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This is the reports page for the season 2010, this will give information on
the fishing trips we have (if the fish co-operate it might make interesting
reading). I aim to publish details on where and if we catch fish and information
on tactics, lures, depths and any other information that I think might relevant
or could be of help to anyone planning a trip to the Lochs we will be fishing
on.
Above all I will be honest with the reports, if we have a bad day you
will know about it!!.I will also try to include pictures on the lures we get
fish on.
Click
here for past seasons reports
Season 2010
Tues 16th Feb
First outing of the year and the Loch was cold and misty , the water level
was way down, it was more like a summer drought that the "normal"
winter level. I set off and trolled down to Net Bay and quickly disappeared into
the gloom , after and hour or so another boat appeared out of the mist he had
caught the same as me " bugger all" it was a bit creepy trolling about
in the mist knowing another boat was somewhere nearby. At one point I didn't
have a clue where I was so I just stuck to following previous GPS trails at
least that would keep me in deep water and off the rocks.
I saw a few areas that were holding fish but couldn't get them to take no matter
what lure I put in front of them the water temp was down at 2deg c and later
when i moved up to Inchfad the water temp went up to 3 c.
Below is a pic of the mist, you can just make out the planer board about 20 yds
away.
Two anglers had booked a days fishing with me but we had to cancel the
day and rearrange another date as Balmaha Bay was frozen over, the ice was
so thick you could stand on it at the boat ramp. The ice stretched right out to
Clarinch and over to Aber, 3 days ago this was open water its just amazing how
quickly the ice formed. Below is a couple of pics of the boat ramp and the view
out from Balmaha it also shows just how low the loch is at the moment.
 
Sat 20th March Loch Lomond
The first chance to get out since the freeze up, i had to cancel 4
bookings so i was itching to get out there.
2 anglers had booked a day out when we arrived at the loch it was mirror calm,
just the way i like it. We trolled down the Endrick Bank and along the
Cladich shore we saw a few fish showing on the sonar but no takers, after
the Cladich shore we went out past the stables and when we were in 30ft of
water the Dipsy rod started banging away the Dipsy was running at 20ft
deep so we knew it was a fish right away, the fish showed at the surface
straight away with a big tail whacking about and we saw it was a good Trout,
Garry was busy fighting the fish as i was clearing the other rods and getting
the cannonballs out of the way, and after a good fight we managed to net
the fish, it had taken a Lomond Lure Cut Plug in Orange and Black spots.
After a quick couple of pics the fish was returned to the water. After this we
headed over to Inchmurren and tried there but there was nothing doing, we headed
back to the Stables and round to the Bank at the Endrick Mouth the Leadcore rod
started banging away it looked like a good fish but it turned out to be
just a wee Finnock just over the pound in weight it took a 4"Crystal
Firetiger Tomic.
After this we stopped for lunch and headed out again, we went up the Aber side
of Clairinch and in about 40 ft of water the Dipsy rod started banging away so
Brian was on this one and again the fish showed at the surface straight away
with a tail like a spade breaking the water we saw right away that it was a big
fish, so i quickly worked to get everything out of the way, the fish powered
away on a run and was fighting deep after this it came up to the surface and was
trying to overtake the boat the water was flat calm and we could see the tail
and dorsal fin cutting through the water and the comment in the boat was
"its a F~#*"!~ shark" the fish got to within 20ft of the boat and
we reckoned it was a meter long so that puts it in the mid to high teens, and
when it was at the surface it shook its head and that was it...Gone it threw the
lure it had taken the same Orange and Black Plug as the other fish, when we
looked at the lure you could see the teeth marks on it the fish had grabbed the
lure by the head, also it had started to straighten out the splitring on the
lure so it was a powerful fish.
Below are some pics of the day the 8lber the return and the finnock and the
lure.
