It’s the end of a call out week and the sun has shone most of today ( not that its been massively warm ) but it was pleasant. There was still a bit of a breeze and not being brave enough to try to conquer the loch up the hill again after last night’s battle against a gale, I decided to have a couple of hours on the wee ponds at Swanswater. It was very quiet though again there was still that slightly cold wind guiding your actions so I decided to fish from the North side of the Meadow Pond with the wind coming over my right shoulder from behind me. Not ideal but not unmanageable.
When I was buying my ticket Alastair was saying the fish were still well down. I wanted to fish buzzers and wanting to make a start but having a slightly too short top dropper on the leader I had on my floating line I fished a hare’s ear gold bead on a jig hook on point and an olive buzzer on the dropper 3 feet above. The idea of the jig hook was to allow me to fish on the bottom without snagging as the ponds are not “that” deep.
The big bushy Stimulator stands out with two buzzers beneath
Second cast I had a knock, then a few more casts and another knock. I felt maybe the fish were not “convinced” so I pulled in the leader, sorted out all the sections so I had two droppers and a point fly, and decided to put a big bushy Royal Stimulator on top dropper with a couple of Epoxy Buzzers underneath. Nothing was rising but you live in hope and I thought maybe something obscenely big might tempt a fish up ( its worked before ).
First cast and as I started to accelerate the retrieve to recast a fish grabbed at the point buzzer. A fairly small Blue Trout took the Olive epoxy buzzer on point. It put up an impressive fight for its size, but was easy to release from my debarbed hook.
Casting out again, the flies had literally just landed when a Rainbow come clean out the water to go for the Stimulator. I really don’t quite understand what happened next. I struck and lifted the line went tight the fish dived and took off across the pond. But then as I got the fish near the top I could see the dry fly and the fish wasn’t on it. But it was still on something.
It took ages to get in then all became clear, the fish was foul hooked on the middle buzzer, I reckon it went for the dry, I lifted missed and as the fish turned I snagged it on the buzzer below in the tail, no wonder I got such a fight!
The hook came out easy and it went back quickly. Then a fish rose in front of me, I cast the Stimmie right over where it rose, the fish rose to take it, I lifted and felt it sting the fish but never hooked it. For all the top of the water action fish still weren’t rising. I cast out again and soon the Dry vanished and I had a fish on the middle dropper Buzzer again, and again it fought way above its size and this time another Blue and again it was returned safe and well.
My biggest Tiger to date I reckon about 4lbs, it went back so watch out in the wee pond!
A few more casts and off it went again, this time I great fight on a much bigger fish. This time I netted a pretty big Tiger Trout, the biggest have ever had. I reckon it was about 4lb, it was really fat and deep bodied with a tail like a shovel. This one was on the point Buzzer, I rested it in the water in the net unhooked before it swam off.
The odd fish was rising by now. Nothing regular but I decided after about 15 minutes of nothing more, to turn the cast round, put the dry on point and the buzzer on top dropper, this fishing the buzzers just under the surface about 6″ down washing line style. I had one offer but it never stuck and then it went much quieter. Little moved and nothing was taking. I swapped to a black Parachute fly and eventually turned the cast back round to let the buzzers fish deeper again.
I had a few more tugs and pulls arguably missing one but that really summed up a couple of productive and enjoyable hours. A friend appeared towards the end and we both had a cast over the “overflow” pond behind the Meadow Pond. It was “boiling” with fish mostly wild Browns plus a few escapee fish. I managed to hook a Perch and that was the lot there.
Good fun and I am claiming my first dry fly fish of the year…. sort of .
