Wednesday, 22nd June

Loch Leven, Evening Session

A look back at the outing requests from our members shows that in 1990, no fewer than 35 of them applied to go on the corresponding date.  Back then, we could not get any more than 6 boats, so had to ballot 18 names and give the other 17 a knock-back.  How times have changed!  All we could muster for this one 15 years later was 6 club rods plus one guest.  Where had all the others gone?  If the Loch Leven management were to be believed, they all prefer to fish small waters, full of easy to catch stockies.  A look at the missing names showed that this was simply not the case.  The guys concerned were all away looking for sport, not easy to catch stockies.  Some were salmon fishing, where one might expect only a few more chances in a day than one would expect at Leven.  Some were away to the wilds of the Highlands and islands.  Some were away to Rutland and Grafham, waters of equal size and complexity to Leven.  None were away to howk stockies out of puddles.  If Leven is too difficult for them, so be it, but that must make it too difficult for about 99.9% of anglers.  If the management are happy for it to be an "experts' water", that is their prerogative, but they can hardly be surprised when only a handful of experts (plus miniscule groups of die-hards) turn up to fish it.

So, what of this evening?  As usual (whenever we go there), it was far too bright.  However, there was an early fish for Secretary, Stewart Barnes.  A rainbow -- a survivor of last year's final stocking of the breed.  It tipped the scales at 2 lb 12 oz.  Stewart took it off the Graveyard bank, on a hot-head damsel and DI-3.

JSB with one of the last of the few

Our boat started on fast sinkers, but ne'er an offer.  We tried the north shore first, then the elbow, then the east, by which time the SW breeze was dropping away and a moderate Caenis hatch took place.  We saw a fish rise!  Dougie changed to dries, while I went to slow glass with size 12 trads.  Still no joy.  We made a move to Factor's pier.  With the sun setting and the temperature plummeting, it was now or never.  As it began to go glassy, an odd fish appeared on top, often showing several times -- probably at the remains of the Caenis.  Covering these with the trads actually started to produce some interest.  First a couple of follows, then a jag, then a fish!  It took either the mini-muddler or the doobry, but fell off and fouled-hooked itself on the black-and-gold spider on the tail.  It was a good brown -- one of the large, cormorant-proof stockies, a little over 2 lb.

That seemed to be about it, but very last knockings another good stockie brown took the black-and-gold.  And that was it.  There was one other fish taken, a brownie, by guest Gary Wright, on a DI-3 and cat's whisker in the thrapple area.  The stockie browns were off excellent quality, and those that survive will be hard to tell apart from wild fish by next year.  With luck they will bolster the breeding population as well.  We hope the new policy works!

Club total for 7 rods: 4 fish.

Photos: Canon 10D with 28-135mm IS lens + 0.9 ND grad filter