Camps Reservoir today

Today was the day I met the Trout and Salmon. No! Its not what you are thinking. There are no salmon in that neck of the woods. Let me explain.
I decided to travel down to the Camps Reservoir near Crawford this afternoon. When I arrived I got myself prepared and made my way over to the shore. I met a couple of blokes one was fishing the other taking photographs. I approached the photographer and made conversation by asking him. You not fishing today? He replied by saying that once he had everything in the can he would get fishing later. He then went on to explain that he was doing a feature on the Camps Reservoir for the Trout and Salmon magazine and said that it will be ready for next months edition. He then told me that the fisherman was a bloke called Robert Irvine who writes for T&S. Robert will be writing the article and that he will produce the photographs.
He was a very pleasant bloke and spoke to me for a wee while and told me of other features he did including one of South Uist that was in the mag last year.Before he went away to catch up with the fisherman he said I would see him later as they were going out on the boat for some rod bending shots etc. It was all very interesting stuff.
Little did they know I was there doing my wee bit for my own wee feature on my blog and they were being featured too.
I had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon at the Camps and managed to get some photographs of a few of the fish I caught, probably not in the same League as the Trout and Salmon blokes but interesting all the same.I lost count of the fish I caught, about ten I think it was but missed more than double that. The broonies at Camps are like lightning. The fly that was so successful for me was that Balloon Caddis pattern. I also got one on a black spider and a Kate McLaren. Two or three of the fish were on the small side the rest were maybe 1/2 lb.There were plenty of flies about today, none of which I was able to identify except for the midges which made an appearance once the wind died down. There is no mistaking them. It had been six or seven years since I was last at Camps . I wont be waiting as long to make a return trip. Next time I fancy drifting from a boat. Enjoy the pics.

Balloon Caddis

As I mentioned in my last Blog entry I said I would be tying up more of these Balloon Caddis. Well I have did exactly that and I'm now really looking forward to a trip up to the Loch tonight to use these flies. My experience with this pattern last Friday was really exciting as I got lots of interest from the fish with this top of the water fly. The creator of this fly was an Austrian [I think] Roman Mosser. He definitely knew what he was doing when he created this pattern. After reading about this pattern on other Fishing forums everyone is of the same opinion that this is a very simple but deadly fly.Tie one and try one you won't be disappointed.

Hook. 10- 14 Kamazan B170
Thread. Black
Body. Green Drake supernatural blend by David Rice
Wing. Elk Hair,prepare in a stacker before tying on
Thorax. Dark Olive Possum
Thorax Case. Green Foam purchased from Hobby Store.

Nae Luck Tonight!

I tied up the above fly today for use at Hillend tonight. The response to this balloon caddis pattern was tremendous. After only a few casts near the area known at Hillend as the cliffs I was into a nice trout which leaped three times from the water and put up a great heart stopping fight. Tonight that trout won, as just as I was fumbling about trying to get my net at the ready the fighting trout won his struggle as he through the hook and deservedly swam away. He needn't have worried as I was going to return him to the Loch anyway.
I fished on for another hour or so and had half a dozen takes and rises to the balloon caddis.
The great red sedge hasn't made its annual appearance yet but when it does I'm positive this pattern is going to be the most successful fly in my box over the next couple of months. It's so buoyant and makes a lovely tempting wake on the surface of the water.I'm going to be busy at the vice this weekend, tying up this pattern in various sizes.

Green Drakes

Breaking News! I can exclusively reveal [in a chick Young style] that the Green Drakes are at this very moment in time making their annual appearance at Hillend Loch. I had heard from a Hillend experienced source that these meaty flees were on the water. So off I went up to the Loch yesterday evening to see for myself this marvel of nature. Of course they hatch more abundantly through the day but last night there were a few making the odd appearance.I was hoping to get a photograph of one but the one I had set my sights on was swallowed up by a gull that glided above me and in on precise swoop dived down effortlessly and flew away with it hanging from its beak.
Here is the pattern I use when the Green Drakes are on the water at Hillend. I have to admit I wasn't successful last night with this fly but it has a proven record for catching trout when the Drakes are out. Tie one and try one you won't be disappointed.

Fishing in a building site!

