11/03/2014 - Loch Lomond

0855 outside the tackle shop - H on a mission

A braw change in the weather saw me and H head through to Balmaha on Loch Lomond to see what we could tempt to the bank. H has been unsuccessfully pursuing a Ruffe for a while now. While unable to get one himself, he's been in attendance as nearby anglers have had some success and was becoming increasingly frustrated. I was just happy to be out on such a lovely day and hoped to break my Lomond duck after a few short and fishless attempts.

West to Inchcailloch Island - note submerged pier

Loch Lomond is unusual for Scottish loch's in that it straddles both the highlands and lowlands. The Highland Boundary Fault line runs right through the loch right at Balmaha. To the north is your typical highland ribbon loch, long, narrow and deep, to the south it widens and shallows quite substantially. The loch which has the greatest surface area of any body of freshwater in the UK provides a diverse range of habitats and conditions for it's piscine residents. Balmaha is on the south eastern side of Lomond just at the fault line, the best places to fish there are either in the boatyard (relatively shallow) or at the pier (up to around 12 metres deep).

The problem with Loch Lomond however is that it is stunningly beautiful, and not too far from 'civilisation'. This means it is usually busy with walkers, hikers, fishermen, sailors etc and peace and quiet is unlikely to be something you'll find if the weather is at all fair.

First fish of the day, lovely little Roach

Fish on offer in Loch Lomond are many and varied. We could fairly expect to catch Roach and Perch, with Ruffe or the odd Powan caught there recently. Probably still a bit early to stumble across a trout or any of his seagoing cousins, Lomond does have the potential to produce a record British Pike.

While the morning in the east was crisp and clear as we met before 8am, by the west of Stirling we were driving into and through a heavy morning mist and this is how we found the loch. We both set-up variations of swim-feeder set-ups baited with maggots and began in good spirits. I managed to get off the mark first, landing what I'll generously call a baby Roach. H soon had a nicer Roach and kept me entertained by losing two more within millimetres of the net. H rigged a second rod and after a few taps on a drop shot rig added a Perch to his tally. Not to be outdone, I added another Roach from the swim feeder and a couple of smallish Perch on jigged isome.

Inchcailloch Island through the mist

With a variety of hikers, dog walkers, foreign exchange trip pupils, meditators and even a musician recording a music video right behind us, we were seldom alone and continually being asked what we were fishing for. I would hate to think how incessant the public must be when it's properly busy.

Into the afternoon and H, reacting to a bite and striking, began getting excited on the retrieve that he may finally have a Ruffe. Once in sight he confirmed his suspicion and rejoiced as it hit the net. While species hunting is not my thing, it's good to see his dogged pursuit of whatever it is he's after that day. And when he land's a long sought after species, you'll struggle to find a happier angler. It was also a relief of sorts. I didn't want to turn up and start bagging Ruffe on my first attempt, using half his kit before he'd gotten off the mark.

Looking south, the mist slowly lifting

Not too long after this,  I landed my first Ruffe, a lovely we fish tipping the tape at 5 3/4 inches in plump condition and fine colours. Very similar to a Perch in build and to the touch, it is browny bronze with vivid blue flashes. I soon made it two to briefly become King of the Ruffe before H bagged his second as well.

As the day wore on, the already sedentary action slowed even more and by 5pm we'd called it a day. I finished with two each of Roach, Ruffe and Perch. My Lomond blank busted and a new species to boot. A good days work.

03/10/2012 - North Esk

Time - 1845-1915
Weather - Chilly
Water - +15-20cms
Method - Size 2 mepp
Total - 1
Species - Brown Trout, 8"

The level was pretty much ideal but I got the feeling, mainly due to a lack of interest or eexcitement that my assault on this stretch of the river was a little bit too late. Nonetheless, the 8 incher I caught was a typically nice fish for the river and in excellent condition.

