Loch Report 23rd Sep – 13th Oct including Charity Day and Coldingham Cup

Lad(y)s and Dads Charity Day:

As is tradition now, the last Sunday in September saw us holding our annual Charity Day in support of St Abbs Independent Lifeboat.

Somehow, someway the weather was once again very kind to us and light winds and sunshine were the order of the day.

With all boats full and everyone armed with a 12 fly patch, organized as always by Gordon Boulding and this year assisted by Les Lockey, the day was perfectly poised to get going. Before leaving for the water bacon rolls and a quick brew for everyone meant that we got off to a great start.

It wasn’t long before we saw rod bending and our eagle eyed cameraman, Dave Walley was once again on hand to snap the evidence. All photos are posted on the gallery at the end of this section below and it’s well worth having a look as there are some real crackers this year.

The fishermen had barely got started before we were busy barbequing for what was going to be another slap-up feast at lunch time and we had lots of sweet stuff to hand out thanks to Christine Walley, Darrel Young and Joy Gardiner.

We also once again received a fantastic cake (see photo) which was made and decorated by Glynis Straker. This is always a ‘star of the show’ cake and as is customary would be auctioned to the highest bidder later in the day.

So after a days fishing, slap-up lunch, raffle and auction what was the outcome?

Well here goes:

• Top dad rod was James Gardiner
• Top lad rod was Karl Ferguson
• Top fly of the day was provided by James Gardiner
• Winners of the “L” of a length trophy for 2024 went to the Dads who now 3 wins in front of the lad(y)s

Perhaps the most important outcome though, was the amount that we managed to raise for our Chosen charity, St. Abbs Independent Lifeboat.

This year we were delighted to be asked to sell a few bits and bobs of things that belonged to Ted Wise, and throughout the year Margaret, James and Joy have been depositing things in the fishing hut for people to buy. Remarkably these odds and ends raised a staggering £984.33 alone which Margaret said Ted would have been delighted with. We were also given cash donations by holiday guests and members who were not there on the day as well as selling raffle tickets to members and guests. All this along with a a last minute very generous donation of £200 on the day, meant that the grand total raised this year came to:

£2605.33

This was quite incredible and we will once again be handing over the takings to the crew of the lifeboat sometime soon, at a date to be arranged.

Once again a massive thank you to everyone who was involved in whatever capacity, and to all those who donated and bought raffle tickets etc….we are extremely grateful.

Coldingham Loch Cup held on Sunday 6^th Oct 2024

Quite windy in the morning but much easier in the afternoon is a brief run down of the conditions on the day.

With all boats full of Coldingham Loch Fly Fishers members (the first year that we have managed to do this) and remarkably no call-offs, we were set for an exciting competition with prizes for the first 3 places plus their name on the board for the winner. The prize fund was £100 for 1^st, £60 for 2^nd, and £30 for 3^rd. All prizes were vouchers to be spent at Fishers of Penicuik and we would once again like to thank Mike Wilson for his generosity in enhancing the prize fund this year.

By lunch time the day was beginning to take shape and over bacon rolls accompanied by some delicious confectionary baked by Jaine McLean (that you so much!), some of the catches and secrets to success were being shared.

So after six hours fishing, who took the honours?

1^st Place – Owen Palmer

2^nd Place – Douglas Aitchison

3^rd Place – Robbie Bell

Whilst Owen was quite nervous doing his acceptance speech he still managed to do a splendid job and was keen to let everyone know the secret to his success. A DI3 line using a blue flash hot-head, size 12 damsel on the hang.

We  have to add our congratulations to all of the prize winners but particularly to Owen as the winner. Owen is one of our junior members who has fished for the England junior team on four occasions now and he clearly has a very bright future in front of him. In the Coldingham Cup this year Owen was fishing against some very experienced anglers some of whom have fished at international level on many occasions and this makes his victory even more impressive. We hope that he and all the other entrants are keen to come back next year.

