Conditions- moderate warm southerly wind, overcast with brighter spells, turning wet.
Tactics – Fly rod 1- floating line, team of 3 wets , Loch Ordie (top) , Bibio Cruncher, (middle) Mayfly Nymph. (Point).
Fly rod 2- Intermediate line, Damsel Nymph.
I arrived at Loch Ascog around 9.30am, having dropped my oldest son at school and after a cup of tea , I set up and was in the boat before 10am.
I started as I usually do by trying the bays to the right of the boat house at the north end of the loch. The wind being quite strong at this point was drifting me inshore a bit too quickly and in a final hurried last cast before repositioning I had my first offer of the day. A powerful take on the Bibio and a sizeable splash momentarily appear to suggest a decent fish. ( maybe an elusive rainbow) Alas the line went slack almost instantly. An encouraging start within 10 minutes nonetheless but the realised the Bibio was gone! I was annoyed that a fish was off most likely with a fly in it’s mouth. I take full responsibility for this and can only imagine the knot failed or I had missed a flaw in the leader. It was a sharp reminder of the duty of care responsible anglers have towards their quarry and I will strive to make sure this does not happen again.
After very carefully putting on another Bibio , I checked all knots and the leader before resuming. I hit another fish soon after a bit further into the bay. It was a beautiful, hard fighting wild brown trout, north of half a pound and in lovely condition. It had taken the top dropper, a size 12 Loch Ordie.
I had several rises and lost one small fish as the wind picked up. I stopped and went ashore to stretch my legs and have a sandwich and more tea. I then decided to row back across the loch and fish the western shore that had some protection from the wind by the fir trees. I haven’t fished here much but the bay to the immediate left of the boat hut produced a solid connection almost immediately on the mayfly Nymph but this fish got off very soon after. After a quiet half hour I switched to the intermediate line on the other rod and in deep bit of the loch just off the forested shore I hit another fish , this time on the damsel Nymph. It came to the net after a short but strong fight , another brownie of about half a pound, gently returned. The wind had started to drop and I made my way to the southern end of the loch where a few fish were showing. I came ashore for a comfort break and more tea and managed to trip on the bank and get a muddy backside and a boot full of water form my trouble. I decided to have a go on the shore and almost immediately hit a fish on the Bibio that managed to slip the hook also. Back afloat the rain had started to come down quite steadily and the wind was coming and going. I was struggling to make a plan and stick to it as wind swirled. As I continued to assess my options I continued to cast but with less focus when bang I hit an aggressive brownie on the Bibio. It was of average size and was safely and carefully returned. I was getting a real soaking now as the rain persisted and the wind continued to fluctuate. I made my way back up the loch having a go with both rods in turn. A couple more of pulls and another small brownie on the mayfly Nymph and I decided to call it a day.
It had been another interesting day I felt as I trekked soggily back to the car.
Argyll Trout Fisher 