I was out with an angler who had booked me for a days fishing but this
time i was in HIS boat it a was a day to show how Divers and other items are
used. We set off down the Endrick Bank and down past Aber between Net Bay in the
50ft deep water we had a fish hit the Orange/Blackdot Plug it was on for a
minute or two and seemed like good sized fish but it managed to get off , later
on in the same area we had another hit on the Divers this time on a
Yellow/Glitter Plug it was just on for a brief while again it looked like a good
sized fish.
Wed 28th April Loch Lomond
I was out with and angler who had booked a days fishing, conditions
looked great with the loch nice and calm we trolled round all the usual areas
but there was not much doing we only managed to get one fish a Perch that took a
new lure that i had just made it was a variation of the Lax Minnow i have
started just to give any angler who catches a fish on one of my lure the lure
that caught the fish, so i will have to get busy making some replacements.
Sat 1st May Loch Lomond
I was out with 2 anglers who had booked a days trolling ,we trolled down the
Endrick Bank and marked quite a few fish on the sonar we had lots of methods out
but the fish were not interested in any of them we tried lots of different
depths but still nothing. We tried out past the stables and managed to get a hit
on a spoon fished from a Dipsy 20ft deep it was just a case of
"bang" and away the spoon was fitted with a Siwash hook maybe if i had
used a treble it might have hooked up?. After lunch we had a change of tactics
and lures and after trying lots of different areas and depths we got a Perch on
a Copper and orange deep diver on the planer board and while this was
being reeled in the downrigger rod started bouncing with a fish so John the
angler managed to grab the rod and hooked a 5lb Trout it took the same Orange
and Black Spot plug that had worked before. After this we trolled round looking
for some more fish but that was it for the day.
Thurs/Friday 24th &25th June Loch Lomond
Day One
I was out with 2 anglers who had come up from England and booked a 2 day
trip, on our first troll down the Endrick Bank we had a pike of 10lbs on a
Orange Black Spot Cutplug we continued down the bank and into Net Bay
where we had a ripping take on the Dispy Diver but the wire trace snapped
just at the lure so we lost that fish, we carried on trolling round to
Portnellan and picked up a couple of Perch on the way. We headed back to the
Endrick back to try a few other areas here we had a Trout of 5lbs again on the
Orange and Black Spot Plug. So it was quite a good day out but it hurt loosing
that fish in Net Bay.
5LB Brown
Day Two
The 2 anglers had stayed at Passfoot B&B overnight, i had
camped out overnight on one of the islands and had arranged to meet them at 9am
at the boatyard, it was a bright day with the sun splitting the sky, so we
decided to try some new areas. We trolled down the line of Islands, Inchcalliach
down to Inchmurrin we had just come to the end of Torrinch when the Planer board
staggered back in the water and a fish somersaulted out of the water so we
cleared the rods while Will fought the fish it was a good fight with the fish
boring down deep and then leaping about when it got closer to the boat, i stayed
on engine duty while Will played the fish and Neil netted it first time ! we got
the fsh in the boat and unhooked it, it had one of my Balsa minnows, just an
experimental one a stubby little thing of about 3", i will need to try and
put in into production at some point. The fish was a 10lb Brown Trout that had
taken a lure when the Loch was flat calm and the sun was splitting the
sky, you can see in the pictures just how hot and calm it was so to me there aren't
any "hopeless" conditions i actually like a flat calm over any other
conditons. We also picked up a couple of other Perch during the day.
Below are pics of the fish and the lures that worked that day
 
 
10lb
Brown
Fish
Returned
Orange
Plug
Balsa Minnow
When i camped overnight i was greeted with the sight of the Island (Clairinch)
looking like a bombsite there was rubbish everywhere beercans, bottles, poly
bags and boxes and maggot tubs so it was supposed "fishermen", people
like this are ruining the countryside for everyone else. Its no surprise they
are planning to ban camping on the Loch when you get this sort of crap left
lying around.
