Linlithgow Loch, 17th June.

Conditions were good, with a light and variable breeze, and mainly cloudy conditions.  Whether it was because the underlying wind direction was east to northerly, or some other reason, who knows, but sport was unusually slow.  The boats that managed to get a position in the zone between the weedy shallows and the drop-off into the deep hole had the best of it.  Ian Mac had best bag, taken in this area, on yet another variation of what is becoming our club's top fly of the season, the Diawl Bach.  Ian's was the jungle cock version.  Other rods reported catching fish on standard Diawls and holo-Diawls as well.  Spoonings revealed a good assortment of stuff, including hog-louse, Corixae, micro buzzer, big Daphnia, and weird green aquatic moth larvae.

Ian's bag of 7 for 13 lb, plus 2 returned, was 3 better than anyone else.  There was action to be had elsewhere, but boy, did you have to work hard for it!  Steve G, fishing up the east end, did best of the rest.   Figure-of-eighting dry flies, Steve took 6, with a hare's ear hopper being the stand out fly.  Steve had a cracking resident in his bag, and nobody thought to tell yours truly to get a photo of it (yours truly being too dozy to think to do it himself).  Sorry Steve -- just have to catch another one.  Jimmy M, in the boat with Steve, had best fish with a 5 pounder.  Also up the east end, John M took 4 to Diawl Bachs.  Elsewhere, there was an odd half chance at fish moving across the west point area with dry fly... and... eh... Diawl Bachs.  The club's total for 19 rods was 48 fish for 88 lb 12 oz plus 2 returned.

Only 2 rods stayed on for the evening, but those of you who went away at 6 missed nothing.  It turned Baltic later on, and there was no rise whatsoever.