St Marys Loch & Loch of the Lowes - August 2014

Where Loch of the Lowes narrows onto St Marys Loch

An overnight stay at the Tibbie Shiels camp site allowed me to purchase a 24 hour permit for St Marys Loch and the adjacent Loch of the Lowes.

Beginning on the latter at the south west shore with a jighead and Lake Fork Baby Shad lures I began exploring my way up the loch side. The resident species are Perch, Pike and Brown Trout, so I felt quite confident that something was possible. Although the Loch of the Lowes isn't as renowned as its larger neighbour, they are connected by a small stream and it certainly has the potential to hold decent fish.

However, despite my enthusiasm, there were no takers. I was kept interested though by the follows into the shallows of the occasional small Perch in the 6" range. With only an unidentified bird of prey to report, I headed camp wards with the increasingly bored offspring in tow to where the wife would hopefully have constructed our home for the evening.

Blank well and truly busted

Jettisoning the sprogs with their mother, I made my way keenly the 10 metres or so to the loch side. There was a small jetty which I walked to the end of before lobbing the lure as far as I could into the clear water of St Marys Loch.

Boom, a fish was on first cast and then the reel began to squeal as whatever it was made off on a hefty run. Having been told a 5 pounder was a wee one in here, I was immediately worried as I was netless with relatively light tackle and was going to have to struggle alone with this beast. My six year old daughter had tagged along, but no matter how much I told her to go and get her Ma, she extremely annoyingly refused, seemingly preferring to watch her old man lose a potential PB.

After a few minutes I was able to bring the fish into sight identifying a quite decent but not earth shattering jack Pike. He was also being tailed by another slightly smaller pike attracted somehow by the exertions of his larger buddy. But he was sturdy and angry and put up a decent scrap making quite a few runs before I was finally able to beach him/her.

Excitement ahoy

By this time it seemed half the camp site had been alerted to the commotion, the first quote on the scene saying something like "they fished it all last night and didn't catch a thing, how long have you been fishing", to which the truthful reply was simply "eh, first cast mate"!!!

By the time I had the fish measured, photographed and returned, five fellow anglers had appeared and were now getting their lines wet (wee boys and 'holiday' anglers really - I set up a young German boy with the same set up I was using to help him along - to no avail).

And I really should have stopped there as it was the only bite I had for the rest of my stay!!! Not to say I didn't give the venue a good thrashing. I worked round the entire north shore and up round the western (road) shore and off the larger jetty and berthed boats in the south eastern corner too. Some really nice looking spots, but absolutely nothing. The only other sign of encouragement (aside from the multitude of young fish along the margins) was the next morning when a trout of a good pound and a half leapt three feet clear of the serenely still loch. Later that morning after the wind had gotten up a fair bit I explored around the north eastern shore, distracted a little by a lady training sheep dogs in a nearby field whilst I ploughed on in ultimately futile pursuit of fish number two.

The lack of surface activity by the trout was interesting enough that I mentioned it when emailing my catch return. In reply I was told that this was of some concern to those who look after the loch and preliminary investigations have suggested that the brown trout are evolving from surface feeders into bottom feeders as a result of the pike in the loch. This made me think of the very similar conditions at Loch Chon, somewhere I'd expect to see brownies rising, but the abundance of Pike and Perch, may have forced the trout down to the bottom for food there too.

The final mention goes to the the 8 or 9 fighter planes that roared (not very far) overhead during the course of the stay. If you decide to have a dabble at St Marys Loch be sure to bring some spare pants.

25/06/2013 - Dunbar Harbour & Loch Chon

Ideal conditions on Loch Chon

My new job basically involves travelling all over the best parts of Scotland and the north of England. This has had me rubbernecking some incredibly mouth watering venues across the whole range of coast, lochs and rivers.

First of many

With a couple of days off work, my fishing acquaintance Hutch was keen to get something arranged with him and another of his fishing buddies. He asked me to pick somewhere from the various spots I've been reporting back on. His preference was for Perch & Pike. My shortlist included 7 lochs, 1 lochan, 2 sea lochs and 2 rivers. These were all places I hadn't fished before and the list could easily have been doubled.

Highland Perch

The day before our trip my job took me through the heart of the Trossachs to Inversnaid and I settled on Loch Chon. As there were 3 of us, we'd need enough room to be able to keep out of each others way. It looked as good as perfect for all our criteria and on the day, even the weather forecast turned out to be ideal.

Mauled on the way in

As Mark wasn't available until about lunchtime, like any good fishing addicts, myself and The Hutch decided to have a dabble around Dunbar Harbour in the morning. Low tide was 10.41 and it was very low at just 40cm. This meant there was hardly any water in the harbour, but it didn't stop Hutch locating some wee flatties, although he couldnt ultimately connect. We both also invoked interest from some sand gobies, but our tackle was probably a bit oversized for their wee mouths.

