The Wrong Trousers

Had a wee afternoons outing with  fishing chum Radek, and I took him, like I had taken my son last week, up to Loch Coulter for a few hours to let him fish somewhere different. The forecast was for heavy rain but the morning had been bright and though there were clouds about the conditions looked as near perfect as you would wish. Overcast but warm, a slight breeze ( that did tend to change direction over the afternoon ) but set a nice ripple on the surface and didn’t push the boat too fast. Only problem was it was all a bit dour. One angler was out in a boat and told us he had not seen or touched a fish as he returned in.

I seen old pal Tommy was out on the loch across the far side and he reported by text having one fish first cast then nothing else! Frustrating. We spotted a few fish move along towards the corner from the boathouse. Is it my imagination or has the loch got even lower than last week? We continued to see the odd fish rise and Radek was straight on the dries with a CDC Sedge pattern, I had a trio of Kate McLaren, a wee black spider and a beaded Hares ear. Neither of us had anything much on a few drifts though I did manage to illicit one jabbing pull that did not connect and we decided to head over the other side where again we spotted the odd fish rise from a distance. We located out from the Burn Bay in the middle and there were a fair few fish rising here. However we still weren’t getting much action.

Radeks fine bar of gold, a nice Brownie of about a pound and a half- caught on MY FLY on MY ROD!!!

This is where it gets interesting. I was fishing now a Bobs Bits on top dropper and a wee F Fly on point with a Diawl Bach suspended in the middle. Radek was sticking gamely to the Sedge. I offered Radek a go with my rod to see how he found it and we swapped over. Pretty well first ( short) cast out Radek rose and connected with a fish but missed it! We laughed and he put it out again and the fish came for it again, it was after the Bits, but this time it was too quick and missed again. Another cast out and finally it came for the fly and was on. After a good fight a really beautifully coloured fish of about one and a half pounds was netted. On my rod and my flies!

Radek cast out again and no sooner was he casting than he was pulling in not one but two more fish! Both small Perch one on the F Fly and one on the DB!

I was wanting my rod back now! Seriously though, Radek had 5-10 mins with it and I tried his Orvis rod which I have to say while I found it a wee bit vague on the back cast to tell what the line was doing put out a fair amount of line- was quite impressed. His fly wasn’t working though!

Then the rain came on. I was fine as I had my over trousers and waterproof jacket on but Radek was in shorts and had a light anorak and was a wee bit drookit! Fortunately it wasn’t too cold and the shower soon passed. After this the fish activity seemed to dry up and we hardly seen anything so decided a move to the margins on the other side from the boathouse might be worth a try.

Between maneuvering the boat and trying to fish I managed to get my line snagged in the prop though I spotted it instantly it was still in a fair tangle ( only the leader).

A race against time, with the rain starting to spit and the skies darkening I was keen to get this fish in to the net.

Fortunately I learned my lesson from previous mishaps and had a wee spanner able to remove the prop and after loosening it off was able to neatly untangle the line and recover things without damage. We had seen a couple of fish move and Radek I think covered at least one, but we were currently powerless to get properly in position until I restored the motor to working condition. Having done so as we fished with the breeze now behind us from the west, a fish rose right behind us. I cast into the breeze and felt a slight pull telling me there was a fish. The boat was edging into the margins and shallow water so with one hand I flicked it into reverse and the other I held the fish. By some miracle it all worked out and the fish though not really sizeable stayed doggedly on the bottom until I was able to wrestle it to the net. Only about a pound and not as nice a fish as Radek’s but I was pleased to catch to be honest.

Saving the day, a wee Brown caught just before we run for cover from the thundery rain coming in

The clouds were building again and we could see a real nasty looking squall coming in so we decided to run for the moorings ( as other boats did too ). The rain came on really heavy  and was much colder this time and I think Radek was starting to feel a bit cold and miserable in his shorts. Definitely the Wrong Trousers!

We eventually got moored and sorted out and after sheltering and letting the rain pass as it was still only getting towards 4 o’clock we thought we might try a few casts off the bank. However those wrong trousers were making Radek’s life a bit miserable as he was now becoming prey to the notorious Scottish Midge!

I was standing on the bank when a passing cloud then broke. I have never seen anything like this before. A strip of water about 40 metres long by 2 metres wide was directly under the deluge of rain. I was dry on the bank and beyond this strip, there was barely a drop! We all watched this strip of hammering rain edge away, as a roar started behind us. Another burst of torrential rain was creeping slowly towards us ( we were still standing in the dry ) over the roof of the boat house which is made of tin. The rain was absolutely thundering down in front and behind and the roar got louder and louder as more of the roof was hit. We decided to head for cover as finally it reached us, absolutely bouncing down thundery rain. A spectacular sight. I think Radek though will need to get some bigboy trousers for his next loch outing 🙂