forth and clyde canal last friday

sooooooooo its been ages since i updated the blog, i promise this will not happen again!

On Friday i decided i should make the best of my only day off in a fortnight and head out for a few casts.The original plan was to cycle to a nearby quarry that is rammed with perch, fish for an hour or two, then head home and get geared up for a visit to my local-ish hill burn.

After the 30 minute (uphill) ride there i fought my way through the woods to find somebody sitting in one of the two fishable swims. Bugger.

Not to worry, the canal is only five minutes away i reasoned, thankfully the rest of the ride was downhill. I had a few casts for the perch without any interest until i noticed a shoal of roach feeding on the surface, The decision was easy. On with a wee klink that a friend was kind enough to give me and away i go.

Roach are frustrating targets on the fly at the best of times but these chaps were especially awkward! I was getting nibbles on the fly approximately every ten seconds from the wee roach but none were taking with any conviction. after 8976689728697 failed strikes i moved on.

Quarter of a mile or so further east i spotted a smaller shoal of better sized fish, thankfully these fish were a bit more eager, within seconds i was into a wee roach. Im not gonna pretend that roach of this size are fighters but the challenge they present on the fly makes them worth targetting. Over the next hour or so i managed a couple more, some of the takes were surprisingly aggressive considering how placid they usually are.In amongst one of the shoals i spotted a few rogue perch, busy picking off the smaller members of the group. Now would be a good time to chuck on a lure i thought.

Two or three casts later a perch of about 5 ounces smashed into my fly harder than i thought possible for such a wee fish! Watching these wee bullies chase a fly is a real pleasure, dorsal fins erect and gills flared they really are an impressive sight. generally they take close to the bank so although your not fishing on the surface, sport is very visual. I find that exploiting the overly aggressive, predatory nature of the perch is one of the best ways to use a fly rod.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon i watched scores of these wee predators chase and attack my fly, i spotted some really nice fish, nudging 2lbs i guess, but the older, wiser fish couldnt be any less interested in my streamers.

At about 4 o'clock i decided i was well and truly satisfied so began the trek home, figuring that the dual carriageway i have to cross would be safer now than if i left it a bit later. Just before turning off the canal track i bumped into an older guy i meet quite regularly on the canal bank, a keen trout angler himself we never struggle for things to talk about. He recently started fishing for coarse species, pike and perch namely and is always keen to learn about these fish and methods of catching them, an attitude i admire as most older anglers i meet are quick to tell me im wrong or that you "canny catch on the flee in the canal".

I was especially chuffed to learn that advice i gave him a few weeks ago helped him catch his new pb pike.

He shared some stories about his trout adventures in years past, tours of the west coast lasting weeks at a time, fishing every burn, river or loch that he set eyes on. Ive always enjoyed listening to stories about trout fishing from years ago, before sea trout were a myth and pre bow-hole dominance.

Anyways, Two hours later he cycled away, and i spotted some more roach rising....To cut a long story short they teased and frustrated me to the point of insanity so i chucked on a streamer again in an attempt to make the extra hours worthwhile. After drawing blanks at a few swims i managed the best perch of the day, by no means a monster at about hand size he still managed to put up an admirable scrap on the 3 weight rod. He topped off a day that despite not going to plan, turned out to be amazing.

I didnt feel like a had missed out by not chasing the trout, i couldnt have had a more fun day with a fishing rod. My two hour taster turned into an 11 hour epic, fuelled by two packets of crisps and a can of coke. All in all it was magic. The roach presented a fantastic challenge whereas the perch provided some exciting sport.

in search of the lost pike..........

Not so far from where i stay theres a bleak, windswept moorland loch, reputed to be completely dead by locals due to its acidic water. It's the kind of place you dont like to be on your own, eerie and desolate. Its pretty sweet.

But i cant leave it to chance.

During my online research on the place i found an article about the whole area that happened to mention that the loch contains pike, perch and eels but surprisingly no trout. At 145 years of age though i cant go on this information alone.

This of course contradicts the local theory that it is devoid of life, i cant figure out how the fish have disappeared, i have trawled the web and others minds to find an explanation but the only info i found was an even older account which again states that pike and perch "are taken" in this shallow, peaty loch. This one being 166 years old.

Seems bizarre to me that these fish simply disappeared somewhere down the line. Despite the old internet information that describes the inhabitants of the water, every conversation i have draws the same conclusion..nae fish.

Like i said, its still too tempting. I hate the thought that there might be a water nearby that i dont know about. Which leaves me with only one option. I HAVE to fish it.

But how do you go about catching fish that dont exist????????????

The trouble is, ive spent many a full day on a water i KNOW to contain pike and not had a bite, so how will i know when to call it a day on here?

