well guy's n girls , the trout season is now at an end and for many it will mean a very long wait for the new 2010 season to start, as for me i do miss the river fishing although I'm sure their are some nice grayling to be had in a few rivers around me and that's one of my plans for the winter season .
I also enjoy the time the close season gives me to better my tying ability and this winter i will be trying to build up my still water collection ,of which I'm very interested in the tying of traditional patterns ,as I've seen these work very well on the place i intend to fish next season , which I'm sure people would agree with as its got to be the best in the west (HARELAW) run by a great guy Alex Carney who i can say is the most helpful owner of a fishery I've ever met ,so if any u guys are thinking of trying out still water fishing , then don't go to one of these puddles dug into the ground , as you will be much more rewarded by going to a place such as harelaw ,and this choice will also give you a good guide into what you should be looking for at a quality fishery.
i will be doing my best to get any patterns i tie up on the blog for you all to see and with that i would be grateful of any comments , be they constructive or not .
so until my next post which im going to be doing allot more of , take care and good fishing to you all.
Monday, 19 October 2009
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Perfect morning
well on to the train and for only 3.60 return i was happy ,more than happy to be heading for Neilston where i will need to get a taxi to Harelaw which without doubt is the best in the west ,with rainbow trout that fight like the locals on a Friday night in the high street and let me assure you the fight hard.
this fish was a real pleasure and a relief to catch as it meant i had not blanked that day , i took myself off round the corner heading right from the bothy and i had one hit and one follow as i continued my way round ,were i came to a boggy area which i forgot had been drenched in the heavy rain a day or so before and when around half way into it i felt the ground become decidedly spongy and thought i would be OK to continue , but as i did i soon realised when i put my foot forward and ended up to my waist in bog thick stinky mud which frightened me very much as i was sinking fast and had it not been long reedy grass I'm not sure i would have got out ,but i did eventually and way out of breath i sat and wondered about how close i had been to a tragic accident which i hear of quite allot on the fishing scene, and so it was a wake up call to get myself better informed and also not to take silly decisions like i had just done after all i could have lost my life for the sake of an extra 15 minutes walk around the bog ,,just how silly can i be.
Harelaw if you don't know is owned by a fine man of the name Alec Carney who also holds Snypes dam and both hold some fine fishing for all stages of expertise as most fish are never far from the bank .
Harelaw holds its fine wild brown trout which have been their since the place was built and also has regular stocking of rainbows ,blues and i think their are even a few tiger trout in their to as is in Snypes although this is a place I've never fished.
i arrived at Harelaw to the snigger's of Alec watching me climb out a local private hire taxi with all my gear and let me tell you the local taxis ain't cheap folk , so if you intend to follow my route and go to Harelaw remember the taxi fare which will be around 10 pound for both ways.
Harelaw has everything ,scenery and fantastic fishing from boat and bank and for me its the bank as my boating skills are non existent at the moment ,but this is something i want to tackle as i would like to find a boat partner at some point and try the competitions scene to see what its like and to see if i can make any sort of mark in the fishing scene which would be a big delight for me,so as said arrival was greeted by a sneering giggle and the words why did you not phone me .
Alec has always said he would pick me up from the station if i were going to Harelaw ,and this is just the type of guy he is ,a real gent and always willing to give advice and help with fishing technique around his waters.
i fished for around an hour with a black Bobbie on the top dropper and a Kate in the middle and another on the point as i was hoping the Bobbie would attract the fish in to grab the Kate which was lime green tailed ,after a while i realised nothing was forthcoming of this crap choice of flies ( I've still loads to learn about still waters) ,so i changes set up and put a Bibio on the top and a Kate in the middle with a hares ear on the point and no sooner had i done this than i had a good fighting rainbow on which i netted and came to around the 3lb mark with a tail all still water fisheries should judge their fish condition on ,as it was perfect.
this fish was a real pleasure and a relief to catch as it meant i had not blanked that day , i took myself off round the corner heading right from the bothy and i had one hit and one follow as i continued my way round ,were i came to a boggy area which i forgot had been drenched in the heavy rain a day or so before and when around half way into it i felt the ground become decidedly spongy and thought i would be OK to continue , but as i did i soon realised when i put my foot forward and ended up to my waist in bog thick stinky mud which frightened me very much as i was sinking fast and had it not been long reedy grass I'm not sure i would have got out ,but i did eventually and way out of breath i sat and wondered about how close i had been to a tragic accident which i hear of quite allot on the fishing scene, and so it was a wake up call to get myself better informed and also not to take silly decisions like i had just done after all i could have lost my life for the sake of an extra 15 minutes walk around the bog ,,just how silly can i be.
anyway the day went on and i had a few more touches and follows but nothing netted ,and with the sun high in the sky i though it best to rest a while and see what happened ,but by time the evening rise was about an hour away i felt really tiered and decided to call it a day and head home which Alec helped by giving me a run to the station at Neilston which saved me around five quid so thanks again Alec.
