Hillend Dabbler

Thoroughly enjoyed a couple of hours earlier in the week  on the River Clyde! Hunting Grayling with heavy beaded bugs! I must have been doing something right as I hooked but lost a fish! No idea if it was a grayling or a troot as it wasnt on long enough!  Im a total novice at this game but once I started to gain  confidence wading with the aid of the wading staff I soon got into a rhythm of  taking a step then making a short cast. My new rod was a real joy to cast and was ideal for the river!  It was most enjoyable fishing along the river despite a couple of heavy squals of rain and strong downstream winds. The UCAPA freshwater ticket is outstanding value as it covers me from now until March 2023 yes 23 . So for £60 you get two grayling seasons and the usual trout season!

Having secured my UCAPA ticket for next season I've been focusing on patterns for the River Clyde! With inspiration coming from Bert Sharp's book and Davie McPhails excellent instructional videos! I've also been delving into North Country fly literature and tying up North Country Spiders! I really enjoy the rich history of the above flies and style of fishing upland rivers. I last fished the Clyde regularly over ten years ago but didn't go often enough to really get to know the river and all its peculiarities. Its all very well being clued up in the tying and theories etc but I really need to get more experience of the river. I visited the Clyde down by Abington and Crawford a few weeks ago and it really whetted my appetite. Its such a lovely area to fish.  I recently read a quote from Arthur Ransom who rather accurately  Identified that  flytying during the dark winter months is indeed a good substitute to fishing itself. He says  “It is the sort of licking of the lips

Heres a very interesting and enjoyable vlog from Fulling Mill on Davie McPhail who is in my opinion the most inspirational, influential and best flytyer in Uk! Davie McPhail Interview

Well that's the brown trout season over for another year! I made one last visit to Hillend yesterday to say farewell to the troot but none of them turned up! I used my new #5 weight Snowbee Diamond 2 rod for the first time  and I have to say its the best rod I've ever used. Its even better than my Sharpes Gordon #6 weight rod which I'm very fond of It casts perfectly with ease. I've always shyed away from the lighter rods thinking they would be too light for my use especially at Hillend. However I was wrong. I'm really looking forward to using the new rod on Highland Lochs next season where it will perfect for using on the float tube etc. It's a real joy to use, as the rod and line are matched perfectly! 

Last week I was absolutely delighted to be one of the very lucky winners in the UKs premier fly tier, Davie McPhail's monthly draw on his you tube Channel. As always there are amazing prizes up for grabs each month and I was fortunate enough to win nine beautiful Scandanavian tube flies in the September draw. The prize I wanted most was the wee box of Loch style wets as I could put those to good use as the chances of me going to Norway to try out my tube flies maybe slim. However I really should make the effort to try for silver up north next season with these patterns. Davie is a real inspiration and has been a big influence in my flytying endevours over the years. His flytying tutorials are second to none. If you would like to take part in the October draw head over to his channel here and find out how to enter. You never know your luck!  Davie McPhail Monthly Draw

Since getting back from South Uist last month my fishing opportunities have been few far between with not much success. As noted in my last post Hillend produced one trout for me. A few days later I had a very tough night at Cobbinshaw where once again a solitary trout was my only reward. I then had an outing at the Lily Loch for the first time this season where I blanked. I next ventured down the clyde for the first time in about ten years. Although I didnt tempt any trout I had a thoroughly enjoyable day down in the Abington and Crawford area reaquainting myself with the lovely river Clyde. I'm hoping to have a few more days on the Clyde for the grayling this winter and hopefully another day down there for the trout before the season ends. In between those outings as usual I've not been far away from my vice tying a mixed selection of patterns for both river and Loch.  With just a couple of weekends remaining of the season I hope to get out at least a  couple of times before

After a week away on the Outer Hebrides it was back to basics at the local club water, Hillend! Tried my new boat seat for the first time! Really liked it and will be great on a calmer day as it wee bit rough out there last night as there was a fair auld westerly blowing down the Loch all night! probably too rough for the electric outboard but we managed! 

Last week I had a fantastic week of fishing on Benbecula & South Uist! I'd been looking forward to this Stravaig for a while. The planning and preparation for this trip really did help ease the frustration of the last year and a half of lockdown etc!  I managed to squeeze in 5 days fishing! Three days on the tube and two on foot!  I had mixed fortunes as on the first two days I actually blanked! 😄 It was very frustrating on those first couple of days, for me anyway. However I did manage to fool a few troot on the other days!  There was nine of us on the trip. Most got there by ferry but one of us flew in a few days later like a  rockstar, caught some belting fish and buggered off on the plane a few days later just like Bono! Unfortunately another one our Stravaigers had to leave early too due to urgent work committments. The rest of us slugged it out for the whole week! A few of the guys got some very memorable trout indeed. My catches were more modest! Hope to get out there a

The local fishing has been tough these last few weeks with high temperatures and very low water levels. This resulted in some disappointing and frustrating nights in July at Hillend. However I did have a very enjoyable but tough session at Cobbinshaw the other week!  We had 3 fish for the boat! 1 for me and 2 for Mr D. Even though it was mad hot we had better than expected troot action with various takes, rises and breakage!!!!  Temps of 26° and Blazing sunshine! It was Hot!Hot!Hot!

 

Most anglers and flytyers will be of the opinion that wet flies in size 12s and 10s are the go to flies for Loch Style fishing especially in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. However the more fishing books I read and after talking to other anglers as well as from personal experience too,  sometimes big bushy patterns in size 8s and even 6s are what is required to lure the trout up through the waves.  Lately I've neglected tying  big flies and been more focused on the more common sizes. However while organising my boxes for my much anticipated stravaig to the Outer Hebrides next month I realised I was short of a few Big Flees. So over the last couple of days I've addressed that situation by filling a few rows with some big size 8s which I must say are a real joy to tie!   

As well as the odd flyfishing trip up to Hillend I've been as busy as ever at the vice tying in between the Euro football matches, numerous patterns for the local Loch as well as further afield in mind! Heres a flavour of what I've been tying!