I cant see how the fish were killed (IF they were) its not polluted, its not been fished out. The only answer ive got is that the ph of the already acidic water was pushed over the threshold and resulted in a fish kill. But surely the death of a whole loch would be part of the local knowledge?

I suppose its all just chat until i actually go there, if you have a swatch at the picture you'll see why im so eager to fish it, the place is stunning!!

p.s. from now on im going to leave my name at the bottom of all my posts on the blog because your spelling is rank chris and i dont want people thinking some of your mince is mine :)

SCOTT.

well thursday saw another pike trip. to another pond, perfect pike conditions, overcast, with a slight ripple on the water, warm water, expectations were high, but bites were very few! tryed a variety of tactics rigs. running ledger, float rigs, helicopter rigs non of these worked so in the end returned to the simplest of set ups, a free lined half herring, and a free lined half mackrell on the other rod, this seemed to produce the take. only one little pike, around four pounds, but he was very welcome, the first pike i have seen for a while! pics will be up soon!

peace

the flee!

Today i came to a conclusion, a bit late perhaps but i realised i am OBSESSED with fly fishing!
Not in an elitist "fly only sir" kind of way, i love my coarse rods to death but i love the thougfht of fishing the fly and more importantly im seriously excited about catching fish this way. Not just your usual troots, awesome as they are. The real buzz for me comes from catching less conventional species, tonight i drew up a shortlist of species i hope to catch on a fly this year (including some ive caught already)

here go's ; Trout, pike, roach, carp, rudd, TENCH, BREAM , perch, mackerel, pollack, Bass and finally mullet.

Now i realise there are a couple on the list that are gonna be pretty tough, the last 4 especially given that ive never fished in saltwater, having said that, the highlighted tench and bream will pose about as big a challenge as any fish can in my opinion. Im almost certain by the end of the year i'll have caught about half that list but its always nice to dream.

I reckon im pretty lucky to live in an unlikely fishing paradise, ive got all the freshwater species mentioned within minutes drive from my house, better make sure i take advantage of them!

Troots.

Today there were a distinct lack of them. By that i dont just mean that i caught nothing (which i didnt), i mean that the whole day i saw no trout. At all.

Usually i at least spook some fish and see them scatter off, get the odd take or at very least see a rise or two, but nothing.

The apparent troot free status of the burn worried me a bit to be honest, i noticed a lot of algae in it aswell, for a hill burn at this time of year this is very rare. I just hope theres been no fish kill and that today was just one of those nightmare sessions. Conditions were not ideal, blowing a gale from the east and it was bloody cold, the burn was also bare bones today, hardly any water at all. pretty grim it has to be said.

The only thing that made the day was a dipper giving me a heart attack. Just as i was lifting to cast again there was a massive thud on the rod, HUGE TROOT i thought, but no, i noticed a dipper staggering about on the bankside lookin g a wee bit dazed. Daft bugger had flew into my rod! He flew away pretty quickly after the indignity, made the cold hands worthwhile i guess.

scott.

well as promised i did return to catch that pike, all be it a 4 pounder, but today saw the first double hook up of my piking career! we waited all day and finally the alarm screamed, and i struk into a nice little pikey, then in the midst of all the comotion my brothers alarm whent just as i netted my pike. madness! his produced another little 4ish pounder, the middle photo shows the one from last week aswell. thatwas all the action we saw all day, the rest of the day was spent watching the local wildlife in the form of waterbirds, the rare great crested greeb was the highlight of that part of the day, and the pike wer the icing on the cake. after all that comotion the local Young team showed up with the bucky bottles and proceded to throw stuff in the water and generaly make us want to go home, so we done the boost at about 4, all in all a fab days fishing! jolly good.

Piking.

Thursday saw the first real fishing trip i have been on in a while. A recon trip to not-so well known loch in the north lanarkshire region, good time to be out pike hunting with them spawning, saw many pike jump in the shallows, and loads of huge splashes in the margins....well i whent with my brother,(not my usuall fising partner) as he was the one who told me of this place, we set up our two ledger rods, i cast one in marginal areas and one into a nice little drop off i had found, and the same with my brother, the traps were set and now we had to play the waiting game.

after about an hour of being at the swim we heard the heart stopping bleep of the alarm, whos rod? my brothers, but this produced a storming run. My brother hit into it, and the fight was on. after a good few minuets of playing the fish i done the honours and netted the fish, it was a nice jack at 8-9lbs all battle scared from mating, livly buggar. he returned safe and sound.

well i sat and i prayed but to no avail, that was all the action we saw all day, in all a succesfull trip i think. i will post pics of the fish soon, next thursday we will return and i want at least one fish from it this time!