leven over this past few days. This will continue over this next few weeks to ensure that anglers rather than poachers reap the benefit of the runs of fish currently going through the system.

Loch Lomond has received an influx of sea trout over this last couple of days. One chap out from Balmaha had two nice fish at 2.5lbs and 3lbs but the most noteworthy boat was Dave Sunman and Gus Millar. On Tuesday 6th They raised between them 19 fish and landed eight the heaviest 4lbs. Gus was on the dap and Davy was on the wet fly. They kept two fish and retired to the Oak Tree Inn for a pint to celebrate their red letter day on the loch.

The Endrick was up 3ft at Gartness Bridge at 8pm on Wednesday 6th August so should be in fine order tomorrow. There is a space for two members on the Pool in the afternoon so a quick phone call to the secretary could secure a spot on the pool at a very good time as fish were moving up into the pool this evening.

So 17 salmon off the river leven and cracking sport with sea trout on the loch and the prospects of great sport on the Endrick tomorrow the lomond system is doing rather well right now!!!

Interestingly was the news that the chairmans son decided to go to the Annan with his pal on Saturday. There were 15 anglers on the water and no one caught a fish. It cost him £18.00 plus Vat. He did suggest to his friend to go to the leven instead but his friend felt the Annan would produce the goods. Five day tickets for the Annan would pay for a SEASON permit for the leven. It makes one think for sure. Anglers who have never fished the leven before should really give it a go as we are sure they will be surprised how much room is available and the fish are there to catch into the bargain.

Tide Times can be seen at

http://www.mobilegeographics.com:81/calendar/year/2292.html

The Committee LLAIA

All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

UPDATE AS OF 6TH AUGUST: Tuesday the 5th of August ended with no less than NINE SALMON caught on the RIVER LEVEN Ten if you count the one mentioned earlier that was actually caught trolling up the leven to the loch.

Jim McDonald ended up with three when he moved from the top end where he caught two fish and caught another at the renton they weighed 3lbs 5lbs and 10lbs. Robert Baxter got one at 5lbs and J Low caught one at 5lbs which he returned, well done. Chic McLean must have wondered when lady luck would come his way with another lost fish. But experience counts a lot on this river and he persevered when others would have given up and was finally rewarded with a nice fish of 8lbs. All four fish were caught at the bottom end which goes to show how results can differ and moving about can increase your chance of sport. Reports of another fish off the loch has still to be confirmed but the river leven is back on top and looks like it might well stay that way for the rest of the week, but who knows? So ten fish off the river then and two the day before plus any others not reported?

River Leven at the top end of the river. Good flow and a delight to fish.
Danny Connelly saw a shoal of fish on Saturday at renton and reckoned the smallest fish was about 10lbs. Jim Fleming saw a shoal at the Haldane burn and they all looked like salmon rather than grilse. Chic has seen a fish jumping and thought it looked a good 18lbs. It was the same at the top end of the river with some nice fish showing including one which also looked at least18lbs….the same fish moving upriver?

Hard to imagine that this river costs £105 to fish for the whole season and there is still most of August and all of September and October to go.

Tide Times are often asked for by anglers wanting to fish the river leven. There are no shortages of tide tables at a variety of web sites. One particular web site we find very good mainly because it is simple and very easy to read. It gives you the high and low tides it also shows you the different stages of the moon, the time of sunrise and the time of sunset. In short it has everything you want. The tide times are all stated for Greenock so just add the time difference from Greenock to Dumbarton roughly 15 minutes.

http://www.mobilegeographics.com:81/calendar/year/2292.html

We will include this link as and when time allows so that anglers can simply click on the link and you can get the tide time for Greenock.In the meantime we will show this link at the end of all reports. It might seem simple to just print out the sheets at the start of each year but they are copyright and doing so would be illegal.

………………………………………………………………..

UPDATE AS OF 5TH AUGUST:

There was two more salmon from the river leven on Monday Duncan Campbell had one at 10lbs and John Harris one at 4lbs.

