Reports – 2008
27/10/08 – 9/11/08
The last fortnight of the season saw few visitors, with anglers deciding to stay indoors rather than brave the elements. Those that did visit found fish along the cabin shore with cats whiskers.
Brown trout to over 8lb in weight and rainbows up to 5.5lb were landed.
Club Return -
Seven Oaks A/C Landed 7 rainbows for 15lb and returned numerous browns.
WEEK ENDING 26/10/08
When conditions allowed good catches were made. The best of the fishing continued to be from the bank, with the cabin shore the top area. Top lure was the cats whisker again.
WEEK ENDING 19/10/08
The top area continued to be the cabin shore with lures such as the cats whisker and yellow dancer producing the best results.
B. Tomlin lost a fish on Tuesday that would have broke the fishery record. Bill was bank fishing along the cabin shore using a cats whisker when he hooked the fish. Despite getting the fish quite close in, the fish turned and charged towards the middle jumping clean out of the water five times. Unlucky Bill.
On Sunday Mr Muir fishing the bank hooked a fish that was to large for his net and eventually lost it. He went on to catch three rainbows and return one brown. His partner Mr Taggart only managed one fish but it was a lovely conditioned blue.
WEEK ENDING 12/10/08
Conditions at the start of the week resembled the north sea. Overnight rain on Friday saw the level rise several feet.
B. Tomlin & J Bryan managed 8 rainbows between them on cats whiskers on Saturday.
Mr Pennycuick also out on Saturday managed 4 rainbows.
Top area was along the cabin shore.
WEEK ENDING 5/10/08
The fishery was quiet this week due to blustery conditions with the boats on Saturday having to be cancelled.
WEEK ENDING 28/9/08
This week brought cold winds, despite this the fish were still close to the surface.
Thursday saw the best conditions of the week with most anglers completing there limits. R. Philp’s two boats managed 15 rainbows for 33lb, all caught on wets.
B. Tomlin landed 20 rainbows in four visits mostly on spiders.
For the third week running the heaviest fish of the week was a brown trout, this one had to be killed as it was bleeding heavily when landed. It weighed 8lb and was caught by Jim Thomson using a sedge.
Top area was along the cabin shore with floating lines.
WEEK ENDING 21/9/08
Mixed weather throughout the week saw fish being caught on a variety of tactics from lures down to small dries.
Heaviest fish of the week was a 7lb brown caught by Rab Sneddon on a black gnat.
Club Return -
Seafield A/C (6 boats) landed 21 fish for 45lb 12oz.
WEEK ENDING 14/9/08
The first half of the week saw settled conditions with fish being taken of the surface.
Friday – Sunday saw good returns with diawl bach, cormorants, kate mclaren, muddlers and black gnats taking the bulk of the fish.
Top weekend boat was J. Middleton and H. Camp with 8 fish for 18lb, all caught using cormorants.
Heaviest fish of the week was a 4lb brown caught by Bill Tomlin on a spider.
Club Return -
Doon Valley A/C (3 1/2 boats) landed 13 fish for 26lb 12oz, heaviest ‘bow weighed 3lb 12oz.
WEEK ENDING 7/9/08
Strong winds marred the fishing this week with the boats being cancelled on Saturday.
Heavy rain on Saturday night saw the level rise by three feet during Sunday.
With all this unsettled weather catches are a bit mixed, with some anglers finding the fish and others not so lucky.
WEEK ENDING 31/8/08
The first half of the week was quiet again, but by Thursday the water had dropped enough to get the boats back in to the harbour.
Saturday morning saw a lot of fish on the surface with the best catch being seven rainbows and four browns made by Bill Tomlin.
WEEK ENDING 24/8/08
For the third week running the harbour remained under water with the banks also under several feet of water.
Monday to Thursday saw the fishery quiet due to the conditions. Friday saw the boats return with limit bags. Saturday saw the top boat return with seven rainbows.
Club Return -
Edinburgh City Fly Fishers (2 1/2 Boats) landed 3 fish for 6.5lb, with young Robbie Notman catching all three.
WEEK ENDING 17/8/08
The level of the reservoir remained high all week with the burn being in spate most days. Fishing on a whole was tough all week although some boats that done well were -
David Robertson & Son who landed 14 rainbows with two over 4lb. They also returned good numbers of browns up to 3.5lb. Most of there fish were caught on bibios.
A. Weir & L. Simpson landed 11 rainbows and 6 browns taken on yellow dancers and hoppers.
Club Return -
The Bailey kept 6 fish for 12.25lb, and returned some browns.
WEEK ENDING 10/8/08
The burn area continued to fish well, with fish coughing up large amounts of worms after being landed, showing that they were gorging themselves on all the available food being brought in from the burn. It was this area that saw the best catch of the week, David Robertson and Son landed eight rainbows up to 6lb and over a dozen browns with two over the 5lb mark. They caught the fish on diawl bachs and bibios.
After all the heavy rain the harbour was under three feet of water on Sunday morning.
