Could this be best trout season on the Clyde for a decade?

Aug 7 2008 by Tom McGregor

I WAS away for most of July and had to rely upon other people for information about what was going on closer to home.

Reports I received varied dramatically according to where my contact came from.

According to friends frequenting the lower reaches of the Clyde, it appears there was some rain at the beginning of last month.

This should have been enough to bring more migratory fish up from the sea but the water level fell off dramatically and salmon anglers appear to have lost interest to a certain extent.

Shortly after I returned home, I was caught in a torrential rainstorm where nearly two inches of rain fell in just a few hours. When I drove over Garrion Bridge, the river was thundering down in a dark brown spate.

This made fishing difficult for a few days and would also have discouraged any movement of salmon from the estuary. Given a few settled days, a little rain should be enough to start the main run of migratory fish.

While spinning for salmon has been permissible on several occasions, the majority of anglers have found that using fly is much more enjoyable. Variations of the fly known as Ally’s Shrimp have been the most popular and, as a result, have been taking more salmon than any other pattern of fly or technique of angling for the King of Fish.

While salmon anglers decided to take a rest, they could have joined the trout anglers who were generally enjoying reasonable sport.

When the water was high and discoloured, some fish were taken on both worm and maggot but most anglers used flies and were often rewarded with good fish.

No doubt some of these were from among the stocked trout which were introduced earlier this year.

However, the new fish were spread very widely throughout the river and it is very unlikely that any angler would encounter more than a few of them during one day. Most of the trout being caught were either from previous stocking exercises or were spawned in the river.

The middle reaches of the Clyde suffered more than any other section during the short July drought.

As most of the shallower parts of the river were overrun by weeds, it was not possible to present a fly to the fish which might well have been sheltering there.

The deeper stretches were often like glass. Any attempt to cast a fly here during daylight would have the effect of driving away every fish in the area.

At night, the slight disturbance caused by a falling fly might become attractive to a feeding fish.

On those nights when the air remained warm, anglers who fished through the gloaming and well into the darkness were catching fish up to 2lbs in weight on Duck Tips, Magpie Tails and Sedge Pupae patterns.

Upstream of Lamington, there are two conflicting opinions. One is that there are only small fish which are difficult to catch; the other is that the Clyde is alive and well, so well in fact that many anglers are stating this is already the best trout season for more than 10 years.

The difference seems to come from the fact that the dissatisfied anglers have been either using dry flies or deep sunk nymphs. The most successful group have been using wet flies or sedge pupae, depending upon the time of day.

During the hours of daylight, it was the Blue Winged Olive which was present in good numbers

In July, daylight fishing is not supposed to be worthwhile but the fact that a lot of fish could be caught at this time indicates that this has not been a typical year.

As the gloaming approached, light and medium olive patterns started to come in to their own.

The tried-and-tested Greenwell Glory also served well when the light was poor enough to allow this pattern to pass for any similar insect which might have been on the water.

It seems sad that very few anglers were present to take advantage of the opportunities presenting themselves.

Different anglers have different ways of measuring their success. One was more than happy to have taken three fish, all just under 2lbs in weight; another was overjoyed with a catch of seven fish. One of these went to 1½lbs, while the others were between ¾lb and 1lb.

While a single fish of 3lbs pleased the angler who caught it, another was delighted to have landed 20 fish in a day. It did not matter that none of these fish weighed more than 1lb; together, they gave him the best fishing day of his life.

I have just been told that the Dungavel Reservoir will now be policed by members of the Upper Avon Angling Association. This water is stocked with trout up to 1lb and 12oz.

Day permits for this water will cost £12 and can be obtained by phoning K. Telfer on 01357 440202; J.C. Tait on 01698 791970, or W. Weir on 07869 290 231.