04/05/2013 & 07/05/2013 - Loch Freuchie & River Braan

Bridges at inflow to Loch Freuchie

A few of my favourite fishing spots (and views) are dotted around Perthshire. Last week I was based just outside Perth for 6 days which, in the evenings, allowed me to cover many of these places, plus a little bit of exploring new locations.

At the head of the River Braan lies Loch Freuchie. I've managed to entice the odd small pike, perch and brownie from this river, but decided to head up the valley to check out Loch Freuchie itself, reputed to be a relatively shallow loch with some small jack pike.

Looking north on approach to Loch Freuchie

The road and passing places have been upgraded to facilitate their use by the construction traffic which is going about the business of building the somewhat controversial new Beauly mega-power line. As I was there outside of working hours and there was almost no construction related traffic about, it opened up the possibility of more places to park the motor and access water.

I began at the head of the loch, exploring especially around where the river enters. Despite the drizzle, the water looked very fishy, certainly if I was a half decent pike I'd probably choose this area to sit. However, despite spinning and jigging around all likely looking lies, I couldn't connect with anything in the at-capacity water.

View down the loch

There was still the odd spot of snow clinging to the shadowed gullies high up the surrounding hills, a sign that as this spring and summer stubbornly refuse to kick off, this season hasn't quite spluttered into life yet.

I moved around the loch to a big bay where a small stream enters. The sort of spot that fishing guides tell you to target. There was a slight ripple on the water which would allow me to see any rises. I chucked my mepp about in the hope of finding some pike action. Almost immediately my eye was drawn to a large trout porpoising in the water. It was an unusual rise, trout usually sipping, rolling or clearing the water altogether, it is unusual in my experience to see wild fish show their dorsal in such a way. I threw the mepp out into its projected path and waited on the thunk of the take as I retrieved, but no thunk came. There was no other visual action, but my curiosity had been well and truly captured.

River Braan, some snow still visible on the hills

With a stiff crosswind, I was only able to cast a fly in one direction covering the little bay to my left. But this change of method was as successful - not at all - as my lure attempts.

River Braan, not quite the only person for miles

Despite the lack of fish connection, there was plenty going on around me keeping me occupied. There was a gaggle of Canada Geese sharing the field with sheep and lamb's. As well as gulls crows and pigeons, I also spotted pheasants aplenty, chaffinches, black grouse, red grouse, pied wagtails, lapwings and meadow pipits. The latter were a completely new notch on my twitching bedpost so to speak. Whilst the lapwings reminded me of when I was younger and these birds were very prevalent flocking around farmland along the Pentlands and surrounding areas. They're a bird with many unique characteristics from their unusual wing shape (almost bird of prey like) to their flappy and erratic flying style to their call which can sound like someone tuning in their radio at high volume, or maybe an 80's computer game sound effects.

Whopper, beauty, peach,, beast, stotter

Bearing all this in mind, I was saddened, in such a wild and wonderful location to stumble across some discarded tackle left behind by some neanderthals (as well as the obligatory used tin foil bbq). There was a completely unravelled spool of bait elastic and a pile of line nesting around sea fishing rig with rubber squids and oversized sea hooks and a large jighead hook as well. The biggest surprise was that no bird had yet entangled itself and come to grief. It really boggles my mind how or why some people can be so irresponsible, especially in such a location. Do us a favour and just stay at home you fandangles.

'only' 16 inch and a pound and a half

With all available water covered in the windy conditions, I called it a night knowing I'd be able to pop back very soon.