New PB

We moved out onto the rocks and soon H was into some Long Spined Sea Scorpions picking up about half a dozen. After a while, I managed to get one too (but no photo). We passed a class of primary school children with their teachers on the way back in and learned one or two things about crabs as we returned (crabs, just like humans, are either left or right handed too!!!). Never too old to learn.

Greedy

Then it was into the car, picking up Mark and off to the Trossachs. A quick stop at the David Stirling memorial near Stirling before a food and permit stop in Callander (Mhor Bread, a baker in Callander is as good a bakers as I've found in Scotland by the way) and we were on our way past Lochs Venachar and Achray before crossing the Dukes Pass with a view of the brilliantly named Loch Drunkie. Soon we were down to Aberfoyle before turning right towards the heart of the Trossachs up the road to Inversnaid.

Historic scar

My general expectation at highland lochs is for long periods of inactivity interspersed with shorter periods of inactivity. When you don't know these often vast waters, locating the fish is the main problem. We arrived, set up and hit the water around 1515. Hutch was annoyed as he realised he'd forgotten his landing net, but I was even more annoyed as I'd forgotten my midgie net.

The engine room

The other two began to head off along the loch whilst I decided to fish into the nearest corner before catching up with them. Initial expectations were being adequately fulfilled after 20 mins or so when I felt my first small bite of the day. Next cast however I caught some weed and suspected I'd probably misidentified the initial bite. Next cast however I was into a fish and it turned out to be a wee Perch. Blank busted already. Too good.

Sulking after release

I cast again and bang, another Perch. Outstanding, now things were looking up. Next cast another Perch, then half way in it got taken by a biggish Pike. I had the pleasure of scrapping with the Pike a bit before it released the poor wee Perch. Whilst Percy had been injured in the assault, it seemed OK when returned. Another cast, another Perch. Followed by another on the next cast, but a big swirl and fin show before boom, another big pike tried to nick the Perch again. Once more he didn't release for a few moments before I was able to land and release another injured Perch. Incredible scenes.

Note the black dot at the end of the dorsal

I covered the same spot again and this time a Pike was on. Now the reel began to scream a bit and I had visions of this fish being snaffled by something outrageous as well. With no net, nobody to help, and no idea how to lift a big Pike out the water I knew I was in for a contest. But it was played out and brought ashore without tooo much trouble and I knew I'd just beaten my PB (formerly 21.5 inches). The measuring tape said 28.5 inches, I didn't have scales. He/She was returned and for a good while it just sat sulking in front of me before making its way back to the depths. I'm pretty sure this fish was one of the two that had attacked my Perch, I'm also quite sure the two attacks were two separate Pike.

Taken close in, smallest pike of the day

At this point I texted the other two who were long since out of sight to say 'get up here, its a fish a cast, (sometimes two fish a cast)', but noticed we were out of signal range. They didn't get this text until we'd packed up and were in the car on the way home again.

A Pike frenzy

I continued to raid this hot spot taking around 15 Perch in all although the Pike seemed to have learned not to be so greedy. I also quickly scaled up my lure to a larger lure and hook due to the bigger Pike showing an interest. But there was no further Pike interest and no Perch either, so I resumed the initial tactics and success, although not as rapid as before, did continue for a while. After interest eventually cooled off I decided to continue exploring along the shore looking for more fish.

The blue sky is not photoshopped

Where a small burn runs in, I found some more small Perch, but no sign of any Pike. I moved to the opposite bank. My tactics was cast out 3-4 times and if no bites arrived, I'd move on a bit. I soon found another hotspot and was again getting two or three taps per cast and a fish every other cast. And I found some more Pike too. Whislt all the Perch still refused to hit even the 8 inch barrier, I connected with a decent  Pike of around 20 inches ( I must have measured it, but just can't remember what it was due to all the action).

Flat calm

I also coaxed a wee jack of about 11-12 inches to attack very close in before a long range cast produced an instant take and I was into another decent Pike. All it revealed for a good 5 mins was one golden flash just after it took, then it stayed down for a long time before I got a look at it. It had picked up some weed on the way in and stripped line off my screaming reel a few times, putting up the fight of the day. Without heavy tackle I had my drag set perfectly so the fish was able to take line and scream my reel (great sound) whenever it wanted. I combined this with a simple tactic of trying to guide the fish rather than fight or boss it before it eventually tired and I hauled it ashore (still netless and knowledgeless). This one measured 24 inches, but was tubbier than the 28.5incher and probably about the same weight.

Fight of the day off this plumper model

Eventually Hutch & Mark re-appeared on the far bank and we hollered garbled questions and answers at each other. When I shouted 'How many have you caught' Hutch replied 'Lost count', or so I thought. This was quality as it meant the whole venue was on fire. I saw them work their way back up to where we were parked and despite still getting Perch galore, decided to go back round and exchange marvellous tales. But not before another decent Pike took my lure. This time I wasn;t to be so lucky and after a couple of minutes of screaming reels again, it dislodged the hook and made good its escape. I didn't see it at all, but it was in the same range, no bigger, than those I'd already caught.

Get in there!!!

