Reports 2011

WEEK ENDING 30/10/11

Three visiting rods on Friday managed to land 10 rainbows up to 3lb 8oz, 1 4lb blue and a couple of browns in a short session. Steven Johnson & Callum Forrest caught most of the fish around the boat area and dam wall.

Seven Oaks A/C 16 fish for 35lb, with dozens of browns returned.

 

WEEK ENDING 23/10/11

Callum Forrest made the best return of the week. Callum out on Saturday managed to return 13 rainbows, 1 brown at 3lb and 1 blue at 4lb. All fish were caught around the dam area.

 

WEEK ENDING 16/10/11

A quiet week with only the weekend seeing anglers paying a visit. Fish were to be found around the boat dock with a few of the bigger blues starting to show up. Stocking for the season has now ended.

 

WEEK ENDING 09/10/11

Another quiet week with only a few brave souls going out. Bank fishers done better with fish getting caught off the dam wall, mostly on lures. Boat rods struggled due to the windy conditions.

 

WEEK ENDING 02/10/11

Despite the unseasonable high temperatures we had this week the wind was still with us for the fourth week in a row. Boats that tried to get out were blown off and were back in within an hour.

 

WEEK ENDING 25/09/11

Most days were lost again due to the wind with only a few bank rods braving the conditions. They found fish along the lodge shore with wets and lures producing fish.

 

WEEK ENDING 18/09/11

The conditions for most of the week were more suited to wind surfing, meaning the boats stayed in the harbour on some days. This time of the year can see a lot of lost days due to the strong winds.

When the boats did get out fish were caught from the far side of the tower, mostly on lures.

Mr Schabus landed a 63cm brown trout, estimated at 5-6lb.

Jim Mckenna out on Saturday landed a nice 5lb 8oz rainbow.

Clelland A/C 12 fish for 25lb.

 

WEEK ENDING 11/09/11

The fishery was quiet through the week with the windy conditions meaning a few lost days.

Messrs Stenhouse & Middleton bank fishing the Lodge shore on Friday had good sport in a four hour session landing 5 rainbows & 9 browns.

Mr Mcgregors boat on Saturday managed 7 rainbows, mostly from the far side of the tower on lures.

Messrs Watson & Dawson bank fishing on Sunday caught some nice fish up to 4lb 4oz from the Lodge bank. Mr Dawson got snapped at least four times with good fish.

Richy Telfer bank fishing on Sunday managed 4 rainbows in a couple of hours from the Lodge bank on lures.

Top flies were kate mclarens, cats whiskers, yellow dancers & daddies.

Top areas were the lodge bank and the far side of the tower.

Mayfield A/C 16 fish for 32lb 2oz.

 

WEEK ENDING 04/09/11

Good daytime rises took place throughout the week with fish taking small black gnats and anglers fishing dries mostly took limit bags.

Jonathan James 3 rainbows & 2 browns on Monday.

John Walker 4 rainbows on Tuesday.

Manager Scott Henderson landed a brown over 4lb on Wednesday.

Messrs Brash, Loftus & Miller all took limit bags on Thursday bank fishing.

Brian Ritchie two limit bags from two visits. 

Dave Walker 4 r’bows & 2 browns on Saturday.

Michael Leggett landed a nice brown on Sunday, just under the 3lb mark.

Dalzell A/C 18 fish for 38lb 4oz with a further 5 r’bows returned.

 

WEEK ENDING 28/08/11

A variety of tactics worked throughout the week from dries to boobies fished on fast sinkers in the deeper water.

All four species showed up in the returns, with some nice blues and tigers to over three pounds in weight being caught.

Top flies were muddlers, black hoppers, daddies and boobies.

Mr Jones bank fishing on Saturday managed 6 r’bows & a tiger in four hours.

B.P A/C 15 Rainbows up to 4lb.

Roslin British Legion 15 fish for 38lb 12oz.