Three evenings later I was back. In effect, this was the first day of summer, the first day that temperatures across the country had broken through 15 degrees. Although conditions looked much better from the shelter of the car, once out I realised it was a lot windier than the previous visit which effectively put paid to my hopes of casting a fly on the water. So with a wire trace and big rubber lure around a jighead hook I set about trying to locate some of the resident pike. The results were as before and it was soon time to explore elsewhere. Being very tempted to stop at a couple of locations further down the loch, I continued on hoping for some convenient access to the Braan to appear. On a bend in the road, the flash of the suns reflection on water, close enough to the road, alerted me that the river was quite close by. I parked up and set off through the fields. However, the 'river' I had seen turned out to be a duck pond, the actual river being the same distance away again through more fields, over bluffs, around and through bogs and amongst some not too pleased to see me sheep.

Eventually I reached the river only to find access difficult. As the landscape here is so flat, any spates spill onto the surrounding land quite easily, making the riverbank very marshy and treacherous to access. Being alone in such a location with no phone signal for a few miles means a fair bit of caution is required. Using the large tufts to avoid the bog, I managed to reach the river and have a cast about in what looked almost like a pond. But I was surprised at the pull of the current as I drew my spinner across. With no luck I retreated and moved downstream in pursuit of another accessible spot.

I know that there are some smaller pike much further downstream and this was all I was really thinking about being not too far from Loch Freuchie itself. A few casts into my new location I felt a couple of bumps on my mepp, then the take of something fairly hefty. I was quite sure it was a pb pike (current pb is pretty small) and bossed it a bit to get it up in the water for a look (losing a decent fish before you've even seen it is one of the most frustrating things that can happen) and was surprised and delighted to find I was actually hooked up to a big troot. I played it for a bit before managing to get it across and hauling it onto the bank. At 16 inches in length and a pound and a half exactly, I was absolutely delighted. The Brown Trout hardly gets any better than this (ask me if I stick to this appraisal after I land a Ferox).

Also, the trout that I'd seen do the 'Loch Ness monster impression' in Loch Freuchie the previous visit, was appreciably bigger than this one!!!! Not double figures, but certainly noticeably bigger.

Either side of the fish, the sun was setting at the head of the valley providing an ever changing and completely stunning range of colours from the nuclear furnace at the middle of our solar system. As usual the camera struggled to adequately capture this, but I've included them anyway. And with the setting of the sun, and me standing in a bog in the middle of nowhere in a location I'd never been before, I decided it best to head back to the car whilst I still knew where it was. So I bid farewell to yet another part of Perthshire that ranks right at the top of my favourite fishing locations.

My first three trout of the season were a rainbow, a sea and a brown, which is pretty unusual. Also, this fish brought my tally of trout to just 5 for the season (into May!!!), but with lengths of 11", 13", 16" 18" and 7", an unusually high average of 13".

19/04/2013 - North Esk

Fancy meeting you here!!!

Having branched out for miles in either direction, there were still a few of my local pools requiring a first visit of the season. I began at Telford's Bridge in enticing conditions, but very quickly I got the feeling that the story of the early season so far was about to repeat. Specifically - nothing doing. The top and bottom of Telford's brought nothing so I decided to head up to the pool just above the outflow to the old fish farm. It's usually good for a bite, and it wasn't unknown when the fish farm was there to find an escapee Rainbow Trout, usually at least 2 1/2 lbs although the condition usually left a bit to be desired. but any port in a storm.

However, there wasn't a single drop of water from the outflow where usually there is a cascade. I was aware the fish farm had been put up for sale a couple of years ago, but didn't think it was still open. While the lack of outflow could be due to the silting up of the lade above the Serpy Weir (see previous report), I was ultimately saddened that this looked like the end of surprise rainbows on the Penicuik Esk. I don't recall getting any in 2012 and think my last one may have been early 2011 so that would appear to be that.

I made my way downstream through the (overfished and already tree-decorated with bubble floats) Corner Pool and on and on, but with absolutely nothing to show for my efforts.

