Opening Day 2023.

At last its here! The Glorious 15th.
Its been a long dark winter.
The rods are ready. the reels have been greased and the flies have been tied.
This is always an exciting time for anglers as we are full of optimism and dream of red letter days by the lochside.
Hillend is once again open for trout fishing for the next 8 months and I wonder what the coming months have in store for me? Memorable days and most probably forgetful blanks!!!
Last year my first cast of the season was thwarted  by my time in the covid Jail and this year its been delayed again by work commitments and icey weather.
As I left for work this morning the temperature gauge was showing -3°
However I'm hopeful  that the temperature will rise and I'll get up to Hillend for an hour or so after work at the weekend..
As well as the bread and butter of the club water fishing this year Ive got a cuple of fishing breaks  arranged to the Outer Hebrides and Caithness as well as day trips to the highlands so there is a lot to look forward to.

A Colourful Bumble

Its been a while since I last made a tying video. Heres a link to a wee pattern you may have seen pics of recently on my blog.

A Colurful Bumble

Inspired!

Just a quick post to mention how inspired Ive been to spend some time at the vice after visiting the BFFI last weekend.

At the risk of repeating myself it was wonderful to meet up with like minded people who are as passionate about flytying as I am

Heres some pics of my recent time at the vice!

BFFI 2023 ( part 1)

Sunday12th of February I attended the British Flytying Fair International @ Stafford.
However I travelled South the night before for an overnight stay in Penrith at my brothers place to break up the journey to the West Midlands.
We then travelled down on Sunday morning to the Stafford showground.
It was a fantastic day of flytying indulgence with oor George and meeting a couple of fishing and flytying friends such as fellow Hillendener Ian Drummond who was tying on the FF&FT stand and also a surprise meet up with my fishing/Stravaiger friend Robert MacDonald-Lewis who is a fantastic tyer in his own right but on this occassion he was assisting Corsican Dave at his stall.
As always it was great to see the flytyers in tyers row.
In particular Melvyn Wood who's flies and style I'm a big fan of. He not only gave me one of his flees but also a nice wee peaty dram of Ardbeg while I chatted with him as he displayed his skills  on his vice!
It was also great to meet and talk to Peter McCallum Flyfisher and Desmond Paul  another two flytyers whose work I'm a fan of.
I enjoyed looking at the trade stalls too in particular my attention was drawn to a vintage flytying stall which was very impressive and also some of the stands displaying framed flies and prints etc.
I also took a welcome rest of a seat for an hour or so in the fly tying theatre watching Barry Ord Clarke.
Another good thing was I didnt spend too much on materials and much to my surprise also resisted the temptation of the coch-y- bonddu books shelves but I did treat myself to a new pair of flytying scissors.
It was my first time back at the fair in over 10 years and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Looking Ahead

Recently I've had horrible  thoughts of visiting a local bashery just to remind myself of what its like to hook and land a fish! 

I even turned to the dark side one evening and tyed up some lures!

However common sense prevailed and my thoughts soon turned to the new season ahead. 

We are now into February and don't have too long to wait until the trout season begins.

I'll be picking up my membership from the A & DAC at Hillend in a  couple of weeks and I have to say that I'm not happy with the price increase, it's a bit steep especially in the current financial climate. I look forward to hearing the reasons for it.

All could have been explained and debated at the AGM last week but the meeting was cancelled and will now take place in April when the season is well underway and all the members will have purchased their memberships. That just doesnt sit right with me.

I'm fortunate I can just about manage with the increase but I'm sure there will be many who cant! 

Anyway I digress. I'm really looking forward to the season ahead at Hillend as the water levels are at the best they've been for many a year. I just hope that the level can be maintained and that the fly life has not been affected too much by the record low levels at the Loch last year.

I've also got a  couple of trips to look forward to, a weekend away to Caithness in July and a week on Benbecula and N & S Uist in August.

So as ever I've been busy at the vice tying with these trips in mind as well as patterns to use at Hillend.

Heres a few of the flies ive been filling my boxes with.

Hats Aff!

As you may be aware I'm a bit of a flytying enthusiast! 

And I do enjoy watching fly tying videos.

However there is something that irks me about American flytying vids! 

Why in the name of Bloody Butchers do most tyers from across the pond wear baseball hats in their flytying vids?????

