A day set fair

Well, the day finally came round and to start with at least it really could not have began in a nicer fashion. The sun was out, there was barely a breath of wind and things looked set for a great days fishing.

I arrived at Carron Valley and signed on with the MacMillan supporters and handed over the cash and print out for the money we collected for MacMillan Cancer Support. The final total collected was £1214– which I am utterly astonished with and would like to take this opportunity once again to thank all my sponsors, supporters and donators for helping us achieve.

I went to get my ticket for the fishing and discovered that in fact the MacMillan event is, in fact, a bank fishing only competition! I went along kitted out for boat fishing, it was not too big a deal however as I always go fishing with a plan B and had brought my wading gear in the car. Unfortunately, I never had my thermal undersuit which as the day wore on I really could have done with as it was bloody freezing at times- and that’s me who fished through all of this last winter!

There is nearly 4 miles of the North bank available for bank fishing at Carron Valley and rather than stand with the crowds I decided to take up the option of moving further up towards the west end of the reservoir. On a recent scouting run in the car I had noticed one or two places to park and a few nice looking bays, so decided to head off there.

I stopped at a  wee bay with a promontory which looked might be useful to allow me to fish with whatever breeze was about over my left shoulder, being a right-handed caster. At start time there was a little annoying breeze coming in right into my face from the South West.

I set up with a fairly standard three fly cast for Rainbows, of a Hothead Damsel Nymph on point, a Pheasant Tail Nymph on middle and a Kate McClaren on top dropper, on a 16-foot cast.

And so it Begins

Time to start fishing, the wind was making casting tricky and I was worried I might catch myself with the fly so I moved from the North side of the wee bay to the promontory and this allowed me to cover a few of the fish that were bulging at the surface around here. There is definitely no shortage of fish in this 600 acre reservoir. It only took me about 5 minutes and I had a very sharp tug, but no fish.

It was gonna be one of those days I feared!

This was repeated a number of times over the next 15 minutes, and then eventually I was able to get a fish on. But my good fortune did not last as it simply came off as I brought it to the net. Really not sure how it got off as I played it for ages and it seemed well hooked judging by the acrobatics it pulled in the fight. It was gonna be one of those days I feared! I kept going though with the same set up on a floating line and then a very subtle drag on the line alerted me to something being there, I tightened up and this time a fish was on. I grabbed the net from the shore and after quite a lengthy battle a very fit, fully finned 2lb 2oz rainbow was netted. It was a cracker and not a recent stockie as there was not an ounce of fat on it. It fell to the hothead damsel

Tug of War

Another hour of tugs and pulls and eventually a second similarly subtle take this time really from nowhere, and a second fish was brought to the net. There is a bag limit of 3 fish at Carron Valley and as I am always happy to have 2 bagged it allows a bit more scope to relax and maybe try other things. The sky had clouded over and rain was starting to fall, and within 30 minutes all surface activity had pretty well ceased. While I felt the fish were not deep I also noticed they were not taking off the surface but came when the nymph was quite deep.

I decided to muck things around and put on a sinking line with a (God- must I admit this in public!?) a Tequila Blob Booby on point, a very small damsel on the middle dropper and a buzzer on top. I hoped the Booby being buoyant might hold the flies low to mid water  and pick up any skulking fish if fished on a slow retrieve. The method worked but I wasn’t getting any committed takes, but a few half-hearted tugs. I decided to change to an intermediate line and try again, again with much the same results. I was always getting tugs but fish were coming short. None of the flies were especially big so going down a size while a slight option was not going to be that easy.

Its June- its meant to be Summer!!!!!!!!

Finally, I put on a Neutral density line- which I have never fished before. By now the waves were fairly rolling in- I would hesitate to say “crashing” but it was very blustery, cold and wet. Had it not been a “competition” I probably would have packed in. I couldn’t feel my fingers and the cold was starting to affect both my concentration and casting, and I kept dropping the line. It’s June- its meant to be Summer!!!!!!!!

The neutral density line seems to sink faster than an Intermediate- which seems a bit odd, but has the good function of allowing you to fish fairly shallow and not be affected by the current or wave action- so you can fish fairly straight. I decided to change flies again and put the infamous Yellow Dancer on point with a Red Holo Diawl Bach on the dropper and a Claret Bumble on top dropper.

I fished right along the near shore to cover areas unfished and eventually after a couple more knocks had a very fit Rainbow on the Dancer.  I was playing the fish and holding on ready to net it when once again- it simply came off! oh Bugger! Bloody rubber hooks. What was more infuriating was I suddenly realised I needn’t bother with the net as the shore was so gently shelving that I could probably have beached the fish easily. However, it probably did me a favour.

Time was knocking on, it was still cold and windy and wet and for the last half hour I decided to put another damsel pattern on point and a flotaing line back on as the damsel was fairly heavy this time.  Initially, nothing happened but then on one retrieve as I lifted off I noticed a very subtle swirl behind my fly. I could not see the fish but was sure something must have followed it all the way in. I am usually pretty good at fishing all the way in and allow every opportunity for the fish to take but have to admit my concentration was lapsing a bit and I may be lifted off a little quick. I cast to the same spot again and endeavoured to fish it in the same way. As I neared for the lift-off I simply stopped dead, there was a pause and a bang, FISH ON!

This one was a bit bigger and it was a real scrap, but this time I thought sod the net- it was about 10 yards away, and simply beached the fish. It was the best of the day at 2 pounds 7 ounces of fully finned muscle.

There was about 45 minutes of fishing time left but as I had my limit, I needed to pack up and drive back and as I was wet and cold (but not miserable) I decided to call it a day.

Weigh in

With my three fish I was very happy with my catch, at least I had not blanked but was amazed to realize as anglers returned that it was one of the bigger hauls of the day. The last fish was a solitary ounce short for the heaviest fish and my bag won the heaviest bag trophy which I was more than a little bit chuffed with.

It gets better though

It gets better though. Not only that the money we collected in sponsorship was the highest amount collected at Carron Valley so I won the Paul Young Trophy for the event. The final result is yet to be announced but its also in with a shout of being the highest sum collected in the whole Scotland and NI event. Watch this space!

Finally, and I can’t say this often enough, thanks to all my sponsors, people who donated prizes for the raffle and entered it, and supporters, for making all the above possible. In particular I would like to thank, Hywel Morgan, John Blair (of River Clyde Fishing Forums) and Stirling Angling Centre who donated prizes for the raffle.

Now that the event is over MacMillan still need help to fund all the valuable work they do. If you have a few bob to spare please consider sending it their way, you can still do so through my just giving page for the next three months, or simply direct via the MacMillan Website.

As for me I will very probably do the event again next year though have to admit my fundraising might not be as “full on” as it was this year as there is only so much extortion, blackmail, bribery and scrounging I can do…..!