29/09/2012 - North Esk

Tree, weir

Time - 1530-1700
Water - Around a foot above summer levels
Weather - OK, a bit chilly
Method - Mepp size 3
Total - 0

The previous day I'd left my forceps lying on the bank creating a neat excuse to toddle out for another short thrash. The river was still at the height it's been the last couple of days after more overnight rain has been keeping it topped up.

Despite a decent covering, I couldn't even induce a single tap this time. Without too much time before dinner I decided to have a look at the Serpy Weir as I hadn't been that far upstream since a lot earlier in the season.

On arrival some more 'erosion' had taken place as a consequence of the recent spates. First of all I noticed the lade that runs off from the pool at the top of the weir was choked full of gravel deposits, almost damming the channel altogether. It won't take much, possibly even just summer water levels to halt the through flow altogether. Also, in my first Esk post of the season I included a photo showing a tree lying abreast of the top of the waterfall. This has now managed to get half of itself down but will need another spate to finish the job I think.

The pool at the foot of the weir is also undergoing more changes. This pool and the one directly downstream have probably undergone more 'terraforming' (aquaforming?) than anywhere else I've seen. Once it was a bit more like a large concrete trough (not a great description), emptying into a lovely deep pool shelving off nicely from the layered rock on the right bank. Since the massive landslip a few years ago now, the 'trough' was severely damaged, although a decent enough pool was formed in its place, but the debris from the landslip as good as filled in the 2nd pool. Now the 'trough' pool has been extended a bit further into the head of what was the second pool, but a lot of the debris in the second pool seems to have been scooped out and there is a lot more depth than there has been for a few years. The water level was up, so my observations may be a little bit misleading, but I suspect this second pool could be on its way back, which fills me with delight as amongst other things, its where I caught my record 21 3/4 inch Rainbow about 20 years ago. It's also worth mentioning that too often pools seem to be filling themselves in as a result of the types of spates and floods we've had in the last few years. Finally a pool is improving again.

I've spent so long talking about the river, because there was once more absolutely no fish action to speak of. I moved to the top of the waterfall, but once again nothing. Deciding to give the next little pool upstream a try before leaving for dinner, I was delighted to see on approach that it has also benefited from recent floods. Usually this is a tangle of almost Mangrove proportions with 2-3 trees in the water and all manner of plant based debris clogging it. Occasionally this allowed cover for some nice fish (including a surprise Rainbow a few years ago, they shouldn't really be able to reach this stretch), but usually just made it very difficult to fish. But it has more or less been scraped clean of rubbish and is now pretty much the little pool I've always hoped it could be. Finally I enticed some action with two taps in two casts. The first was probably no smaller than 12 inches which is massive for up here, the second more normal at 8ish or so inches. But neither was polite enough to hook itself, the session was over and I was off home for dinner.

Back to the photos of the weir. If you look at my 15th March post and the picture there, it shows the tree with much more foliage, whereas now its been stripped bare. Another thing I noticed, but didn't properly pay attention to; in the 15th March photo, you get a good view of the ravine on the opposite bank where the large landslip emanated. I suspected there had been further very recent landslips when I looked at it yesterday, but didn't take a photo for comparison. I'll be up there in the next few days to do just that and see what/if any further damage has taken place.

What is noticeable in the photos is the flow into the foot of the weir pool indicated by the amount of froth. The March pic shows normal levels whilst the one in this post shows the effect when the water is appreciably up.

Last thing to report was a fish of about 9 inch louping up the bottom of the waterfall. It managed the usual 2 or 3 feet before being deposited back into the pool.

28/09/2012 - Straiton Pond

Hillend and The Pentlands and the weather

Time - 1600-1900
Weather - Westerly, threat of showers
Water - 4 or 5 inches up
Method - Float/Maggots
Total - 4
Species - 2 Roach to 6 inch/2 comedy Perch

Part 2 of my plan for today took me back to Straiton Pond which I've caught a bit of a bug for lately. Despite the different parameters of this session to the one on the Esk earlier, it proved remarkably similar in many ways.

