They Know, You Know?

Fish know. They know that when you aren’t looking they are going to rise.  They know when you decide to fish deep, you change your line, it’s time to rise. They know when you are changing your flies, that it’s safe to rise. They just know.

I was at Coulter today. It wasn’t a certainty I would go there, in fact had I took the forecast weather conditions as gospel truth it is doubtful I would have stepped out the house for fear of hypothermia but it was a bright day and not overly cold as long as the wind didn’t blow too hard. I was like the proverbial “dog with two cocks” ( apologies to any younger readers but that’s the saying up here, so you might as well get it as it’s said). I had too many options, Pendreich, Coulter, the River Carron, Swanswater, Orchil, maybe somewhere new. I really couldn’t make up my mind, but I finally decided I should give “the Cooter” its first fish of my season. I thought it might be busy but surprisingly there was one boat out and one angler fishing from the dam wall. I had gone up with my wee electric outboard but also had by waders in case the boats were all out, but was able to get a boat set up pretty quickly, bringing in the spare for the next man, and out on the water. There was a fantastic  gentle westerly creating a perfect ripple, the sun was shining but not too brightly, it wasn’t cold, but not too warm, and there were flies coming off everywhere. I just let the boat drift from the end of the pontoon and a fish literally rose right in front of me. I cast, and almost immediately I felt a pull. But alas not a Brownie, it was a Perch, quite a big one by my standards, and clearly a frisky boy as it was squirting what I presume was white milky milt into the water as I took hold of it rather gingerly avoiding those spines.

One of the wee olive buzzers that were so prolific in hatching off.

I drifted down the near bank, adjusting the drift with the electric motor every now and again but not a fish did I spy. There were midges everywhere. In fact as the afternoon wore on I think I witnessed the most prolific buzzer hatches I have ever seen in my time fishing. I have seen photos of events like this but have never really witnessed it myself. There were clouds of them coming off the water at times, especially if the breeze abated and the sun shone through the broken clouds. I fished for a good couple of hours and went through loads of flies and retrieves and not a fish did I spy. I decided I would fish a bit deeper, so put on a Di3 line, and then I saw it, a fish rose. Then another. Soon they were showing frequently enough to get me thinking the Di 3 was a crap idea but I fished it for 10 minutes anyway and nothing looked at my cormorant, spider and buzzer patterns I had on.

A flock of gulls I think were having a feast on the flies hatching off, the excitement rose as clouds of chironomids hatched off.

There were clouds of Seagulls across from me and they were getting louder and louder. I should have paid more attention. Like anglers at sea following the sea birds often puts them on the fish, I think here the birds were gorging on the buzzers hatching off, and where there were buzzers SURELY there were fish? I decided to fish a sink tip and try get the fish just subsurface but I couldn’t find the line in my reel bag so went for a Neutral Density line that sort of hovers subsurface sinking very slowly. As I raked my box, the fish rose with extra vigour- I am sure they knew!

A fine Brown of about a pound on one of Tommy’s midges

The Brownie went back full of life

With more spiders and buzzers on I still had nothing. I gave up here and decided to cross the loch nearer to the bay with the burn entering and as I went through the birds it became evident there were more fish rising in amongst them. I covered many but not a touch. In the shallower water  of the bay I seen fish moving regularly though by now the wind had swung round from the south but was actually quite cold. This seemed to put the fish down and turn the hatches off. But when the breeze relented it started over.  After trying straight-lined buzzers ( various patterns and sizes) with no luck  I decided to go back to the floating line and put a dry on the point. The dries I tried looked sized and colour not a million miles from the flies all around me and my first cast I am sure rose a fish but it didn’t take. I was vague as I really couldn’t see the fly in the ripple but the rise was very near it. I struck but into vacant water. Ebb and flow the fish would switch on and off with the wind rising and falling and it once again changed direction and temperature. I would hear one rise behind me only to reposition the boat and it not show again. I was mightily frustrated by now. I had thrown a LOT of patterns at them without so much as a knock, I now had a few very small midge patterns, one was a pattern my old mate Tommy had given me a couple of seasons back. Not sure it was actually one of these flies because I tied more myself, but a little size 16 seal fur and antron concoction, along with a Shipmans on point and a wee black spider on top dropper. A fish rose, then another, then another- three in a row right next to each other and I cast for them. A very slight swirl, I lifted and AT LAST, FISH ON!. The relief of finally getting one was enormous. Never was a one pound Brownie so welcome. It had taken Tommy’s wee black midgie. A quick photo and released, I fished another 30 minutes or so and I might have had one more slight offer, again it never took that I could feel but looked close. The wind changed again and the temperature dropped once more. Time for home and tea!

Fish would rise in the still water but the buzzers and the fish vanished any time the wind became too cold.