Hillend Dabbler

It was suggested to me on my recent fishing stravaig that a claret version of the very successful Kate McLaren can be a very effective pattern on Scottish lochs. I have tied a few variations of the Kate before but never a claret version . On this pattern the body and body hackle are claret. I hope to try this pattern out on Monday when I intend to revisit the secret loch which i featured on my blog a few weeks ago. I'll let you know how I get on.

Here's a pic of the pattern which caught most of my trout on my recent fishing trip to the Highlands. It was tied on a size ten B175 hook. Very easy to tie which is just as well as they do tend to get a bit bashed up once you have hooked a few trout with them. For the legs I used pre knotted pheasant tail fibres which are readily available from all good tying sources. I prefer just to purchase these as I'm useless at trying to form knots on these fibres. Anyway hope you like this pattern.

    It started up in Caithness on Tuesday on loch Sarcalet in decent fishing conditions you know the kind of thing not too bright and a nice wee ripple on the surface however my stravaig didn’t get off to the best of starts as I didn’t raise or hook a fish on this loch. After a couple of hours we moved over to loch of Yarrows but it was blowing a hooly so we never wet a line there and decided to bank fish Watten but it proved difficult as I only managed a couple of small trout for several hours of trying. Next day I gave Watten a go from the boat. I was out for a couple of hours in the morning and after some lunch had another couple of hours. However I never got anything from the boat but did manage three from the shore which were again quite small. I was surprised by the amount of colour in Wattens water it had a green tinge to it which I believe is the result of the phosphates from the fields on the loch shores and which builds up as the season progresses

Over the last few months I haven't been tying at all but as I have a forthcoming stravaig to Highlands to look forward to before the season ends I thought I would stock up on some patterns that I was short of. The flies above are Kate McLarens which are tied on a Kamasan hook B160 size 14. Its actually a short shank size 14 and the spiders are tied on straightforward kamasan B175 size 14. I'm off to Caithness on Tuesday so the Kates will come in handy for Watten and Sarclet. Then on Thursday we cross country and head for Wester Ross where I will be fishing lochs and lochans I am unfamiliar with which is all part of the fun.

  All I can say about the location of my day out fishing today is that I went South. Scott and I set off this morning but got caught in heavy traffic as we tried to get out of town. So later than anticipated we managed to escape the rush of people going to work and doing the school run etc. It was pleasing to watch the urban sprawl turn to winding roads, green fields and purple and brown hills as we travelled onwards. It was about ten o'clock when we arrived at out secret hill loch. This location is a real gem of a place and would hate to see it get popular . I know it might be a bit snobbish trying to keep this place to myself. Don't get me wrong others do fish it but not many and its better that it stays that way. I set up with a muddler and a Kate McLaren and got a few offers but nothing stuck. I changed several point flies and put on a pink tailed Loch Ordie on the dropper. The change of dropper worked on its first cast as I caught a nice 1/2 pound brown trou