Last weekend of the official Brown Trout season and for my last wee session I went back to Pendreich for the last time this year. I was surprised how windy it was when I got there as it was so still at home. To make matters worse it was a brisk Easterly too- never a good direction. There were two anglers out fishing from the South bank in the lee of the hill.
By the time I was tackled up and togged out in my waders one angler was making his way back along the dam wall. He told me he had fished for 4 hours, mostly using an intermediate line as he figured the fish would be lower in the water with the bright sunshine, but said he hadn’t had a touch in his 4 hours out until he went onto a dry-fly on a floater. He had one fish and turned two or three others. fortunately I had set up with a single dry-fly on a floater so headed for a point where I could cover some water away from the other remaining angler.
Common Hawker Dragonfly
Common Hawker Dragonfly
It was tough, tough going. The dry daddy I had on got no takers as did the CDC Sedge , or nymphs of beaded wets. I stuck with a single fly as I figured as I worked my way round I would fish the East shore and more than a single fly there is a liability. The old guy fishing long from me told me he had fished an intermediate for a few hours too but also had not had a touch. I moved along eventually reaching the east bank. I think I seen three or four fish splash all day and they were all out in the middle.
On a slight side note, over on the south side I seen two stunning red, what I took to be at the time, Dragonflies. Now before someone corrects me here. I have checked my facts and am confident these were dragonflies not damsels. For a start they were an almost orangey red colour. Unfortunately the wind was a bit gusty and they were being pushed here and there on the gusts so I couldn’t get them to settle for a photo. However later on I seen another this time very close and it was a more muted yellow colour. This too seems to be a dragonfly not a damsel. My research* suggests they could be “Common Hawker” ( Aeshna juncea), and it seems perhaps we have a colony up at the loch.
Over maybe two and a half hours I finally reached the North bank, the wind was still making fishing from there hard, but I figured that with care, I could wade out to then be able to fish along parallel to the bank and out to deeper water but keeping the wind coming from my left shoulder. I rerigged my line to a 12 foot, 3 fly cast . On the point a beaded Diawl Bach and a Pennel variant on the middle dropper with a Kate McLaren on the top dropper. About 10 minutes fishing round in an arc, taking a step then starting again and finally I had a really hard pull then a second with a big splash on the surface as a fish came for the Kate. However despite the ferocity of the take it didn’t stick. With a few more casts I then had a really gentle but steady pull which stopped me from retrieving the line and started taking line away from me, but as I lifted the line slackened. A couple more casts and another gentle pull but again it never stuck. Was it going to be one of those days?
The fight- he wasn’t for coming to the net easily!
A solid fish comfortably 3lb and very possibly more
Then finally a really good solid take and I had a fish on. It felt good and stayed deep though did manage to turn it on the surface to get a glimpse and it was a big fish! After a really hard fight where I got it near to the net before it took off once again several times, I eventually got the Brownie, a solid fish comfortably three pounds and very possibly more. It was a two hand job to pick it up in the net.
It had been a hard day and I decided to make this my last cast of the day and of the season. Ending on a high.
*Checked with the British Dragonfly Society