I Decided to go up to the Loch tonight at around 8pm. I met an old experienced Hillend angler when I arrived . He informed me that the area in front of the club house had been holding fish over the last couple of days. So I decided to take his advice and take up position along side the Railway construction works on the South shore.There were quite a few trout rising intermittently but it took me until about half past 10 tonight before I managed to hook and land a fish,., It was not a bad rainbow round about the 3 1/4Lb mark. Please excuse the quality of the photo as I did not have my camera with me tonight so I had to make do with my camera phone which doesn't produce the best of images. Not long back home feeling quite pleased with myself as I had made a few trips to the Loch lately and had blanked on each occassion. It feels great to be back in the groove!

Tonight I mostly caught no fish

I have been anticipating this situation happening which I now find myself in when I first thought about creating a blog about my fishing exploits. What situation? I hear you thinking aloud. Well folks if you haven't already guessed I haven't been catching many fish lately. Tonight was another in a series of blanking trips up to my local Loch in fact I would go as far as to say that I am getting good at not catching fish.The fact that I have now created a blog just highlights how unsuccessful I am at at catching fish. You may have heard the old angling quote of " There is more to fishing than catching fish" This may be true but it's always more enjoyable when you you do succeed in doing what you set out to do. My luck has got to change soon and if I was at all superstitious I would believe my change in fortunes are imminent as a black cat ran right across in front of me as I was driving home from the Loch tonight.
As usual I had my camera with me tonight and captured the above pic which is really depressing in a way. I think you will agree that the construction of the railway along the Loch shore is going to leave a very harsh industrial impression on the Hillend landscape.

Back Out Again!

I mentioned in a recent post that I had been neglecting my fishing duties over the last week or so as I had other important matters to attend to. I decided tonight to rectify that with a visit to Hillend for a couple of hours. This being May and all that I was expecting to see signs of fish rising in my local loch. I fished down the narrows round to the east end of the boathouse bay. I never got a touch and only saw one fish rise which was way out of casting range. While I was at the Boathouse bay Stuart and Billy passed by me. Billy informed me that he had caught a six pound rainbow trout from the mound area of the Loch.
As ever it was never a wasted couple of hours as it was good to be out on the Loch again and I did manage to get some nice pics of the everchanging moods of Hillend.Hope you enjoy the fishless pics.

Hillend News Update.

NEW ACCESS ROAD TO NORTH SHORE
Work on a new road from Eastfield Road to two new carparks on the northside of the loch will be commencing shortly. The club has leased land from the Forestry Commission to construct this new road to enable anglers easy access to the Shields Burn area of the loch. This access is exclusively for use by permit holders which will be issued by the club and will be controlled by use of a gate. Anglers using this road must close the gate behind them to block unauthorised entry. A set of rules will be drawn up to cover all issues which are contained in our lease with the Forestry Commission.
Expected completion date is 1st June.

A River Runs Through It

Thought I would share this excellent fishing clip from that great film as a way to cheer myself up as I have been neglecting my angling and blogging duties over the last few weeks as I have been focusing all my attention on lending my support to my football teams fight against Relegation from the Scottish Football League First Division. Yes I have to admit that I am an avid Airdrie supporter. After having our hopes built up over the last month or two Mr Black and his players have let us down once again today at Broomfield Neu.This is indeed a sad day for all Airdrie supporters.Regardless of the disgraceful refereeing decisions today we deserve to be relegated as our team were pathetic for the first three quarters of the season. This was in no small measure down to unmotivated players mismanaged by Kenny Black who has failed on four occasions in the play-offs. Kenny was reminded in no uncertain terms today at the final whistle how the majority of the Airdrie support felt about him. Sad day for Airdrie , Kenny Black must Go now for the good of our Club. That's all. Enough! enough! I hear you cry. You are quite correct, this is a fishing blog not a flamin football forum. Anyway enjoy the vid. I fully intend to get fishing over the next couple of days and report back to my blog. Before I sign off please don't hold it against me for supporting the Diamonds, Someone has got to!

Wild Fish!

Hillend angler Alex Wilkie contacted me recently and sent me a pic of his breath taking Pike which he caught at Hillend Loch last season. Alex entered his capture into the Daily Record Fish of the week competition which he deservedly won. Alex fishes regularly for Pike on the fly at Hillend and has made a bit of a name for himself in angling circles. Last year a National Angling magazine ran a feature on Alex and his love of Pike on the fly. We are very lucky to have Alex as a member at Hillend as hopefully he will be able to educate those anglers among us at Hillend who quite simply are ignorant in all aspects of these most beautiful and wild of all fish that lurk in our Hillend Loch.