 
Hammock
camping
Rubbish left by previous campers
Fri 22nd July Loch Lomond
I was out with one of my friends for a days trolling , we had intended
going out last week and camping out but the high winds and torrential rain put
paid to that idea.
We arrived at the loch and found it had gone up by a couple of feet , the water
colour was very murky around Balmaha, the Loch was flat calm when we went
out and we saw a few Salmon splashing about at the Cladich Shore area, We
trolled around all the usual areas but all we managed was 2 Perch. At Portnellan
just at the point we saw loads of large fish showing on the sonar in 50 ft
of water about 30 ft down we trolled though them a few times changing lures and
stuff but they showed no interest in anything we had to offer.
Season 2009
Sat 7th March Loch Lomond
My first outing of the year and my first fishing trip since suffering a heart
attack in September last year which kinda cut short my fishing season a bit. I
was out taking and angler on one of my trolling days, it was one of those windy
wet days we got soaked to the skin and battered about a bit by the wind and
waves we managed to get one Pike a wee one of maybe 3lb ish it took a
handmade Balsa Lax minnow on leadcore just at the Cladich shore we
also had a downrigger go off but it wasn't noticed at the time so if it was a
fish it got off. Below is a pic of the lure i was pleased it got a fish, its
good to get a fish on a lure you have made yourself.
Tuesday 10th March Loch Lomond
Out again this time by myself it was a completely different day to Saturday
the loch was mirror calm and the sun was shining i trolled around the Endrick
Bank and Cladich area. I managed to get one Pike that took a wooden jointed
Cutplug fished from leadcore, i didnt weight the Pike just measured it , it was
25" long and just popped it back in the water, again i was pleased to catch
a fish on a lure i made. Because the loch was calm i decided to spend some time
making drop offs and reefs on the GPS i have most of the Aber reef marked and a
few other nasty bits so now i should be able to troll without losing too
much gear. Below is a pic of the lure that caught and one showing the loch as i
came in at the end of the day.
Sat 21st March Loch Lomond
I was out with a father and son who had booked a days Trolling we fished hard
and tried all the lures in the box but never had any luck, we had one fish pull
back the planer board but that was all, it was a day of variable weather
ranging from nice and calm to quite bumpy at times.
Sat 28th March Loch Lomond
Out with another angler who had booked a trolling day, he had just got
some downriggers and wanted to have a day out to see how to use them, we went
out and i showed him how to set the rigger and some tips on the
different line releases and how to use rubber bands as line releases, it
was a nice day out and we managed to get a couple of Pike for our efforts.
Wed 8th April Loch Lomond
Fished with Two anglers who booked a days trolling we fished hard all over
the loch and the only fish we managed was a Perch of 2.5lb+ that took a Balsa
minnow in trout pattern fished from a dipsy just at the stables, we then went
over to Inchmurren and was some good fish showing on the sonar, we ran through
them and managed to get one take on the downrigger but the fish got off and we
also had a fish take a leadcore fished lure but that also escaped.
Sat 9th May Loch Lomond
I was out with an angler and his girlfriend who booked a days trolling
we trolled round the Endrick Bank area and on out first run through the
Cladich shore we got a Brown trout of 5lb'ish on a Balsa minnow in trout pattern
fished from leadcore we then went round some of the islands and picked up
a Jack Pike on a trout pattern 3Play minnow again on leadcore,
we then headed back down the Endrick back and got another Brown Trout
6lb'ish again on the 3Play minnow just as we were leaving Net Bay, we also
picked up a wee Neb of a Seatrout on a deep diver from the planer boards.
Sat 23rd May Loch Lomond
I was out with two anglers who booked one of my trolling days, we
trolled round the Endrick Bank area and it was a busy day with lots of trolling
boats out hoping for a Salmon. We only managed a Pike and a Perch both on lures
fished on Leadcore we had a Downrigger rod go off but the fish never stayed on
so it was a quite day fish wise, one of my friends past us to tell us that he
had just lost a good Salmon at the Cladich shore he also lost an even
larger one later in the day so he is feeling a bit sick.
