A Season Finally Starts
Well, finally I got out fishing and off the mark. The start of the season fell on a Monday this year which wasn’t conducive to being on the water having a working week ahead, then I was on call the weekend after and the weather turned abysmal with strong gusty winds. Throw into the mix the COVID stay at home rules and options were limited. I have been sticking stringently to the rules, as frankly, heeding the rules and the ‘rithmetic is the only way out this mess.
If you are a local fly angler I would really urge you to give the Lake of Menteith a go just now, you will rarely ever get it to yourself like this, it really is an experience and I know the fishery, Quint and Douglas would appreciate the custom.
Yesterday saw the first relaxation of the rules and now being able to travel within my local authority area beyond the 5-mile limit, the scope broadens a little. It was icy cold but very sunny when I got up on Friday with a thick layer of frost in the back garden. But it was melting quickly by half-past nine. A full day out I felt would be ambitious to say the least with my ongoing elbow issues but maybe an afternoon afloat would be something to try?
Lake of Menteith is less than half an hour away and while usually, it’s a day boat only sort of place I knew it had been very quiet since the season opened, due to the restrictions. I was optimistic I may be able to get a boat for just the afternoon even though it was a public holiday for many…in most years, such a day would be booked out months in advance!
A quick call and it was confirmed, I could go up as long as I was there for half past twelve, so I took an hour to get my gear out and give my lines a clean and a stretch after a long period of low usage, and all my floating lines got a wee smear of silicone.
It was very pleasant out in the sun if you were out of the breeze which was bitterly cold. Wall to wall sunshine isn’t always the best for fishing buy this early in the season I tend to find it has less of an effect. Most fly anglers, myself included are keen to be fishing on floating lines whenever we can but early on in the season, our expectations are lower and as so we are much more willing to search deeper to find fish, so a bright day didn’t put me off, though a day spent pulling lures on a Di5 doesn’t make for the most fun form of the sport.
Heading out
I was astonished at how busy the roads were as I headed out along the A811. I had reckoned on getting to the Lake in plenty of time leaving just a few mins after 12, but it seemed the Sunday drivers were out in force and I was stuck behind a long line of them. This cleared a bit as I turned off at Arnprior but then got caught behind someone that was not “confident” on narrow twisty roads like the one that leads over to Port of Menteith and I arrived with minutes to go before the half-hour.
The car park was empty. I had reckoned on maybe half the boats being out, it seemed a cold but nice day, restrictions are relaxed and people are off, but no, it transpired there was only one boat out and I was to be the second! It shows how far many anglers come to fish this water, and how few actually live in the Stirling area. ( You need i.d. to confirm Stirling Council residency to fish the Lake until later in the month).
After paying my fees to Douglas, I was set up with what looks to be a beautiful new boat, you could still smell the varnish off the seats! I set up with a midge tip and a trio of buzzer patterns and headed out. I had not gone 20 metres when a cloud crossed the sun and the place just came to life. There were fish topping all around as a big hatch of buzzers became evident. I killed the motor and let the boat slide to a stop and commenced my 2021 season.
First Casts
I had been fishing maybe 10 minutes and had drifted in close to the reeds at the corner of the boathouse bay, when I had a gentle pull that I only needed to tighten into before a slab-sided fish took off in front of me. I was down to the backing line in seconds and hadn’t even had a chance to apply any drag. Handlining the line back in got the fish to within 10 metres, it felt heavy and was headshaking madly. Then it was off again and for a second time, the backing proved it’s worth! I needn’t have bothered stretching my lines, this fish was doing it for me!
What a way to start your year!
This was repeated a third time though the drag definitely slowed the fish down this time and I was able to get line back on the reel fully, and after some dogged moments of refusal to admit defeat, it’s head was up and it was in the net. A Rainbow Trout comfortably over 4lbs and very likely topping 5lb. The barbless Red buzzer I had on point fell out as soon as it was in the net and I had no need to lay a finger on the fish, I just pushed the net into the water and the fish swam off. A great start to a season.
Dare to Try on a Dry?
I fished here another 10 minutes and the rising fish tempted me into setting up my other (5 weight) rod with a dry fly set up. But as luck would have it, no sooner was it ready than that cold wind appeared to change direction, a steady ripple appeared on the surface and the fish vanished.
I decided to try somewhere else, maybe somewhere with a little shelter from that very cold breeze so motored across to The Butts (check this page for a map of Lake of Menteith). This was a good move and there were fish rising all over here, it was quite literally boiling with fish. There seemed to be a less visible sign of the buzzers coming off though I did at times have the odd midge land on the peak of my hat, they were big black hairy looking things! I had two dries on, one a small black parachute fly, the other a black shuttlecock and I was casting them out where I was seeing fish rise.
Maybe I was being a little optimistic but I had felt certain this would work. It appeared fairly obvious the fish were feeding just subsurface taking the emergers. They showed little interest in my flies to be fair, but eventually, as I was struggling a bit to see the flies in the dappled light, I noticed movement behind what I was sure was my top fly and guessed that had to be something at my point fly, I lifted and indeed, fish on! A more standard-sized Rainbow this time ( if anything a bit on the skinny side), and it never caused me any difficulty in getting it to the net, but great to get one on the dries on your first day out. I decided to try a single fly set up for a while, just the black parachute fly solo and then a small Bob’s Bits. I rose a few fish to these but none was for taking. The water was coated in discarded Buzzer shucks and it crossed my mind that with such a range of natural feeding why would a fish look at anything even semi-suspicious?
Back on the Buzzers
Back on the buzzers I never had a touch so decided to try small Cats-whiskers on the point, removing the red buzzer off the end. I had a couple of good pulls using this method and eventually, a fish took and just as I was getting about to show it the net it came off. Not to worry I had the best of the sport out of that fish.
I did manage a few more pulls here and there but nothing convincing and tried a few changes of buzzer patterns and point fly but they didn’t get any change in response. It had been warm in the sun for a good hour or more between 2 and 4pm but by now it was getting cooler and I decided to put a small Cat’s Whiskers booby on point as more of a washing line set up. I was not really expecting much of the point fly itself, just hoping it would hold my buzzers subsurface. It didn’t take long of this to get a reaction, but my third fish to the net was about 3lb and on that point fly, the Booby. No long runs with this fish it just bored deep around the boat and took me a good three or four minutes of rod bending, tight line persistence to get its head up and in the net.
By now it was a bit grey and the wind was making itself felt so I motored back towards Competition Bay and fished there for half an hour. The odd fish rose here and there but none showed any real inclination to take and I felt I had had the best of the afternoon so decided to call it a day.
It was a real pleasure to get out and enjoy the lake on such a tranquil day. If you are a local fly angler I would really urge you to give the Lake of Menteith a go just now, you will rarely ever get it to yourself like this, it really is an experience and I know the fishery, Quint and Douglas would appreciate the custom. Hopefully things normalise more as the month progresses ( and the weather warms up a bit too please!). The weather looks to be very unsettled this next week coming so probably not a lot of fishing to come just yet for me. I really want to be getting on a river but the travel restrictions in leaving a local authority area are a problem, but I have a few ideas should the right circumstances arise.
