One of the great joys of fishing is the fact that it gets you into the countryside and gives you a chance to observe nature close up. The quiet nature of the sport means that often-unsuspecting birds and animals approach the angler as he is gently pursuing his hobby. An observant angler will identify where birds have their nests by the waterside and the footprints of voles and otters that have passed along the shore.
Lochter Fishery is a real treasure house of wildlife. Along with our resident pair of ospreys out mute swans are sitting on eggs on the muckle trout island and every so often our kingfishers can be seen fishing for sticklebacks from various perches along the shallows under the imperious gaze of the craggy heron who’s never seems impressed with anything that goes on around him.
Our Mallard ducks have paired up and are now nesting, while groups of waders – redshanks, curlews, lapwings and oystercatchers are feeding well along the grassy shores.
On the human front it was a very windy and cold Easter week but this did not seem to put off the encouraging number of visiting fishers. Like the weeks previous it seemed to be either a case of Buzzers, Small Nymphs or Black Lures that were doing the trick.
The Blobby Boys – Doug Mair and Billy Ferries, now have to be renamed as they accounted for 26 fish between them but this time on Buzzers and Diawl Bachs. It was a family affair for the Gibbs when Bill Senior landed 16 fish on Buzzers and Damsels and Bill Junior had 8 fish on the new Wotsit Lure. Those who did well on Black Lures were Sandy Murdoch who had 10 on a Tadpole Lure, J Rhind with 16, as did Michael Wetherley on a WSW and Simon Ruddiman with 8 fish landed. Steve Prince, on holiday for the week took advantage and had several outings where he got 18, 12 and 8 fish on Buzzers, Nymphs and hummungus.
Other good figures in the records book were Mike Walker with 11 fish caught on Hares Ears and Buzzers, Neil Summers with 12 on buzzers, Jonathon Petrie had 9 fish to the net on the new fangled Shammy fly, R Bell from Dumfries on holiday has 8 fish on a red Ribbed Diawl Bach and a crunches with a yellow Thorax, a special mention for Bill Wood who recorded his ‘best day yet’ with 6 fish on a mixture of Buzzers and Blobs. With the School Holidays now over it will no doubt start to warm up and hopefully encourage some natural insect life. Tight Lines.
SP 18/04/17