I'm looking forward to my next time at Harelaw as I've been doing some reading and feel I'm better equipped for the next journey and my methods will be ready for any changes that come in the weather ,so bring it on Harelaw ill be back.
Alec with the first fish of the day that i seen a what a fish it was ,stunning
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
stillwater fishing
well I'm off to Harelaw tomorrow i think ,well that's if i can get a run from Neilston train station to the Harelaw as its just to long for walking and I'm just not in the mood for a long walk at the moment ,although i will probably walk around the whole loch through out the day searching for those hard fighting rainbows ,and the camera is a must do need to remember to set up the re0charger for batteries for tomorrow so as i can start getting some pics back up on the blog as they are as important as the written stuff at times to show people were you have been and the sights you have seen through out your trip.
i am by far a river fisherman and would much rather be on the river bank as to a still water every time as their is just nothing quite like the sound of running water and the scent of wild flowers and the sound of the birds as you wade along the river,i miss it very much at the moment ,as the rivers in and around the Glasgow area are well down on their bones and fish must be getting towards that danger period i watch creeping ever closer each year.
trout need plenty of well oxygenated water and also they don't cope well in waters of a high temp which I'm sure I've read can also kill them, not to mention any sea run fish like salmon or sea trout which for sure are in a dangerous situation and no matter how many rain dances I've tried they are just not working,we need rain ever so badly to flush the river and give it its much needed oxygen that the trout and salmon need.
my fly tying is coming along quite well although i feel i still rush some patterns and could do better with just a few tips on certain materials like marabou and synthetics on how to tie them down best and what threads work best.
i love my tying it is the one thing i can do when I've no fishing to go to like at this time when my local is near dry and other rivers in the area are much he same.
i have been tying buzzers and Diawa Bach, as well as crunchers and mini lure as well as boobies in different eye sizes to give different buoyancy's ,and by god i love to fish these, after only using them once with Alec on Harelaw, and as i reported it was one of the best nights of my fishing life.
so Harelaw tomorrow lets hope we can get in among the fish before Alec has to come to the rescue.
i am by far a river fisherman and would much rather be on the river bank as to a still water every time as their is just nothing quite like the sound of running water and the scent of wild flowers and the sound of the birds as you wade along the river,i miss it very much at the moment ,as the rivers in and around the Glasgow area are well down on their bones and fish must be getting towards that danger period i watch creeping ever closer each year.
trout need plenty of well oxygenated water and also they don't cope well in waters of a high temp which I'm sure I've read can also kill them, not to mention any sea run fish like salmon or sea trout which for sure are in a dangerous situation and no matter how many rain dances I've tried they are just not working,we need rain ever so badly to flush the river and give it its much needed oxygen that the trout and salmon need.
my fly tying is coming along quite well although i feel i still rush some patterns and could do better with just a few tips on certain materials like marabou and synthetics on how to tie them down best and what threads work best.
i love my tying it is the one thing i can do when I've no fishing to go to like at this time when my local is near dry and other rivers in the area are much he same.
i have been tying buzzers and Diawa Bach, as well as crunchers and mini lure as well as boobies in different eye sizes to give different buoyancy's ,and by god i love to fish these, after only using them once with Alec on Harelaw, and as i reported it was one of the best nights of my fishing life.
so Harelaw tomorrow lets hope we can get in among the fish before Alec has to come to the rescue.
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
were to fish
were to fish ,well i find myself searching through my old and new haunts to try to come up with somewhere that i can fish in this intense heat that's is surly to be the Scottish summer ,ain't that true lads.
well I'm not going to go on the river as i feel it is just to hot and to much glare ,as I'm sure you all know trout have no eye lids and this effects them immensely in bright sunshine and this is why we often see a drop in activity, so what do i do.
pike fishing ,well their is always a chance of a pike in the warm weather and more so in the early mornings and also as the sun goes down at night as the rise in water temp gets them active and i feel the best way to pursue these prehistoric predatory machines is with a well fished lure as their is nothing quite like a pike braking the surface thrashing at your lure ,and they seem to fight like mad in the summer time too,so their is that option.
i have also considered going to barrhead and giving it a go for the roach which should be feeding up in the water and a size 14-16 pheasant tail nymph fished in a slow figure of 8 retrieve should bring in a few fish and this will keep the thirst quenched ,hmmmmm.
my god this is really hot weather ,i cant stand it much more ,why cant we get good cloud cover ,that would bring it on good style ,but I'm sure their are still great places to be had on an evening rise ,were the water seems to boil with fish activity ,i wish i was at such a water .
oh look i need to get out of here and see whats happening on the river ,will report my findings when i get back.
