Taking a Tummel

I received a call from fishing mate and regular visitor to the unfamousfly, John  this week to see if I fancied a wee outing to the Tummel in Perthshire. Its a river I have always intended to fish, indeed I have got as far as being ready to buy a permit a few times but river conditions dissuaded me as it has a bit of a reputation as a very fast flowing river and has some treacherous wading in places. A few anglers have come serious croppers on this river over the years, so I would have to admit to being a little intimidated by it not always being the most sprightly on my feet.

As the week wore on and work was pretty tedious I decided to take a day off on Friday and join John who now also had his step-son Alan going too. John fishes in the Scottish National Fly Fishing League Premier league and is a pretty handy angler, he will get an international cap sometime I am pretty sure. So this trip was for him a bit of a recce and a chance to see what flies are working a few weeks ahead of the Tummel round. I was really just along for the fishing and to get to somewhere new for me.

Meeting up before 8 we were at Ballinluig before 9 and we dropped Alan off at the bottom of the Pitlochry Angling Club’s section where he was keen to start. He intended to fish up the river and hopefully meet us, later on, John intended to go fish from around the middle of the club water near Moulinearn.

Not the nicest day, low clouds and persistent clinging rain over the Tummel at Ballenluig

We arrived and tackled up in persistent drizzle and at times moderately heavy rain. Everything was getting soaked through and we hadn’t even set foot in the water yet. Waders were definitely required attire just due to the weather. I was first set up and fished out from a long wide beach of round difficult to walk over boulders,  into a foam line on the near side of the river. I was set up with my Czech Nymph French Leader on my Hanak 3# rod with all the extensions in for maximum reach. However the swirling current and back eddies were not really allowing the flies to fish down dead drift here, and frustratingly there were a few fish rising just out of reach of the team of bugs even in the rain. I decided to retreat and get my other rod and set up with a Klinkhammer pattern with a couple of small nymphs underneath that would allow me to fish out a bit more.

The white post on the Klink was very difficult to see in the foam and I decided I would be better if I got one with a pink post. While this was going on with fish continuing to rise ahead of me, John appeared from upstream. I was making ready to change flies so said to him to fish where I was as there were definitely fish here and maybe his chosen flies would work. I was on a CDC dry fly so gave it a go but got nothing and decided to swap to a wet- one he had used with success here before and pretty soon had one, then a second Brown Trout.

I by now was fishing a bit further down but felt I was covering somewhat dead water, certainly it was deep enough for fish but was off the foam line and nothing was showing. The rain continued to pour- where was this great weather we have been promised this week?

John into a fish on the Tummel

John decided to move down the river a bit and explore other areas so I sneakily sidled back into the area where I skilfully guided John onto the fish to have a bit fun myself. it didn’t work, I tried a couple of wets like Johns but had no offers. I then put a wee streamer on and gave it a go and managed to get a follow with one decent looking fish right into the shallows behind me but it never took. John however was now merrily pulling one then a second small Grayling out the faster water. I had enough here, time to get back on the bugs further down. Once I had caught up I stopped for a quick bite to eat, it was nearly one o’clock by now, and I was feeling a bit peckish, must be the fresh air, early start and persistent rain. Well at least this was now dying down and it was brightening up if not actually sunny at all.

Once rested I set about getting in for a bit bugging in the faster water. I hadn’t been fishing long when my first fish came to my point fly, and it was a good sized Grayling, it put up a really good fight. A fish I would reckon about 1 and a quarter to 1 and a half pounds. It took just as the flies were rising at the end of the run through. Bugs untangled I was then soon into number 2 a slightly smaller fish though it put up a very strong fight. It was hard to get the fish above you in the strong current and when they get that sail like dorsal fin extended its harder still. But soon it was netted. There had been one other that came off  after a brief pull in here too. I think John landed one and lost one in here too, before I got number three which was another slightly bigger fish again.

This was proving to be a very successful outing. How could things go wrong. We decided much as we were having fun to try somewhere else, after all it was a recce for John. We headed back to the car and John went to call Alan, find out where he was. “I’ve Broke my hand” was all I could really overhear. “I HAVE BROKE MY F*CKING HAND!!”.

To cut a long story short poor Alan had took a fall on the bank after the sole of his felt wader came off causing him to lose traction and fall about 10 feet down an embankment. Lets be honest felts are never the greatest things on wet banks at the best of times. Somehow he had cut his hand below the thumb and also he thought broken it. It took us a wee while to locate him and identifying there was a minor injuries unit in Pitlochry we took him there. I have to say he wasn’t getting much sympathy from us lot, though our excuse was we were trying to keep his mind off the pain which he was clearly in!

Gas and Air, a sore hand

They slinged him up and gave him some pain killers and sent us off to Perth infirmary. When he came out the MI clinic he also had a plastic breathing device- it looked like the disposable valve they use on the Gas and air bottles they give you for pain relief. Alan was given G&A in the MI clinic. I asked what it was, and between inhales he said it was for pain relief. I thought it must be a bit like the inhaler you get for Asthma and have some stimulant or sedative that worked for a short time while you were in transit as it were. As we headed to Perth Alan recounted his fishing, he had done pretty well and I think he had half a dozen fish lower down before falling. In between the story of fly changes and finding fish he was taking deep breaths on the “pain relieving” nozzle. It then became clear actually it wasn’t a pain reliever at all, it was just the nozzle of the Gas and Air, it made him feel better despite it having no actual anaesthetic content at all….. laugh?……

John dropped me at Perth Station and then took Alan to the infirmary in Perth, there was no point me going there as it could be hours and I am only 30 mins down the road by train.

John let me know later that Alan was OK and they think his hand is just badly bruised, so no amputation was ultimately required!