It had to happen, they finally got round to stocking Pendreich this week. Did it need it? Well it’s been fishing brilliantly since the start of the season so in my view had they not stocked it, it would have made little difference, there is no shortage of fish there- in fact a couple of weeks ago one rare flat calm evening it was like rain the patterns made by the fish rising right across the whole loch. The only benefit will be the likely uplift in average fish weights which will be nice, a larger fish now and again makes a change.
I usually go up there and there are maybe one or two other anglers tops, last night I went up, the first truly fishable evening in what seems like an age, and they were struggling to park the cars. I was OK in the Disco, I can run up on the rougher grassy patches no problem.
It seems they had all turned out to bash the stockies. I decided to wander off up the East end of the loch, the wind wasn’t too favourable but away from the crowd. I took my softer Dicksons rod, which was probably a bad move its a bit soft for casting and lifting over weeds, but if I hook a typical Pendreich fish, it puts a good bend in the rod.
It really wasn’t dry fly weather but I stick to what works to some extent when I arrive and cast a single brown Klinkhammer over the weedy area. Nothing, not even a fish moving. I went around the corner to the even weedier area and waded out quietly. A fish rose about 5 yards to my right. I stayed put and patiently cast out over the main “channel” and again it rose on my right. Time for a cast, I shortened my line and flicked the fly over the receding swirl rings. Almost immediately it banged the fly and it was tearing away. This was no fresh stockie, but a lean decent pound- pound and a quarter resident fish, it leapt a few times before I was able to subdue it in the weeds, it was a bit of a palavar to net but I got him in and safely over to the bank for unhooking and a quick pic.
A fine resident Brownie from Pendriech
Probably one of the biggest fish I have had from the loch. I never needed to touch the fish to unhook him and very gently returned him to the water, though he took a fair bit of reviving before he swam off.
A follow-up cast into the channel got an immediate reaction and there was a swirl at my fly but though I struck quickly there was nothing there, it seemed like a decent fish too though. He never came again.
By now I worked my way back down the north bank, the masses were now thinning out, I believe some had been there all day and there were tales of 15 fish being hooked in one spot on the dam wall. I don’t have a problem with that if that’s how people want to fish as long as they put them back carefully and use barbless hooks, however, I heard of fish being thrown back into the water from the wall which to me is plain wrong. If I catch a fish and return it and it clearly takes a few mins to revive how is a fish going to survive being lobbed back in from 6 feet up?
I fished off the dam wall for a wee while up to dusk but other than a few pulls on buzzers never touched another fish. We could do with some warmer weather to get the fish rising though.
Looks like it might be busy for the next few weeks.
