Good Friday Fishing!

 

Today as I set off to the loch I drove out into driving sleet and snow so I decided to make a diversion and visited my mother and waited for a change in the weather. An hour and half later the weather changed and I was off up to the loch. On arrival I met Iain a work colleague and we walked round towards the boathouse bay. I fished at the gorse bushes for a wee while without a response then I moved into the bay where I was encouraged with a couple of takes a short while later I managed to hook and land a rainbow of about 2lb which was fooled by a Humungous on the point. It put up a good fight but I eventually managed to play it out and bring the trout ashore. I must remember to start bringing my net with me as it would have saved me from some heart stopping moments. For the last couple of years Ive not been taking my net as I cant be bothered carrying it around but I think I will have to start taking it again as it will make landing the trout a whole lot easier.

The New Hillend Dabbler Podcast

 

My new podcast is available to listen to and download here

https://soundcloud.com/hillend-dabbler/the-hillend-dabbler-podcast-04

Rain , Sleet, Snow and Trout

 

 

I manged to get out on the loch for the first time yesterday and then again today. The weather was atrocious on Sunday afternoon when I arrived so I sat in the clubhouse for a while then had a wee nap in the car as I waited for the rain , sleet and snow to cease.
I then set up and tried various southshore locations for trout but had no success.
So off I went this morning back to the loch on my way round to the boathouse bay I met two work colleagues , Tam and Iain who were fishing at Teds tree. After a wee chat I walked round into the bay and set up with a gold headed black lure and a cormorant on the dropper. Once again the weather was making the fishing uncomfortable with swirling wind and the odd snow flurry. after half an hour or so I made contact with my first trout of the season which was fooled by the dropper fly. Not the prettiest rainbow trout by any means but it was welcome all the same as it was my first fish of the season.
After landing the fish I stopped for a break as my hands were numb with the freezing conditions and warmed them with a nice wee pot of soup which I cooked on my portable stove.
While I was having my soup Tam and Iain joined me in the bay. I never caught any more fish although I did get a good take which I failed to hook into. Just as I was about to leave Iain hooked and landed a magnificent brown trout of 6 1/2lb which put my 2lber to shame. Iain was fishing Hillend for the first time and Im sure its a fish he will never forget.

Let the fishing Commence!

 



The long awaited new trout season starts today. For me the 15th of March marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Soon new life will begin everywhere around us as our wee corner of the world heats up. Who knows what the new season shall bring? I hope for memorable days and nights on the loch and of course I can also expect a few disappointing outings on the loch too. Soon my thoughts will turn to fishing trips to highland lochs and lochans but for now as winter fades and the new season begins Hillend Loch will be my stomping ground. Although the new season begins today I won't manage up to the loch until Sunday. I will therefore report back on Sunday evening, hopefully with some tales to tell.

Hillend Mini Lures

As I type this we here at Hillend are having frequent flurries of snow,Its obvious that we aren't quite over winter yet. There may yet be more cold snaps to come in the first few weeks of the season.With this in mind I thought I had better stock up on some mini lures which I am short on at the moment. I admit they are not very pleasing on the eye and will never be things of beauty but they are effective in cold weather These few lures Ive tied should see me through to April when by that time the loch shall have hopefully warmed up a bit.

Airdrie & District Angling Club Prices 2013

 

With the new angling season fast approaching I thought it would be a good idea to inform the Hillend Dabbler readership a breakdown of the permits/memberships costs for this season 2013.

Adult Full Member £80

Sen Citz Full Member £60

Junior Full Member £55

 

Adult Assoc Member £90

Sen Citz Assoc Member £65

Junior Assoc Member £60

 

Lochside Day Tickets remain at £11 for Adults & £8 for juniors.

Day Membership Tickets can be purchased at £9 for Adults & £6 for juniors.

Day Memberships are available from the following outlets.

 

Hillend Fishing Lodge

Sunny Convenience Stores Caldercruix

Airdrie Angling Centre

Owl & Trout Pub

 

Boat Charges remain the same as last season. Electric outboards are available at £10 per session including 2 batteries

Peacock Spiders

Over the weekend I got round to tying some flies again. I tied these peacock spiders after bumping into an old acquaintance from Cumbernauld at the GAC on Saturday. He was telling me about his mate and him having great success with  these patterns at the lake of Menteith in every variation you can think of. He told me they worked equally well with gold butts, silver butts and green, red, yellow and orange butts too. He asked me if could tie a few of these patterns up for him which I was only too pleased to do. Of course I kept some for myself and intend to try these patterns on the Clyde in the next couple of weeks or so. I tied the flies in size 14's and 12's the ones in the pic above are size 12 Kamasan B160 hooks which I think is a suitable hook for these spiders.Please feel free to leave a comment about these flies good, bad or indifferent... I don't mind, especially if you have any experience with this pattern on the rivers.

My celebrity Angling mates!

Today folks I have had to deal with an abusive troll on the blog who was leaving unsavoury messages on a couple of my blog posts. The person in question amongst various other accusations appeared to think I was trying to curry favour with celebrity anglers etc.lol
Could I point out I do not pretend to be anything other than an enthusiastic fly fisher and fly tyer who enjoys sharing my pics, thoughts and my flies patterns with others.
As a result of this pathetic nutter I was reluctant to make this post on my blog. However I shall carry on regardless. I was at GAC today to enjoy some tying demos and try to pick up hints and tips etc. It was a bit too busy this morning in fact far too busy as I never even got to have a proper blether with my celeb mates! lol

Glasgow Angling Centre Tying demos

 

Tomorrow morning I will be going into the GAC to watch the tying demos. There is a link to all the tyers and the times they will be appearing on the GAC blog which you can view here http://blog.fishingmegastore.com/2013/03/march-open-weekend-timetables.html. I enjoy going along to these demos as you learn so much and pick up handy tips and ideas. It really is a great way to spend a few hours if you are interested in the art of fly tying. Inspired!..... Here's a May Fly pattern I tied this morning.