A welcome return of the swallows and house martins is a sure- fire sign that spring is well and truly here. After all the destruction caused by storm Arwen back in November, it’s great to see the trees bursting in to life once again and it’s certainly giving us a much-needed boost.

Insect life is also much more apparent and this last week we have seen a big increase in the number of bibionidae (March flies), beetles and small spiders in the air. In line with the various hatches the fish are duly responding with some superb rises in just about all areas of the loch. The reed bed area and the eastern shore has fished particularly well during the last two weeks.

Consequently, dry fly fishing has produced the best results of late but the occasional switch to a sink tip / midge tip line with cormorants or diawl bachs being twitched back, has also produced the desired results.

The best of the dries have been, yellow owl, black foam suspender buzzer and black foam beetle. Hook sizes have varied but generally speaking, the smaller the better. Also get ready for the hawthorn hatch!

Catch and release now seems to be the preferred choice for most anglers these days. We would therefore like to remind people that we insist on barbless / de-barbed hooks when fish are being released. It makes absolute sense to try to release the fish as quickly and easily as possible once netted and keep them in the best condition that we can.

With almost all of the algal bloom now gone, which in no small part is due to the amount of daphnia in the loch, the water clarity is once again superb. The weather has also been generally settled which has meant that we have had some superb conditions for fishing. It’s been good to have had young families come and stay over the Easter holidays with youngsters out on the loch casting (and catching!). There are one or two of Austin’s children out on the water.

Boat and bank continue to fish equally well and as always, we would encourage those of you that have not yet tried fishing from the bank, to dust the waders off and go for a stroll around. Access to all areas is excellent and with the pond weed not yet starting to show, it’s the best time to take advantage of the shores.

Other News:

• As mentioned at the start, the swallows and House Martins returned on the same date as last year i.e. 25^th April (This is the date that we first see them on). In previous years their arrival has almost always been a couple of weeks earlier but I’m not sure what we can read in to this?
• As of the 1^st of May, evening sessions have now started. This means that we are open in the evenings and people are able to fish up until 10pm (once it’s light enough – currently until dusk).
• We are hoping to receive the delivery of our exterior larch cladding for the fish lodge in the next couple of weeks. Once it’s here, work on the exterior of the lodge will begin, and weather permitting, should not take too long to complete.
• Courtesy of the The Berwick and District Angling Club, we now have a couple of dumpy buckets for use in the boats. These are for people who are finding it a little difficult to lean over the side of the boat to release fish from the net. Filling the bucket with water before setting off means that the fish can be brought in to the bucket whilst still in the net for un-hooking and then returned to the water whilst still in the net. Please ask for one if you feel that this is something that might help you.
• Looking ahead, we will be holding our annual charity Lad(y)s and Dads day on the last Sunday in September. We are always looking for donations of prizes for the raffle which is a key element of the fund raising. If you feel that you are able to donate a prize or would like to buy raffle tickets for the prizes then please get in touch with us as soon as you can.

Visiting Clubs:

Over the next two weeks here are the club days along with the clubs that are coming:

Friday 6^th May: Mid Lothian FFC fishing an afternoon / evening session

Sunday 15^th May: Norham and Ladykirk FFC

As always, we wish them a warm welcome and hope that the weather and the fishing are as good as they can be.

Gallery below form last couple of weeks – thanks to Deepat Churm for sending her lovely pictures to us from when they were staying here over Easter.