2012 has undoubtedly been a rubbish year for me on a personal level, probably the most rubbish ever. The fishing it has to be said wasn’t even much of a consolation though it did have its notable high points.
An Orchill Rainbow and Buzzers
My first couple of outings of the year were heavily influenced by the very unsettled weather we had in the 2012 New Year. The Jedburgh Rotary Clubs annual Grayling competition was delayed several times into mid January by the weather and on the day though it started off looking Ok the river turned chocolate brown and the wind got up washing the whole thing out. Not a single grayling was caught by the entire field. On my birthday I decided to head up to Orchil on what seemed like a breezy day here at home but was really fairly still and cold up there and turned into a very memorable one for me where I landed 10 Rainbows in a 6 hour session. I could do no wrong. Then a few days later I managed a Grayling outing on the Annan where I hooked and landed the biggest Grayling I have ever seen in the flesh. It weighed 3 and a quarter pounds in the net and I was chuffed to bits despite not having a good picture of it by way of proof. I did however video the whole fight and you do get a glimpse. I managed to semi-fall in that day but I couldn’t have been happier.
Annan Grayling
February was a quiet month but I made it out on the Annan River Trust Grayling day and fished the Hoddom beat. It was to be a day of near things as I lost a few decent fish and landed only a couple of tiddlers but it was a nice (if cold and grey) day out and was thoroughly enjoyed. I did though catch my first ever Tiger Trout at Swanswater which was cool. I also managed one further successful outing on Orchil by way of practice for the forthcoming Airflo Bank Masters heat.
Into March and well known angler Hywel Morgan was up for the Angling Active open weekend and stopped over for a night, a beer and a curry and I had my first proper casting lesson from the master, in the playing fields in front of my house which was fun. My casting this year has improved I feel and I get a lot less problems with tailing loops when I try to get some range. I gave a dry fly a swim on another Orchil outing and managed my first fish of the season to this. Pretty soon it was opening day for the brownies and I opened the scoring with a couple of fish at my club’s water Pendreich which was great, and was the precursor to probably the best fishing of the year up there for me as it tailed off and never really got going again at all this summer. Early season though Snatchers were the fly to be on.
Chester, my big pal
April started craply as we lost our pet Boxer dog, Chester. He had been diagnosed with Cancer in January and sadly we had to let him go after months of medication. I managed my first outing on Glenbervie ( one of a number of venues I wanted to visit in ’12). I was out on Menteith soon after and had a disaster of a day with the engine causing me all sorts of problems so nothing doing that day. A final practice outing on Orchil turned into another rod bender and I was fairly confident that I would do OK in the competition. As long as I didn’t blank! I was starting to have a few issues with aches and pains around this time and it was proving to be a bit of a restriction it has to be said. I had a second “go” at Menteith which turned into more “memorable” for all the wrong reasons! After landing one pike which squirted eggs all over the boat, I then lost fish after fish on a frantic session. Not a single trout did I boat despite getting loads of takes. It was still pretty cold but I dared to try a wee wander down the wee burn but got no sign of a fish anywhere.
A cracking Rainbow of near 3lb on the Copper Nymph
The qualifiers for the Airflo Bank Masters was in April at Orchil and I went along on what was a bit of a windy and cold day. I managed 6 fish in 4 hours which I was pleased with but the winner run out with I think 16 and second was 15. I was well down the field though not last. However by a strange quirk of fate I managed to get a wild card entry to the final in Elinor which I was able to attend. My season on the River Devon also got underway with only small fish to be had. The weather was cold and often wet as April left for May. I had a string of blanks at Pendriech that was to extend well into the summer with only the odd fish being caught. By now fishing was proving to be hard for me, especially if I was on my feet a long time. I did manage one highlight of a two hour session at Swanswater where I caught 7 fish ( including a Perch!).
Dark, dim and cold at Elinor
My long awaited competition day arrived on Elinor and the wind was howling. I managed a short practice the day before but only lost a couple of fish. The competition was brutal! It was a constant battle against the wind and I really struggled though did manage to lose one fish in the morning session before landing one. The afternoon was dead. In the end I was technically 75th out of 105 however probably 20-30 anglers blanked, most had one fish and on countback my one fish was “fairly” early on in the great scheme of things so it demoted me down the list. In reality I was equal with about 60 other anglers in about 17th place! It was a tough day. I certainly could not manage it now. While I was down there I managed a blank on the Barrows and then in a welcome change in the weather myself and a friend went out for a long awaited day on Butterstone Loch where it was scorching. We managed 5 fish between us and I got the bonus catch of an angler- catching Gareth in the neck with one of my flies and requiring a hospital visit to remove. Oops.
Hywel Morgan with James on the Severn
In early June I managed a wee outing on the Upper Avon near Stathaven and was shown round the UAAA hatchery facility. I had a wonderful day out thanks to Alby from the club and made a wee video of the day. I also managed a nice session at another new place for me Harviestoun and had some good sport with a few losses! While long sessions were now out I was still managing a few hours if it was sitting in a boat. I managed at short notice to be part of the SCAC B Team fishing the Scottish nationals qualifiers at Lake of Menteith and managed to miss two, lose two and land two in a fairly cool evening. We didn’t qualify but never disgraced ourselves either. Summer holidays were delayed waiting on tests to my ongoing aches and pains but we finally got away a few days late to Llangollen. I hoped to get a few short river sessions while there but the river was high and brown the whole time. I did manage a Dace though on the canal and had a great day on the Upper Severn with Hywel Morgan and my son, we all caught fish- I managed 6 Grayling up to about a pound and a half or so and a trout, and my son had three or 4 Grayling which was cool. I also managed a short session at Chirk fishery where I had massive fun in the gin clear water, catching my first Brook Trout.
