Not the 3lb ers I was after!

When I finished work on Friday my mate Scott picked me up and we were soon off down the M74 for an evening fishing on the River Clyde.
We arrived at our destination in less than an hour.
We got ready to fish the river at a leisurely pace as we were in no rush to start fishing.
We then walked up beyond the Midlock burn and followed the coarse of a Roman Road to the Bellstane pool where we sat and blethered for a bit before starting to fish our way back down the river.
The weather was a bit bright for our liking but there was a good heat in the air which we reckoned would be to our adavantage.
The walk back along the river towards Crawford was uneventful as we never saw or encountered any trout but we did see a number of crayfish claws among the stones.
I'd set up with a two fly cast of a magpie & silver on the dropper and a magpie & black on the point.
It wasn't until we passed by the footbridge and Camps burn that the trout took an interest
Oddly enough we never saw any trout rising but we did see a number of birds on a few occasions swooping down to pick up flies on what I believe was a  couple of brief hatches.
Although I missed a couple of trout just past the Camps burn I was really expecting to land some from there and in the wide bend of the Castle pool but nothing materialised until on the straight run past the castle towards the Camps road  bridge where I managed a couple of trout which were fooled by the magpie & silver on the dropper.
Not the 3lb ers I was after but lovely trout all the same.
It was getting grey dark when Scott managed to get his trout at the other side of the camps road bridge.
Soon after we called it quits. I couldnt believe that it was 10pm. The time just flew by on what was a lovely and very enjoyable night of fishing on the River Clyde.

A few wet hours on the Upper Clyde

As my short break from work was coming to an end another day fishing was just what I required before returning to the humdrum of the working week on Monday.

I decided to head down M74 on Friday afternoon. 

Within the hour I was on the river, unfortunately in the pouring rain. However my spirits weren't dampened as I was soon into a lovely wee Clyde broonie fooled by a partridge & orange fly pattern.

The troot action continued afterwards,  missing umpteen and netting three more.

I had no need to change my flies as my two fly cast of black spider and partridge and orange attracted the trout all afternoon.

Although the trout were of no great size they were lovely and put a fair bend in my rod.

All too soon my time on the river was over and I was back off up the road taking the scenic road via the Clyde valley tourist route.

I only had a few hours on the river but it was all I needed.

The Upper Clyde area really is a lovely part of world with quite a bit of Roman history which is well worth delving into. It's well worth a visit even if you're not a fisherman.

Megan Boyd's House

Whilst on a journey north on a recent fishing trip to Caithness I stopped off at Kintradwell to visit the ruined home and flytying workshop of world renowned flydresser: Megan Boyd (BEM) who if she was alive today, could claim to have king Charles III (who was Prince of Wales at the time) as one of her many world wide customers.
The Megan Boyd story is a fascinating and intriguing one and is documented in the book "Megan Boyd: The Story of a salmon flydresser" and in the beautifully  produced cinematic documentary and hand painted animation film "Kiss The Water."
Megan passed away in 2001 and her Kintradwell estate cottage overlooking the North Sea has remained derelict ever since.
I left the A9 and walked up the track which leads towards the cottage. I had to cut through thigh high grass, and push my way through overgrown trees and bushes to get there.
When I arrived at the property I was saddened to see the condition of the cottage. 

Nature is slowly but surely closing in on the structure and sometime soon will totally engulf the house.
It will be lucky to survive another couple of winters.
The sad ruined state of the cottage is a timely reminder of the weakness and instability of human greatness and that the legacy and the important heritage of Megan's lifetime work is something that should be celebrated and recognised in the local area.
I concede that the house may well be beyond repair however the shed/workshop where Megan plied her craft and the bits and pieces of broken  furniture which lay scattered around could yet still be preserved and perhaps relocated locally and made into a museum or visitor centre.

