With an overcast but bright and I thought, humid morning and having the day off for an English Bank Holiday, it seemed silly not to have a few hours on Loch Coulter this afternoon.
I haven’t had a “proper” boat outing there in some considerable time. I did paddle out one summer’s evening last year when my original intent had been to wade but I think it must have been the 2017 season when I hast took the outboard up there and ventured out on the water.
My old mate Tommy has been hammering the fish on Coulter this season and he let me know that the recent successful patterns were a Connemara Black and a Bibio. I have plenty Bibios but the Connemara is, I am ashamed to say, a pattern that has never made it into my fly box! I know it is a successful pattern up at Pendreich too, on the Browns, but not being a great tyer of winged wets I haven’t seen fit to make these. I did have a few winged Pennels though so those would need to be a reasonable substitute.
Feeling Moist
However, it became clear right from the off that the conditions might not suit this style of fishing. As I first arrived, there was a fairly stiff breeze from the south blowing right into the mooring area and a good wave on the water, ideal I thought. In the 30 minutes, it took me to get my gear on a boat, leave a spare boat on the pier, set everything up etc, etc, the wind had dropped, the sun was shining and the loch was mirror flat calm. I was feeling a bit over warm and not a little sweaty, moist even! Maybe I was too heavily dressed, I toyed with taking my jacket off but decided to hang fire for now.
For the first 30 minutes of fishing, there wasn’t a breath of wind and I never saw so much as a single fish move. Then the odd fish showed right in near the weeds on the other side from the Dam. It always seemed they were just too far away and the rise-forms were here and there, nothing really consistent.
Difficult but not fussy
Fortunately, I had set up my 5-weight rod to fish dries and I wound in the three fly team I had on the 6 weight and swapped over. What was obvious was what the fish were taking; black midges around a size 16 in dimensions. They were everywhere and as clear as I could see them so could the trout. However, though I could see dozens in front and around the boat, the fish were just picking off the odd one or two here or there. They were very difficult to target. A fish would rise, take a midge then vanish. I had a small size 16 midge pattern on and hoped this might work if I could put it in front of a likely fish. To be frank, I don’t think the fish were especially fussy what they would take, because as I watched one pick off a couple of midges very near the boat, what looked like one of those orangey/red sheep clegs- I think that’s what they are, (they can take a fair chunk out you when they bite you that is for sure), tumbled onto the water and no sooner had it landed than the trout scooped it up too.
Keep changing
I had de-greased my tippet but it was evident to me in the mirror flat calm that even the smallest indication of line on the surface was putting the fish off, a trout rose right for my midge and at the last second refused. All I could tell was I could see about an inch of tippet on the water where it lead to the fly.
I brought it all in thoroughly degreased yet again, right up to the knot and cast out where I spotted a fish rise, giving the line a firm enough tug to sink the tippet. Almost right away the fish rose behind the fly about 2 feet away, I waited then, next it took my fly. Success. It fought very hard and not until it surrendered to the net did I see it, it stayed hard on the bottom the entire fight.
Then the wind rose, and the heavens opened. I went back to fishing the three fly team as all surface activity stopped. Once the rain had blown through the direction changed and now there was a corduroy ripple from the North. I decided if I saw anything move I would try a small black Bob’s Bits if it wasn’t glassy smooth. A few fish moved and I cast out, and as my patience was about exhausted a fish did a lovely head and tail rise snatching the Bit’s right off the top.
The Ospreys struggled too
It wasn’t just me that was finding things tricky, there was, not one but two Ospreys having a right good go for a fish, one dived in not 20 metres from the back of the boat but I never saw either leave with a catch.
Again the wind rose, the rain came on and this time once things settled, the activity seemed to have stopped on the surface. I was back on the wets and had a beaded fly on point, with a Heather fly snatcher on the top dropper. I fished a good while before there was a solid thump and number three was netted on the Snatcher. I did cover a few more fish in the Burn Bay and in fact had a couple of good follows but they never took, before the rain, by now a constant fine but very, very moist, drizzle came on and this time never really relented.
At that, I decided enough was enough and I headed back to the pier satisfied with my lot. I don’t think it had been a particularly easy afternoon speaking to the anglers I had occasion to pass words with so was pretty happy with the threesome, all over a pound each.