Bugging for Grayling on the Clyde
The Mid Summer period was characterised by blank after blank so much so I put together this anglers dictionary of fishing terms. August was equally grim and even an outing on Menteith one evening with club friend Will, ended up a challenge to hack out the conditions for another blank. My first proper outing with the club was in August at Frandy and it was another tough day but I managed one decent fish. ( previous outings had been called off due to weather or other things getting in the way like the Elinor outing). I did however manage a few fish at Pendreich as we moved to September, and I had a fun though frustrating outing at Bowden Springs– another new venue for me. I then had a fabulous day out on Glensherup Reservoir a place I really enjoyed and would like to revisit but need an engine next time. More “distress” at Menteith led me to this humorous post. I only had one outing in September this time with the club at Butterstone and had a few fish and then the next time out was Orchil again with the club and I caught 3 more. I had during the late summer managed one more outing on the burn this time with fish and made a video of the season there. I had had a Steroid “jag” and was operating a bit more normally and managed a great day on the Clyde in October again with a video and two great Grayling.
Black Straggle Dabbler with micro straggle body
The following period was a bit rubbish fishing wise, I had a nice outing at Harviestoun again and then nothing much to report until I managed a great “short” dsy on the Annan. I only managed one Grayling but it was worth the journey.
If you are a regular reader of my blog maybe this summary will point you at a few tales you missed first time round. If you are new, have a browse and let me know what you think.
To all my readers I hope you had a great New Year and have a great years fishing ahead.
For me, at present I will just be happy if I can get out for a few hours here and there, its been a difficult period recently and while I am on lots of meds to help with my arthritic condition none seem to be having the hoped for result at present and things are pretty bleak. I will though try to make it out even if its just for short sessions and the blog will go on!
Just as an aside- I never got a Calendar this Christmas, and to be honest havent seen any I like so decided to make my own seasonal one. If you need one just to scrawl appointments on or whatever ( despite all the e-gadgets I have I still like to write stuff down) feel free to grab January here. I will do other seasonal updates as the year goes on.
The Hard Stats
As you may know I am rather sad and track my fishing to compare against other years. The stats speak for themselves, I caught a lot less fish this year but was flattered by the average weight uplift mainly due to most successful days being at fisheries. Obviously I had a lot less time on the water too due mainly to weather and my health issues.
| Trips | Hours | Caught | OTGA | Combined Weight | Total Species | Fish Per trip | Fish Per Hour | Average Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | 263 | 118 | 31 | 202lb 15oz | 10 | 1.57 | 0.448 | 1lb 11.5ozs |
| 113 | 374.25 | 225 | 40 | 167lb 6 oz | 7 | 1.99 | 0.6 | 11.8ozs |
Some other stats:
| Type | Fish 2012 | Fish 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| Dry | 40 | 134 |
| Nymph | 24 | 43 |
| Buzzer | 9 | 18 |
| Wet | 7 | 16 |
| Lure | 37 | 14 |
| Place | Fish |
|---|---|
| Orchil | 36 |
| Pendreich | 15 |
| Swanswater | 11 |
| Wee Burn | 9 |
| Caersws (Severn) | 7 |
| Place | Blanks |
|---|---|
| Cocksburn Reservoir | 15 |
| Swanswater | 8 |
| Orchil | 3 |
Putting some of this into some sort of perspective comparing Blanks to number of visits in a location gives a more accurate view of my non-successrate. However its worth noting that the best way to work this out would be comparing number of hours against number of fish caught at each location to get a catch rate per location..
| Place | % Blanks by visit |
|---|---|
| Cocksburn Reservoir | 62.5% |
| Swanswater | 66% |
| Orchil | 33% |
| Place | Type | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Butterstone | Rainbow Trout | 4lb 0ozs |
| Frandy | Rainbow Trout | 4lb 0oz |
| River Annan | Grayling | 3lb 4oz |
| Orchil | Rainbow Trout | 3lb 2oz |
| Orchil | Rainbow Trout | 3lb 0oz |
Finally a purely subjective view but one that I believe is no less imporant and what its all about really- the most memorable fish, the ones that I got the biggest sense of achievement from catching this year.
| Place | Type | Weight | Date | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| River Annan | Grayling | 3lb 4ozs | 28/1/12 | Personal Best grayling that took me a merry dance |
| River Severn | Grayling | 1lb 8oz | 16/7/12 | Biggest Grayling on a dry fly |
| Chirk | Brook Trout | 1lb 0oz | 20/7/12 | My First Brookie and on a dry fly |
| Cocksburn Reservoir | Brown Trout | 2lb 8oz | 25/8/12 | My Biggest Fish on Cocksburn |
| Elinor | RainbowTrout | 3lb 8oz | 20/5/12 | Worked so hard to get this fish |