Today so far there has been FIVE salmon off the leven. Jim McDonald had two, 3lbs and 5lbs. Big Keith finally broke his duck with a 5lb fish. D Watt 9lbs. D Darling landed a nice fish of 10lbs and promptly returned the fish….well done.

The river is in fine order so it is likely more fish will come off in the next few days. We will update using this report.

A well known controversial angler landed his first salmon off the loch today (Tuesday) since taking out a big ticket at one of the tackle shops. Some weeks ago he was confronted by the bailiffs out on the loch patrolling. It was the committees intention to ban the angler concerned indefinitely from association controlled waters. However our chairman has asked the committee to allow the angler to fish “only on loch lomond” and the bailiffs will observe his conduct. If he is seen fishing the leven or any of the tributaries he will be banned from fishing association waters. His permit is allowed to be retained on this basis only. This will be the anglers last chance to abide by the rules or face a lifetime ban.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

A previous report mentions the fact that the May/June catches on Loch Lomond has delighted many of our members. Looking back over the catch returns we had to go back 18 years before we came across similar or better results. It is also worth bearing in mind that not all catches have been reported here!

Looking briefly over the July catches it is striking that most of the fish are likely to have been multi sea winter fish. A decade ago the catches would have been exactly the opposite!

July has seen another good month for the loch with good quality fish being landed at Balloch and Balmaha. Since our last loch report on 11th July we have as indicated been busy with work that we believe will have a profound effect on our fish stocks in the future. Events and circumstances are such that we will continue to work at this project and if it means we cannot get other items dealt with then so be it for the time being. Bailiffing has been stepped up with lookouts now in place at certain locations in addition to the regular bailiffing. It is impossible to bailiff everywhere so any creditable and factual information is always greatly appreciated, what is not appreciated is false information that wastes bailiffs time which simply costs members money and risks poaching in other areas while the false rumours and supposed tip offs are investigated.

Our main task over this next few weeks is to protect the grilse runs that are coming into the system and running the rivers. We will also be doing permit checks on the loch as well as night patrols on the loch. Running parallel to this is our drive to increase fish stocks in the very near future.

We have “seven individuals” who are involved in bailiffing and permit checks and all will be utilised as required from now till the end of the season.

Moving on from our last loch report on the 11th July: Wee Geordie Fyfe fishing out from Balmaha had another salmon.
We had Ian Fraser and John Dawson out from Balmaha, they returned with a nice salmon shown below.

Ian Fraser with a 13.5lbs salmon: loch lomond 12th July 2008

The fish was caught off the east shore of Inch Fad. There were other fish brought into both Balmaha and Balloch that Saturday. Colin Lewis had one at 9lbs, Kevin Gath one at 8.5lbs and and Stewart Inglis junior had a nice fish of 12lbs.

Fish were caught during the week up to the Saturday 19th but details are vague. Robert Patterson had two caught during the week though Friday produced some nice fish with Davy King adding to his tally with another two fish of 11lbs and 9.5lbs. Craig John landed another at 13.5lbs. Raymond Pryce took his first this season with possibly an early grilse 4.5lbs. Billy Marsland also had a grilse of 4lbs and a salmon of 12lbs. John Connolly added to his tally with another fish. James McGuire and another balloch boat also had fish. Jim McVey was reported landing a salmon but the information is unclear.

On the Saturday 19th July Alan Pryce kept his old man at bay with another to add to his increasing tally at 5lbs. Other fish were caught but no names to attach to the fish.

Once again catches during the week are difficult to get information on but sea tout are starting to get caught both on the troll and on the fly though nothing glowing to report on that front……..yet.

On the week leading to the 26th July little effort was made to get catch reports (too busy) but we hear fish were caught but no details? O n the Friday Albert Biddulph took another fish of 5.5lbs and on the Saturday 26th July J Stevenson took a grilse at 5lbs and A Millar a fish of 7.5lbs.

