We were delighted that lockdown measures were finally relaxed and the club was able to enjoy our first fishing of the season. It did not really seem to matter what the conditions presented on our arrival, it just felt great to be back fishing, and the close season was just far too long.
Frandy they reckon sits about 1000 ft up into the Ochil Hills and it was a fairly typical April day, with quite cool, overcast conditions with some light rain to begin. The good news was there was only a very gentle south-easterly wind (it was swirling about and a bit inconsistent) blowing down towards the dam. Always a good idea to pack the drogue, just in case.
We had 5 boats for the day and I was paired with Stevie Kilpatrick. As usual, we got a good run-down from Ken and it seems we were the first club to fish this season, but the bank anglers had been posting some good reports, despite the bright and cold conditions during the week. Apparently, the usual early season tactics had been working, with hot-head damsels, buzzers, and black and white cats all doing well at times.
Stevie and I headed to the top of the dog leg, but there was little surface activity, other than a few splashy rises from some of the resident brown trout. As we settled in it to fish, there was not enough wind to cover the water. One or two fish were feeding on small buzzers, but these proved tricky. We both chopped and changed lines and flies to try and find the answer. Neither of us touched a fish, so we headed back down and set up a drift on the south shore, next to the little island, where a flight of swallows were working the shallows. By now there were a few bank anglers around.
I was fishing a 3ft midge tip, with FAB, cormorant and small olive nymph on the top dropper. Steve had one of those hot-headed damsels on the point and was working it in about 2-3 ft of water, right on the bank. I hooked and missed one on the FAB then Stevie had a follow and a good positive take on the damsel. We continued to work this shoreline right down to the dam and enjoyed some sport with fish working the drop-offs. Of note were some excellent quality browns, likely from the previous season’s stocking. After a really slow start, we finished with 16 to the boat.
Pleased to report that all our boats had a good day, and we had a total of 47 fish (13 brown trout) across our ten rods. Most successful line was an intermediate or Di-2, with red holographic cormorant and small minkie the outstanding patterns.