Hillend is coming alive!

Driving up to Hillend last night I was feeling a bit down. I turned on the cd player and the opening riffs of pretty vacant blasted out. Sometimes you need the Sex Pistols in your life.The drive along the A89 by the south shore to the Hillend Lodge in the sunshine was all the better for it. Once parked up the Lodge I slipped on my waders and made my way along the cycle path on the south shore to the area between the concrete jetties. A light east breeze gave a nice ripple on the water as I cast my silver invicta and a Kate McLaren with yellow goose biot cheeks into the loch. Nothing happened for the first twenty minutes or so I took a break and just sat on the bank enjoying the sunshine. There was plenty flies on the water most notably the green drakes and alder flies along with various others. There were quite a few fish starting to show now so I decided to start fishing again.Over the course of the session I managed to lose one fish catch and release another had numerous follows to the fly which was quite exciting to watch as the fish swirled at my flies and saw a plethora of fish rising for most of the night. Although I only caught the one fish this was one of the most enjoyable nights Ive had at Hillend this season so far. It really makes a difference casting at rising fish and knowing that there are plenty of fish around as apposed to just fishing blindly and casting and retrieving monotonously. I reluctantly stopped fishing about half past ten and walked back to the the now deserted Hillend Lodge. As I drove home Elvis Costello was Pumping it up! I was very happy now.

True Blue Loch Ordies.

Those who follow my blog might have noticed that I sometimes post pics of my flies on other forums. This being the case with my latest tyings I was pleased to see that non other than the great Stan Headley author of Salmon and Trout Flies of Scotland and of course The Loch Fishers Bible commented on my latest fly. He said he liked it but it would be better with a teal blue hen hackle at the collar. Stan mentioned that the pattern is good for peat stained water and when the mix of black and blue is wet in the water it gives off a nice greenish shimmer which he reckons is a good trout attractor. Therefore I took on board his  sage like advice and tied a few as recommended by Stan. The fly is made up of three black hen hackles tied along the hook shank then one teal blue hen hackle at the collar . One of the easiest patterns you will ever tie.

Blue Loch Ordie

I picked up my copy of the flyfishing and flytying magazine this morning on my way to work. I know! I was over a week late in getting it. I really ought to sort out a yearly subscription of this fine magazine.Anyway while having my usual wee morning coffee break I flicked through the magazine and came across an excellent article on the Loch Ordie Fly, a pattern my friends and I have had great success with in the Highlands and at Hillend too.
This article was about the origins of the pattern and some of the variations which have been devised. I was aware of the variations but there was one pattern which I was intrigued to see and one I had never heard of before . That was a version called the Blue Loch Ordie devised by Norman Irvine from Orkney. I would recommend having a read at the article if you can its very interesting. This afternoon I decided to tie up some Blue Ordies. This one is on a size 10.When I next visit my local angling shop I'll pick up some size 12 hooks and get a few Blue Ordies tied in that size too.

Deer Hair Emergers!

Tonight! in between free kicks,penalty kicks tears and cheers I got round to tying a few deer hair emergers. If you are wondering what the hell I am talking about,tonight I was watching the Champions League Final and tying flies too. As  I have already stated in the past I am not much of a river fisher and when ever I have fished the  river I usually use weighted nymphs or spiders.Looking around the reports of river fishing on various forums It appears that I have been missing a trick by not using deer hair emergers so I decided that it was about time I tied some for use on the Clyde sometime soon. These emergers are the first I have tied. They are not very pretty but are rather more functional looking flies rather than anything else and at the end of the day that is probably more important. They are far from perfect but I'm sure they will improve the more I tye.

Fly Tying Weather

Yesterday I had intended making a long overdue visit back to Dungavel reservoir but the weather forecast was unsavoury so rather than make the journey to the reservoir and most probably scunner myself I decided that my Friday off would  be a fly tying day instead as there will be other days for a visit when the weather will be more favourable. I made a quick trip into the GAC for some odds and ends then when I got back I  got the coffee machine brewed up and proceeded to have a very pleasant day drinking coffee and tying flies while the wind and rain lashed my window. I tied about a dozen loch style patterns. I tied a few variations of the Kate, my favourite fly. This one was the best of the bunch. Hope to wet it soon.

Hillend Brown Trout

Last night I made a hastily arranged visit up to the loch. It looked a nice warm night ideal for casting at rising trout but when I arrived the weather was rather deceiving as there was a cold east wind blowing down the loch despite the sunshine and clouds. Once at the waters edge I noticed a fair bit of fly life about but not as much as I expected. I started fishing with buzzers I had tied up recently but after losing two of them after getting snagged I switched to my trusty trad wets. I tied on a winning combination of Connemara Black on the point and a Kate on the dropper. I did see a few rising trout and eventually I did manage to land one... a nice brown trout about 1lb  3/4. on the point fly. Hoping for another I fished on but  It wasn't too long before my legs and hands were numb with the cold. It got worse when the sun went down. It felt more like March than May but I was relatively happy to walk back along the south shore to the  car with a trout in my bag.