Sport on the big loch & River Leven
Trolling can be full of excitement and its great to be out on the loch.
LOCH LOMOND: Mid week has once again produced fish, At the earlier part of the week Craig John out from Balloch landed a nice fresh fish of 13lbs whilst trolling up the tap end. Duncan Ferguson played a fish for several minutes and had it almost in the boat before it departed, he reckoned the fish was about 10-12lbs. Duncan decided to give the same area another go and away went the poker this time but he only managed to get one of the other rods reeled in and the fish was off. These fish were all up the tap end.
James Kinnair had two cracking sea trout/trout at 5lbs and a whopper at 10lbs, he also reports a lost fish on the Rappalla and reckoned it was a salmon.
It is always nice to hear about our members catching fish but sometimes it is even better if they are new members. John Bell has joined the LLAIA this year and is moored up at Ardlui. He went out on Thursday and returned with an 11lbs salmon. Good going one might say, given the fact that few places in the country are producing fish with the weather the way it is. Anyway John armed with confidence decided to go out again today and I hear he has landed another salmon of 7lbs.
New member John Bell with a salmon caught up at Ardlui. July 2010
As we reported earlier, fish are still trickling into the loch so sport is there to be had for those that fancy a try. The fish are not wasting much time before heading up the loch. A sail from Balloch or Balmaha right up to Ardlui and back can be a very long day, but the scenery alone is well worth the effort never mind a decent chance of connecting with a fish!
Luss can be a handy port for a trip up the tap end of Lomond
River Leven: All salmon anglers who fish the rivers are having a difficult time the River Leven anglers at least have fish going through the river and therefore in theory at least have a better chance than those rivers that few fish enter until the water levels are suitable. The afternoon high tide and on into the evening should provide a decent chance of hooking a salmon on the river today. The Saturday early morning tide not long after dawn could also provide an opportunity. The whole country needs rain and plenty of it, but at least on the Loch Lomond system you have the Big Loch to keep anglers happy.
Bailiffs continue to keep a close eye on the three key areas namely the Clyde Estuary, The River Leven and Loch Lomond itself. Most anglers will see the regular bailiffs going about their work but there are other baillifs who are also active but remain unseen in the areas they are watching.
A trawler was seen with his net out well up the Clyde Estuary towards the tall ship area. The time and date along with the boat number was passed on to the appropriate person to deal with the matter. Not all boats seen trawling are doing so illegally. Many years ago we observed a blue trawling boat called the Endrick 2 seen trawling regularly in the bowling area, it turned out to be a research vessal.
Any decent minded angler when they see a boat netting or one very high up the estuary trawling do report the sighting and they invariably give the colour and size of the boat whilst others also give the day and time when the sighting took place, ocassionally we even get the boat number. It all helps to combat poaching which is all to the good.
The best of the fishing is still to come so it is certainly not too late to join the association and take advantage of the fishings on offer. There are four full months of fishing left to go before the season ends, plenty of time to enjoy your sport. The tributaries tend to fish best in September and October but if spates arrive in Late July or anytime in August there are fresh fish to be caught.
Tight Lines The Committee LLAIA