Frandy, day session

With very little meat on the water, rising fish were few and far between early on, and it was a case of drawing one up 'out-the-blue'.  There seemed to be a decent enough start for everyone who started out at the dam end - it seemed like everyone there caught exactly one fish.

However, it got harder and harder.  I was fishing with Gavin Macdonald, and we decided that we would be better to look elsewhere.  We took it up the water, looking in at one or two points on the far bank, including the wee creek on the elbow.  Nothing much happening.  We went on, right up to the skinny end.  When we got to the top end, we ran into Dougie Skedd and Jamie Tocher, already a step ahead of us.  They reported having had rising fish to throw at when they arrived, though it had since got quieter.  We tucked in, and gave it a minute or two to settle down.  After a bit, we started to see the odd fish.  Gradually we started to make inroads, though by now there were 4 boats in the area - a tight squeeze - too tight for Dougie and Jamie, and they moved away back down the water.

We stayed with it, and continued to pick up the odd fish when the rain wasn't too heavy.  All Gavin's fish were coming to covers, including a couple of superb long-range efforts.  Nothing was taking him out the blue.  Meanwhile, all my fish were coming out the blue - I couldn't buy a take from a cover!  We were getting them to size 14 black flies: Klinkhammers, and Bob's bits type nondescripts.

It was generally a bit quiet though, and we both put up the other rod and had a plowter with nymphy/lurey/wetty/type stuff for a spell, which resulted in a single addition to our total for Gavin on a buzzer pattern.

The breeze, what little there was of it,  turned through 180 degrees mid-afternoon and, now coming from the east, it warmed up a bit (go figure!).  That got a few more fish on the pop, and we had some late sport to our dries.

Dougie and Jamie finished with 9 to their boat, with Dougie catching on dries (red and claret Klinkhammer and black gnat), and Jamie on tadpoles on an intermediate.  Ian Macdonald and Alan Holbrook took 7 to dries.

Coldingham, evening session

I checked the forecast the next day... 24 mph northerly winds and 9 degrees!  Aw feck!  How good is that going to be for a fishery perched on top of a cliff on a north-facing coast?

It would be nice to report that in the end, conditions were not too bad but, to be honest, they were the worst I have fished in for at least a couple of seasons.  To rub salt in the wounds there was not a cloud to cover the sun the entire night.  The average wind speed was not too bad, but the gusts coming up and over the cliff were horrific, and coming from all directions.  They were ripping the surface off the water and billowing it up into sheets of spray!  The photos don't do the conditions justice, I'm afraid, but it wasn't an easy thing to capture.

Euan Cluness and I started in Swing-gate bay, where there was a bit of shelter.  Coldingham being Coldingham, there were actually a few fish rising, but we thought any chance to try and fish dries was literally blown out the water.  We started on nymphy stuff on floaters, but didn't get a touch in that spot.  Meanwhile, Euan's dad Peter was fishing with Ed Green, just outside of Swing-gate, and they picked up 3 early fish to cormorants and other mini-lures.

Stewart Barnes, fishing on his own, was another to do best early - having gone up the west arm he wasn't afraid to have a go with dries, and he picked up 3 of an eventual bag of 4 to a Bob's bits and half-hog.  Tam Forrest and Len Newby fished on a controlled drift around the main bowl and later up the west arm, catching 7 between them on floating lines.  Len was on trads (blae & black and Kate McLaren), while Tam was another brave enough to fish dries, taking his fish on a black hopper.  Len's catch included a rainbow at 5 lb and a large brown returned - estimated at 7 lb.  Trevor Gibson and Gavin Macdonald also had 7 to their boat in the main bowl, fishing black nymphs on floaters.

Euan and I moved across to the south shore and a switch to figure-of-eighting on a fast intermediate finally brought us our first.  Still a bit slow, so we went up the west arm.  We dropped anchor in the middle - the swirling gusts revolved the boat through 360 degrees, affording us the chance to fish a wide circle without moving!  We were quickly into fish, and got tuned into it being a case of any colour as long as it was black, with tadpoles, cormorants and an 80s throwback - a Montana stone fly - all taking fish.  As evening wore on, and the light started to go, a switch to slow intermediates proved a good move.

Top boat was John Levy and Hugh Thomson.  They tucked in midway along the north shore.  While Hugh had success with a cat's whisker and midge tip, John was catching on assorted Diawl Bachs, including a gold holo-ribbed one, and the black JC variant pictured right.  He also did well with the flash-back black nymph also pictured.

By 10.45 my fingers were too cold to figure-of-eight any more, and Euan was turning blue, so we called it a day.

Linlithgow Loch, evening session

Like Frandy a couple of weeks back, this was a session that looked to be an absolute cracker for getting some quality action to dry fly, but which largely failed to deliver the goods.  The water clarity was finally nice and clear, and the word was that buzzers were working well.  Stewart Barnes and I started out drifting with buzzers, but when we saw Trevor and Jamie Tocher quickly into a double-up on the 'taches, we had a go at anchored-up swinging.  (Jamie later reported his fish was stuffed with Corixae).

We got ourselves set just in nice time to see it all go quiet to the nymphy stuff.  Time for a rethink.  The light westerly was dropping to almost total calm, and we started to see fish showing off the west point.  So, we tackled up with dries and went over.  Stewart quickly started drawing them out-the-blue to half hogs, and landed 3 in quick time.  I had a couple from covers with black Klinkhammer and Adams hopper.  The second one weeded me up and burst the cast.  By the time I retackled, it had gone quiet.  Time for another rethink.  A light easterly now established itself, and we took the boat up to the north shore and took a drift along it with the nymphy stuff.  I put up a team of 3 neutral density suspender buzzers (i.e. suspenders tied to float, but which fail to do so!).  Figure-of-eighting them just subsurface drew 4 fish on the first drift, only one of which took hold.  Stewart picked up one to a black Diawl bach - all enough encouragement to repeat the drift, which we did, to no effect at all!  Time for yet another rethink.

We went back to the west end area.  There were a few grousewing sedges coming off, so I had a go with something that would do for fish taking the pupes - a cruncher, a Diawl and a fiery brown snatcher.  That was worth but one fish to the cruncher.  The light was starting to go now, and in anticipation of the fabulous dry fly action that  was going to be had (!), I went back onto the dries.  There was indeed a superb rise got going.  Just one problem - they were all roach!  I ended up sitting on my thumb waiting for a target that wasn't a wee roach, and just sat and sat.  Mistake.  One fish took out the blue last knockings - and it fell off at the net - and that was it.

Meanwhile, Stewart made an inspired move.  He put an FAB on the tail of his cast.  He wasn't sure whether it stood for fat-arsed bastard or foam-arsed blob.  We think the latter.  Anyroad, Stewart started pulling the thing in the photo across the surface - a bit like a popping bug, but without the popping.  And the fish were falling over themselves chasing after it.  Not all of them took, but 4 did, with Stewart landing 3 of them.  Amazing stuff.  I felt a right idiot sitting there trying to fool them with my imitations of hatching insects when the fish clearly had no interest in them - preferring as they did a speeding fluorescent bung!

Jamie and Trevor finished with 5 between them to the 'taching tactics.  Ed Green and Hugh Thomson took the gamble of going after the rising fish among the weed beds at the west point, taking 4 between them on dries.  John Miller and John Levy had a couple to black Diawl bachs, one on a Klinkhammer and one on a kingfisher butcher (you can guess who had that one!)