Sat 25th July Loch Lomond
I was out with a Father and Son who had booked a trolling day we trolled
round the Endrick Bank area and caught a few Perch we also had a fish hit
a lure fished on a planer board that just snapped the line above the lure, it
was new line maybe there was a nick or damage to the line that i had not
noticed, we also had a hit on a Dipsy the fish pulled some line out them nothing
i had a lure on with a Siwash hook on, now i had wished i had used a treble, but
you still lose fish on them as well so its a hard one to call. Our usual
areas had not produced the goods so we went looking for fish . as we trolled
round Clairinch in the 50 foot deep side the Downrigger started bouncing
around, the angler i was with quickly grabbed the rod and a nice Brown started
leaping about behind the boat it was a fat well conditioned fish that took
a reproduction Martin Plug ( a copy of a 1950's plug a bit like a wooden Tomic,
link to Martin Plugs if
you are interested in old Salmon Plugs) When the fish was landed it coughed
up a whole load of tiny pin fry they were almost transparent and about
15mm long there was obviously a feast going on down there at 35 ft deep. Did'nt
manage to get a picture of the fish but here is a pic of the lure it took a
4" Martin style plug.
Sat 15th August Loch Lomond
I was out with two anglers who had booked a trolling day, we trolled
the usual routes Endrick Bank etc, we were mainly catching Perch and as we
passed the Endrick mouth we saw a salmon boat hook into a fish it
looked a good size as it leaped about at the back of the boat, the day for use
ranged from calm'ish to pretty rough with white topped waves and at times it was
more like surfing than fishing. At the end of the day we decided to make one
troll around Clairinch and just at the very end as i was bringing the rods in
one of the downrigger rods fired off with a nice 4 to 5 lb brown on the end , so
it was a good end to the day.
One of the highlights of the day was when we returned a perch we had
caught, an Osprey saw its chance and dived down an grabbed the fish before it
could get its bearings, the Osprey then flew past the boat giving us a great
view of it carrying the fish it also had two Gulls harassing it trying to make
it drop its lunch.
The lures that produced fish were my own plugs and my Balsa lures the Plug was
one of the Lomond lures with a 50/50 paint job Smolt on one side of the
lure and Rainbow trout on the other ( for the fish that can't make up its
mind) the Perch we caught were mainly taking a Balsa Lax Minnow in Brown
Trout pattern. pics of fish and lure below.
Mon 7th Sept Loch Lomond
I was out with an angler who was up on holiday and booked a trolling
day, he mainly fished for Carp at home so trolling was a new experience for him.
When we launched at Balmaha the water levels were extremely high, the sort of
levels we normally get in Feb/March.
We trolled down the Endrick Bank and picked up a few Perch,it was a blustery day
and trying to control the boats speed and direction was was proving difficult at
times but after lunch the wind dropped a bit and we were able to keep the boat
going at a steady speed and we started catching fish we got some more Perch and
5 Pike the largest being 9lbs the fish were taking all methods from planer
boards to downriggers and the hot colour for that day was Orange or lures with
Orange in them.
Below are pics of the lures and fish.
Mon 14th Sept Loch Lomond
I was out with 2 anglers who had booked a trolling day, they were traveling
by public transport so i had arranged to pick them up at Balloch. So after
launching i motored over to Balloch ( I was glad the loch was calm). After
picking them up we trolled round Boturich shore round to the Cladich Shore we
picked up one Perch going past the stables and that set the scene for the day we
were only catching Perch the biggest was about 15to16"long, we started off
with the orange lures that did well last week but they were no good this time,
we tried lots of different areas and loads of lures but couldn't seem to find
any decent fish, we stayed out a bit later hoping for the last minute fish but
it never turned up, i ended up arriving back at Balmaha and putting the boat
back on the trailer in near darkness.