I headed for the landslip mark expecting it to be sheltered to an extent from the wind. Chucked out my maggots and hooked a lovely wee Roach first cast. Delighted that I've now sussed the Perch and Roach in here I thought to myself 'brilliant, see how long I can keep up with a fish a cast'. I didn't catch another fish for 2 1/2 hours. An incredible pastime at time, sometimes so easy, sometimes bewilderingly uncooperative.

A new Personal Worst?

I did get some taps, but these were increasingly infrequent. I moved to the west corner mark - nothing. Tried a few new spots here and there - also nothing. With darkness and the weather closing in and a poker game to get to, I was tempted to chuck it fo rthe day, but resolved to have one last effort in the top right corner. Immediately I began to get interest. Once the maggots had dropped, the float would disappear, reappear and be constantly bothered.

Last Roach

No matter how hard I tried I couldn't connect. I wasn't even feeling the fish as you often do with a missed strike. I suspected Perch were the culprit and was close to filming some of the float madness and my missed strikes. I varied the amount of maggots from 1-3 and tried different colours when I eventually managed to hook probably my smallest ever rod caught fish. Obviously I was into a shoal of baby Perch who could hardly even get a maggot in their gob. As so often happens, you wait ages for a fish and another comes along straight away as I 'landed' another one the very next cast.

Not too keen to lay into this little lot now I'd discovered what they were, I explored around a bit more and soon lost, then landed another typical Roach of about 6 inches.

The first photo I've included shows the Pentland Hills from the banking on the north side of the pond. Anyone familiar with the Penicuik-Straiton part of Midlothian will know that Penicuik takes a disproportiantely higher amount of rain than Straiton and northwards into Edinburgh. Despite the short distances involved, 4-9 miles or so, the difference is maybe most apparent in winter when you leave snowbound Penicuik in polar gear to get the bus into Edinburgh and when you get there folk just stare as it's bone dry and relatively mild. This discrepancy is caused by the weather rolling in from the north-west and as it hits the Pentlands, turning into clouds that once up and over, often dump their contents on the other side. While it might not win any awards, I think this photo is an excellent example of how the weather frequently works in this area. The hill in the middle is Hillend, funnily enough the end of the Pentlands facing the south of the city. Here you can see above and to the right, lovely clear skies. Looking left it gets increasingly dark showing a serious rain dump over the area towards Penicuik.

28/09/2012 - North Esk

Time - 1430-1500
Water - 12 inch or so up
Weather - Windy, showery
Method - Mepp 2 & 3
Species - Brown Trout 9 inch
Total - 1

With the river being a bit too high the previous evening, I hoped it would have fallen enough to make it supertasty, however some overnight showers had maintained its height. Despite overall lack of success, losing the biggie the previous evening had shown there might still be the odd fish or two willing to scrap.

Due to the height of the river, I had little inclination to explore much and just targeted this pool. My intention was to head down to Straiton Pond afterwards and have a dip there. There were some serious showers forecast throughout the day and I was hit by a couple of smallish ones here so had no intention of staying out too long.

Presently without polarised shades, I've still been trying to keep an eye on the water as much as possible when trailing a lure about. Very important you keep as 'in contact' with what you are doin at all times. Its amazing how often fish 'flash' at a lure without taking. Some sessions you might think were a complete waste of time with no bites or taps, but if you watch your lure, often you see that you weren't far away at all from connecting with something worthwhile.

There are 2 or 3 hotspots in this pool. I covered one first cast and immediately saw a fish rise up and take my mepp as it crossed its path. One cast, one fish, who can complain at that? An excellent brownie safely returned.

Not too long after I induced a tap in the same spot from another substantial fish, similar in size to the one I lost the previous evening and a bit later I hooked another 9 or so incher at the far side and lost it as I brought it across.

So, while still not the rampant success I was hoping for, enough to keep me coming back. I headed home and just got back to the car when the heavens really opened.