well I'm not going to go on the river as i feel it is just to hot and to much glare ,as I'm sure you all know trout have no eye lids and this effects them immensely in bright sunshine and this is why we often see a drop in activity, so what do i do.
pike fishing ,well their is always a chance of a pike in the warm weather and more so in the early mornings and also as the sun goes down at night as the rise in water temp gets them active and i feel the best way to pursue these prehistoric predatory machines is with a well fished lure as their is nothing quite like a pike braking the surface thrashing at your lure ,and they seem to fight like mad in the summer time too,so their is that option.
i have also considered going to barrhead and giving it a go for the roach which should be feeding up in the water and a size 14-16 pheasant tail nymph fished in a slow figure of 8 retrieve should bring in a few fish and this will keep the thirst quenched ,hmmmmm.
my god this is really hot weather ,i cant stand it much more ,why cant we get good cloud cover ,that would bring it on good style ,but I'm sure their are still great places to be had on an evening rise ,were the water seems to boil with fish activity ,i wish i was at such a water .
oh look i need to get out of here and see whats happening on the river ,will report my findings when i get back.
Friday, 29 May 2009
lack of content
Well guys sorry about the lack of content theirs been lately ,I'm sure i will be doing more venturing out over the next couple of weeks and months trying new places ,well old places I've not tried for a long time like areas of the white cart river and also the Barrhead dams which I'm really looking forward to as their are still big fish to be had in these great but neglected places and why their neglected i don't know as they hold true beauty beyond anything else in and around the Glasgow area, also as i think I've mentioned before it beggars belief why no one has the fishing rights for the Barrhead dams as it would make a fantastic fishery with many different sized lakes which could be filled with all sorts of different fish ,although trout would always be my main quarry .
i just love the thought of being able to take a boat out on the big dam and going over drift after drift searching out trout in the place that i was first introduced to fishing and a place were i have the best of memories, this place is special to me and to see it being neglected is a total injustice.
the white cart ,what a great river ,it hold some of the very best trout fishing in the urban city and also it most definitely has some of the best looking and also the biggest trout in Glasgow ,as i often here of fish well over 2lb being caught and fish up to 4lb are caught every year on the river .
the cart has also allot of great memories that i often go back on when the fishing isn't quite up to what i was hoping for ,and memories of fishing Pollock estate are some of the best ,like days when i first picked up a fly rod at around the age of 15-16 and remember my first trout it was on a dry fly which I'm sure I've mentioned somewhere before ,but that was around at the run after Braidcraft roundabout in the run that runs along side Nethercraig,s running track and rugby fields.
i have had many good fish from the white cart river and stunning looking fish to ,so to go back to these places is always a little scary even when you hear good things ,i still think i worry that the magic that was once their will be gone ,and often it is as I've grown a good bit older since then and that certain excitement is just no longer as defined as it once was ,but god do i still enjoy it very much ,its like no other feeling to me I'm most definitely a fly fisherman before any other kind of method of fishing and their are many i do enjoy over a season,but a nicely balanced rod a good quality line the cast is made and all those things you have learned come together in an almost perfect cast ,i am happy and their not even a fish in sight.
now that for me is fly fishing as if you enjoy your casting then those days when you draw a blank will still be great days as you will have been able to cast well.
enjoy your fishing no matter what the fish may say.
i just love the thought of being able to take a boat out on the big dam and going over drift after drift searching out trout in the place that i was first introduced to fishing and a place were i have the best of memories, this place is special to me and to see it being neglected is a total injustice.
the white cart ,what a great river ,it hold some of the very best trout fishing in the urban city and also it most definitely has some of the best looking and also the biggest trout in Glasgow ,as i often here of fish well over 2lb being caught and fish up to 4lb are caught every year on the river .
the cart has also allot of great memories that i often go back on when the fishing isn't quite up to what i was hoping for ,and memories of fishing Pollock estate are some of the best ,like days when i first picked up a fly rod at around the age of 15-16 and remember my first trout it was on a dry fly which I'm sure I've mentioned somewhere before ,but that was around at the run after Braidcraft roundabout in the run that runs along side Nethercraig,s running track and rugby fields.
i have had many good fish from the white cart river and stunning looking fish to ,so to go back to these places is always a little scary even when you hear good things ,i still think i worry that the magic that was once their will be gone ,and often it is as I've grown a good bit older since then and that certain excitement is just no longer as defined as it once was ,but god do i still enjoy it very much ,its like no other feeling to me I'm most definitely a fly fisherman before any other kind of method of fishing and their are many i do enjoy over a season,but a nicely balanced rod a good quality line the cast is made and all those things you have learned come together in an almost perfect cast ,i am happy and their not even a fish in sight.
now that for me is fly fishing as if you enjoy your casting then those days when you draw a blank will still be great days as you will have been able to cast well.
enjoy your fishing no matter what the fish may say.
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