Still very good conditions for the time of the year with the lower evening temperatures suiting us very well indeed.

The water quality is top drawer at the moment and as a result the fish are feeding well and fighting hard.

Whilst temperatures have been somewhat lower in the evenings it has been reported by The Met Office as the warmest May/Spring since records began in 1884, with an average temperature of 13.1C. This beats the previous record of 12.1C set in 2008. It may have seemed wet and dull on occasions but I guess that the figures don’t lie and we have certainly noticed the speed at which the grass and other plant life has been growing, which has been phenomenal.

As we mentioned in the last report we were expecting the caenis to make an appearance any time soon and the day after the last report we saw our first arrivals. Since then we have had intermittent hatches in the evenings which has resulted in one or two spectacular rises.

As always, in these conditions, catching is somewhat tricky but nonetheless it’s always great to see.

Whilst people have been catching using a variety of dries it has been the tipped lines or intermediate lines fished with lures that have been returning the most success. The longer the leader that you can fish without getting tangled, the better. Top flies have been red apps, humungous, blue flash damsel and black lures.

All areas of the loch are fishing very well but moving around will get you the best results rather than just anchoring in one spot. The bank has also been fishing very well and if it’s possible, it’s well worth a cast in the evening when things are generally a little quieter.

There are no obvious weedy areas just yet but if the temperature starts to rise we will undoubtably get those areas returning as we do each year. As always we will leave the weed cutting as late as we can to avoid having to do it repeatedly. Once the weed cutting starts we will of course keep you informed.

Youth Day:

We held our annual Youth Day on Sunday 9^th June.

A decent turn out of youngsters supported strongly by lads from the 51^st Bonnyrigg Boys Brigade meant that it was game on this year.

We had a very good range of abilities from complete beginners to very accomplished anglers.

The format of the day was a brief introduction and a safety briefing followed by a short instruction session on hooking and playing and retrieving a fish.

All the youngsters were accompanied by an adult who had been pre-briefed on what their role for the day was.

So two hours fishing in the morning followed by bacon rolls at lunch time a and a further two hours fishing in the afternoon. The weather was good although a strong wind in the morning restricted movement somewhat. The afternoon however improved immeasurably which meant that all the boats had free movement around the loch.

It was incredible to see how in just a short time many of the first timers were casting for themselves and may I say, making a very good job of it. Confidence was high and a good number of fish were hooked and lost throughout the day with just about everyone experiencing some action.

From the feedback that we received it was obvious that all the boys had enjoyed their day and we can only hope that it might lead to at least one or two of them showing further interest in the future.

The winner on the day landed a very impressive 11 fish in four hours with a good number of misses and lost fish as well.

So here are the results:

1^st Place – Owen Palmer

2^nd Place – Max Anderson

3^rd Place – Jamie Wyllie

Congratulations to everyone that took part and in particular, the winner, Owen Palmer. Owen has once again this year, qualified for the England Junior squad making it a fourth time in a row. We wish him well in the forthcoming international which will be held at Grafham later this month.

Club News:

Over the next two weeks these are the club days:

Saturday 15^th June: Wiremill FFC

Saturday 22^nd June: Heriot AC and Northumbria Police FFC

Other News:

• There’s lots of new life around the loch just now which is always lovely to see. A variety of chicks, young deer and fox cubs might be seen. The spring/summer flowers are also quite spectacular just now and are well worth trying to identify if you get the chance.
• Finally, we’d like to draw your attention to a recent article by the Editor of Trout and Salmon, Andrew Flitcroft (T&S Spring 2024 on sale Apr 4 – May 1) which discusses the recent closures of a number of fisheries across the UK. The crux of the article centers around the unsustainable expectations of the modern trout fisherman and the pressures that are then brought to bear on the fisheries. We will post a copy of the page on the wall in the fishing hut for people to read.