When I reached the other two, Mark was just about at my initial hotspot and Hutch was just arriving. 'Any joy' he enquired. 'About 35' I replied, to which his reaction revealed they'd had a much tougher time of it. Apparently what I'd heard from the other side of the loch as 'lost count' was actually only 'one pike'. In no time I'd updated them with my exploits, given them the same size hooks I had been using and told them the magic lures. Mark, was soon into a Perch and would you believe, it was bigger than any of my 30 or so so far. He managed to get a second a little bit later that was also bigger than any of my perch. I took them back round the loch to my other two hotspots and once Hutch located the Perch, he began to pull them out good style.

Shows what wee Perch can recover from

By this time the midgies were reaching critical levels and we began to return to the car again casting here and there as we went and picking up the odd Perch. Then, near the original hot spot I connected with another decent Pike and the reel was wailing again. At least this time I had some help and after a short but respectable scrap, my fish tired and Hutch lifted it from the loch for me. We'd been aware for a while the whole lure was outside it's mouth and it was only lightly hooked right inside the lip.

Perch number 30ish

This one measured 26". Before I measured it, I suspected it was the same fish as my first as it had a similar scar on its back, but it was indeed my 5th Pike of the day. A few more casts on the way to the car failed to increase my tally of 40 Perch and 5 Pike.

The cherry on top of an outstanding day

A stunning day for me where I was fortunate enough to head off in one direction with no real thought or planning and find 3 hotspots that kept chucking fish at me.

Hooked right on the lip

I can safely say I'll be back soon, with midgie net, and we now know exactly where to head!!!

Let the chinning practice begin

Last look

30/08/2012 - Forth & Clyde Canal

Looking towards Kilsyth Basin

Time -
Water - Darkish but clear enough
Weather - Very nice
Method - Jelly Minnow/wire trace
Total - 3
Species - Pike (8.5 & 14 inch), Perch (8 inch)
Companion - H (inter-blog madness)

Three different locations were attacked: Falkirk Wheel, Kilsyth Basin & Banknock Lock.

Falkirk Wheel - Started off with a recent purchase of Jelly Sandeel on a weighted hook, but two factors elicited a change. Firstly I wasn't looking like taking anything, secondly, H sprinted quickly into a 2 fish lead using a wee Jelly Minnow. Borrowing one of the offending lures, I didn't take long to take a small Jack of 8.5 inches, probably a smallest ever!!! In the meantime I managed to lose an even smaller one as well as getting a little bit of interest from smallish Perch. The (bottom) basin itself held an impressive amount of Roach with some Perch in amongst them, although it wasn't until we ventured along the jetties on the opposite side that we started connecting with some regularity. Probably lost a couple of Perch & Pike each, one of the Perch extremely amateurishly, all no bigger than anything I successfully landed.

Inflow near Kilsyth Basin

I've used Jelly Perch's in the past on the Union Canal with a little bit of success, however their price and their (lack of) longevity curtailed their use. But I was well impressed with the minnows H gave me. The way they sit in the water when just suspended looks outstanding and I wouldn't be surprised if they would work simply suspended under a float, almost like a cross between livebait & deadbait, but with no baitfish being harmed.

H switched lures regularly and had much the same mixture of success and loss.

14 inch Pikey

Kilsyth Basin - Like the Wheel at Falkirk, I'd also fished here once before. Two guys were already in situ, one had a Perch livebait on but didn't appear to have much success whilst the other guy had apparently taken a Pike of about a pound and a half on his first cast. As they were at the inflow, we worked towards the basin itself. Access was a bit better than I remembered, but still a pain in places. H was working through his entire lure box including using some floating efforts that stirred a lurking Pike or two in the far margins, but couldn't add to his two Falkirk fish. With a smallish lure I wasn't able to cast too far, so worked the near reeds a bit. At the end of a retrieve I was dangling the minnow a bit from a reed overhanging the water when I though I'd snagged. However the lift produced a slightly more respectable Jack of 14 inch.

8 inch Perch

After working back to the inflow, we also tried the opposite side of the road bridge, which looked good, but didn't produce.

Banknock Lock - H had fished here previously on the advice it was stuffed full of Perch and naturally him and his mate had filled their boots with Pike.

On approach we passed an Artist painting at the picnic bench who enquired after the time. What a delight to be spending some time in such a lovely spot without having to worry about such trivialities as a timepiece.

View towards Banknock Lock

The canal was narrower than at Kilsyth and after a few fruitless casts, I fancied there might be a Perch or two staying close in to the lock wall. So I dropped the minnow down and slowly 'walked' it about no more than a couple of feet from the brickwork and hey presto, I was into a Perch. Then it was off. The same tactic almost immediately paid off again and a perfectly respectable (by my standards) 8 inch Perca was on the bank. We worked along to the 'bridge' spotting some Roach and both getting some interest. Almost done on the way back to the car, H had one last hopeful cast and was into a Perch. 3-3 and an excellent way to finish an excellent days fishing.