Wed 30th Sept Loch Lomond
I took my daughter and one of her friends from school out fishing,
we has quite a nice day and were catching mainly perch but we had one pike of
around 7/8lbs that took a lure fished from a dipsy diver it gave the young lad a
good fight before we got it in the net and after a couple of pics we
put it back to fight again another day.
Thursday 22nd of Oct Loch Lomond
I took a fisherman and his girlfriend out on a days trolling the were
from London so they enjoyed the peace and quite of Lomond compared to the hustle
of the city. We trolled round the Endrick Basin and started picking up perch we
also got 2 pike with the biggest being 7lbs, lure colours or the day were
decided by football team colours, the guests team were Norwich so Yellow was the
choice and some of the fish must have been Norwich fans as the Yellow lures
worked.We also had one of the Downrigger rods fire off in Net Bay there were
tons of fish showing there but by the time we got to the rod the fish had gone.
Sat 24th Oct Loch Lomond
I was out with a friend who is a traditional Salmon troller, i was
showing him what it was like "on the deep side" of the water. The
weather forecast was for 50mph winds so we didn't think we were going to get a
full day out on the loch we trolled down the Endrick Bank and started
picking up perch we also got a couple of Pike on the Downrigger, we were
just coming out of Net Bay when the Planer Board rod got a fish, it was a Pike
of around 10lbs we then trolled up the loch looking for shelter we got into
Manse Bay and a trout of around 5lbs took a lure fished off a dipsy, the lure
was one of my Handmade minnows i started making it on wed of that week and
rushed it through for fishing at the weekend.
At lunch the weather got really wild and we thought that was going to be it for
the day but it quickly calmed down and dried up so we carried on fishing we got
another trout in Manse Bay on a
Lomond Lure in Gold Glitter with Black and Orange. So we ended the day with
5 Pike between 4 and 10lbs 2 Trout 3 and 5lbs and a couple of Perch
Here is a poor pic of one of the trout (the camera was set for close up stuff
when i took the pic)
Wed Oct 28th Loch Lomond
I was out with an angler up on holiday from England,we set out and
trolled down the Endrick Bank and on out first run down before t had even got to
10am we had a fish hit a lure on one of the Dipsy's but after a hard jagged
fight it came off when the lure came back one of the trebles had been opened out
a bit we then trolled round to the Stables where we had another hit on the
Dipsy but it came to nothing, we turned round and headed back up the Endrick
Bank where we picked up a couple of Perch biggest being 15" long. We then
went round to the Black Rocks where we got a pike of around 15lbs on one of my
plugs fished on leadcore we trolled back down to Net Bay where another
Pike took a lure on one of the planer boards this one was around 5 lbs we also
had a Trout of 4lbs one the Dipsy just as we headed out of Net Bay and at
the end of the day as we were heading back to Balmaha we had a take as we passed
the Endrick mouth my first thought was "Salmon" but it turned out to
be a Pike that had taken a Flasher and Fly there has to be a first time
for everything i suppose. Below are some pics of the day and the lures that
caught.
Friday 30th Oct Loch Lomond
I out with an angler who had booked one of my trolling days, we headed
down the Endrick Bank to see if the fish were still there , as we entered
Net Bay we had a hit on the Flasher and Fly on the Downrigger but it came to
nothing. We trolled round to the Stables and back round to Balmaha but there was
nothing doing. So we set out to try and find the fish we headed over to the Long
and Short Points were Richard spotted some leaping Seatrout in the distance at
the Ross Dhu Bank so we headed over to them, we quickly got a good Perch
that coughed up a wee Trout we trolled around the Bank for a while and
then decided to head to an island for lunch. After a very damp lunch in the rain
we trolled down the side of Inch Fad we had a hit on the Dipsy that came to
nothing so we trolled down to the and and turned back up for another go this
time we had a hit on the other Dipsy but again that never hooked up so
about turn again for another go, this time the planer board started to slide
back in the water and after a good fight a Trout of 5lbs was landed and quickly
returned. So it turned out quite a good day with 2 perch and a nice Trout but we
had to work hard to find the fish, if we had more time we might have picked up
some more of the fish lying off Inch Fad.
