Fishing report 31st Aug-5th Sept 2025 sent in by Les Lockey – thank you Les.

Following the warmest summer on record and probably the driest too, it was no surprise to find the water level in the loch down by at least two feet. To compound the problem, the top of the North end was out of bounds for boat fishing due to floating blanket weed, so with all of that in mind, I was anticipating a tough week’s fishing and for the start of the week my reservations were confirmed, even though a good stocking of fresh rainbows went in on Sunday evening.

A strong and gusting Southerly wind combined with bright sunshine for Sunday and Monday which made dry fly fishing hard going. The majority of fish were probably holding deep in cooler water and well away from surface patterns, so I opted to fish from the bank where I hoped some feeding fish would be within range of my dries, particularly during the mornings and evenings.

Fly life on the water was rather limited, although there were plenty of butterflies and dragonflies to be seen along the banks and shoals of small fry swam about their business without interruption from the trout, which was rather surprising as the trout were often lying closer to shore than the fry. On the water it was down to two main flies, small sedges and large daddies which made my fly choice quite straightforward. A small size 16 CDC sedge fished on its own produced a couple of nice browns, one of which was at least four pounds, but the stand out fly of the week was a tan flat daddy. From Sunday to Thursday a tan or black flat daddy was rarely off my cast and accounted for twenty eight fish to the net over five days, including first ever golden rainbow trout, although that should really be four days as Wednesday was very wet and I only fished from the jetty for an hour.

After Wednesday’s rain, Thursday dawned cooler and although the wind had changed to a Northwesterly, it was lighter in strength and more or less constant in direction and as a result many more fish could be seen moving at the surface which of course, is a joy to behold for any dry fly angler. This change in activity resulted in many more offers, with quite a few refusals and others only making brief contact with the fly, but the action was much more in keeping with the loch’s reputation as a top dry fly water.

I was glad to be joined on the bank by my dear old friend Gordon Boulding and after exchanging pleasantries and a good old natter, we both made our way along the South bank of Swing Gate Bay, casting no more than two rod lengths out and often almost parallel to the bank, using the ubiquitous tan flat daddy. I stopped at lunchtime and finished with  ten fish landed and another two lost, while Gordon had managed seven, but he carried on after lunch to end up with a total of thirteen fish to a mix of either tan or black flat daddies. Well done Gordon. It turned out to be the best tally of the week.

On Friday, I decided to take to the boat for my last day. The wind was quite cool and from the Northwest, but the fish were noticeable by their absence. By lunchtime I had managed to land a nice brown and a lovely rainbow fishing into the bank neat Lochside cottage. After lunch the wind eased and changed direction slightly and fish began to show quite regularly along both banks of Swing Gate Bay. I immediately added a dropper to my cast and attached an orange foam daddy as I motored to the mouth of Swing Gate. A drift close in down the South bank produced five fish including my second Golden rainbow of the week which fell to the orange foam daddy. Drifting down the opposite bank produced another four fish to both flies before the wind changed direction again and put the fish down. I finished the day with twelve fish to the boat having lost several others in play, so an excellent day all things considered.

However, the most memorable experience of the week came on Tuesday evening when I returned to my cottage. I was still wearing my wellies outside trying to get a signal on my phone when I heard a shuffling sound in front of me. I looked up and was amazed to see a brock badger walking along the fence line and coming ever closer towards me. Slowly I raised my phone and took a picture and then a video as the badger calmly went about his business, eventually disappearing through a gate into the wood. That in itself would have been an encounter to relish, but suddenly the badger reappeared and began to walk directly towards me. As it passed the picnic table just three or four feet away, I felt sure the badger was completely unaware of my presence, and true enough, a second or two later, the badger actually bumped into my foot before realising his mistake and scrambling off into the night at speed. I don’t know who was more scared, me or the badger. A truly exceptional encounter and one I will never forget. Who said fishing was just catching fish?