The fish are running!
The fish are running! The loch lomond system is doing very well thank you!
First off was the news that Chic McLean the veteran Leven salmon angler finally broke his duck early yesterday morning when he landed a fresh springer. Shortly after this the water board arrived and raised the barrage gates. With the water level back to summer low Chic took a break and returned later on undeterred by the low water. He subsequently landed another springer. Two springers in the one day after a lot of fruitless hours with nothing to show for his efforts. The fish weighed 11.5lbs and 13lbs.
Chic McLean is an accomplished angler and skillful rod and probably has more experience then any other angler that currently fishes the leven. Despite all the experience it has been hard going for Chic putting in a lot of hours before he finally met with success. The importance of certain qualities is vital to becoming a really good salmon angler, perseverance coupled with confidence go hand in hand even when times are tough and the river is seemingly devoid of fish. It is exactly these qualities that most anglers lack. They start off full of confidence early in the season when few if any fish are about. After a few weeks with nothing to show their confidence gone they start to basically go though the motions. Casting with no real conviction as a sense of hopelessness sets in. It happens to us all at some point in our fishing life. Some anglers are able to go that bit longer but the vast majority of anglers not only lose their confidence but lose their concentration and give up convinced the fish are not there or they make any excuse they can for not continuing to fish.
On the Saturday just past the river leven was quiet for the time of year given the nice angling conditions and the weekend freshet. At most there was no more than a dozen anglers out on the whole river. Within a fairly short period most had decided to give up and head home. By early evening fish were seen head and tailing in various parts of the river but hardly a soul fishing! Chic was out trying hard and still fishing with confidence and conviction. There are some who will say Chic’s two fish caught yesterday was just luck! but the truth is that he never gave up! which is why he got what he rightly deserved, two cracking springers.
Loch Lomond continues to amaze with more fish coming off the loch. Euan McGrandle went out yesterday for a troll down the Endrick Bank with only a slight breeze and bright sunshine he was delighted to be out on the loch. As he made his way down the bank he thought it was time for a wee cuppa so out came the kettle and with the tea poured he sat himself down to enjoy the day and pleasant scenery. Just as he approached the fir tree hole the lead weights jumped up in the air and one of the reels screamed as he looked towards the back of the boat he saw a cracking salmon doing multiple cartwheels as he quickly got himself organised and eventually settled down to playing this lively fish. It was finally brought to the net and weighed 16lbs. It was taken with a golden sprat. Euan is on the committee of the llaia and has done a cracking article on this web which explains how to dye the sprats etc. It is in the articles tips and tricks section. We have another article to go on the web soon on “fly fishing” by Colin McCrory which many will find extremely useful. These articles are a credit to the llaia committee that are prepared to show others their secrets developed over the years, it also demonstrates the sheer depth of anging experience the committee has as well as good business skills.
We have our sources for keeping en eye on the river and loch and watching closely when there are positive signs that the fish are running. They are running now which means the bailiffs are going to be busy watching the mouth of the leven the loch at night and the leven in general.
Euan McGrandle with a 16lb springer taken on loch lomond 19th May 2008
It is always a nice feeling when a fellow lomond boat passes you by and gives you the “BIG O” and you are able to return the signage as you lift the fish up and smile. Euan was rather disappointed that there were few boats out to do just that!
The old saying lets make hay when the sun shines applies when the fish are clearly running. So we can report that Euan headed back out on the loch today and promptly landed another springer! This one weighed 9.5lbs and was covered in sea lice. It was taken just at the Endrick mouth as Euan once again trolled the endrick bank area of loch lomond. Below is the picture of Euans fish he caught 20/05/2008
Loch Lomond: Euans fresh sea liced springer 9.5lbs. Taken on a golden sprat.
Euan also took a fine sea trout of between 4lb and 5lb which he released. He also took the sea trout on a golden sprat.
One might think that this is all good news and certainly the best spring fishing on lomond for several years but it appears our reporting of the sea trout catches is simply NOT ACCURATE !!! We have had several complaints by members that we are not showing the sea trout fishing potential as it is right now on lomond!
Here is an email that was sent in by fellow member Gordon Bruce:
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email from Gordon Bruce: Quote: Thanks for the heads up on the sea trout front. After reading your article about a sea trout on the loch I went out on Tuesday. I went out from Milarocky Bay with a view to trawl round the islands. The day started off dull and overcast but with a good strong easterly wind. Perfect fishing conditions but in the first hour never moved anything on the troll.
I changed to the fly and drifting round the islands about a couple of boat lengths out. I meet with an immediate rise. The fish were taking slightly short so I reduced the size of the flies. I then started connecting them but lost every single one of the first 10 fish. They weren’t huge, averaging a pound to a pound and a half. By now the clouds had disappeared and bright sunny conditions prevailed. At times I lost the wind but this didn’t stop the fish rising to the fly. Fish number 11 was promptly boated, a Fish of about a pound, but still very welcome.
I then took the flies between the long and short point (Inchcruin) connecting with a lively pound and a half fish and lost another few good fish up to two pounds. In total 18 fish were risen, 11 hooking and 7 landed. All fish were returned.
An excellent days fishing. The Sea Trout are definitely back.
I was out again yesterday (Thursday) in slightly better conditions, dull and overcast but the wind wasn’t as strong. I tried some different areas down the east shore line, close to the shore. Fish were risen all through the day. Three fish were landed, two 2 lb sea trout and a magnificent 3lb snail gorging brownie Many more good fish were hooked and lost and some just came up to say hello.
I have fished the best of the Irish Loughs, mask corrib etc, but none of them came close to the quality of the fly fishing on Lomond at this time.
All fish were returned
Ps just read the article on the web site. Is this the same Loch Lomond???
Gordon Bruce. End of Quote:
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Hopefully we can get better information but as always we do rely on members and permit holders to keep us informed as well as bailiffs etc. We are only human and as such we do not always get it right but are satisfied that on most ocassions we give accurate reporting. We did not report on our last update but several sea trout were caught on the Saturday and an increasing number of sea trout are being caught on the trolls using traditional salmon lures. It does look like this is the season to be on loch lomond.
With the spring salmon fishing much improved we hesitate to think ahead and wonder if the grilse runs will be as good as last year! If the good runs are repeated then the loch lomond system will be a fantastic place to be!
Tight Lines The Committee LLAIA
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