Season 2008
Feb Mon 11th Loch Lomond
Went out on the Loch on a nice sunny and calm day i had my daughter with me
and we trolled round my usual route of the Endrick Bank/ Stables area. On
the Loch there were rafts of Ducks that would have been a Punt Gunners Dream, we
trolled round to the Cladich Shore and back up to Balmaha on out trip back the
Dipsy rod started bouncing with a good fish so my Daughter took the rod , and
after a good struggle she landed a Trout of 5lbs it took a dead
trout trolled on one of my new Bait Hoods i tried to get a pic of it but i got
the "battery exhausted" warning on the camera so no pic. We later had
a Perch on a J11 Rapala from the Downrigger 35ft down this was VERY unusual as
we dont normally get perch until May.
Here are a couple of pics one of the boatyard and one of the Baithood rig with
Troutbait. The fish was hooked on the Tail Treble
 
Friday March 7th Loch Lomond
Went out with an Angler Chris on one of my Trolling days the weather was
pretty wild with rain and high winds, Chris had been tying to organize a
day since November but the weather has against us every time.We trolled round the
Endrick Basin area but with the rain and winds we had a hard time just
standing up never mind fishing, we sought shelter around some of the
islands and trolled round Buchinch and Inchmoan but never caught anything on one
of our trips down to the Cladich Shore we saw one of the few fish marks on
the sonar for that day and it was huge, we marked the fish on the GPS and
trolled round that area a few times but the fish had gone, never saw it
again.
Loch Arkaig 17th/18th April
Took my son and one of his mates away for a couple of days fishing/camping we
arrived at the loch and it was a bit on the windy side so we headed up our camp
site and set up camp,we trolled a bit during the day and got one trout of 2lb
ish on a Blue Glow Tomic, i went out again in the evening but the boys
wanted to stay by the fire, after i passed the fishfarm cages i had a fish on,
the planer board staggered back in the water and a fish came somersaulting out
of the water behind it it took a Blue Glow Tomic, about 5 mins later i had
another fish of around 4lbs again on the same Tomic it was just like history
repeating its self (see last years report on Akaig) but this time it was only 2
fish. The next day we went out again but the wind was gusting all over the
place and making speed control very difficult i could ether go too fast or
too slow never my preferred speed of 2.5mph so we got nothing that day.
That evening i went out again by myself and again got 2 fish one on Leadcore on
a Highlander Plug and the other on the Blue Glow Tomic,it was chaos when i got
the fish as during the fight of the leadcore fish i drifted into
shallower water so i netted the fish and quickly popped it back in (the
camera was back at base so no pics) at this point one of my downrigger lures
snagged in the shallower water so i was busy trying to clear rods to sort it out
when the inside planer board rod "snagged" as well but the board
headed out to the loch, another fish on again on the Blue Glow Tomic, so i
managed to get that fish in and then popped it back in the water and then
trolled slowly back to camp trying to untangle all the mess with the
rods and lines.
Below are some pics of the fish and the lures that caught them.
Loch Lomond July 21st Loch Lomond
Was out with an angler Paul who had booked a Trolling Trip with me he had
just bought some downriggers and wanted to get some hands on experience in
using them. We went out on a Blue sky scorching hot day and trolled down the
Endrick bank on our first trip along the bank we had a downrigger pop free
but whatever took the 6" Jake quickly spat it out so we missed it, we had a
few other takes and hits that resulted in three Perch landed and a Pike
and Perch lost. We used lots of methods Downrigger, Leadcore, Planer Boards,
Flasher and Fly and Deadbaits but the only lure that caught fish was the J11
Orange and Gold Rapala.
