I fished Swanswater today- was thinking of venturing further afield down to Burnhouse, which is a place I have not fished before but was too tight for time between family commitments and closing time (around 17:00 most places right now).
So went to a VERY quiet Swanswater- think the Rangers v Celtic game was keeping people away- all the better for me.
I fished the roadside initially starting out with a couple of lures on a 9ft leader and a floating line. A Humungous on the point and a White Bunny Leach on the dropper.
Never touched a fish and a few were rising around me on this very still grey day.
I quickly decided to swap over to a tiny dry fly on top dropper and a small Red “Crisp Packet” Buzzer. Some might call it a bloodworm pattern- basically a red Doritos packet cut into a fine strip and tied around a hook with a black head.
Red Doritos buzzer- totally deadly
About 3rd cast I had a very hard take on a slow retrieve and was into a Blue Trout that put up a good account of itself and was safely landed.
After about another 30 mins fishing I spotted the dry fly vanish much earlier than usual- and tightened up my line to feel a strong pullback as a second blue took the buzzer.
Again a decent scrap took place and this time a Blue of about 2lbs 8 oz was landed.
I was doing fine here but decided a change of scene was worth a go so took a wander around the far side to the back of the island.
There were fish rising here again but nothing took the dry.
However after about 20 mins or so ( after a slight tug on one cast) I again tightened into a fish. This was another fish of about 2 and a half pounds and it put up a massive fight. It took three attempts to net it. After a good 5 minute battle, it was finally netted and unhooked. A fine Brown, so had to be released carefully (quite pleased really as prefer catch and release).
A few more minutes and another take- this time a small Brownie- probably wild of about half a pound, again released.
I tried around the front of the Island after this and missed one fish just before finishing up- stupidly I was looking round to see who else was about when I felt a take but was too slow to hook it.
None the less a worthwhile day and good fishing- though takes were very hard to detect. The red buzzer is definitely the pattern to use just now!