Garth Crawford out from Luss had a nice fish at Critreoch at 13lbs. A number of fish were lost with Duncan Ferguson hooking into a lively fish which eventually got off, Alec Bowie doing the same. There were obviously a few heavy fresh fish in the loch as Denis McLaughlin landed a beauty at just over 17lbs.

Denis McLaughlin’s fresh run salmon: Loch Lomond July 2008.

This fish was caught off Inch Murrin. It fell to a toby modified as described in the article and tips section by our Peter Lyons on our web. Since then it appears others have been converting their tobys with increased success. Denis has lo been fly fishing for sea trout and appeared to hit it off one particular day and rose 11 good sea trout with none of them landed.

Euan McGrandle was out with his uncle Willie McGrandle. They met with success with a nice salmon.

Landing a nice salmon certainly adds pleasure to the days fishing: Loch Lomond July 2008

Euan and Willie fished the fly over at the islands and rose a salmon and several sea trout. They kept a fish at 2lbs. The salmon was utilized in the fry up.

Fry up on Loch Lomond July 2008: Note the old blackened kettle!

On Thursday 31st July Frank Donnelly landed a sea liced fish of 10lbs and Colin Lewis had a salmon on consecutive day possibly on the 29th and 30th of July. Angus MacRitchie landed a nice fresh 4lb sea trout during the last day of July and Carl out from Balmaha landed two sea trout at 2.5lbs each. Several other sea trout have been landed recently.

LLAIA Vice Chairman Peter Lyons landed a sea trout of 2lbs and a salmon of about 12lbs-13lbs both were returned. It is unusual to see salmon returned on loch lomond so it is nice to see another salmon being returned none the less. Grilse are starting to show over the loch as far up as Rowchoish.

Peter Lyons salmon which was returned: Loch Lomond 31st July 2008.

On 31st July the heavy rain finally arrived and the loch rose to over 26ft prompting the barrage gates on the river leven to be lowered. This obviously encouraged grilse and the odd summer fishto enter the leven.On Saturday we know of at least one grilse taken at 5lbs. This scenario we now have is similar to last year. These conditions prompted the fresh grilse to head up through the leven and through the loch to enter the Endrick.

RIVER ENDRICK: A number of fresh grilse were seen at thePotts of Gartness and the stretch below at Barnsford had good numbers of grilse. The river rose by 4ft by Friday 4pm and rose further that night. However by Saturday morning the river was at a nice fishing height. Charlie Haggerty lost a fish at Barnsford. Grilse could be seen in several parts of the river prompting bailiffs presence during the night.

The Potts of Gartness: August 2008: A fresh grilse leaps up the falls.

RIVER LEVEN: A number of fish were taken on the leven over this past fortnight. A Coll 10.5lbs, Gordon Pollock 10lb, Alec MacElwee 6lbs, Andy Maclwee 3.5lbs and 6lbs, Ian Marshall 6lbs, Robert Galbraith 15.5lbs and 4lbs, Gavin Brand 11.5lbs, Danny Connelly 4lbs. Duncan Campbell 11lbs Derek Hughes 7lbs. Jim Fleming was doing the rounds as bailiff and reports fish showing at the Haldane burn on the Saturday morning. Grilse are starting to enter the leven in increasing numbers. The worry now is that with the river at a decent height and the loch likewise the fish might well run the endrick. If no further rain occurs to keep the endrick topped up the sport will be lost to the leven and loch man with the endrick anglers also struggling to tempt them in the low waters. There is nothing we can do about this other than hope for a low loch level which encourages fish to stay in the loch and provides great sport for anglers. There are a number of other fish having being caught on the leven but we are unable to keep tab on names. Sea trout runs are also increasing but as yet no really heavy runs reported.

The River Leven was at a good height on Saturday 2nd August 2008.

The leven currently offers great value at £15.00 per day. We should get decent levels for the next week possibly. Grilse are moving through and expectations are good.