My final pool was the Ele's Hole, a large pool with a big waterfall crashing into it where I suspect the largest of this area's brownie's will eventually be found. Having fished about half of it for nothing at all, I finally felt a thud and this time it wasn't a snag. I could immediately tell it was big, but very quickly it exposed itself by shooting out and clear of the water. Lo and behold, after writing off my chances of ever encountering another Rainbow Trout on the Esk, here was one going crazy on the end of my line. Spending almost as much time in the air as it did in the water, I eventually coaxed it onto the bank and set about measuring and photographing.

After some fumbling about I got it back into the water and it shot off as if nothing had happened. Obviously in excellent condition, measuring 18 inches and probably 2 1/2 to 3lb in weight (fresh out the fish farm it would probably be more like 4lb.

So, whilst the brownies resolutely decline to play ball (where do they hide in this weather?), it's good to find a bonus Rainbow lolloping about as if it owns the place. I'll maybe give the fish farm a wee visit to find out if they have indeed stopped farming. if that's the case, I'm pretty stumped as to where this fish originated. Whilst not impossible that it made its way here from upstream, I suspect it has arrived there from downstream (on the basis of no evidence whatsoever).

If you look at its fins, the pectoral, pelvic and anal fins are all in excellent condition. The dorsal fin has been cropped to about half size at some point in it's distant past and there was also a small chunk out of the bottom of its tail. I suspect this latter damage may have been more recent, either simply from rubbing against something, or maybe an encounter with a furry brown thing. But it appears to have been in the river/wild for a good few months.

15/04/2013 - North Esk

The Low Pond weir & pool

After the (one fish) success of my previous 'downstream' session I headed upstream into what I like to characterise as the North Esk nursery. Although it didn't completely avoid the industrial intervention that most rivers faced in the last couple of hundred years, especially as you head downstream, it has been largely untouched for at least a quarter of a century and provides plenty of room to grow and thrive for some of the loveliest little brownies you'll see.

With some rain pumping the river up to about double its summer levels (20+ cm) in the day or two before, I was keen to get out and try to add to my catch totals as the water fell back to 'normal' height. The river looked pretty good, just a bit lower than I like (and expected), but nicely tinged with peat which is usually a good sign. The main problem, as always this year so far, was the ongoing low temperatures. Ultimately I blanked without so much as seeing a fish. but it was a nice evening and good to reaquaint with the river after the winter.

The pool at the foot of the Serpy weir is slowly but surely being hollowed out and may eventually get back to the big deep fishy looking spot it once was. Above the weir though there has been a lot of silting up which has resulted in the run-off lade being almost completely blocked. Further upstream, as mentioned, the levels were quite low, so a lot of the runs that hold fish in higher water were barely fishable.

Toads

There was good news at the weir adjacent to the Low Pond. I remember seeing loads of small trout trying to leap the weir here about 25 years ago. But since I've 'rediscovered' it in the last few years, I've not even had a bite from it. However this year it has eroded and rearranged itself into a very nice pool and I hold out hopes for it when conditions improve.

I finished a couple of runs above the stone bridge and decided to have a wee look in the Low Pond. I'd already spotted some frogspawn in a large puddle and a couple of toads in a ditch. At the pond it was positively hoaching with toads and I also spotted a stickleback which I suspect might prick up the ears of H, my species hunting friend. Time to get the goby hooks out?

12/04/2013 - North Esk

Brown or Sea?

With winter hanging around to the point we're more or less missing out on spring this year, the fishing has been deadly slow and unproductive. Both Straiton Pond and North & South Esk's hadn't yielded any returns for my efforts, but what are we if not optimists? Even as I write there is still some snow clinging to the Moorfoot's, indeed it's only in the last week that the temperature has finally edged into double figures, although when it did, 20+mph winds accompanied.

My first trout of the season arrived off the Almond on 28th March and is one of those ambiguous sea trout or brown trout specimens. In the water I was convinced it was from the sea, very silvery with a purple/pinkish sheen. However on land I decided it was probably a brownie that was a bit off colour due to the earliness of the season. Now, looking at photos I'm not so sure and am tempted back towards a Sea Trout again. It was certainly in excellent condition attacking me near the side then leaping clear of the drink a few times, which I wouldn't necessarily expect for this time of the year. It measured a nice 13 inches. Naturally it was sent back to get bigger.

