Frandy, they reckon, sits about 1000 ft up into the Ochil Hills, but there had been a pleasant improvement in the weather and temperatures in the lead-up to our outing. The wind can be a bit inconsistent and complicated, given the surrounding hills, and the drifts can vary according to where you set up the boat on the reservoir. Our first outing to Frandy this year was cancelled due to the wind and there have been a few changes in terms of the fishery management this year. However, the good news was that Ken remains the fishery manager and now has the backing of Gleneagles Hotel, so it will be interesting to see how this will impact the fishing and facilities. Gleneagles had arranged a bank fishing outing for some of their guests and we were advised to keep clear of certain areas during the morning session, which was no problem for the club.
The good news was there was only a very gentle breeze edging down from the dam end, but we still set-up drogues in case – but there was no need. We had 12 anglers out for the session. I had the pleasure of fishing with our previous club secretary, Bob Whyte, and together we have experienced some great fun fishing on Frandy. Generally on the dry fly at this time of year, Bob is excellent on the dries. There were occasional risers, particularly in the open water, that looked like the resident small brown trout population going after small emerging buzzers, but there was some good trout among them.
As usual, after some bacon rolls, we got a good run down from Ken. Earlier in the week there was a SANACC heat, so the water had been fished quite hard. The results were mixed, but Ken mentioned that the wind had been a real problem that day and it has been fishing well. Apparently, it has been the early season approach that has been working best, with lures on various lines – hot head damsels and the likes.
Bob and I headed to the top of the dog leg, edging towards the island. As we settled in to fish, there was not enough wind to cover any rising fish. They always seemed just out of reach. We both set-up with mini-tip lines and lures and nymphs, although Bob had also set-up a second rod with dries, for a quick switch if required. Most of our boats set-up drifts along the South Shore but Jimmy and Stevie headed across to the North Shore while Peter/Jimmy headed to the top end. So, we were well spread out. We could hear Darrel and Brian getting into a few fish behind us, but we had a slow start. Soon, however, the first fish came to the boat on a cormorant. We were both gobsmacked, since it was a decent tiger trout… which was curious. We were soon joined by a few bank anglers that effectively pushed us away from our preferred drift, but it did not cause any real concern. Bob had had enough and couldn’t resist the lure of the dries. He hooked and lost a good fish almost immediately and then another which snapped him as the line got caught round his reel. We continued our drift along the road shore and round the bend and had a great bit of sport. Interestingly, tigers made up the lion’s share of our catch (I see what you did there, Ed.) and they gave a great account of themselves. It is a handsome fish.
I was catching on all 3 flies so just continued with the 6ft tip. Bob chopped and changed between dries and washing line and picked up both the best tiger and best rainbow of the day. Darrel and Brian were repeating their drift and they were also picking up a number of tiger trout. By this time fishing for us had quietened down, so we headed for new pastures, down towards the dam. That did not work, so we returned to our original drift: a good call – we picked up a few more between us and we finished with 23 to the boat.
Pleased to report that all our boats had a good day and ended with a total of 77 fish across our twelve rods.
Photo of a tiger supplied by Mel…
