Old Firm Fishing

What a beautiful weekend. I was drawn out to the river on Friday by the suggestion that it was to be reasonably fair ahead of a cold weekend. Friday ended up not being the best, and though at times there was a nip in the wind, Saturday and especially Sunday were nice.

I was sent a small selection of flies to try out by Dave at fish4flies and wanted to give them a swim. One in particular is called the Apache White and I was keen to put this in front of some Rainbows and see how it fared. You can read a bit more on these flies on the review I have done here.

The fishing though was a mix of frustration, elation, drama and high farce.

Hurray for Celtic and Rangers!

With little wind, and an Old Firm match on I knew wherever I went would be uncrowded maybe even all to myself. I love these days……Orchill was the venue I opted for.

I was correct, there were two cars in the car park and three anglers on the water. One other was leaving. Fish were clearly rising all over the loch. Despite the bright sunshine, the little breeze there was had a distinct icy edge. The chap leaving said the fish were “up and down a bit” but he had been catching on a fly I think called an Eggstacy. If you are interested you can see how they are done here.

At the waterside the focus of the fishes attention was midges coming off. Lots and lots of them!

I had wanted to try the Apache White but already I was thinking that right now wasn’t the best moment.

I was fishing a floating line and with its brass bead and thick fur body it wasn’t sinking for me even after allowing it to become waterlogged. I decided to take this off for now and to try it later. Let’s get some fish to the net!

I tied on a big shuttlecock buzzer on point and two buzzers on the droppers. One black, one olive. Initially, I got nothing despite putting my flies over rising fish. Two older chaps fishing nearby seemed to be getting a fish every wee while ( though they dropped a few too I have to add) and I asked one what he was using. Bloodworm on a long leader and floating line was the answer.

Deeper down?

Bloods, are what I view as a deeper water fly and if they were getting success with them, to me that might suggest the most amenable fish might be deeper. I decided to stick it out for now on my set up but changed down to a much smaller quill emerger pattern. Whether it helped or not is hard to say but I finally netted my first fish on the olive buzzer held just subsurface by the floating line and the dry on the point.

One on the dry…… nearly!

I decided to move and soon hooked a second, this time on the dry though I barely detected it and as a result was slow on the strike. The fish fought well and after a fight of about a minute, unfortunately, but maybe unsurprisingly, it came off.

I kept going though, and soon netted a second this time on a Garfunkel buzzer.

Heading deeper

I decided to move a few pegs along. I also decided to try deeper and put on a full intermediate line, let’s see if the more catchable fish were deeper? On too went the Apache. It fished what I would consider “properly” and has a wonderful pulsing, swimming motion. Unfortunately, though it wasn’t what the fish wanted. I also tried one of the wet pearly daddy’s but they weren’t interested in this either.

At the recent Scottish Fly Fair at Stirling I managed to get some Semperfli Gold straggle chenille ( I think the correct name is Semperfli Extreme string) which looked perfect for tying a gold Christmas Tree Decoration. If you follow my blog at all, you will know I have had a fair amount of success with this fly, the original one – I found left lying and have since tried to replicate, now successfully.
I wasn’t confident this would work today but it had to be worth a swim.

I was wrong. First cast, let it sink, slow figure of eight back, Bam! fish on!

Hard fighting fish!

After an epic battle it was netted and released. A fish of around 2lb but the fight was incredible. Another cast, another fish on! This fish leaping all over the place but it stayed on the debarbed fly A bigger Rainbow of around 3-3 and a half pounds. Next cast a pull. Next again nothing and I was so surprised I pulled it in for a look. I tie lures on a Rapala knot and the fly had caught in its own loop. Unhitched I cast and yes, another fish on and to the net. The fight this time was the best yet, it took line on me twice though I never got to the point of playing it off the reel but it turned out to be probably the smallest fish of the day, maybe a pound and three quarters, but where on earth do they get the power?

It did go quiet, i.e. no pulls in 6-7 casts, so I moved back where I had previously fished on this bank and first cast, yes, another fish on. I lost a couple more and netted more. I was at about nine I think when it had quietened off again for a few casts and I cast out quite a long way and as I waited on my fly dropping in the water turned to grab a drink from a bottle of Pepsi lying by my kit bag behind the platform. I put the rod down turned lifted the bottle and heard a clunk.

Splash!

My rod dropped off the end of the platform and I could only watch slack-jawed as it kept going, heading to the middle between my platform and the lodge!

It stopped and the handle and reel sank leaving about 3 feet of rod tip out the water with the line strung out ahead. I thought if it stayed like that I could borrow someone’s rod, and probably fetch it back with a short cast. The flies were debarbed or barbless and the fish should drop it no bother The pause was momentary though and there was a pull and it all headed under water.

Noooooooo!

I could only watch helpless as my rod vanished into the deep. I did know what direction it was headed, it was straight towards the lodge and also there was a good 20-25 yards of line out beyond the tip. I just needed to find a way to snag it.

I went and asked at the lodge which was a bit busy with coarse anglers weighing in and the guy from the fishery told me I could use a boat but never offered any other solutions to help find it. I thought he might have had some weights or maybe treble hooks lying around for such a purpose, it isn’t like something that won’t happen from time to time!

Out with the treble hooks!

Luckily one of the anglers fishing off the bank near where I was, had a box of salmon flies in his bag with a few small trebles. ( this same chap told me he had done the same thing only half an hour before but caught his rod before it departed off the platform, I think he was helping his pal net a fish and left the line out).

I “borrowed” one of these, got a good length of 10lb line and a three big split shot I happened to have in my rucksack and attached this to a line and rod I had left in the car, then headed for a boat. I was kind of in full-blown suppressed panic mode at this point! After sorting out a boat and connecting the nylon weighted hand line to my fly line to give me some ability to drag it well behind the boat I rowed out. Only to discover I had lost the treble hook already! I had to ask if he could give me another…..I paid him for these as I appreciate they aren’t cheap!

I now tried again and did about three or four “trawls” dragging the treble over the bottom in the area I suspected it might be. Hand-line it out, let it drop, drag, let it drop back, drag, repeat… The first couple of times I pulled up all sorts of nylon and old hooks.

The third or fourth time I felt I had something offering more resistance and with a huge sigh of relief my Intermediate line appeared from the deep! I got hold of this and then worked back to recovering the rod and reel all intact.

This is where things get really silly.

I wound in the line on the recovered rod and then felt resistance on the end…… the fish was still attached! I have witnesses!

I brought the fish in and it was hooked in the corner of the mouth on one of the buzzers.

I think that was me into double figures!

As I packed up another angler approached me to see what fly I had been using, and I just gave him mine, but think I will need to get a few more for the box!