27/09/2012 - North Esk

Time - 1845-1915
Weather - Chilly
Water - Up about 12 inches
Method - Mepp 2
Total - 0

Around this time last year I had a fair bit of success along the Dalmore stretch of the Esk in higher water. The river level was too low really for the first couple of weeks of the month, but then entered into to high a spate for a few days. Keen to give it a shot I headed down on Thursday evening for half an hour. Unfortunately it was just a little bit too high.

The stretch I fish is adjacent to the new housing scheme being built on the old Dalmore site. Firstly I'm concerned this might affect the water. If there are bulldozers and suchlike battering about all day, will fish looking to run (and spawn?) in higher water be put off at all. Secondly it meant that the innaccesability or relative remoteness of this beat will soon be absolutely public. Neither factors are much good for the continuance of the success I've briefly enjoyed here.

So all I have to report is one fish that I had on for a few moments before it shook itself free. And it confirmed my suspicion that this is a good time of year at this pool as it was in the 2lb/16 inch range. A very decent fish that looked to have a little bit of colour about it too.

19/07/2012 - Eliburn

Water - See first paragraph
Weather - OK, a bit chilly around 6pm as the wind got up, before dying down into quite a nice evening
Time - 1pm-9pm
Method - Meat cubes, maggots, sweetcorn, floating bait
Total - See end of report
Species - Roach, Perch, Ide, Gudgeon.

A long overdue trip through to Livi kicked off in the early afternoon. The wettest April-June spell on record followed by a couple of big July downpours had the reservoir at its capacity and as a consequence, the water was a bit muddier looking than normal. Saying that, the visibility wasn't much different to usual.

A little surprisingly, as it was the best weather in a while, it wasn't too busy. We settled into the Railings Peg with two tactics. Firstly some chopped meat out on the bottom and then maggots under a float at varying depths until we found some fish.

2-3lb Carp in the surface

There were plenty of fish in the surface including some small carp although they largely disappeared from our immediate vicinity as things progressed. I was into fish on the drop pretty quickly managing to land one Roach whilst losing two more Roach plus a decent Ide and a wee Perch. I was fishing reasonably shallow (18 inches - 2ft) below the surface and was having most interest on the drop with a few maggots sprinkled on and around my float at regular intervals. Whilst there were some Ide getting involved, it was mostly Roach that were interested just below the 'surface layer'.

Primo condition Roach

My fishing buddy was fishing a little deeper than me and was having a bit more success. As usual, there were spells of little happening interspersed with bursts of activity as fish seemingly came into range. In between this I'd target wee Perch deeper down in the margins to boost numbers a bit. When we were both doing this a larger than normal Perch of 9 inch was taken, until that point our biggest Perca had been 5.5inch.

The monster Perch

All this time and for the rest of the session we didn't get so much as a line-bite on the bottom bait. Very disappointing. This despite chucking out sweetcorn and some extra meat cubes to try and attract some fish in to feed.

There were some other guys fishing opposite us and down in the Dam Corner peg. they were catching regularly enough as well, bith using poles and looking mostly like they were into some Roach.

Gudgeon - lovely wee fish

As it neared 9pm and the end of our permit, we were running out of maggots, so therefore struggling to find much interest from fish taking bait in the drop. So we decided to give the head of the pond a shot as it's usually a safe bet. We were quickly seeing our floats pulled under by small Perch and as it turned out, some Gudgeon too. These were all on one or two maggots. It's also where I connected with a comedy perch of 3.75 inch.

We did try some floating bait too, but nothing was feeding on the surface (other than the odd seagull).

