Goldenloch
Great weekend, nice to see all the old faces again, we even had some overnight fishing, biggest problem was that the fish weren’t playing these past few days, sometimes things just don’t go to plan and this season so far we have had what I would describe as abnormally cold days, the water temperature correspondingly is a lot colder than it should be for mid March, 2.5 degrees colder, now it’s the usual thing when returns, catches are low that anglers question the quantity of fish stocked, and one gent even went as far as saying that another fishery now puts up his purchase lines for all to see, in my own situation and defence, personally I don’t like anglers knowing when we stock, as that only encourages Stockie bashers ( who are usually some of the poorest anglers) It also allows our fish to acclimatise to their new environment, advertising that giant fish are being stocked is purely a way of catching peoples attention, the thrill of catching a personal best must be very appealing, I often wonder what happens to these massive lumps, are they eaten or dumped, but in our defence we have stocked since February, 4, that’s four full loads of fish, a full load being 135 trout weighing 140 kilos (that’s what the Westmill pickup is allowed to carry) grade ?, whatever they are, they all the same grade, if they are not then someone’s head will roll, no fishery should be getting better or less than any other, so work it out that’s 540 fish, and due to the poor weather we haven’t been that busy in Feb / Mar there are plenty fish, we every year always assume that we have zero fish at the 1st of January by mid march early April we like to have in the loch at least 600 new fish, that hasn’t changed for years, however these are not now stockies, and are fully naturalised fish, by that I mean they are feeding of what natural food is available in the water, they are growing and more importantly they should behave and taste like proper tout, not pellet fed overgrown stockies, But I am being a wee bit unfair on the fishing this last week, I don’t think anyone blanked this past week, everyone caught at least 2 or more fish some even caught 4, this was the week of 4s as we had 4 anglers every day Monday till Friday, on Wednesday 4 caught 4 each, however the weekend was busy, with Sunday just about at capacity, but guys it is still cold and its not summer yet, please don’t blame the fisheries if you cant catch fish its not there fault, remember why you are fishing its for PLEASURE.
Fly Fishing is a Pastime, it is not only relaxing, but also rewarding, come to the “Goldenloch” enjoy your Hobby to the max, no stress, only tranquil surroundings abundant wildlife, great fish, Brown, Blues and Rainbows, you will not be disappointed. Phone 01337840355 or 07968006367 ask for John or look up