 

WEEK ENDING 21/08/11

The week started well with fish getting caught on or near the surface with the claret hopper the top pattern. Some big fish were seen crashing about around the tower area with a few being hooked and lost. Tiger trout were brought to the scales on three consecutive days midweek. Conditions changed slightly at the weekend and visiting rods tended to struggle with only regular rods doing well.

Rod Stewart & partner 5 r’bows & 6 browns on Monday, Tam Lindsay & John Gardiner 9 r’bows on Tuesday, A. Wilson 3lb 4oz tiger on Wednesday, Jim Thomson limit on Wed, Clive Shotton & John Gauld limit bags on Wed, including a tiger.

Top weekend return was made by C. Weir bank fishing on Sunday with 3 r’bows up to 4lb 8oz and upwards of 20 brownies, all on dries. 

Michael Leggett two visits managed 5 r’bows up to 5lb, 4 browns and a 3lb tiger.

 

WEEK ENDING 14/08/11

The 4ft flood that hit the reservoir saw the brown trout feed hard, with the rainbows keeping there heads down in the peaty water. This is a pattern that always happens after high water.

Gary Keenan & party celebrated Crosswood’s five year aniversary on Friday evening.

Top flies were daddies, heather flies, black & claret hoppers fished near the burn area.

Brian Ritchie 4 browns up to 2lb 80z and a 5lb 4oz rainbow on Tuesday.

Ross Kirkwood 4 r’bows & 3 browns on claret hoppers on Tuesday.

Davy Walker 8 r’bows and countless browns on Saturday mostly on heather fly patterns.

Richy Telfer 21 browns on Saturday.

Seafield A/C 12 fish for 25lb 12oz.

 

WEEK ENDING 07/08/11

The first week in August saw catches improve as fish started to move more and most of the fish were caught on or near the surface.

Heather Fly put in an appearance on Wednesday and the fish were taking them well.

Some lovely tigers and browns over the two pound mark were caught throughout the week.

Top flies were daddies, bibio hoppers, muddlers and sedges.

The burn area and along the south shore produced most of the fish throughout the week.

Jim Thomson & 12 year old grandson Jordon landed 8 r’bows & 2 browns fishing a 4hr session on Wed, Ian Fairley 5 r’bows on Wed, Clive Shotton & John Gauld limit bags on Wed, Colin McGlone 7 r’bows & 2 browns bank fishing on Thurs, Ross Kirkwood 3 r’bows & 1 brown on Thurs, Brian Ritchie limit bag on Thurs, Peter Johnson 5 r’bows on Fri, Jimmy Neill 4 r’bows on Fri, Eric Livingston 3 r’bows & 1 brown on Fri, Craig Dickie & Davy Walker 5 r’bows on Fri. Richy Telfer 8 r’bows & 2 browns on Sunday.

Edinburgh Masonic A/C 21 fish for 45lb 10oz.

 

WEEK ENDING 31/07/11

The bright conditions through the day saw the fish sitting a little deeper, and anglers fishing deeper with lures scored.

The evenings were still not consistent enough, with only Friday and Sunday producing good bags of fish, all coming from the burn area.

The tiger trout record was broken with a 6lb fish caught by Jim Mckendry using a diawl bach fishing an eve session.

Tom Mcneill out on Mon eve managed 6r’bows, Jim Thomson & David Black out on Fri eve landed 9 r’bows mostly on muddlers, Craig Dickie who managed a limit bag on Fri eve returned with Dave Walker on Sunday eve and they managed 8 r’bows & 5 browns up to 2lb 8oz

Edinburgh Trout Anglers 14 fish for 36lb 8oz, which included a rainbow of 4lb 8oz and a 3lb tiger.

 

WEEK ENDING 24/07/11

The thunderstorm from the previous weekend raised the level of the reservoir and left a heavy peat stain. Fish were feeding tight into the margins.

