Linlithgow Loch, day session, 29th April.

(click on fly for photo)

Conditions were good: warm, with a soft, variable breeze and broken cloud and sunny intervals. A trickle of Scottish blend buzzers was coming off all day, and the water was gin clear. Catches were generally good, with the usual sort of spread from bumper bags down to 1s and 2s -- and no blanks! The town bay had taken a hammering, but one of our rods still got more than half his catch there.  For most, however, the east end was more productive.  The only problem with Linlithgow these days is it has far too many boats on it for the size of the water: about 22 on a water of 100-odd acres.  That means when the fish are concentrated in one area, things get very tight, with boats fishing only yards from one another.  It only takes the one boat to drive right into the centre of the congregation to make tempers frayed ...and there always seems to be the required one boat on hand!

Swinging the nymph proved the top method, with buzzer pupae in black, red and olive proving most effective.  Top bag was 8 for 20 lb, including the day's heaviest fish, a cracking resident of 5 lb 12 oz, plus a further 7 returned.  In all, the Club's 17 rods weighed in 82 fish for 151 lb, returning another 18.