Season 2007
Feb Sat24th Loch Lomond
My first day out this season it was only going to be a short day ,I went out
and tried around the usual Endrick Bank areas I trolled right round the the
Stables I saw a few other boats out but like me they had caught nothing as well.
I went over to the islands to try there and saw a few big fish marks 40 ft down
at the end of Creinch i trolled through them a few times and had a hit from a
fish it was on for a few seconds and pulled some line from the reel and
then got off, it had taken a Mino Mepps fished off a Dipsy I tried a few
other areas but that was it for the day so i just packed up.
April 28th/29th Akaig and Lochy
This is the first time i have managed out for ages, every time i try to go
out fishing something crops up and i have to cancel , so i was determined to go
this time. We arrived up at Arkaig on the friday night and decided to troll up
to the camp site, we quickly got a Trout of around 3lbs on a Lyman plug
fished off a planer board we managed another 2 before we got to the site. The
next morning we got up and saw a boat just out in front of the camp site
had a fish on when he landed it it looked a good size, so we quickly
got the boat out in the water we trolled round the bottom half of the loch in
the area of the fish farms where we got another 4 fish all on the Tomic or Lyman
plugs fished off the planer boards we had a few fish take lures from the
downriggers but they got off. That evening the rest decided to stay at the
campsite so i went out by myself i trolled up the South shore of the loch and
got 5 fish in 2 hours the largest was 6½ lbs and the rest were around 4lbs they
were all on the Tomic and Lyman lures fished from planer boards
again i never managed to get any pics of the fish as my jacket and camera were
back at the campsite.
The next day we moved down to Lochy were it was blowing a north
easterly that made trolling difficult but we got a fish immediately again
of the Lyman/Planer board combo we had a couple of takes on the downriggers both
got off , one we saw and it was around 4lb'ish we had 2 other fish on the
Board rods one on a Lyman plug and the other on Rainbow Trout Stumpjumper.
After about 4 hours of bouncing about in the waves we called it a day and headed
home.
Here are a few pics of the trip I will try and get a better pic of the
fish!!. 
The Lures are Blue/sil scale glow Tomic, Lyman Pink Stripe, Lyman Pink/
white and a Rainbow Stumpjumper.
Monday 14th May Loch Lomond
I managed to get a day off work to go out, i didn't manage to get to the Loch
till 11am. I decided to stay at the Endrick basin area and troll round my usual
routes it started off calm but the wind kept coming and going calm one minute
and when i decided to go to more open water it would pick up again with white
caps on the waves and i hate it when its like this, its difficult to control the
rods or read what they are doing. I managed to get one perch about 2lbs,
30ft down on the downrigger with a Challenger Fluo Orange jointed plug.
As i was heading back to the Balmaha there was a bit of
excitement with a German Family as they came out from Inchcalliach and a
wave flipped their canoe over dumping them all in the water there was a Ski boat
closer to them than i was and i thought they would go and help them but it just
buggered off !! so i pulled in the rods and went to help them there was a Father
and Mother and Daughter all in the water with lifejackets on but struggling with
the cold and wind. I got to them and threw a float cushion to them
and a rope and managed to heave all of them into the boat, the back of the boat
was just a tangle of wet and tired bodies, the boat "Marion" was
also there and brought the canoe back in.When we got into Balmaha they
went off to their B&B to dry off and the Mother who managed to impale
herself on a lure while being dragged into the boat was off to
the Docs to get the hook removed.
Monday 4th June Loch Lomond
Managed to sneak a day of work and had a day out on the loch, it was a
nice day with better weather than my last outing i trolled round my usual areas
and the only thing that was biting were perch I got 4 all on Planer board fished
lures the Red Willies Worm catching all of them. The water temp was up it was
reading 70degf at the surface and 65degf 30 ft down in Net Bay, maybe it was too
hot for the fish.
