goodbye troots

I was lucky enough to be working late today so i had the perfect opportunity to chase trout one last time for this season. Having slept in by two hours, my initial plan was out the window and i had to make do with my local kelvin tributary, as opposed to the more lofty one i had planned to fish.

Despite the heavy rain on saturday the water was about “average” height and pretty clear, with a slight upstream wind. could it be?….. perfect conditions?

Well. I had a few casts in a few wee corners i always have a few casts in. I never catch anything here but habit is a powerful force. After a few lost flies, trashed leaders and choice words i wandered a wee bit upstream. So, On to the pool i caught my first ever trout in some years back ( about 4, not that long really). At first glance i was horrified, the bank had been bulldozed and the features that defined the pool, or the bankside rather were gone. By this i mean the trolley, this was the trolley pool. ( it IS a kelvin trib after all)

At a second glance though, i realised this was a blessing in disguise, the wee point that the bubble float bams (B.B.B's for short) fish from has been taken away, although casting is awkward at best, this pool is now much improved in that it can no longer be emptied out of season for pike bait!
Nymphs were my chosen weapon, olive goldheads to be precise. After a few sharp pulls the first trout odf the day leapt clear of the water. After a full summer of pike and perch fishing i had forgotten how beautiful wild brownies really are, i admired the array of colours on his flanks and the tinge of blue on its ..err…face? and then slipped him back none the worse for his ordeal. After fighting and losing a good fish moments later the pool seemed to spook.

Not to worry, theres another nice pool just out of casting distance. This pool used to have a fallen tree bisecting it making it almost impossible to fish properly, however the phantom bankside bulldozers have removed it, revealing a beautiful wee pool on a bend. Its amazing that ive walked past this wee bit of water possibly hundreds of times and never cast a line.
After figuring out how best to deal with an “s” bend pool i started hitting fish. The first one was a quick wee bugger, i seemed to predict the bite and lifted before anything happened, sure enough he was on. I think he was only in the water for 2 seconds of the fight, the rest he spent displaying his golden flanks in the air, hilarious to watch. The second fish gave me a very subtle twitch to betray his presence, at first i thought it was a bandy, all i could feel was a wriggle, then it bored deep, running like a pike, except now i had fast water to contend with and a 3 rather than a 9 weight rod, he turned and i caught a glimpse of the length of the fish, my first pound plus fish from this stretch this year. It was a fantastic fight in a very confined space, magic

I winkled out another two from here about 6 or 7 ounces and bumped loads of fish but that was to be the highlight of that pool.

Onward and upward i searched out another few runs without much more than the odd pluck, until i hit a very unassuming little pool deep within the trees. First cast, bumped a fish, second cast, bumped the same fish, third cast.. BANG. He was stuck, again around the 7 ounce mark, this one ran between my legs, jumped then came back!
Similar events occured over the next ten minutes or so, many, many misses and two more fish. After this the fishing turned for want of a btter word, pish. No pictures as to be honest i expected a blank so the camera stayed at home.

So, in reflection i doubt i could have asked for a btter end to the season. Im glad i slept in! Usually the sixth of october puts me in a bad mood but today was different. I had hardly fished for trout all year, maybe six or seven outings, and to come back and have such a great day was exactly what i needed. Rather than be sad, or even feel as if i wasted time, im glad i fished for other species and was still able to enjoy some fantastic trout sessions this year. Today only served to whet my appetite for march 15th!


Scott