WEEK ENDING 3/8/08
The heavy rain certainly freshened things up and the fishing from Thursday through to Sunday was excellent, with a good flow of fresh cool water coming in from the burn.
Top flies were orange blobs, daiwl bach and daddies with the top area being the burn mouth.
Heaviest fish of the week was caught by Mr Glasgow from Drylaw with a fin perfect 6lb 4oz rainbow.
WEEK ENDING 27/7/08
Boat anglers made the best catches as the fish headed for deeper water due to the water temperature. Most nights saw good evening rises with some good catches made.
D. Robertson & Son (eve) 15 rainbows & 1 blue @ 3lb+ taken on daddies.
D. Robertson & Son (day) 16 rainbows including 4 in the 4-5lb bracket, mostly on daiwl bach.
Mr Rindell fishing an evening session landed 5 rainbows with 2 over 3lb and 5 browns all on the sedge.
Other notable fish included -
N. Muckle 7lb 4oz rainbow,
I. Muckle 3lb 8oz brown,
J. Moulds 4lb 8oz rainbow,
Club Return -
Edinburgh Post Office fishing an evening session landed 19 trout for 37lb 8oz .
7th July – 20th July
Evening sessions are still producing the best results with most nights seeing good rises. Anglers fishing day sessions were having to fish deeper to find the fish. Top areas were just out from the boats and up towards the burn. Top fly was the muddler, with daddies, sedges, kate mclaren and cdc hoppers all catching fish.
Club Returns -
Bathgate Legion 11 fish for 22lb
Seven Oaks A/C 10 fish for 20lb 4oz
Bill Tomlin & Jim Bryan caught eight wintered fish in the 4-6lb range in one of there many visits mostly on daddies.
Jim Thomson & David Black MBE fishing an evening session shared a good catch with 8 rainbows killed 8 returned (1 @ 4lb+) and 4 browns returned on crunchers and muddlers.
Other Good fish were -
Mr Brunton 5lb 4oz rainbow
J. Meechan 5lb rainbow
D. Mitchell 5lb+ rainbow
D. Mitchell 4lb+ blue
Saturday 26th July is the second of the early morning sessions 4-8am (Boats are fully booked).
23rd June – 6th July
Strong winds this past fortnight made fishing uncomfortable at times, but anglers fishing the right tactics had good days. There was some large caenis rises in the evenings.
Top areas depended on the wind direction but the rocks at the peat bank, the area just out from the boats and the burn mouth especially after the heavy rain we had all held good numbers of fish.
Top flies were sedges, daddies, black hopper, cdc’s and yellow dancer.
Club Catches -
29/6/08
Wright & Mclennan 5 fish for 10lb 8oz with a further 3 rainbows returned
5/7/08
Cleland A/C 17 fish for 44lb 4oz
Northfield A/C 8 fish for 23lb, heaviest fish 7lb 10oz
6/7/08
Edinburgh City Fly Fishers 11 fish for 24lb.
WEEK ENDING 22/6/08
Strong winds throughout the week made fishing difficult at times. Saturday saw the best of the conditions and catches with around ninety trout landed. Top area was over towards the rocks at the peat bank with muddlers, sedges, daddies and hoppers all taking fish.
Sunday brought strong winds meaning boats couldn’t go out but the bank anglers saw some sport. Mr Mcglone was top rod with five rainbows and one brown at over 5 pounds in weight, caught on a sedgehog.
Outlaws A/C (3 Boats) landed 14 fish for 31lb 4oz on Saturday with the heaviest fish a brown trout weighing 6lb 8oz. At least half a dozen more Browns were returned between them. The big Brown had to be killed as it was bleeding heavily.
WEEK ENDING 15/6/08
The top results were made by anglers who were fishing on the surface down to four inches below it, any deeper and you were going past the fish.
David Robertson & Son had a good day on Sunday catching brownies at over 8lb & 4lb in weight along with two rainbows at 5lb 4oz with a further 12 rainbows landed.
David Mitchell returned rainbows at 4lb and two at 5lb+, all caught on a clan chief.
Clive Shotton returned a lovely brown at over 3lb in weight taken on a dry.
The top area over the weekend was the bank opposite the cabin right up in to the peat corner.
The Macmillan Cancer Big Fish Charity Day was held on Saturday, check the news page for details.
26th May – 8th June
Anglers fishing smaller patterns by far had the better sport and better quality of fish with cdc’s, and tradditional wets all taking fish.
On the warmer days the evening fishing has saw some terrific rises.
Polton Inn F/F (4 1/2 Boats) caught 12 Fish for 28lb 8oz taken in tough conditions, heaviest fish was a blue at 5lb 8oz.
Inchinnan A/C (4 1/2 Boats) caught 24 fish for 54lb 8oz with the heaviest fish a rainbow weighing in at 5lb 8oz.
