I read an interesting factoid this morning. Yesterday ( 18th January 2020) was this first day with no rainfall, in Stirling this decade! ( Ok there have only been 18 days, and maybe it would have been less dramatic of me to say this year, but nonetheless, it is in fact true). It has been grim.
If you are fortunate enough to live near to one of the rivers that have a population of Grayling, perhaps you have been able to pick your moments in-between the downpours to get out, but for me living a minimum 70-mile roundtrip from the nearest fishable water ( using the methods I employ) it has been a bit on the frustrating side.
This weekend was forecast to be the first dry clear-ish weather this month and I was able to get out Saturday, but would anything be fishable. There were still showers on Friday afternoon which did not bode well and looking at the River App, as I turned in on Friday night, I could not help noticing that the Clyde and the Tweed were both still pretty high. Not totally unfishable, but I have learned over the years that it is severely limiting to your day if you can’t fish most of the water in the section you land at.
The top of the Clyde ( likely to be the most fishable water) has, I gather, been devoid of Grayling much of this season apparently so was a bit of a waste of time. The Valley was looking a bit too high still for my comfort. Further afield the Nith and Annan looked like another day would bring them closer to about right. I cannot tell a lie, I was still mulling taking a chance and heading down the Clyde as lunchtime approached on Saturday but in the end prudence was the better part of valour and I ended up playing safe and heading to Orchill. I have (hopefully) the opportunity to get out later in the week so everything crossed the settled spell holds!
It appeared nearly everyone else had the same idea! I was very busy, and two clubs were in plus other solo anglers. But there was still room and I bumped into Jim Craig who I usually see at Swanswater ( though not for a wee while) in the lodge as I got my ticket. He was just warming up with a cup of tea. He told me the fish were moving about so there was sport to be had everywhere really though not up the top end beyond the island. Apparently not a fish had been located up there- which is kind of odd if you know much about Orchill’s subsurface topography!
He also told me the fish were between 3 and 5 feet down but coming up for short spells just subsurface. And they were very shy to take. He said you could barely detect them and when you did they were off- he had dropped three and everyone was losing fish. It also sounded like many methods were attracting the fishes attention, from under a bung to stripped back lures.
I was set up with my wee Goldie lure and an “attractor” buzzer on my 2 fly cast and I went to the only peg available to me in the main basin. There was a tree very close by which was a bit annoying but it did not stop me hooking into a fairly grabby take on my third cast. It deemed weel enough hooked on the point fly and I played it for a good minute or so and was nearing the point where I would be reaching for the net when without any warning it was off. No real reason why it had slipped the hook. I cast again and as I did the wind grabbed my line and flung it into the tree. In the process of recovering my line and cast, I lost the point fly and had to tie on another. Next cast I was into a second fish. This one was a much gentler take and I barely felt it. I did, however, feel it come off!
The angler next to me moved and seizing the opportunity to get away from this annoying tree I moved to his spot. After a few pulls and tugs, I changed flies and decided to give the White Apache a swim. Almost right away I hooked into another fish at long range and it was a solid hard take. I was confident I was well hooked into this one but would you believe it? After maybe 15-20 seconds, it too was free!
I failed to contact with any more after a while and took a move across the loch and tried on the far bank which is usually productive. Right away I had a couple of pulls before it seemed to go quiet all around and the next couple of hours were without much happening for any of the anglers. Many started to drift away and for my last hour, as it was quite chilly, I took a walk up to the top end and decided to give each peg a couple of casts right down the roadside bank until finish at 5 pm. I did spot a few odd fish above the island ( just) but got no takers covering them, but as soon as I returned to the main basin and fish seemed to get more lively after sunset, I covered a fish along the line of the bank and was immediately rewarded with a hard take and again a fish on at-range. It all seemed fine….then you guessed it, it came off. By now I was back on the Goldie having tried straight-lining buzzers and various other methods over the prior couple of hours. To be fair it was good sport just I never got any of them to the net. Sometimes that’s the way it goes and the last few anglers I spoke to while most had got a few fish, said they had lost more than they landed. Just one of “them” days!
