It had been too long . Closed season followed by pandemic restrictions had meant that I had not visited beautiful Loch Ascog for 9 months. I love the surroundings and tranquility of this wee loch and it rarely fails to engross me as I fly fish for its small but beautiful wild brown trout.
Another bright and hot day had been forecast with relatively light winds and I decided an early start and a half day morning session would be best. Conditions and tactics aside shorter sessions are becoming my preference as I appear to be tiring physically more these days. Awoken by my Labrador Bailey at 5 am I was away soon after. The morning was still cool and beautiful as I prepared my tackle and the boat but the lighter than expected wind was encouraging the midgies worryingly.
As usual I took two outfits with me. One very light – 7 ft Pflueger Carbon 4 wt with an unused very neat little Daiwa Reel loaded with a 4 wt floater. I put a size 14 dry black gnat on the point and Bibio hopper on the dropper.
The other outfit was an 8ft Shakespeare glass rod that is incredibly easy to use teamed up with a BFR rimfly with an 8 wt midge tip line. On this I fished a Kate McLaren and a Blae and Black.
I was soon among rising trout on a now flat calm loch. The fish were not particularly interested in my offerings and appeared to be wary. I decided to wait and see if the wind would materialise and contented myself with watching the numerous swallows and a buzzard hunting high overhead.
I had a couple of movements to the light setup but they stopped short of any type of connection. A wind of sorts had arrived from a SE direction and rippled the far corner of the loch towards the meadow. I rowed across and gave it a try. It looked promising but still nothing. I was at the point when common sense tells you to retrieve your line and row out again or end up in the reeds. Simultaneously my fishing sense said this area looks good have another cast. Well I did of course and bang a brownie hit the wee black gnat. It felt great on the light tackle and despite being just a half pounder was taking a bit of playing on the wee rod. Moments later I hit the reeds and became aware of the low tree branches and a power line above that. Let’s just say I’m glad I was not being filmed for an episode of Hooked on Fishing. I eventually managed to slip the net under this lively wee fish and reflect on the need to bring an anchor next time.
After a cup of tea the forecast wind arrived in the form of a moderate N.Easterly that made for short, fast drifts and tiring rows back out. Nevertheless I persevered and another couple of small trout came to the Kate McLaren and Blae and Black on the heavier rod. As the sun rose higher the heat, brightness and pollen count all increased and I headed for the boat hut.
Argyll Trout Fisher 