I also had a first session with the fly one evening downstream on the Water of Leith. It has been taking a lot of nonsense for the last year or so as they build flood defences upstream. I found no signs of life at all and won't be going back til the weather really improves. That said, it has appeared devoid of life plenty of times in the past, so hopefully the flood work hasn't upset or curtailed the fish in the lower part of the river by too much.

Some retro litter - McEwans lager can circa 1995?

With no signs of any brownies at all in the North Esk I've been covering a lot of river and exploring a bit more. I'm hoping that the scarcity of sport is down to the extended winter. The less attractive explanation is that there has been another landslip just above Penicuik from some sort of historic industrial dump. This area already garrotted the Esk about 10 years ago when a massive amount of sludge and other nasties was washed into the system. This winter's episode was much less severe so fingers crossed it hasn't had a negative impact on the fish. And fingers on the other hand crossed that the weather heats up a bit sooner rather than later.

First Esk Brownie of 2013

Fishing the Auchendinny stretch of the river, it was apparent that we could also do with a good rain to flush the river out. The water itself had plenty of organic 'bits' in it and the riverbed had a cloying sediment in all the slower flowing or still places (there would be rain the following week that helped clear out some of this muck).

With no bites, no rises, no nothing to provide encouragement, I was trying to keep disciplined to maximise my chances in a minimal opportunity situation. In my favourite pool I'd covered the whole lot when finally my trusty little mepp was attacked and a fish was on. An 11 inch brownie was soon on the bank and my 2013 Esk campaign was off the mark. There were no more fish or fish action to report at all.

I had decided to explore as far downstream as daylight would allow and continued on through some of the pools I know until I reached unexplored territory. It's a bit easier to get off the beaten track at this time of year as the undergrowth is pretty minimal.

Glencorse Burn where it enters N Esk

At the old Dalmore Mill site, they are busy building mock mill-building style flats with some houses sprinkled in (some sort of irony that there was a mill there, it was knocked down, then they build a mock mill in its place...). The construction is most annoying from a completely selfish point of view as before too long this stretch of river will be open to all sorts of people, probably with dogs who enjoy swimming. At the moment I more or less seem to have it to myself.

Looking upstream to the viaduct

It's always interesting to view the total disregard or lack of understanding of streams and rivers when building is taking place. It appears to simply be a total inconvenience to us humans, rather than being viewed as an outstanding 'free' resource, not to mention a home for all sorts of other creatures. Usually it is only paid any attention either to build banks high enough to prevent flooding (simply deferring the flood problem elsewhere) which usually obscures any views of the water from the nearest paths or roads or worse still, to simply pipe it up like so many of the streams that flow into the Water of Leith.

In immediate danger of some sort of monstering is the Glencorse burn. This starts in the Pentland's above Loganlea reservoir, flows into and out of Glencorse reservoir, before working its way past Flotterstone. It eventually reappears to the east of Penicuik and snakes its way through Glencorse Golf Club finally joining the North Esk through the aforementioned old Dalmore Mill site. At the end of last season, the confluence was blocked with all sorts of debris and was quite difficult to cross. However it seems to have been purposefully cleared by the workies and at the moment is, in my opinion, an improvement on what it was. I'm disappointed I didn't take a photo in its old form, but you can see what it looks like now in the photo above. Last year it was blocked to a height of 4 or 5 feet roughly from where you can see the river banks in the above photo.

The river meanders in wide arcs below the Dalmore Mill area before flowing under a viaduct and round into more woodland with steep banks. There were three or four pools I'll definitely have a look at later in the year. Hopefully my early season exploration will save time once the bushes and thorns grow into the summer.

