A bit of a gamble going out today after all the rain at the weekend but the levels had dropped back a good deal and the clarity was spot-on.  Two out-of-season brownies and two grayling.  Also lost a lunker of a brownie that was 5 to 6lbs when the hook came out after playing it for 5 minutes.  Gutted.....

Rotten weather at the end of the day and I'm guessing the levels will be up again tonight.

Dilemma

I'm off tomorrow but what to do and where to go?  River levels rose substantially yesterday as heavy rain swept over the west of Scotland, but two dry days later?

A wonderful image from my favourite angling book of all times - Fisher in the Hills by Robin Ade.  A great read if you like wild trout fishing in Scotland, with wonderful illustrations to match.

A tad breezy.......

The grayling hunt continued today and this time I had a friend with me who was having his first go at trotting.  An expert fly angler he had no difficulty in reading the river and had soon picked up the basics of the float.

 

A nice run down my most productive pool.  Wading out a little gave me a nicer line to trot and first run down I had a hold of a good fish, which came loose after a couple of minutes.  This was the same scenario for the next five casts as on each occasion the float dipped and I had a hold of a fish for a few seconds before they came off.  Eventually the action came to an end and we moved to another area downstream.

Tools of the trade - maggots, home made floats and centrepin.  All very simple and a pleasure to fish with.    The weather had taken a turn for the worse and there was a strong downstream wind blowing, accompanied by frequent showers.   My only waders are breathable Orvis ones and in this cold weather they were far from ideal!  Something to add to the Christmas list.  The new area had a very deep run, where a tributary joined the main river and after getting the depths right my float dipped under and I was into a fish.  It didn't really fight as such and it was soon being steered to the waiting net and yes, it was a grayling of about 12"

A quick - out of focus! - photo and it was back in the river.  I tried a few more cats but nothing was doing and we headed back upstream.  We were struggling a bit in the cold and if the truth be told, we were happy to call it a day, leaving the river at 3pm.  7 hours on the river at this time of year, in these conditions is a long shift sometimes.

A final run through the pool.

Go west.....

Try here someone said........

Some internet research revealed some effort here should be worthwhile.....

And so it was that two of us headed west in search for the lady of the stream.  It was smaller than I thought it would be and my 12' trotting rod was laughable on such a wee burn.  Occasionally though, I managed to find a wee pool here or a run there that would let me trot my maggot through the swim.

My buddy, an expert fly fisher didn't hesitate to get in and about the undergrowth and was soon flicking a weighted nymph into a pot under the roots.

Sorry for disturbing you wee fella.  I'm just going to take a quick photo before returning you to whence you came from.  Thank you for brightening my day.

Oh dear.........

"Hello, is that SEPA............?"

So no grayling for our efforts, but a grand morning out in beautiful countryside.  I'll come back here another day.

Still trying...

The ladies weren't playing on the Tummel yesterday, so today I went west to try the Clyde.

A season Ticket for grayling only cost £15, so although I'm not sure how often I will fish it, at that price I really don't mind taking the season option.

A mixture of runs, with some long pools that were up to 80 yards long.  I concentrated on the pools but it was out-of-season brown trout that gave the entertainment.

I had three in the morning, all of which were 8" or 9" long

The early afternoon saw deteriorating weather, but thankfully just light drizzle.  Sadly there were no grayling for my efforts, but I enjoyed this water.  Far more personal than the larger Tummel that I was on yesterday.  Spooling off the reel was hesitant today and I'm sure this would have put off some fish.

I'll be back soon.

River Tummel Grayling

Four of us headed to Pitlochry to fish the Tummel for grayling.  It was the first time I had fished here, so today was as much about finding my feet as anything.  It was the coldest day of the winter so far, with temperatures of minus 1 when we arrived.  They never went up by much throughout the day....

Putting out a line below the A9 road bridge.

One poor fellow that never made it to the redds.  There were lots of fish showing all over the river.

A trout was landed shortly before this photo was taken, but alas no grayling here.

After lunch the weather deteriorated with a cold, thick fog descending on the river.  I was trotting and at times actually losing sight of the float.  I did catch an out-of-season brownie of about 1lbs just up from the hut on a trotted maggot.

Cold, cold, cold.

Catch of the day went to Neil, who managed a personal best grayling of 2lbs on a czech nymph thingy.  We all had brownies.

An early start...

0.6 degrees when I woke this morning.  An hour or so later I was parking up at the foot of the Hillend Road with my sight set on Caerketton Hill.  It was a cracking morning, through woodland initially and then round to Boghall and more open hillside.

We planned our walk to enjoy the early morning sun on this side of the hill, but what we hadn't expected was the quagmire going up Boghall Glen, but with magnificent views ahead of Allermuir you seldom worried about the state of your feet.  How lucky are the residents of Edinburgh to enjoy such wonderful hills on their very doorstep.  I even heard some Red grouse which is not so common up here these days.

Approaching the Windy Nook between Allermuir and Caerketton Hill.

Looking to Allermuir from near the top of Caerketton Hill.  A most magnificent morning to be out and about.  And all this before 10:00 in the morning.