Me (16)
Perch x 10 - 3.75"-6"
Roach x 4  - 7"-11.5"
Gudgeon x 2 - 5"-5.5"

Him (18)
Perch x 5 - 4"-9"
Roach x 10 - 7.5"-11"
Ide x 2 - 15.5"-16"
Gudgeon x 1 - 5.5"

12/07/2012 - South Esk & Moorfoot Burn

Time -
Weather -
Water -
Where - Usual stretch & pool on MB, beneath Rosebery Outflow on SE
Method - Size 3 silver mepp
Total - 9
Species - Brown Trout

Photos to follow

With a fortnights worth of rain keeping the local rivers above worthwhile levels I've been keen to get back to some real fishing. The tides weren't conducive to shore fishing when I had the time (tides out when I was available) and not enough time to devote a full day to somewhere like Eliburn, options have been annoyingly sparse.

On Thursday evening it looked on SEPA like the North Esk was just about back to fishable while the Almond & Water of Leith were still too high. So I decided to try something more speculative.

Firstly I hit the little Moorfoot Burn which was high, but fishable. I had one wee assault from a 7-8 incher in the corner runs below the bridge (I also missed a troot here last time), but nothing else. At the big pool there has been a log lying abreast the foot of the pool which was immovable. However the recent floods seem to have moved it on. Despite the deliciously peaty colour of the water, there was no interest at all. In the corner runs there had been a couple of rises right at the far bank and similarly in the big pool in the backswirl on the far bank there were 3 rises of fish around 6 inch or so.

On 23rd April I explored the upper reaches of the South Esk as it emerges from Rosebery Reservoir. I decided to check it out again in higher level conditions. There is an overflow, which does as it says and allows water to spill out at surface level if the water is high, and there is an outflow which seems to come from a lot deeper to keep the 'river' flowing. So effectively a top and a bottom outflow. You can see the outflow in the pictures on the linked blog. When I last visited, the overflow was bone dry and I was able to walk across it. It is like an oversized flight of stairs. Not the case this time. There was just short of a raging torrent crashing down the steps and into the channel at the bottom. This was very interesting. Rosebery itself is a commercial fishery, so is stocked with Rainbow Trout. So there must be a possibility that one of these usually dumb stockies could find its way over the overflow and into the river system. Similarly, any of Rosebery's resident Pike or Perch may also find their way out. So although I'd only expect a brownie, there was a reasonable chance of a surprise.

At the foot of the overflow I chucked the mepp out into the foam and immediately connected with what turned out to be a 10.25 inch brownie. Not bad for this far upstream, not bad for the maelstrom within which I'd speculated and not bad for such out of the ordinary conditions. And so it continued. I'd often get a couple or more taps per cast and often enough bring fish onto the bank. I totalled 9 in the end, 3 fish being around 6 inch, 4 being 8-9 inch and the biggest at 10.5 inch.

Not quite the full story though. Having got the two 10+ inchers quite early, I was a bit too heavy handed/over confident with one of about 12 inch that managed to escape. And then, there was also 'the one that got away'. With incessant attention from Brown Trout, my hopes of encountering an angry wee Perch or other such surprise had slipped my mind. When thunk, something different was on. This was just after I lost the 12 incher, so I had toned down my sturdy handling. But I knew immediately it was bigger. It took near the bank and not far from me, so I tried to get it up and have a look as soon as I could. It was more sluggish than the brownies had been and although I only got a brief look at its shoulders & back (in fading light), I'm reasonably sure it was an escaped Rainbow. Probably about 18 inches, but as soon as I glimpsed it, it was off again.

Although I continued fishing, and kept getting bites as I moved to fresh parts, nothing as big as had gone before was found.

I had a look up the outflow stretch. The water was clearer than the overflow side for some reason (as I assume the source of both flows is the same body of water). There were a couple of small trout flitting about (max 6 inch), but nothing else and no small dead Perch like there had been previously

So, when conditions elsewhere are too high, this spot benefits from a blast of water and fish seemingly appear from nowhere to give some sport. I will be back.