15/03/2013 - North Esk

Top end of Telfords

Time - 1400-1800
Weather - Sun, wind, rain, hail, sun, wind, rain, sun
Water - 5-6 cm up

Total - 0

To the blaring fanfare of trumpets (in my head at least) I embraced the beginning of the new trout season with a session on the Esk. With some snow still lying here and there after recent cold conditions, and with forecasts from earlier in the week predicting a lot of rain, prospects hadn't been too promising. However as the date closed in the forecast contained less rain, the river stayed quite low despite the snow melt and I was happy that conditions were eminently fishable. I also had a brand new pair of waders to test.

Opening day is never prolific (for me) on the Esk. Tis my opinion that the season starts a bit too soon as most March fish still have some recovering to do after the winter.

When the fish farm was operating in Penicuik, you'd have a reasonable chance of the odd surprise Rainbow escapee lolloping about if mink or out of season anglers hadn't found them first. But, for better or worse, these days seem to be behind us.

My new campaign kicked off on my home stretch around Valleyfield from the Corner Pool up to the Serpy Weir. While I was happy enough with the condition of the river, there were no real signs of encouragement in the catching stakes. Nonetheless it was great to get back to my old haunts and see if and how the river had been reshaped over the winter.

Fresh landslip

A few years ago now there was a land slip from a ravine formerly used as an industrial dump of sorts that wreaked havoc for as far downstream as I then observed. At the back end of last year I noticed extra polythene littering the riverside trees and bushes, a signature of the previous landslip, and suspected there had been another slippage at the site. Sure enough, this seems to be the case. That said, the problem is nowhere near as severe as the first incident.

Next stop was in the Auchendinny area where there are a few pools I like. One is adjacent to the old mill site where, last season they'd begun building houses and flats so I was interested to see how they're coming along. From being a secluded stretch of river, the character of this area will be completely altered henceforth. Probably not for the better so I'm trying to enjoy the place before it's likely change of behaviour. Sure enough access on the left bank was blocked, from being previously OK and some inventive wading was required to get to where I was going. The main pool itself was in good shape - it's prone to shape changing during spates - but it's fish, if indeed it held any, were not showing any interest.

For a final thrash I decided to head further downstream to Polton Mill. Again the river was in fine fettle, but again there wasn't a confirmed flicker of interest from my piscine friends.

Not many blanks can be described as successful, however as we famously call it fishing and not catching, landing fish is not the be all and end all. For a blank, it was quite an enjoyable one. As I write this the next day watching golf ball sized snow flakes falling, it may be a wee while before I'm back out there again (although I'm keen to get a fish and be able to photograph it on snow, so you never know).

05/10/2012 - Lyne Water, South Esk & North Esk

H on the Moorfoot Burn

Time
Weather
Water
Method
Total - 1
Species - Brown Trout - 7.5"

An all day assault on many of my favourite spots on the North & South Esk should have been a fish filled wonder sesh. Instead it was an incredibly frustrating outing resulting in just a single troot of 7.5 inches for two determined anglers using a variety of approaches in all manner of places. Even the final attempts at Polton Bank where I'd taken three in an hour the previous evening could only offer up a single fish to finally expunge the spectre of a double blank. The cost of the solitary fish was my first broken rod in years as I angrily tried to extricate a mepp from a tree after a particularly amateurish cast.

Bites, but still no success on the South Esk

Whilst I've been rapidly expanding my pitiful sea fishing abilities with the help of J & H, I've been trying to fit in a fly fishing session or two with H to get him a bit more up to speed with the finer end of fishing (allegedly). First stop was a couple of pools on the Lyne where I can usually tempt a few small trout. Being so late in the season I knew our chances would be slim. I was able to entice a couple of rises from a couple of small ones. But that was that. H was unable to find any success, caught in that frustrating Catch 22 where until you find a successful tactic in a given method, you fish with minimal confidence to begin with, which then increasingly diminishes with ongoing lack of success. Not to worry though, I'd lined up a delicious looking menu of locations and it would surely only be a matter of time until we began banking trout.

