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