The River Leven offering great streams with few anglers during the week days

The Committee LLAIA

All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

The River Endrick has risen 4ft on the marker board at Gartness Bridge. Without any more rain other than an odd shower the river should be in fine order for Saturday morning.

Most anglers are likely to head for Barnsford or Drumtian stretches as these are usually the first to get any fresh new fish that may have run straight through the loch and into the river endrick. Much depends on the fish themselves if they enter the river and whether they stay put on the lower deeper areas below Drymen or whether they quickly move through to reach the Potts of Gartness.

Many anglers get confused with the different marker levels and how the height of the river at say Fintry compares to the height of the river at say Gartness.

River Endrick Fintry Bridge on Friday 1st August 2008 at 4pm.

The picture of the endrick above gives some idea of the height of the river at Fintry. Note the colour and compare with the picture below. Also take into account where the rainfall had fallen! There are times when the rainfall has came from above Fintry and very little rain has actually fallen below fintry. On this occasion the rainfall was throughout the endrick area at least towards Gartness. We were unable to confirm if the areas below this also had rain?

River Endrick Gartness Bridge Friday 1st August 2008 at 3.30pm

The level at Gartness bridge might help you to relate the two areas and come up with a sensible plan to take advantage of the situations as they occur. You could go one better and take a photo of the marker board at Collies Lynn and this would give you a better idea of the height and colour of the different area’s at any given height etc.

Marker Board showing height of river at Gartness Bridge 2 inches below 4ft.

In the space of an hour the river had reached the 4ft level with heavy downpours that lasted less than half an hour.

Note the colour difference between both areas, later in the season you can take advantage of this and fish the top end first, getting prime fishing conditions and move later on further downstream to find the prime conditions just occurring as you arrive. You can continue to get prime fishing conditions if you time your movement and go further downstream and fish below where the Blane runs in. If the Blane has risen a lot it does get very dirty and the area immediately below the Blane can take much longer to get to a nice colour that usually gives good sport. It is also worth bearing in mind that the river below the Blane has (obviously) greater volume of water and can continue to fish when the stretches above start to get too low for really good fishing.

The association has probably got less “endrick only” anglers than they have had for many years now. You can read into that whatever you like but dry seasons usually mean there is limited fishing until later on in the autumn period. The bottom line is that members can now go to any of our stretches and fish them with a chance of hooking into a summer salmon, a fresh grilse or a sea trout. Of the three stretches that we actually own Drumtian is probably still the most popular because it is lower down and possibly has the occasional fish resident from May onwards Wilsons is a great stretch of water for both sea trout and salmon. The  Cowdenmill fishings which was purchased last year has enormous potential. this stretch is long, over one and a quarter mile long. It still needs a lot of work done to it as there is, for example old wire fencing lying on the ground. There are some areas that would be greatly improved by further tree pruning and cutting etc. The fact that the association now has these stretches purchased is what matters far more above anything else. The tidying up of the stretches will come in due course when resources are available etc. Indeed right now the tidying up of the endrick stretches in general has been put back as other more important work is given priority. The association has numerous stretches on the endrick to such as extent that you might well find yourself fishing on a stretch of the endrick all to yourself.

We have still to do a comprehensive report on the loch which might get done over the weekend. We will however inform you of any changes to water levels etc and any important information we feel you might require. The accounts have still to be sent out to our members but as stated already the accounts are another fine example of how to manage the association efficiently and professionally given the income received and the expenditure carefully worked out. As stated in a previous committee report our accounts show another excellent year for our association and will eventually be sent out to all of our members in due course. Put simply we can spend excessive amounts of money on getting other very important items dealt with at additional cost to our members or we can get the secretary to do this work ( if he is willing) and thus save the members extra expense. Any clown can spend YOUR MONEY but it takes skill to accumulate income and subsequently spend that income wisely.