 

WEEK ENDING 17/07/11

The fishery was quiet throughout the week, but the anglers that visited managed to catch fish, mostly on surface tactics.

Evenings were frustrating at times with good rises, mostly to caenis, but the fish were difficult to tempt.

Some lovely fish over the three pound mark featured in the returns.

The thunderstorm at the weekend rose the level and fish were feeding hard in to the newly flooded ground, often only inches from the grass.

 

WEEK ENDING 10/07/11

Ali Middlemass out on Monday landed 3 rainbows and 8 browns. Ali on Wed eve hooked into two tigers on the same cast but only managed to land one of them.

Davie Wales & Jimmy Aitchison managed 11 r’bows & 7 browns on Tues eve.

Martin Ferguson 14 r’bows & 3 browns on Wed.

Thurs eve saw fishery manager Scott fish throught the night to good effect with sedge patterns.

Tom Mcneill 6 r’bows & 5 browns on Friday.

Bill Knox in two short visits managed 6 r’bows & 4 browns.

Top weekend day boat went to Ian Fairley & Son with ten rainbows on Saturday.

Top weekend eve boat went to Messrs Walker & Anderson with 9 rainbows on Sunday. 

Bathgate Legion A/C 14 fish for 31lb 8oz.

Top patterns were blobs, buzzers, kate mclaren, bibio, sedges and daddies.

Areas included the burn and around the boat area.

 

WEEK ENDING 03/07/11

No set pattern stood out throughout the week with nymphs, dries and lures taking fish.

Evening fishing proved difficult most nights despite a good late on rise, with the fish feeding hard on caenis.

Bank anglers slightly outfished the boats this week and most fish were taken from the bank opposite the Lodge, the Dam Wall and up at the Burn area.

Ian Munro & Harry Camp enjoyed a good evening on Wednesday, each with a limit bag and five browns returned, also out on Wednesday eve was David Miller who landed 6 rainbows and a brown from the bank.

Top weekend boat catch went to Messrs Ferguson & Munro with 10 rainbows up to 3lb 8oz on Saturday.

Butcher Boy A/C 40 fish for 85lb 8oz, heaviest 3lb 14oz.

Cowdenbeath & District A/C 24 fish for 53lb 2oz.

 

WEEK ENDING 26/06/11

Day rods had the best of the sport throughout the week with traditional wet flies working well.

The heavy rain that fell on Tuesday brought the level of the reservoir back up to a normal height after weeks of being a couple of feet below which was making it tricky for the boats getting out the harbour.

Out on Monday Rab Brown used a Kate Mclaren to good effect landing 9 fish, Harry Camp 16 fish on Monday using a Katie and Tom Mcneill landed 10 rainbows on Monday using snatchers in a short four hour session.

Harry returned on Thursday with John Middleton and both took limit bags, also out on Thursday was George Hunter who landed 4 rainbows and 4 browns. 

David Kinnear and Ian Littlejohn managed 9 rainbows and 4 browns on Friday using wet flies, with a wickhams fancy and clan chief the top patterns.

David Crichton & partner also out on Friday and using dapping rods managed 4 rainbows and 10 browns, raising many more rainbows also.

Evening fishing was poor for most of the week, but Messrs Evans & Patterson who witnessed the Osprey fly off with a fish, managed limit bags on Wednesday evening, returning a few also.

Last Cast A/C 21 fish for 41lb 6oz.

 

WEEK ENDING 19/06/11

Despite the mixed weather some good catches were made with nice fish amongst them.

John Walker 8 rainbows boat fishing Tues eve, David Milller 2-7lb 4oz with a further 5 returned 1 @ 5lb on Tues eve, Scott Middlemass 5 rainbows bank fishing Sat morning, Wayne Cram 2 visits 9 rainbows, heaviest 8lb 8oz, 1 blue and 8 browns.

Edinburgh Walton A/C Thurs eve 23 fish – 50lb, with 3 rainbows and approx 20 browns returned.