As my tour continued we alighted on the Moorfoot Burn where there are a couple of nice runs and one good pool. But despite conducive conditions neither of us could even tempt a tap so we moved again.

H in Roslin Glen retrieving his tackle from a tree

Next stop was the South Esk just downstream from Temple. There are two streams that merge here forming the South Esk emanating from Rosebery and Edgelaw reservoirs. Due to their size, there are only really a small handful of properly fishable pools although the slightly higher than normal river levels were conducive to some extra little runs being explored. I'd switched to my trusty mepp whilst H was now employing the Isome on a small jig set-up. Straight away he'd induced a couple of bites, but in what was quickly turning into the story of the day, we were failing to hook, let alone land any of the offers. We fished down the Edgelaw 'outflow' burn to the pool below the confluence, then fished up to the weir on the 'Rosebery' river. THere is a fair amount of trekking involved in this location and after returning to the car a little  bit out of breath I asked H if he wanted to do more cross country exploring or go somewhere we would definitely catch a fish. He opted for the latter and we headed for Polton Bank and the North Esk where I'd taken 3 brownies in a par for the course session the previous evening.

H, North Esk, and the benefits of chest waders

H was doing his usual experimenting with all sorts of rubber things while I persevered with my trusty mepp. The run above the weir had H's attention as I moved downstream and it wasn't long before a shout from the top of the waterfall alerted me to the energetic louping of his first fish of the day. before I could get there, it was off. I'd since lost my mepp and had converted to a jighead with a small jelly minnow and was tempted to try the far right bank at the top of the weir as H continued on the left bank. I was getting interest of at least one decent trout which finally took and as I turned to inform H, it too escaped. Things were getting a bit silly. Below the weir again I managed to lift a few more trout from their lies with my minnow, but for some reason, the hooks weren't doing their job and offer after offer was missed.

There are some decent pools further down, one of which I never fail in and I sent H straight to it. In the meantime I was fishing a likely looking spot, but from high above on the riverside path in a bid to take every opportunity going and finally brought a trout to the bank. Talk about hard won victories.

Reduced to photographing Brambles

H was still trying and failing as I passed him to a really nice looking pool where I still haven't had a fish. My first cast was rubbish and my second landed in a tree. As I yanked to try and free it I snapped the line and was (not) absolutely delighted to find I'd also snapped the last 3-4 inches off my rod.

It was time to get back to the car. With time running out before H's lift home we headed to Roslin Glen for a final push to bust his blank. Through necessity I was back on the fly. It was my first time down here since before the latest spates and I was surprised at the amount of erosion and reshaping of many of the runs and pools. The corner below the road bridge wasn't just unfishable previously, but you couldn't even get a cast in if it had been. It was now fully accessible and fishable due to all the logs and branches having been swept off. However the story remained much the same as it had for most of the day and we couldn't find any more success. As far as the lovely wee Brown Trout goes, that was it for 2012, but of course, there is always next season.

04/10/2012 - North Esk

Really doesn't get much better

Time - 1715-1830
Weather - Pleasant enough
Water - Dropping back towards normal
Method - Mepp 2
Total - 3
Species - Brown Trout 11.5, 9.5 & 8 inches

With the end of the trout season looming large I've been looking to cover as many of my favourite haunts as possible. Firstly to catch fish quite obviously. But also to have a last recce of the river before the close season when I'm much less likely to see it as the winter weather and any spates or floods reshape the river and some of its pools. Always quite an interesting time when the new season begins and I see what improvements and damage has been done (for me anyway).

First of the session

The Mavisbank stretch of the North Esk down behind Loanhead is usually very accommodating for me. But my sortie was also a preparatory investigation into the likelihood of my chances for the following day when I would be taking H around a few of my preferred beats. I was immediately into a fish in the stretch just below the road bridge of 8 inches which obviously bode well not just for the remainder of the session, but also my forthcoming expedition the next day.

