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Latest News |
This is where you will find up to the minute details of what's going on with the Loch and the Association. Of course the page doesn't write itself so if it is to stay current, we need your news items and pictures. Mail them to us here for inclusion on the page. |
June
The 'D-Day' landings of 6th June provided success for Les Jones and Ronald MacKenzie, coming home with a lovely basket of five fish. Les (pictured above) boated the best of the bunch with his fish tipping the scales at 1lb 15ozs. All of the fish were taken on the dry fly with a grey Wulff being favourite.
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May proved to be quite a chilly month and I have heard of very little activity on the loch. A RBL Competition, fished on the 29th provided the only noteworthy results to reach me with two fish at 2lb 11oz and one at 3lb 07ozs being taken.
Conditions in early June have shown an improvement with a few more anglers out on the loch. The Mayfly hatch seems to be underway and this is sure to provide a couple of bumper weeks for those venturing forth, weather permitting.
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Jimmy Maclean was out on the 8th and managed this pair for 3lb 11oz |
George Maclean's Six for 8lb on 5th June
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Best of the day - a 2lb cracker taken on a dry Mayfly fished on a #2/3 weight outfit |
George Maclean's five for 7lb on 6th June |
George Maclean made his annual trip North on the weekend of the 5th/6th to fish with father Jock and, with the Mayfly hatch in full swing, they had good sport on both days. Out at 5.00am on Saturday 5th, Mayfly were coming off at a steady trickle with the hatch peaking around 7.00am. George managed a dozen trout over 12'' on a dry mayfly using a # 2/3 weight outfit keeping six for a total of 8lbs with the best of the bunch weighing in at 2lb. Out early again on Sun 6th, they witnessed a very large hatch of Mayfly around 6.30am, apparently the biggest they had seen in a number of years. Jock had 13 fish over 12" while George had 7 on a mix of dry and wet patterns, keeping 5 for 7lb. Out early again on Monday 7th there was a smaller but longer lasting hatch and they managed 10 between them, keeping 2 for 3lb. George reported that generally, the Mayfly hatched in style early in the morning and the hatch was pretty much over before most other anglers arrived at the loch. Just goes to prove what they say about the 'early bird'. |
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The Association held its annual Member's Competition on Saturday 12th June with a total of 16 anglers participating. The conditions were far from ideal during the early part of the day although this did not deter the fish with most of successful anglers catching early in the day. However, as the day improved, sadly, the fishing did not. The day ended with a total of 15 fish being taken for a total weight of 16lb 4oz. The best fish (and basket) went to Les Jones with one fish for 1lb 13oz. Les can be seen, pictured left, having received both trophies from Chairman Richard Norburn. Six of the participating anglers blanked and the majority of the fish taken by the more fortunate anglers fell to wet and dry Mayfly patterns. |
Wick angler Pat Nicol had a fine day out on the loch on Monday 14th and managed a lovely basket (pictured right) of six fish for a whisker over 6lbs. The condition of the fish was absolutely superb as can be seen. All of the fish were taken on dry fly, a CDC Grey Wulff.
Mervyn Johns was also out on the 14th and, although most of the fish he caught were undersized and returned, he did manage this beauty (above) which tipped the scales at 1lb 10oz.
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Mervyn Johns had a couple of days out on the loch. On the 15th he had three fish for 2lbs 8oz and on the 16th six fish (pictured above) for 7lbs with the best tipping the scales at 1lb 13ozs.
Raymond Maclean, fishing on the 19th, also had a very good basket of eight fish for 7lbs 8ozs.
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Ronald MacKenzie, fishing with Geordie Doull had these five (above) for 3lb 12oz. The best, at 1lb 12ozs fell to Geordie's rod.
Dr Fiona Kinnear on her annual Caithness visit managed three to the dap and one on the wet fly while her fishing partner, Nick Hall, took the remaining two. Best fish of the day weighed in at 1lb 10oz.
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April
March
With the start of a new season drawing ever closer, what can we expect of the coming year? We had a very successful spawning at the back end and the majority of the eggs harvested have now hatched and there is a healthy number of free swimming fry in the tank. Our over wintered fish did well and so far, around 200 have been planted out.