Over the last couple of years discussions have taken place  about  commissioning an art installation in her memory and erecting a giant sculpture of one of her salmon flies at one of the gateways into the village of Brora, but as yet the ruined cottage and workshop is the only reminder of Megan's contribution to the social history of the area.

Caithness was Calling!

Caithness was calling  The Dabbler, The Tangler, The Tiddler and The Rookie set off on our much anticipated  trip to the far north of Scotland  on  Friday 7th July at 4 am.
On route we stopped at Kintradwell just outside Brora so that I could visit Megan Boyd's ruined house.
My companions didnt understand my fascination and enthusiasm of the Megan Boyd Story and her ruined house.. I'll speak more of that in a separate blog post.
We arrived at the Brown Trout Hotel in Watten mid morning and settled into our self-carering digs!
The digs were rather drab, rundown and basic. I wouldnt take my wife there but they were perfect us four fishermen!
The weather was scorching so we just hung around the digs until about 5pm and made the short drive to the boat moorings at Loch Watten's east end.
Loch Watten was a huge disappointment as it was green with algae and looked like pea soup.
We had a couple of drifts, went ashore for a blether then decided to make one last short drift and called the game a bogey!
On Saturday morning  we met Hugo Ross at his shop and managed to readjust our plans for the weekend. Hugo was very helpful and accommodating and arranged for us to have a boat on Tofftingal on Saturday night and Sunday during the day.
We managed 17 trout between the four of us on a very sunny and hot  Saturday night
No huge trout but braw fiesty fighters!
On Sunday we had better fishing weather: cloudy grey skies with a gentle breeze so we fished through the day!
It was fantastic and surprising to see good hatches of mayfly on the loch on both days!
The loch had a fair bit of weed up the middle, however we managed good long drifts either side of it and managed a good number of trout once again between the four of us!
The Osprey we watched on both days did quite well too!
Succesfull flies were Watten Warriors, olive bumbles and Loch Ordies.
We called it a day around 5pm as we had arranged to meet Hugo at his shop and hand back the keys for the boats and engines in the evening. Whilst in Wick we had a take - away and headed back to the digs where we relaxed and had a few drinks
On Monday morning we were up early and as ever Scott was on breakfast duty making sure we were well fed before we packed the cars and headed over to Loch Calder for a planned few hours. The two Tams and Scott caught a few trout on the spinners whilst I had a couple of small trout and numerous rises to my flies,  however Thunder and lightening halted play prematurely and that was the last of the fishing on our sojourn to Caithness.

We then started the long journey south down the A9 stopping off at Kintradwell for another look again at Megan's House. Once again my companions werent interested in that.. Next stop was Tain for a bite to eat which everyone was keen on. Then the long tiring journey home to Lanarkshire.

Although Loch Watten was dissapointing we had a great time fishing at Tofftingal and Calder and the camaraderie was fantastic back at the digs at night too.

Looking forward to another trip together sometime in the future already.

Flytying at the Scottish Game Fair 2023

Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of flyting at  the Scottish Game Fair 2023 at Scone
It was a great peivilage and delight to be in the company of some of the best flytyers around at such a  prestigious event over the three days.
This was the first time I had tied at a show so I was a little nervous but was made to feel very welcome by the flytyers and soon relaxed and enjoyed the whole experience.
I must say that I did find the first day quite tiring as I dont usually tie over such a long period.
It was also nice to chat with the public  as I was tying and great to meet some friends and colleagues who had come along to the game fair and visited the flytying tent to see me.
There was quite a variety of styles and patterns on show by the flytyers and fantastic to see.
I  decided to stick to tying Loch style wets which I find very aesthetically pleasing to tie. Although in some  quarters this style be seem old fashioned and out of date  there was a fair bit of interest in this style at my vice.
I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank all fly tyers and organisers for making me feel so welcome and putting the event together.
Now that I have had a ttaste of flytying at a show it's something I would most certainly like to experience again.
So hopefully I will get some invites to do some more shows!
Hope you enjoy my pics and some of the flies I tied at the Game Fair below.