Tubby

Moving down to the weir I was quite surprised to see how clear of debris it was since my last visit. Obviously the high water of the last month or so had moved a lot of the logs and suchlike. Surprisingly and annoyingly the elements had also obliterated the run below the pool at the foot of the weir. Earlier in the season I was getting a hit pretty much every cast by casting across and looping the spinner back across the current. Today it was basically unfishable.

Unfortunately I didn't have any previous pics of the weir, so I made sure I took a couple for future comparings.

Left bank of the weir

At the foot of the weir there was enough water to make most of it fishable despite the usual one or two underwater obstacles to avoid. The next fish to join me on the bank was a hard fighting 11 incher followed quickly by a nice 9.5 incher. All were in excellent condition.

Moving further downstream I enticed a lot more interest but couldnt hook any of the blighters and finished quite happy with my tally of 3 in a reasonably short time. H should be in for a treat on Friday.

And the right bank too

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.

01/10/2012 - North Esk

Great condition

Time - 1845-1915
Weather - Slight chill, little wind
Water - +15cm, nice colour
Method - Mepp 2 Silver
Total - 1
Species - Brown Trout 9"

With the trout season drawing to a close and having neglected my local haunts too much recently I've been trying to cover some of my favourite spots as much as possible before the close season.

I was down at Dalmore again but only had one fish on the bank in the form of a typically excellent little brownie. I was tapped by three bigger fish as well, but frustratingly seem to be missing more than usual.

The water was at 15cm according to the SEPA gauge having been up quite a bit recently around 20-25cm and I would say this is about ideal. Although the gauge claims the water is 5cm's higher than normal, in actuality I'd say it's a good 15-20cm's higher, as hard as these things are to judge (I didn't have my litrs flowing past per second monitor with me).

All my fishing here is done from the banking at present as the sandbar on the left bank which is usually the best spot is submerged and if and when the water level falls, may have still be submerged due to erosion from the recent high water.

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 - 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.

03/09/2012 - North Esk

From 29th August, a week ago

Time - 1615-1645 & 1935 - 2020
Water - Up a bit, lovely peaty tinge
Weather - Nice in session 1 with a bit of wind, duller later with some unforecast drizzle
Method - Size 2 silver Mepp red spots
Total - 0

After the summer we've had (2nd wettest on record) and the amount of high water levels (and the nature of those levels - see graph), the river hasn't survived unscathed. Quite a few of the pools and runs have altered quite substantially. The Corner Pool for instance has really silted up on the far bank where the wee burn comes in. Whereas before there was a bit of a curl in the flow of the water as the current on the inside of the bend went back 'upstream', now its pretty much all a straight downstream flow and you can see the bottom in more places.  Just downstream the flow in the pool above the old waterworks has switched banks. Meanwhile upstream at the footbridge to the ponds the left bank has increased in size, squeezing the river and making it a lot less fishable. I've not explored too much further, but where I have, the story is similar, more of that in a minute.

I'm reminded of a conversation I had with a gent a couple of years or so ago when I had my permit for the Tweed. I'd spent a fair while exploring the upper stretches and hadn't found many worthwhile spots to wet the fly. On return to the car there was a guy who lived in a nearby house standing on the bridge watching the water. He fished this stretch often and had done for years. He told me that some of the spate/floods they'd had in the last year or two were of a much different character than in the past. They were bigger, more sudden and a lot more powerful. A bit more like the graph above rather than a steady increase. The upshot was that a lot of the old pools had been filled in by rocks/silt etc being flushed downstream. Not only was this a negative for us fisherfolk, but it meant running fish had less places to rest and also badly affected redds.