The off-season has also seen a great deal of work done in the harbour and its approach road. Several loads of clean stone have been tipped into the roadside ditch to aid with filtration while the road surface has been skimmed and a fresh layer of scalpings spread along its length. The bare areas of the car park were also similarly treated. The harbour itself was dredged which should be an aid to navigation. Three new berths have been created at the south end of the harbour
to allow for more space between boats at the opposite end and a new walkway has been built between the Wheely Boat Pier and the new berths. The spoil from dredging has been spread outside the north arm and this area has been planted with Willow and Alder cuttings.
All boats were moved from their Winter Quarters on 28th March and everything is now in place for the season opening on 1st April. However, given the weather forecast, it seems unlikely that anyone will venture out on opening day.
Boat Launching
The new Walkway |
Larry, Curly & Mo |
New Berths on South Arm |
Ready for Season Opening |
November
The remaining months of the season remained fairly dismal due to the lengthy spell of dry warm weather much beloved of non-fishing holidaymaker's! Despite this a few fish were caught but the ever expanding weed beds made this more and more difficult as time went on. The Marymas Competition was fished on 22nd August. A total of ten anglers took part although, come the end of the day, all blanked. A few fish had been seen but these all proved to be undersize and were returned.
Julian Smith has started some improvement works on the St Johns Pool Wild Bird Reserve and this has impacted slightly on our harvesting for the Hatchery this year. However a great deal of work, carried out
in the main, by Les Jones and the Hatchery Team negated these effects. The trapping process went smoothly and a good number of healthy eggs are now incubating in the Hatchery. The final stages of essential maintenance on the Hatchery water supply were also completed by Jim Calder and team and we hope there will be no further problems in this regard. The fish from last years spawning are doing well and we plan to over winter around 1500 for planting out early next Spring.
The boats have all been moved to their Winter storage and
the harbour area has been prepared for some remedial work to be carried out in the Spring. The harbour will be dredged with the spoil being used to extend the inner arm to the North and to create another two mooring pads at the South end. The road surface will also be skimmed and will have fresh scalpings spread along its length. The roadside ditch will also be cleaned at its East end and this will be filled with clean gravel to aid with drainage. All this work should be completed before the start of next season.
July
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It was a day of firsts for 10 year old Graeme Winney. His first time fishing, first visit to St Johns and his first ever brown trout taken on the dap on a Yellow Mayfly. Let's hope it's the first of many. |
With the current Mediterranean weather fishing conditions have been very difficult to say the least. The loch water temperature, measured on 3rd July was seen to be 19C! At this rate the fish will be coming to the net ready-cooked! However, the conditions did not deter Castletown pensioner Jeanette Hossack., She had her first day out of the season on Tuesday 30th June and was rewarded with a nice fish of 1lb 2oz while her companion blanked.
The Mayfly hatch has now come to an end and weed growth has accelerated making conditions very difficult with the trout sulking in the depths.
I don't see things improving much until there is a return to cooler conditions. |
Jeanette Hossack |
June
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May
A few anglers have been out this month but the fishing has been blighted by the high winds which left the loch coloured for several days at a time. Ronald MacKenzie fishing with Raymond Millard on Sunday 24th had a basket of three fish for a total of 4lb 4ozs. The best of the three fell to Raymond's rod and tipped the scales at 2lb 4ozs. I expect with the rise in temperature and the imminent approach of Mayfly time, the loch will gain in popularity as the month wears on.
Hatchery operations are proceeding apace. All remaining eggs have hatched and we have a good quantity of healthy free swimming fry. They are feeding well and are now on the second stage feed regime.
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Raymond Millard with his 2lb 4oz fish |
April
A few anglers ventured out on Opening Day (April 1st) although I have had no reports of fish having been taken then. As far as I am aware the first fish worthy of mention was taken on Saturday 4th April by George Robertson of DFFA. This beauty (pictured right) weighed in at a very respectable 3lb 7oz and was in prime condition.
With the season now under way, anglers are reminded that the harbour has recently been dredged so care should be taken when launching boats. Anglers are also requested to be vigilant as there have been a number of acts of minor vandalism around the harbour caused during the school holiday period. Any damage discovered should be reported to the Secretary without delay. |
First of the season - 3lb 7oz |
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