Burrator Boat Thursday 14th July 2016

Most of the shore anglers are members of the BFFA

Fishing the northern, shallower end of Burrator

The anglers only area at Longstone

Peter & I lunched at Longstone

Peter with one of several brownies

Ashore for an afternoon brew

The water level was quite low

Peter & I took the boat out at Burrator on a day of sunshine with only a gentle breeze.  Several other BFFA members were fishing at Longstone and we also met an ex-colleague of Peter's when we went ashore for lunch.

The water level was low and fishing at the top end we had to be careful not to run onto the odd big boulder or stony bank just under the surface.  We saw very little surface activity all day but did boat four rainbows and one blue as well as several beautifully marked brown trout.

Pollack on the Fly - Mike & Tony's trip to Ireland

Our accommodation for the week - Elmville B & B

On Friday 1st July We (Tony Vallack and Mike Duckett) set off for Ireland by ferry from South Wales to Rosslaire. We have been to Southern Ireland several times before and visited Co. Wexford, Co. Waterford,  Co.Cork, Co. Kerry and Co. Galway in our time. This time we were going earlier in the year than is usual for us. We have mostly gone in the Autumn before. Our plan was to base ourselves in Cobh, Co. Cork, a very attractive and fishing friendly town inside the massive Cork Harbour, which is supposedly one of the best sea fishing spots on the whole of the southern Irish coast.

In advance of our visit we had contacted a local fishing guide, Richie Ryan, who takes anglers fishing for bass and pollack from his boat. So we booked with him and he recommended that we base ourselves at Elmville B & B which overlooks the harbour and is only a few hundred yards from where is boat is moored. Richie, a retired Irish Navy Commander, advertises himself as the first licenced saltwater fly fishing guide in Ireland and the local expert on fly fishing for bass. However, in our case, he turned out to be much more of a pollack expert. For some reason the bass were particularly hard to come by during the week we were there, but we had a real bonanza on the pollack.

Mike with one of the week's  rare bass

Mostly we fished in 20-30 feet of water using fast sinking lines and very slow retrieves. The killing fly was on of our guides' own design, 'Richie's Raider'. We caught dozens of pollack and a few bass and got taken into the kelp and broken up a time or two. We kept the odd fish for the landlady, Olive O'Brien, at the B & B, but mainly we returned them. Here are a couple more pictures.

A typical fly caught pollack

Another one for Tony

Bass again for Mike

We were disappointed not to get more bass but had a very good time anyway and may well be back again next year.

All the best and tight lines...Tony & Mike

Return to the Highlands - Part 2

Peter asked me to post a summary of what happen at Corriekinloch after he left us on Sunday. The main features of the second week were that we started to catch a few, consistently larger fish from the bank of Loch Shin, mostly by fishing a little deeper than we had been doing and using some less traditional flies such as bead headed lures. Interestingly most fish still took the dropper which for me was usually a Golden Olive Bumble but it seemed as if the weighted lure made a difference in presentation that attracted bigger fish.

Lovely looking Fish from the tiny stream outside the house

Fish of about 1lb 4oz from Loch Shin

Phil experiencing tough going

We also hiked to a much more distant hill loch. This was tough going, taking us some two hours to cover about five miles to get there. The picture on the right gives an idea of the terrain. The Loch is called Loch Bealach a Mhadaidh. We decided to go there on a tip from some anglers who called at the house, they were heading into the hills themselves and advised us of this as a good option. It was a wonderful place, directly under a hill called Conival west of Ben More. We watched a Golden Eagle mob an Osprey and chase it off. We all caught trout and I had a red letter day with eight between 10 and 12oz and innumerable smaller fish. Almost all the fish I caught were on Sedgehoges which for me was probably the most productive fly of the whole trip. These were often taken within seconds of landing in the heavy chop produced by the strong Easterly wind. We were all exhausted when we got back, but it was a great day. Other than that we continued to fish hard everyday until late into the evening, we explored some areas of Loch Shin which were new to me, the loch is vast and has miles of fishing which rarely if ever sees a bank angler. We had a tough, windy but very enjoyable day on Loch Merkland with Phil and Kev taking good fish and lots of small ones. Loch Craggie remained poor and the River became very difficult to fish because a strong and cold downstream wind, though Kev had some success using a French Leader set up and heavy nymphs.

                                    Loch Bealach a Mhadaidh

Overall we had a great couple of weeks, caught loads of fish, though nothing huge, got eaten alive by midges and had a great time. For those who have never tried it I recommend highland fishing. The fish may not be the biggest but the places you can catch them will make your heart sing.

BFFA Competition & BBQ at Burrator on Saturday 25th June 2016

Eight members of the club arrived at Longstone to fish the June competition.  The weather forecasters were giving a few showers with a cool north westerly breeze and some sunshine.  I took the water temperature which was about 16C.  The air temperature was a little less and had dropped farther by the evening.


We all fished around Longstone and as usual the wind was from the right along the south facing shore making right-handed casting tricky on that side.  Bob fished near the point and used a floating line with two buzzers.  He allowed the line to drift across in front of him in the breeze slowly taking the buzzers along.  He successfully netted two brownies for 2lb 5oz - both returned - and five rainbows for 5lb.


The rest of us were less successful: Myself - nil, Linda - nil, Terry - nil, Peter - 1 rainbow for 1lb 5oz, TonyV - 1 blue for 1lb 13oz, Pat - 1 blue for 1lb 1oz and I don't know what Ken landed.


After the weigh-in at 3pm we assembled near the Longstone Manor for a BBQ.  We were joined by Jenny & Ziggy the spaniel,  Gill & Honey the retriever and Sue who brought some of the food.


The dropping air temperature and northerly breeze was quite a bit colder than the water in the reservoir which is never good for trout fishing. (Except for Bob, of course!)


Two of Tesco's finest picnic bbq trays were lit and within an hour we were enjoying the first of the burgers & sausages.  The two dogs were extremely well behaved and despite the lovely smells wafting their way they managed to ignore it completely.  We were joined for a while by Neil who is the Countryside & Angling Manager for Devon based at the Burrator Discovery Centre.  We sat in Peter's gazebo for tea and coffee with some of Linda & Gill's excellent cake.  A great way to end a day at Burrator.

Bob had two brownies on the same cast - Pat helps to release them

Peter's rod bends into a rainbow

....which he safely nets

The BBQ at Longstone

Peter brought his gazebo

The Kelley Kettles boiling the water for a brew of tea and coffee



We try out the gazebo.  Ziggy on the left with Jenny & Honey with Peter & Gill



Longstone

Looking towards the Sheepstor Dam