Anglers Reports:

Just one report from Les Lockey. Many thanks for this Les …… we wish more of the members would contribute occasionally as I’m sure that those who read these greatly appreciate them.

Fishing Report by Les Lockey.

29^th Sept – 4^th Oct 2024

The weather for my last fishing week of the year was surprisingly good with plenty of sunshine, decent cloud cover and generally light to moderate winds, but the winds were cold and changeable in direction which did negatively impact those anglers looking for some back end dry fly sport. That said, there were times when a carefully presented dry fly seemed to out fish most other methods.

On Monday afternoon, I fished for an hour and a half from the bank, starting at the top of Swing Gate Bay. The favourable wind blew a few large daddies down the loch that saw occasional rises from the trout. Naturally I started with a tan foam daddy and had an instant response on my first cast which I missed, but a few casts later I landed my first rainbow. Over the next hour, I landed a further 5 rainbows and a lovely brown, lost another and missed a couple of offers too, all to the tan foam daddy.

On Tuesday afternoon I again fished from the bank, but the wind was blustery  which made casting awkward and connecting with rising fish unpredictable to say the least. Oddly, the tan foam daddy that had been so effective yesterday got no interest from the trout today, but a change to an orange foam daddy produced three rainbows plus one that threw the hook as I was about to unhook it. I also missed a few decent offers due to the wind.

Wednesday afternoon again saw me at the top of Swing Gate Bay, but got no response to either the tan or the orange foam daddies that had worked earlier in the week. At times like these, I find minor changes to the fly pattern is often all that is needed to bring about a positive response from the trout. Using that theory I tied on a tan flat daddy that resulted in 4 rainbows landed. Walking up the hill back towards the jetty, I spotted a possible rise not far from the bank. Unable to resist, I made a rather unconventional cast from high above the loch leaving the flat daddy clearly visible against the water’s dark surface, and as I focused on the fly, I was amazed to see a good rainbow slowly rise up from the depths and confidently engulf my tentative offering. My problem now was how to land the fish, but after carefully negotiating the slope down to the water’s edge, I was delighted to land one of the most vibrantly coloured rainbows I have ever seen. (see photo) Having clambered back up to the path, I couldn’t resist having another cast and amazingly exactly the same scenario played out but this time the result was a much more muted rainbow. As I rounded the path into Boathouse Bay, I encountered a couple of rising fish close to the bank. Two careful casts later I had managed to return two nice browns, then finally a few casts from the jetty produced another two rainbows, making a total of 10 fish for my brief endeavours.

Thursday dawned bright and the loch flat calm, but as I finally went afloat and headed for the North End, a gentle northerly wind started to ruffle the surface and before long trout started to rise. Drifting across the North End and part way down the Narrows a single tan flat daddy brought positive hook-ups as eight rainbows were brought to the net before I went in for an early lunch. After lunch, the wind had strengthened and was now blowing out of Swing Gate Bay and the morning’s rising fish were noticeable by their absence. Undaunted I headed for the North End but as I expected, there was no response to the tan flat daddy, however, a change to an orange foam daddy brought instant success as a good fish came from nowhere and grabbed my fly. Over the next hour or so, a further five rainbows came to the net with another five lost in play, giving me fourteen fish for the day.

Friday was a strange day for me. Conditions looked ideal with good cloud cover and a gentle but cool wind blowing out from the jetty. The orange foam daddy had two offers in my first three casts as I drifted across the loch so things looked promising, however, that was the sum total of interest in all my usual daddy patterns for the morning session.  Later in the afternoon before packing away my gear, I had a few casts from the jetty using a small foam beetle and had immediate interest but could only bring one rainbow to the net, but at least it saved the dreaded blank on a difficult day that started so promisingly.

Gallery below shows some of the fish Les caught during his stay.

Other News:

• A reminder that we still have approx. six weeks left of the season so please do take advantage of the good days that may be forecasted.
• The season will end as it always does on the 30^th November and will re-open for the new season on Saturday 15^th March 2025.