We mention this because a member recently inquired if we had a problem with the accounts. The only problem we have at present is with the one or two members who persist in trying to discredit and destroy the association by whatever means they can, using the delay in sending out the accounts to infer there is something wrong is wicked and destructive. We will in due course remove such members from our association as they have nothing to offer our membership but destructive abuse. In the meantime we have far more important things to get on with and we have no doubt that the vast majority of our membership will be delighted with the progress being made to date.

The Committee LLAIA

All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

River Leven: This is just a very brief report to let you all know the barrage gates have been lowered as the loch level reaches the 26ft level today. Grilse are starting to trickle through now and at 4.30pm -5pm there was fresh grilse at McKinnons for example.

We will be giving you a more detailed report in the next few days. After a great deal of hard work we are on track towards our plans which are moving ahead nicely. There is still loads of work needing done but we are focused on what matters to anglers most and have no intention of being diverted to items of less importance.

Loch Lomond: The loch is still producing salmon and the odd grilse are now starting to show in a variety of places. We fully expect things to improve over the next few weeks with grilse and sea trout entering the system in greater numbers.

Tight Lines : THE COMMITTEE

All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

It is hard to imagine the salmon fishing could improve any more given we have had the best catches of summer fish over this last 18years throughout May and June on loch lomond. Judging by reports from the Balmaha boatyard there has been salmon brought into Balmaha every day last week. One chap had two salmon at 13lb each, another chap came in with a fish of 15lbs.

Peter Lyons our Vice Chairman went out for the first time trolling on Saturday 5th July and returned with a nice fish of 12lbs. It is amazing that Peter is able to fish at all, since he suffered a stroke last year but it just shows you what sheer effort and determination can do!

Peter Lyons with a cracking fish of 12lbs Rowchoish Loch Lomond July 2008

On that same Saturday Walter Gilchrist landed an 8lb salmon and a balloch boat also had a fish.

An email on 6th July from Jim Raeburn told the story on Saturday: Quote

Michael,
Managed to get out at last yesterday. When I was setting off ,Walter Gilchrist and Peter Lyons were getting ready. Fished up to Inversnaid and passed only a few Balloch Boats on their way back down, probably after lying out overnight. Nobody had any fish. On the return journey I had a brief encounter with a good sized fish at the point at Rowcoish…there’s always one there…and it’s still there! When I got back into Balmaha Alex Bowie told me that Walter Gilchrist had a fish of 8lbs at Net Bay and lost another. When I spoke to Walter in the morning, he mentioned that he was heading down there, so he’ll be a happy chap with his first fish this year. Incidentally he was trying out Peter’s toby rigs. On Friday night, Kenny McDonald was telling me his brother Jim has recently seen a lot of fish moving up the Leven at night…nine o’clock onwards, just when everyone’s gone home!

Regards,
Jim. End of Quote

It was like that for a number of anglers another email, though the sender wishes to remain anonymous.

When I arrived at about 7pm,Monday Walter Gilchrist was just in with a fish of 8lbs and lost a second. Frank Donnelly also came in with a fish of around the 7lbs mark.

I arrived back at Balmaha at about 9:30pm and met Willie Caldwell who also came in with a salmon just under the 10lb mark. He got it in Mill of Ross bay. All in all an exceptional season so far. End of Quote

There have been other fish caught as well. Wee Geordie Fyfe landed another fish of 12.5lbs well up the loch on the 8th July. Lets just say the loch is fishing really well and leave it at that!

Sea trout are getting caught and another email from Gordon Bruce is interesting. Quote:

I was out on Tuesday. Rose some nice fish off Inchmurrin but never connected. All very nice fish over 3 lb. there were a lot of fish rising to natural may flies. And it was may fly imitations they were coming to. I was watching a nice fat may fly lift off from the surface about 20 feet from the boat heading straight towards us. It never made it. A nice sea trout launched itself and nailed it 2 foot above the water. What a sight to behold.