Other notable fish included-
A. Borthwick 7lb Rainbow, K. Nelson 5lb 4oz Rainbow and D. Robertson’s 5lb 4oz Rainbow.
WEEK ENDING 25/5/08
Hatches were abundant and the fish are gorging themselves on the naturals.
Good numbers of overwintered fish are still being brought to the scales.
Top bank area was right opposite the cabin up to the peat bank, while the best area for boats was anchored up at the peat bank and also just off the cabin shore.
Top flies – Black spider, Black Pennel, Dunkeld, CDC Shuttlecock Buzzer, Muddler and Yellow Dancer.
Heaviest Fish of the week fell to Graeme Mclean who landed a wintered 7lb rainbow.
Bill Tomlin landed four wintered rainbows in the 4-5lb bracket along with a 4lb+ Brownie.
Shell Mossmorran A/C (4 Boats) caught 24 fish for 49.5lb and returned a further 9 rainbows on Saturday.
WEEK ENDING 18/5/08
Despite good numbers of fish on the surface throughout the week they were quite hard to tempt, and the best results came from anglers fishing small patterns down to size 16’s.
Gary Kennan had the heaviest fish of the week, an overwintered 7lb blue taken on a bibio.
Honeywell A/C (6 boats and 4 bankies) caught 19 fish for 41lb on Saturday.
Edinburgh City Fly Fishers (4 boats) caught 17 fish for 37lb 4oz on Sunday, heaviest fish was a 4lb 12oz rainbow.
WEEK ENDING 11/5/08
Fish continue to be caught on floating lines with diawl bach’s, buzzers, dries and size 16 spider patterns. Top area continues to be the bank opposite the cabin right up to the peat corner with the fish lying quite close to the shore.
Evening fishing started on Friday with a good rise and reports of large fish spotted on the surface.
Heaviest fish of the week was a brown trout caught on Friday (day boat) by Jim Thomsom and weighed 6lb 12oz taken on a snatcher.
Falkirk Municipal A/C (6 boats) caught 28 fish for 63lb and returned a further 2 rainbows.
3/5/08
West Lothian Fly Dressers (5 boats and 2 bankies) caught 80 fish today mostly on diawl bach and buzzers.
44 fish were killed for 89lb with a further 25 rainbows returned including one at 6lb+ and 11 brown trout returned.
Club member Scott Middlemass lost a large brown trout.
29/4/08
The fishery continues to provide anglers with good sport, with the cabin shore right up to the burn being the top area this past week. Floating lines with diawl bachs, cormorants, kate mclaren and small spider patterns being the top flies.
The Airflo Classic bank heat was held on Saturday, (see news page).
Mr Donald had the heaviest fish of the week, a lovely wintered rainbow of 5lb and he also returned a wintered blue the same size.
20/4/08
Crosswood continues to fish well dispite the strong winds this past week. The brown trout record was broken again on Monday with a 8lb fish.
Club Returns
- Crosskeys A/C (3 boats) 19 fish for 40lb 4oz with a further 20 rainbows returned. Heaviest fish was a 4lb 8oz brownie.
- Edinburgh Masonic A/C (3 boats) 18 fish for 37lb 12oz plus a further 8 ‘bows and 2 browns returned.
- South Queensferry A/C (3 boats) 23 fish for 56lb 12oz with a further 12 returned. Heaviest fish was a 6lb rainbow.
Other notable fish were a 6lb 8oz rainbow caught by Scott Middlemass and Eric Livingston’s 5lb 8oz ‘bow.
14/4/08
The first part of the week saw the fishery quiet due to the low temperatures, but by Thursday anglers were catching on dries over towards the peat bank.
Saturday saw the boats all anchored along the cabin shore with most rods completing there limits very quickly.
The fish are averaging around the 2lb 4oz mark with bloodworm, lures and when conditions allow dries all catching fish.
7/4/08
Fishing continues to be superb with most anglers bagging up without to much problem. The large head of fish that was along the cabin shore have moved up in to the far corner (peat bank).
The fishery record for brown trout was broken with a fish weighing just over seven pounds.
The Troutmasters fish off was held on Saturday and was won by Jackie Arthur from Bathgate. Runner up was David Purves from Edinburgh.
Floating lines from the bank and intermediates from the boats with lures are taking the bulk of the fish.
30/3/08
Most anglers visiting the fishery midweek acheived their limit with some nice wintered fish starting to show up in the returns. Top area continues to be the cabin shore with floating lines and orange blobs, damsels, crunchers and diawl bachs doing the damage.
Wellington A/C (6 half day boats) 11 limits and one blank caught 22 fish for 49lb including a ‘bow at 5lb 4oz.
Heaviest fish of the week was a 7lb rainbow caught by Bill Tomlin.
23/3/08
Despite the weather on opening day Seafield A/C ventured out and managed 21 fish for 49lb 12oz (5 boats) taken on bobbies and various lures. Bank anglers were catching fish from the boat mooring and right down the cabin shore on floating lines with bloodworm patterns and lures. Sunday brought better conditions and the top boat managed 11 rainbows returning 8 of them.