East Kilbride Inland Revenue A/C 12 fish – 19lb 10oz, heaviest 4lb.

R. Telfer 9lb 0oz rainbow, W. Kelly 6lb 4oz rainbow, R. Stewart 4lb 8oz rainbow.

Top area was the rocks at the peat bank, with black hoppers, diawl bachs, cormorants, snatchers and sedges taking fish.

 

WEEK ENDING 12/06/11

Conditions through the week were variable with different wind directions most days. On the calmer days and evenings cdc’s, snatchers, sedges and wets took fish. The yellow dancer worked well at the peat bank on Sunday evening. This area is holding a lot of the stockies from Friday, av weight 3lb 4ooppers, muddlers and sedges. %e also introduced.

Fish in to the high teens have been introduced in the last few weeks also and anglers are recommended to tackle up accordingly.

Tam Mcneill  7 r’bows on Monday, D. Crichton & W. Brown 5 r’bows & 10 browns mostly on daddies, Mr Stewart 6 rainbows bank fishing, Ali Middlemass 4 r’bows on Wed eve and a large fish lost when it took the ariel route several times, David Miller 4 r’bows and a cracking 3lb brown bank fishing, Gonsales & Waite 6 r’bows and 4 browns on Fri eve.

West Lothian Fly Dressers 15 fish 41lb 4oz, heaviest fish 5lb with another one at over 5lbs returned. 

 

WEEK ENDING 05/06/11

Finally some better weather to start the week and anglers that visited on Holiday Monday were greeted with near perfect conditions.

Jonathan James 6 fish up to 4lb, David Miller 5 rainbows mostly on a bibio.

Evening fishing started to pick up with most evenings seeing a good rise, none more so than Friday. The three boats that went out landed 32 fish, mostly on wets and sedges. Jim Thomson & David Black 14 fish, Wayne Cram & Gary Russell 12 fish & D. Morrison & Son 6 fish.

The Stoddart brothers fishing Thursday eve managed limit bags, heaviest 4lb 12oz.

Conditions changed overnight on Friday, and Saturday brought a cold North Easterly wind with the bank rods doing better than the boats. Some nice fish in the 4-6lb bracket were landed by the bank rods at the weekend.

Mr Turnbull 5lb 11oz rainbow, Mr Pearson 5lb 10oz rainbow, Mr Glen 4lb 8oz rainbow & M. Lappin 3lb 12oz rainbow.

Snatchers, various wets, black hoppers and sedges took the bulk of the fish.

 

WEEK ENDING 29/05/11

The strong gales we experienced through the week were the worst for five years and saw the fishery closed for three days, fortunately no damage was done. The wind returned at the weekend and conditions were shocking. Boats that went out tried to get shelter along the Lodge shore and up towards the burn. Catches were poor, and the few limits that were taken were caught on snatchers and blobs.

Mctaggart & Scott 10 fish for 19lb 4oz with a few browns returned.

Rolls Royce A/C 12 fish for 28lb 10oz, heaviest 6lb.

Fenmore A/C 5 fish for 10lb 4oz.

South Queensferry A/C 8 fish for 17lb.

Willie Borthwick 5lb 12oz rainbow.

 

WEEK ENDING 22/05/11

For most of the week anglers sought shelter at the dam and tower area due to the strong winds. Tuesday saw a terrific rise all day along the dam wall and anglers using small black dry flies done well. The wind direction changed on Saturday and most boats came in early having caught a few fish. Bank rods had good success on Saturday from the South shore down from the burn.

American visitor Jeff Mcintyre made three visits throughout the week and managed limit bags on each ocassion, mostly on dries.

With the strong winds at present and the evenings turning a bit cooler, very few anglers are venturing out in the evenings.

 

WEEK ENDING 15/05/11

The strong winds just didn’t let up all week which made for some tough fishing conditions. Good catches were made with some nice fish showing up.