In my anecdotal experience on my local river, the North Esk, the river I'm in a good position to monitor, this is what is increasingly happening. That these rivers once had deeper pools which are being filled in by modern flooding shows that there must be a certain type of flooding/spate conditions that can hollow out rivers making them 'how they were'. But it definitely seems that the weather patterns, more specifically the rain/flooding/spate patterns we seem to be experiencing now - more localised and extreme weather events - are silting up and filling in some rivers.

And so to the actual fishing. Perusers of my Forth & Clyde Canal report will be up to speed with my new lure of choice (Live Baby Shad Golden Shiner). Having since had some success with it taking a 10 & a 12 incher since my canal visit, I was keen to give it a soaking in the Esk. The first session utilised it to no effect, not even a bite or a flash in what I'd usually describe as excellent conditions. Time of day wasn't ideal, and a black Lab dumping itself into the Corner Pool when I arrived didn't help, but still. The Corner Pool and the next pool down from it produced diddly squat.

In the evening I was keen to get down to the Auchendinny stretch where I'd had some success at the back end of last season. Arriving at the tunnel bridge, it was obvious that the waterscape had altered a bit down here too. Usually I can wade under the bridge and cross at the foot of the pool to the left bank, fish under the road bridge, then cross again and fish on downstream to the weir. However there basically isn't a tail to the first pool now with the two pools that were under each bridge now being imperceptibly joined. It also looked like wading under the Old Railway Bridge might be off the cards, so I headed through the tunnel and gained access around the building site that used to be Dalmore Mill.

Tree stump funghi with slug

While I'm here I'll mention I've started, and will continue to take photos of the old mill site as they build on it. It's going to massively alter the area as the flats and houses are completed and folk move in, so best to enjoy it as much as possible while its like it is. I'll prob post the photos in a future blog showing before and after photos alongside each other. While I was traipsing across the building site, a tree stump with some really vivid orange funghi caught my eye. This photo (with the slug for scale) shows it off reasonably well.

I'd swapped the jelly minnow for a trusty mepp. Once again though, the weir pool has been altered a little after recent spates. The left bank sandbar where I normally fish from was smaller and further out making the tail of the pool a bit thinner. There has also been some damage to the lip of the weir on the right bank, meaning a healthier flow down that side. I covered the whole pool in expectation but all I got for my efforts was a hefty thump by something of indeterminate size. Then the unforecast drizzle began to speed up the gloomy sunset and I beat a retreat back to civilisation.

13/07/2012 - South Esk

Time - 2030 - 2130
Weather - Dull
Water -
Method - Size 3 mepp
Total - 1
Size - 6"
Species - Brown trout

Having enjoyed success the day before I decided to have another crack at this spot, despite other rivers getting back to temptingly fishable levels. The water level had dropped appreciably with the steps on the overflow visible and the length of the white water at the foot of the overflow much reduced.

The fishing was completely different. Whereas before I'd been almost pestered by bites, there were none at all on the first short stretch. Finally behind the overhanging tree I got a take from a small brownie of 6 inch. And that was it.

So an excellent lesson in the fishability of this spot. If my second visit had been my first, I'd have thought it hardly worth bothering again. Quite surprising how much of a difference the water level can make between very high and high. Elsewhere I'd say very high is unfishable and high is good. This spot is better when really high. Makes you wonder where the fish appear from when its high and where they go in normal conditions.

One other factor to consider is that on the 12th July I covered the whole stretch and most of the fish with the spinner. Only a day later I tried again with little interest. While the water level was definitely a factor, there may have been some fishy learning taking place.

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.

12/04/2012 - North Esk

Time - 1800 - 1930
Weather - Chilly
Water - Peaty & up
Where - Serpy weir up to Roman Bridge
Method - Mepp
Total - 0

Water levels had dropped below just too high and I fancied my chances. I tried further upstream than the previous night but the results were the same, one tap, no fish. Managed to fish as far up as the old (and soon to be falling down) Roman Bridge.

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.