08/07/2012 - North Esk

Time - 2030-2045
Weather - Dull, 16ish degrees, started to drizzle
Water - Too high
Where - Above Telfords Bridge
Method - Mepp size 3
Total - 0

Online the river level looked just about fishable and since the forecast was for more rain (and therefore another increase in levels) I headed out for a bit. However on arrival it was apparent that the river was probably still too high. I had a quick thrash with no interest whatsoever (a couple of bumps, but I think that was the bottom due to using a bigger spinner than normal). My waders are a bit leaky above the 'welly' so I wasn't able to wade below the bridge to try there too.

On my way into Valleyfield I was swithering about whether to try a couple of more pools or call it quits when it started to drizzle. I didn't swither any longer and headed home.

In the absence of fish, I thought I'd show the graphs below for North Esk, Almond & Water of Leith for corresponding timescales over the last couple of days. Although their catchments are similar, they don't always correlate this neatly.

The North Esk graph overlaps with the graph on my previous post. It shows the water level would have been about +30cms when I was out on Sunday night (8th July).

I was in Edinburgh on Saturday and took some photos of the Water of Leith (at about 2pm, so past the high peak you can see on the above graph) which I'll post in future. I want to show them next to photos of 'normal' conditions. I'm extremely sceptical about the worthiness of the recently constructed flood defences. It has to be said I know nothing about 'water management'. But if you wade, you'll know how strong seemingly little amounts of water can be. And if you frequent rivers, as I do, you see how high they can get at certain times. A lot of riverbank construction seems to be very well suited to summer conditions. Saying this I don't envy the job of trying to control a flooding river. But it seems obvious that widening the upper stretches of a river without doing anything to the lower stretches is creating a bottleneck. I understand some of the flooding in Edinburgh over the weekend was exacerbated by high tides backing up the outflow even more.

I'm quite familiar with the Almond (there is a link to the Cramond Angling Club on my front page). On the SEPA page it claims that flows up to 3 metres are "normal". If it flowed for long at 3 metres, it wouldn't be long before Cramond itself was in the sea. It is quite an angry beast anywhere above 1 metre. I am unsure how they reach their definitions.

06/07/2012 - North Esk

Time - 1500-1530
Weather - Mild, light drizzle
Water - About +20cm
Where - Telford's above & below
Method - Size 3 mepp
Total - 0

With a lot of rain due I managed a brief half hour with the river still up, but at a nice level between spates. The only two pools fished were above and below Telford's Bridge. I had plenty taps and a couple that were briefly on before escaping. I seem to be missing a high number of bites at the moment which is annoying, nothing I have as yet put my finger on.

Interest was quite frequent with most taps in no bigger than about 8 inches, apart from one decent take in the bottom pool, although it was at distance and in the current, so it's strength may have been inflated somewhat but it may have been as super massive as 12 inches or so.

Excellent (although not perfect*) river level data is available here and its where I've taken the displayed graphs from. The top graph shows the first spate which arrived after heavy rain on Wednesday. The second graph shows an even bigger spate beginning early on Saturday morning.

Note the graph's automatically re-calibrate their displayed scale (vertical axis) up or down depending on current levels. Due to the difference in scale it might not appear at first glance that these two graph's show connected data. But the first graph shows from 0-45cm while the second graph shows from 0-100cm. Their time scales also overlap, or to put another way, are not consecutive. I hope that is all clear.

I had a look at the Esk today at 11.15 and it had obviously risen again. I looked again at 3pm and reckon it had fallen about 12-18 inches. There has been almost constant light drizzle, but nowhere near the strength of downpour I heard through the night. The lower graph shows up until 1pm today, I'll probably update this in the next day or two as the data updates.

* I prefer the way data is displayed on websites such as Fishpal.com e.g. Tay at Kenmore. As well as data from the last 24 hours, they also show aggregate levels from the last 28 days and further still, the year so far. This allows you to build up a better picture of water levels throughout the year.

