Plenty of glee at Loch Lee
LAST Saturday dawned a bright still morning, so good to be out early and a good days fishing staring you in the face.
The annual Brechin A. C. Loch Lee competition fished from the bank for the only day in the year that it is permitted. This day is special to me since the trophy was presented to the club by the late Willie Hutcheon with whom I spent many happy days on the riverbank and indeed right there on Loch Lee.
I arrived at the loch early, but there were many there before me and they were hiking to their favourite spots, spots where they would easily win from because it had been good some day in the past and they had a new secret fly which is to do the business.
My secret spot is on the steep southern bank and I arrived relieved to see no-one there and immediately I started to get trout, every second cast, 7- 8 - 9 inches long but none to the 10 inch limit we were fishing to.
Frustrated and with a cold westerly wind rising enough to cause a good wave and wind lanes, tactic had to change and I went on to secret flies (Lee Wulf specials).
This is the way I like Loch Lee and I used the flies with a tactic learned years ago, pulling them hard through the wave. Still taking small fish and so many of them I was disparing when I got a really good tug on the line and a large trout broke the surface, flying like a seatrout and diving deep, it was fighting like the devil himself but where was I, twelve feet above the loch with a vertical bank below me.
No other option than to sit on my bottom and slide, fast and I landed at the waterside, line in a heap and amazingly a trout still on the line, I brought it in thinking it had been on too long and it was there below me just where I could clearly see the fly part from the prey and I watched this fish lie very quiet for an amazingly long time and then it was gone.
Out came the flask and sandwiches and finding a sheltered spot I was joined by my old friend Charlie Thornton from Montrose who had managed to get two fish over the limit.
My day went on with one wee trout after another but it came to an early end when a hand hurt while putting up a new garden fence gave up the ghost and I could no longer cast so I left to watch Brechin City playing Airdrie on teletext only to finish up depressed.
The day was won by Charlie with four trout, one more than previous winner Gordon Armstrong, again from Montrose. Come on you Brechiners we can't have this.
Loch Lee continues to be my favourite trout venue, wild trout, no stockies, and no over exploitation. Lord Dalhousie deserves a vote of thanks for keeping this beautiful loch as it should be totally wild and natural. The club members also asked me to thank him for his generous permission to hold this event on his gem.
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Weather for Brechin
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 3 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
