I have fished Carron for many years and have always liked it. September 29th looked not a bad fishing day, admittedly, the blustery wind was out of the east and it did have a cold edge to it, but every time I have fished Carron bay, I never failed to catch on dries. My boat partner was Bob Whyte, and as we set out Bob asked if I preferred any particular location to start. Now I must admit that the boatman had offered me advice on the likely spots that would be holding fish. I declined his offer of assistance, as I like to search out the fish. So I said, confidently, to Bob that Carron bay was the spot to be and we spent the next twenty minutes getting there.
With the wind in the east, I thought that we would get a bit of shelter in the bay and that anything coming off the trees would land, temptingly, on the water. So, we set up a drift into and across the bay. Bob had the gumption to put on wets, while I had dries. On the first drift Bob was into a fish and as he played it we both thought what a good start to the day. The fish turned out to be a powan of just over a pound. Bob removed the hook and carefully returned it to the water. A good start, so on we went. I had a pull, but did not see the fish that did the pulling, and Bob landed a wee brown trout. We repeated the drift a good few times. On one of the drifts, I had another pull to an unseen fish, but that was all the excitement we got. We thought a drift onto the west side of the bay was worth a try but other than another wee pull to an unseen fish – nothing.
We then tried the north shore and drifting along the dam wall – wonder upon wonder, Bob was into a strong fish – it turned out to be a rainbow of about three pounds. This fish was also returned. This drift was repeated until we realised that another fish from it would just be luck. Therefore, we had lunch and then tried Carron bay again – the same drifts produced the same results as before: that is, no fish.
We then decided that, as we were the only boat at the west end of the loch, a change might be a good idea. Therefore, it was another 20-minute run back to the east dam. As we passed Gull Island, we saw Colin Riach and Dougie Skedd fishing on the west side of the island – but no rods bending. At the dam, Trevor was tucked up against the dam wall and he had a bass hanging over the side – we must get a fish now we thought and Bob did get another fish, on a green-tailed Kate. I, on the other hand, had nothing other than a half-hearted swirl. Time for an early bath, so we headed for the dock and a cup of tea.
Colin and Dougie had 2 rainbows and 4 browns to their boat on the east side of Gull Island, and along the western end of the north shore, but only in the morning, with nothing after lunch. A big surprise was Derek Kilgour only landing one fish; he must have been having an off day. Messer’s Levy and Miller had one each.
Trevor’s guest, Gary Heseltine, landed four fish. In addition, until 16:45 hours, Trevor only had one – but at 16:45 hours all Hell broke loose! Trevor had a big fish on. During the struggle his line got looped around the tip of his rod, causing an anxious few moments until he finally got it into the net. It was weighed and tipped the scales at 12 lb 1 oz.
However, it was not the best of days for the club. The weather was against us. The air was 12°C and the water was 14°C – but the east wind made the air feel much colder. Our rod average was only 1.42.
See you at our last outing on 13th October – remember we finish at 18:00 hours not the usual 19:00.
Regards: Ed.