I can't find it now, but data for the Tummel used to amuse me. As its deep within our hydroelectric system its flow is completely controlled by releases from the dam. The graph would flatline for a few hours at say 10cms, then rise vertically to 75 cms, flatline there for a few hours, then plummet vertically again back down to say 35 cms. This repeated its pattern showing a very peculiar change of level that must play havoc with fish in the system (not to mention any anglers unbeknowingly wading into the path of a sudden and unannounced rise.

22/04/2012 - North Esk

Time - 2015 - 2045
Weather - Fair, 6-7 degress
Water - +16cm
Where - Polton bank
Method - Mepp
Total - 0

A short evening session to try and loosen my dodgy back had quite the opposite effect. However the water was in lovely spinning nick though with my first lapse in concentration producing the first tap. I'd say it was a minimum o f8 inch, maybe a wee bit into double figures. A short while later in the same pool between the bridge & the weir I connected with about a 6 incher for 2-3 secs before we parted company.

I had a short try at the next 2 or 3 pools on the left bank but had to leave before dark as stiffness set in.

11/04/2012 - North Esk

Time - Evening
Weather - Chilly
Water - Up
Where - Telfords - Corner Pool
Method - Mepp
Total - 0

The first downpours of the season pumped the river levels up so I took a short punt on the Esk but without success. The only tap occurred above Telfords (7 inch or so) and despite nice but probably too high conditions elsewhere, nothing showed. My guess is the water temp is still too low, but it is still intriguing where the fish go, because in similar conditions in a month or two's time it will be fishalicious.

18/08/11 - North Esk

Two Tone

Time - 16.00-20.00
Water - Targets coming in very cloudy (see picture), river didnt look too enticing below its confluence. Although upstream was quite clear, though with cloudiness increasing throughout day.

Where - Wooden Bridge up to Low Pond

Weather - A big cloudburst from 3-3.30pm swelled and upset the river a bit

Method - Silver mepp size 2
Total - 3
Species - Brown Trout
Size - 6 - 8.5 inches

I took this picture just below the confluence with the Targets stream. The cloudy half is the Targets stream and the clearer water is the main river. Quite interesting. I hadnt really thought before that the river at the point where I took the photo is so precisely split between the two incoming waters. Usually a difference isnt visible, but is there, but when the two streams are differently coloured its so obvious.

The first fish I caught was yet another 8.5 incher making them 5 of my last 7 fish. Hopefully not all the same game fish. I waded from the Wooden Bridge up to Telfords (again nothing doing at the bottom end). Notably I found a scythe in the water!!!! I then rejoined the river at the waterfall at the Serpy. The pool at the foot of the waterfall was too turbulent with the amount of water, by this time I'm pretty sure the main river was rising due to all the earlier rain. It was also clouding over by this point and would be completely cloudy by the time I stopped.

Fished here and there up to the stretch above the weir at the Low Pond with mixed success. A few bites, typically a bit bigger than normal, but thats probably due to being later in the year. Water was just a bit high and too cloudy by the time I stopped.

13/08/11 - Moorfoot Burn

As wild as they come

Time - 20.00-20.30
Water - About twice as high as normal, but level was falling off. Really nice peaty tinge, but just a bit high

Where - Either side of road bridge

Weather - Had been a shower of rain, but it held off when I was out

Method - Silver mepp size 2
Total - 1
Species - Brown Trout
Size - 9 inches

Nothing above, under or just below bridge, but connected with this very nice wee fish for the size of burn in the run-in to the Swirly Pool. Just a wee bit soft under its belly, you can see the effect a bit in the photo. Had a bite here before, but this is the first I've landed on this wee water. No other bites on the stream. Notice its unusually missing a fair portion of its pectoral fin.

Had a dip in the North Esk on return.Water level still quite high having been in spate for last couple of days. Currently about 60cm (40cm above summer). Nothing under the wooden bridge, but lost a couple in the Road Pool, the first about 10 inch, the second slightly smaller. Tried the Corner Pool where the water was mostly covering the bank. No fish.