The tower area, the south shore and the rocks at the peat bank all held fish with cormorants and dries working well.

Jonathan James bank fishing on Saturday landed rainbows of 12lb & 8lb within his first three casts.

Tennant & Smith 11 rainbows up to 4lb.

Wayne Cram & Harry Brumfitt 22 rainbows up to 6lb.

B.P A/C 11 fish for 23lb 4oz.

West Lothian Fly Dressers 34 fish for 86lb 9oz + 7 rainbows returned. Included in the catch were fish weighing 6lb 6oz, 5lb 8oz, 5lb 4oz & 4lb 8oz.

 

WEEK ENDING 08/05/11

Fishing was challenging in the early part of the week in the bright conditions and it wasn’t until Thursday when with good overhead conditions and light winds catches improved. The conditions didn’t last long though and Friday through to Sunday saw the wind pick up again. Tactics varied from floating lines through to fast glass lines. Lures continued to pick up fish in the windier conditions with dries/wets taking fish on the best day of the week Thursday.

Jim Thomson & Son 11 rainbows, David Purves 8 rainbows, Bert Thomson & Tommy Mcneil 6 rainbows 1 tiger and some browns, Harry Brumfitt & Mike Wilson 8 rainbows and 2 browns.

Falkirk Municipal A/C 25 fish 63lb 2oz. A further 8 rainbows were returned. Included in the catch was a 9lb rainbow caught by Norrie Laird.

 

WEEK ENDING 01/05/11

The early part of the week brought the best conditions with light winds from the East, albeit a bit chilly at times. The wind picked up from Friday and continued into the weekend with Saturday and Sunday afternoon being wild.

Flies that got a mention in the returns book were damsels, cormorants, vivas and diawl bachs.

The areas that were producing fish were: just out from the boats, both sides of the tower and across at the peat bank.

David Wales & partner out on Monday 6 fish for 13lb. Also out on Monday for two and a half hours were Keith Mcandrew & Wayne Cram, they managed six rainbows mostly on cormorants.

John Walker out on Tuesday 4 fish 8lb 8oz.

Graeme Mclean 6 rainbows returned on Wednesday.

Wattie Paton & David Dalziel brought in a nice limit basket on Thursday with 6 fish for 19lb, heaviest 6lb 12oz.

Also out on Thursday was David Robertson who managed 15 rainbows up to 4lb and a cracking 8lb brown trout.

Craig Peachy 4lb rainbow on Friday.

Norrie Laird 4 fish for 9lb, with rainbows at 4lb and 3lb 8oz also returned on Friday.

With the boats being cancelled on Saturday the Gilmerton Miners A/C fished the bank but the conditions were just too much. There best bag was 4 fish for 11lb 12oz with rainbows at 4lb and 3lb 12oz included.

Sunday saw the wind ease slightly in the morning and the Edinburgh Trout Anglers brought in 25 fish for 52lb 14oz. A further 4 rainbows were returned. Club member Jim Mckenna returned a lovely 3lb brown trout.

Stephen Mclean 4 rainbows up to 4lb on Sunday using buzzers.

Wayne Cram & David Izzet 8 rainbows to 3lb 8oz and 2 browns on Sunday.

 

WEEK ENDING 24/04/11

The heat from the previous weekend certainly brought the water on with good hatches of buzzers from Monday through to Wednesday and many limit bags were taken. The water at times was boiling with rising fish.

Some good sized wild browns were getting caught throughout the week.

With the water starting to heat up more overwintered fish began to get caught.

Fish were also spotted fry bashing.

Tam Lindsay & John Gardiner 5 rainbows in a short session using size 16 spiders.

Brian Ritchie 12 browns up to 4.5lb and a further three over the 2lb mark.

Peter Johnson managed 8 rainbows and 10 browns in two visits.

Mr Stewart 6 rainbows up to 4lb and countless brownies.