31st August-8th September Lake Michigan
This is the first time i have been out for ages, too busy at work and very
busy getting the tackle shop section built up on my other web site but i knew i
had this trip booked so i could miss out on some fishing for a while.
3 of us went out to Michigan for a week of Hardcore fishing we knocked it
of from the start as out booked accomodation was not available so they
up-graded us to a cottage double the price but only charged us for the one
booked. Our first days fishing was in Rogers new boat a 25ft Chriscraft
loaded with all the gear top of the range sonar all the rods and a
great CD system. A typical days fishing starts like this, out of bed at 5
am, get in the boat, blast across White Lake in the dark, go through
the channel to the Big Lake and blast out again for a mile or 2 start putting
out rods with glow lures ( its still dark) troll about trying to keep a straight
course (hard to do in the dark). We them sit back and wait for fireworks
the fish usually hit before the sun gets up sometimes with multiple hits at one
time we had one rod go off and then while playing that another rod kicks off and
then there is two of us playing fish the average size of the fish is 10 to 12lbs
for the Kings.
Above are some pics first, Doc playing a fish and then the fish a 15lb King,
Paul playing a runner this fish ran and ran and ran we saw it approx ¼ of a
mile behind the boat it was landed though the 3rd pic was 2 of the fish caught
on the first day and the 4th pic was a Coho that took one of my Dark Side of the
Moon spoons, a genuine catch, and the 5th pic (a bit fuzzy) was of fish we got
out of the Port of Holland one night.
We also had a couple of days river fishing the first was casting lures unfortunately
the Salmon had nor arrived in thge river yet and all we got was some Bass and a
Perch we hooked a couple of stray Salmon but they got off, the next day
was on the Pere Marquette river.
A cracking day drifting down the river in a float boat and stopping the
fish the pools 3 salmon were hooked and one landed, one that got off was 25 to
30lbs in weight it was well worth going and i would do it again if i had the
chance.
Some river pics,1, setting out,2, playing a fish,3, the
fight,4, landing the fish,5&6 and stopping for lunch.
Some more pics 1,3 fish a King, Steelhead and a Coho,2, top of
the range sonar showing fish looking at the lures, 3,ready for netting , 4,me
with a Steelhead, 5, Sunrise and Sunset.
In total we landed 32 fish for the week we were too knackered to do a days
Combat Fishing but if we had we could have added another 10 fish at least, to
the total.
I will add some links to this report to places we stayed at and some of the
guides if you fancy doing this sort of trip yourself.
Monday 17th Sept Loch Lomond
I took a Fisherman out on one of my Trolling trips, he was up on holiday from
England we were lucky with the weather as the previous day was awful. Steve had
bought some items from the Web Shop and wanted to see how they worked before
going on the lochs Eck and Awe on his holiday. We trolled out round the Endrick
Bank and Cladich area we saw a Salmon jumping at the Cladich area but all we
managed to catch was Pike and Perch we had 4 Pike up to 6lbs and 3 Perch up to
2lb'ish the lure that worked were a Tomic Multi in Crystal Firetiger on leadcore
and a Copper and Red spoon on the slider on the Downriggers and also a Red
Willies Worm on the Planers. Pics to follow.
Sat 20th Oct Loch Lomond
I was out 2 anglers Iain and Andy who booked one of my "Trolling
days" it turned out to be a great day. We took the usual route of the
Endrick bank Cladich area it was a great day for the Pike we had about 8 mostly
jacks but we had 2 of about 8lbs and 11lbs we also had 6 or 7 perch and a trout
of 2 to 3lbs hit a lure fished off a jet diver it took off like a missile and
threw the hooks the fishing then went a bit slow so i put on something to wake
them up a bit a flasher and fly it was only on for about 1/2 hr when the
downrigger kicked off and Andy took the rod and after a good fight a Brown trout
of 12lbs was landed it was a cracking fish and built like a brick sh1t house, we
also had another Brown of around 3 to 4lbs on a willies worm off the planer
boards.
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