On the way back to balloch I noticed some fish rising in a bay near Cameron House hotel. I thought it was perch or roach as they were rising everywhere, rising to may flies. First cast the water erupted and I struck but pulled the fly out its mouth. The same with the second third and forth offers. Thinking it must be salmon, the next cast I looked away. I heard the rise, I counted to 3 then tightened. After a 10 min battle it was netted by my daughter. 3½ lb sea trout. During the fight another fish had come up a taken the top dropper a ripped it off the cast. I had other smaller fish before all the fish disappeared. Right place right time and its happening more frequently.

Gordon Bruce End of Quote:

Here is a photo of Gordon’s fish.

Gordon Bruce with a sea trout taken on Loch Lomond July 2008

River Leven:
The River Leven has given up three salmon on the Saturday. Eddie reports that Thursday saw the river at a nice height but few anglers out on the river. More sea trout are now being seen as well as more salmon continuing to run the river.

Philip Shannan was out for the first time fishing the river leven and landed a nice fish. Well done.

Philip Shannan back on the leven after a period of illness: Well Done.

We are now going to be very busy so please do not presume that lack of any reports over this next week or so is an indication that nothing is being caught. There are times when we just get too busy that is all.

Tight Lines The Committee LLAIA

All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

Water Levels: This morning the gates were lowered and the river leven rose significantly. Our chairman deliberated whether he should contact the water board and ask them not to lower the gates right down but perhaps just lower them above weekend height? The problem for the water board is that doing so poses a risk for them that further rain could raise the level above the 26ft and cause them to receive complaints of flooding from proprietors on the loch. There is also the reality that the water board might not have staff to come in just to lower the gates should the water levels rise un-expectantly. We have to look at the other side of the fence sometimes and realise that it is not just want the anglers want, there are other groups of people to consider. The Endrick was up about 10 inches or so today and a few large fish were at the Potts of Gartness. It remains early days for the endrick though Jimmy Brown took a nice fresh 3lbs sea trout last week on the endrick.

River Endrick: July 4th 2008.

River Leven: The river is starting to produce more fish and quality fish at that! There are not many rivers that can produce fish of this quality. Anglers get the opportunity to fish for them at a ridiculously low price compared to many rivers up and down the country. During the week Alan Pryce landed a salmon of 12lbs and Rab Strachan landed one at 10lbs. Duncan Campbell had a beauty of 15lbs. Tam Kirkbride landed a nice fish of 12lbs near the Haldane burn and to cap it all Ross McLeod landed a cracker of 15lbs at McKinnons on the fly today. There might have been more but that is all we have! Thanks to Eddie for the information.

The extensive bankside improvement work carried out during the spring months has worked out just fine with problem areas still clear to cast a line. The Double Pipes area was one of the problem areas and it is now a delight to spey cast down without snagging on the brambles that grew down the bank slope and caught on your line frequently. The association will continue to keep this area and other similar areas in good condition if at all possible.

It can be a difficult job trying to balance the needs of all sections of anglers and try and please them. One thing for sure we can never please everybody. We believe that most anglers are extremely happy for what they get for the price of an annual permit. We would say to those that disagree, to go elsewhere and see what you get for your £105.00! perhaps a spot of night fishing (one night!!) for £80 on the Earn or a days salmon fishing on one of the more popular salmon rivers. Alternatively you can take out a river leven “season permit” for the whole season and enjoy yourself without shelling out a small fortune for one days fishing.

Loch Lomond: Continues to fish with the fly fishers now taking the odd sea trout for their day fishing. Colin McCrory took a nice fish of 3lbs picture below. Th e sea trout fishing should start to pick up in the next few weeks on both loch and rivers depending on the weather and water levels naturally.

Loch Lomond Fly caught July sea trout 3lbs.

Prospects are looking good for sport on the big loch and on the leven this weekend. Bailiffs are likely to be out checking permits.

The Scottish Game Angling Fair will take place this weekend at Scone. Our best wishes to LLAIA member Ryan Brady who will be competing in the Junior and senior fly fishing distance competitions over the weekend. Ryan took third place in the mens senior spey casting competition at the Tweed festival earlier this year.

Tight Lines The Committee LLAIA