An outing on the Burn
It was touted as to be the “hottest day of the year so far” on the weather forecasts but while it was a nice day, little wind, and comfortably warm, it certainly didn’t feel particularly blistering hot. I say that as someone who can only tolerate heat up to the mid 20’s at most….I am not a great fan of getting on for 30C!
Not necessarily great fishing conditions anyway, but I had already decided I was going to head out. The sky seemed pretty clear at the house and if the Loch was going to be the same it would likely be tough going, but I fancied my chances on the river where we had recently had decent rainfall and there is shade to be had.
Then as I was driving out the street it struck me I had not visited the burn for ages…I am thinking pre-COVID?
It was still enough and being midweek, I was unlikely to see another soul…so yes, let’s give it a go. As I drove around to the hills the sky clouded over, and it stayed pretty much overcast the rest of the day.
Getting there
The road, never the easiest to negotiate at the best of times, was quiet. I only had to reverse back down an incline into a passing place to let another car by once. Frankly, it would have been a lot easier for her to reverse back on the flat to the space beyond her car, but she looked panicked by the thought, and I figured it was quicker and easier just to bite the bullet and reverse back myself. I did have to be quite firm in signaling to her not to follow me down the hill until I had tucked myself in and she could pass….the road was literally the width of the car with about 6 inches to spare, so you need all the manoeuvring room you can get.
So it took me seconds to grab my gear and head off into the valley- I had put my waders on before I left the house to save me time.
The burn was pretty much normal height and the waterfall at the top was running off with a distinct brown tinge to it, so not gin clear but not especially dirty either…ideal really.
I never went up with the intention of making a video – I was only carrying my phone but I seemed to end up waffling to the camera a few times enough that I could stick some bits together. Sorry, I was limited in camera angles and I also had no way to prop the phone up! It’s a bit rubbish.
The burn looked very undisturbed, it probably helps that the school holidays haven’t started yet and there were plenty fish about though typically small.
I rose dozens most never stuck, being rather adventurous in trying to get a size 16 fly in a size 22 mouth, but a few fish were netted, with the first being more than worth the effort of hiking across the hills for.
I had great fun and will leave the video to do the talking…probably rather too much talking but hey ho!