C'mon!! they are indoors sitting at a table in what I can only imagine is a comfortable and warm room without the sunlight in their eyes and cold winds bothering their baldy heeds!

Perhaps I'm being naive and maybe its just a sponsor thing!

And while I'm having a bit of a rant! Am I the only person that hates the phrase of trout "eating flies" ??? its seems to be an American thing that's creeping into UK flyfishing writing, podcasts and videos! 

Straight Outta Hillend

Yesterday I had a walk up by Hillend Loch to see for myself that the water level was back at capacity for the first time in many years.
It was interesting and pleasing to see that the much discussed dam repairs had been successful and repairs made to the footbridge below too to assist with the flow of water. I now hope that Scottish Canals dont not let the dam fall into such a state of neglect ever again.
I'm actually very surprised that the Loch has returned to normal levels again so soon. The Loch was almost dry in the summer and in a real sorry state.

Time will tell how much the fly life and fish habitat has been effected by the low levels.
After yesterdays walk I'm encouraged and look forward to the 2023 Hillend  trout fishing season which is only 71 days away.

Happy New Year!

Now that all the glitter, tinsel and wrapping paper of Christmas has been trashed or packed away until next December or is it October? I would like to wish everyone who reads this blog a very prosperous and Happy New Year!
I'm looking forward to the new year and hope that all our dreams and aspirations come to fruition on a personal level and angling front.
Angling wise I've not really got much planned other than a weekend trip to Caithness in the summer. I'm looking forward to that as it's been a good few years since I last cast a line in the far north east.
I will renew by membership for Airdrie & District Angling Club again and can only hope that the fly fishing at Hillend Loch will improve after such a disastrous and disapointing season last year.
I will also probably get my UCAPA ticket for the Clyde and maybe this year actually use it as river fishing is something I'm very Interested in and want to learn.
As ever I will most likely be as busy as ever at the vice.
I'm actually thinking of heading down to Stoke to attend the British Fly Fair International in February with an overnight stay at my Brothers place in Penrith to break up the journey.
Its been over ten years since I last attended that event and really enjoyed it last time. One of the highlights back then was meeting the Master Flytyer, Oliver Edwards give what he said then would be his last flytying demo at the show. It was a bit of a shock to recently hear that  Oliver is not in the best of health and is now in a care home. He has been such an inspiration to many.

Last night before the Bells of the new year rang out I tied a few  flees in a couple of my favourite styles. Dabblers and Bumbles. Whilst not true Dabblers they are similar and can see them working well for trout that are in the hunt for fry! The Bumbles as ever should be good in a rolling wave.
So once again have a Very Happy New Year.
In the meantime I'm way to prepare the steak pie for the family New Year Dinner!

A Bakers Dozen!

Thirteen years ago today I started the Hillend Dabbler Blogspot!
It's been a pleasure sharing my fishing trips, observations and flytying with a wider audience.
Although fishing blogs and forums  are probably viewed as old fashioned and dated these  days I'm still as enthusiastic about The Hillend Dabbler as I was when I first started out on this venture!
To celebrate a bakers dozen years of blogging I'm at the bench tying a few Dabblers and having a glass of Malt.

Heres to many more! 

New Beginnings

After a month  or so away from the vice I'm back at it  now that my tying station and room has been refurbbed and organized.
Its  new beginnings for me.
My collection of  materials etc had outgrown my old tying chest, which my good friend hand made for me and was previously sitting on my old desk with numerous boxes piled up either side of it. It was a bit of a clutter to be honest.
I'm delighted with my new set up but it will take a wee bit of time to get used to it as everything is now in organized boxes packed neatly into desk drawers and in the bottom of my bookshelf on the other side of the room so I dont have everything to hand so to speak. This could impact on my creative process as my fly patterns wont come natural to me.
I will now have to select specific materials to bring to my desk and be planned, deliberate and prepared.
One thing I'm very pleased about is that I now have my angling and flytying library organised and on display and can now easily get access to my books for reference.
With one half of the room dedicated to music and the other flytying I'm looking forward to many relaxing winter nights listening to music and tying.
To complete the room  Im going to get some angling related prints or framed fly patterns hung on the walls. I really do admire the art work of David Miller here and David Miller
With Christmas  coming up I should  perhaps highlight David's work to my family and hope they get me one of his magnificent prints for Christmas.