I went up to Pendreich last Sunday in the afternoon, and there were quite a few anglers about. I heard one had caught a few fish on a Hares Ear but bumped into another angler I used to see up there regularly, George I think his name is. He looked a bit hacked off. He told me he had been there for hours and hadn’t had a touch, and admitted it was his worst season ever up there, he had not had a single fish on the dries and unlike me, though he had had the odd fish, he was blanking an awful lot. I felt almost like I was listening to myself.
It didn’t bode well for a cracking session, and so it was to be. I started on the north bank, fished the weedy East end, and ended up on the South bank beside the club boat which seemed to have come adrift and was lying wedged to the bank.
A few fish jumped and leaped further out, but though the conditions seemed pretty good, it was pleasant but not overly bright, it really was pretty dismal. As I was getting ready to head back to the car, Will appeared and started to tell me what a fabulous season he was having there! His killer set up was a Pennel on the top dropper, a small beaded hares ear on the middle and a fly he tied himself he calls a Curmudgeon on the point. This fly is a size 16 black spider type dry with what appears to be a golden olive quill body. All the flies were size 16’s. He said sometimes the fish took the dry on top other times they took it wet on the retrieve but most fish were falling to this, with a few to the Pennel. The Hares Ear was there to pull the leader down mostly.
I headed home a bit fed up again as the wind dropped and a flat calm settled on the loch.
With the wet weather this weekend I hadn’t got out at all but Sunday evening looked like it might be a little unsettled but the wind seemed to have dropped. I decided to head up again in the hope the rainfall had freshened things up. As I turn d off the Sherriffmuir Road I met Will on his way down and we stopped to blether between the cars.
He had had 5 or 6 fish all on this usual trio of flies! A lot of fish are moving he said. I arrived up there and there were 4 float tubers out on the water. It surprised me a little as I was sure I had seen a sign up in the boathouse one day saying there was no float tubing allowed this season! Whatever, wasn’t bothering me.
I got the impression they hadn’t caught anything as I could hear them discussing Will’s trio of flies!
I set up my leader with a wee Bobs bits ( the nearest thing I had to the Curmudgeon) and a somewhat tatty looking Pennel and headed for the South bank to be away from the tubers. There were fish showing and a lot closer in. I tried covering a few from the Dam Wall but never roused any interest. It was near flat calm and I wasn’t happy with my leader which I could see clearly in the surface film and I felt wasn’t doing me any favours. I thought I had 4lb on but it wasn’t until a little later I realised actually it was 6lb , when I went to tie an extra length on to make up a three fly cast.
The first fish I have landed this season at Pendriech, its been a long time coming, On an Olive Shipmans. Safely returned
As I fished on the South bank there were a lot of fish moving and often 5-6 feet from the bank. I was covering a few but despite rising one on the dry and losing another on the dropper where I had by now tied on a small Shipmans Buzzer I still hadn’t caught a fish. It was at this point I decided to tie on a third fly and realised about my leader. I decided to set up a new length of 4lb fluro with a small olive Shipmans on the top dropper, a tiny brass beaded hares ear on the middle and another tiny black Shipmans on the point. I dressed the two buzzers with floatant powder and cast out. Almost right away I had a tug, and this continued for a while. The pulls were very fast and very subtle. Eventually though I felt one and was able to react quick enough and a trout was on! After a pretty good scrap I was able to land it, without the aid of a landing net, which I have gotten to the point of not bothering to open up here now! It had fallen for the olive Shipmans and was hooked right in the tip of the upper lip, it was only just on!
The second fish taken in low light on the black Shipmans, a more solid hookup. Fish returned
With a quick photo and the fish rested it swam off strongly. I fished on casting where i seen fish move and the tentative but very quick pulls continued, almost every cast but eventually as the light faded, there was a more solid thump and number 2 which I initially thought was a bigger fish, but it wasn’t, came to the net. A bit of a cripple this fish, it was missing a pectoral fin but was otherwise very pretty. Again a quick snap and then released to fight another day, this one took the Black Shipmans.
By now it was getting dark so I called it a day, but the duck is finally broken!