David Miller 7 rainbows up to 4lb and a lovely wintered blue at 5lb.

Graeme Mclean out for a couple of hours landed 7 rainbows up to 3lb.

Wayne Cram & Harry Brumfitt best boat all week, managed 22 rainbows up to 6lb and 1 blue. The 6lber was a lovely wintered fish.

Edinburgh Masonic A/C 16 fish for 33lb 8oz. Member Jack Marshall returned a lovely brown over the three pound mark.

 

WEEK ENDING 17/04/11

The fishery was quiet with no visiting clubs booked in and anglers that did visit found the fishing hard unlike the previous few weeks.

The highlight of the week was the capture of an overwintered double figured rainbow in pristine condition. The lucky angler was Tam Lindsay from Lanark who was using a cormorant.

The sunny/flat calm conditions at the weekend didn’t help and catches were generally poor.

David Robertson 4lb brown caught on a snatcher.

 

WEEK ENDING 10/04/11

The wind from the previous weekend continued into the early part of the week, and it wasn’t until Thursday that it eased sufficiently enough, to let the boats out.

The fishing continues to be good when conditions are favourable.

All methods appear to be working from buzzers, dries and lures.

Cowdenbeath & District A/C landed over 70 trout, retaining 50 for 102lb 4oz, heaviest 4lb.

Alex Chisholm landed 10 rainbows up to 4lb in a four hour session.

Mr Miller bank fishing kept his bag limit and returned a further 7 rainbows in a four hour session.

Eric Livingston bank fishing returned 9 browns up to 1lb in weight.

Wayne Cram returned 7 rainbows, including some nice wintered ones to over 3lb in weight.

David Black & Jim Thomson making there first visit of the season landed 5 fish for 14lb, including 2 at 4lb.

John Walker first visit also, 4 for 10lb, heaviest 4lb.

 

WEEK ENDING 03/04/11

The fishery was quiet midweek but the fishing was still good for most of the visiting anglers. Boat rods found most success with fast glass lines and lures, with the bank rods using lures on floating lines.

Thursday and Friday were lost due to strong winds and heading in to Saturday things didn’t look to promising however, the wind eased slightly and the boats managed to get out.

Jim Meechan 4 – 13lb boat fishing on Sat tight into the rocks at the peat bank. Included in his catch were fish of 4lb 8oz and 3lb 8oz. A further 2 rainbows and 2 browns were returned.

Sunday brought much the same conditions as the previous day and some good catches were made. Ben Robertson and Wayne Cram took a boat over to the rocks and managed 19 rainbows in less than four hours and Peter Johnson managed 8 fish from the same area. Many more fish were hooked and lost.

John Mackay from Jmackay Flies out guiding with an Estonian visitor managed 7 rainbows on Sunday.

Tam Lindsay 6lb rainbow.

Wellington A/C 25 fish for 50lb on Saturday with a further 10 rainbows returned.

 

WEEK ENDING 27/03/11

What a difference a year makes, last season saw the fishery closed at this time due to snow, this year conditions have been good with the fishing being even better.

Fish were being caught from most areas all though the bank opposite the lodge and up to the peat bank produced the most.

 The bank is producing just as many fish as from the boats with Cormorants continuing to be the top fly pattern.

Some lovely browns up to 3lb have been caught and released.

Saturday saw the best of the catches with 28 rods landing 115 fish for a rod average of 4.11.

Sunday was a little harder and the top boat managed 9 rainbows and 1 brown.

Jim Mckendry and Jim Aitken 12 rainbows up to 5lb bank fishing at the peat bank, Wayne Cram out for an hour on Friday landed 8 rainbows and 1 brown boat fishing near the rocks at the peat bank, Mr Miller bank fishing 2-7lb and released 12 rainbows, Stuart Strachan and partner boat fishing 8-20lb 12oz heaviest 5lb and 24 rainbows released.

Portobello British Legion A/C 39 fish for 88lb 4oz.