The elegance of the Lake of Menteith is its ideal deepness for creating excellent bug hatches— most locations of the lake remain in the 10-12ft array right approximately the financial institution, with some deeper areas in the centre of each bay.
The lake has bays galore also, a lot of places to wander into a shoreline and fish over a steadily shallowing gradient, dreamlands to obstruct feeding trout.
Long-regarded as Scotland’s premier rainbow trout fishery, the 700-acre Lake of Menteith, set in the Loch Lomond & & Trossachs National Park, likewise has to be among the most picturesque fisheries in the UK, where birds of prey rise above and the distant hillsides and also timberlands produce a spectacular backdrop. On a current getaway on the lake, Jonny Muir located some wonderful dry fly activity throughout an all-day surge.
We couldn’t have actually asked for far better trout angling problems when we brought up one Saturday in early June: a cozy ambient air temperature, overcast skies and also a light wind of around 5-6mph– best for angling from a drifting boat. As my boat companion and also I went out from the fishery lodge the surface area of the lake was surging flawlessly as well as martins and swifts were functioning the air promptly over the water– a sure indication of a buzzer hatch.
Jonny Muir found some terrific completely dry fly activity recently, throughout an all-day surge on the Lake of Menteith. Join him and also his watercraft partner has they adjust to the conditions and appreciate a superb day afloat. Jonny’s Top Tips for Big Water Trout Fishing
Step 1– Searching
Initial thing in the morning, with the odd fish revealing near the surface area however none in multitudes, we chose to fish 2 different approaches to try to find fish. We deduced they were most likely not too much down, provided the good conditions and indications of buzzer task, yet nonetheless established with 2 a little different strategies.
I rigged up my brand new RIO InTouch Midge Tip Long fly line, its first outing, with a 15ft leader as well as a 3-fly ‘washing line’ group: coral booby on the point, diawl bach in the middle, as well as a black cruncher on the top dropper. The thinking was that the 6ft midge suggestion would certainly simply hang the fairies a couple of feet down as well as the booby would turn up externally, its brilliant colouration acting as an attractor.
My companion established with a full drifting line with a 15ft leader and another 3-fly team: 2 black buzzers and also a popper hopper on the point. Once again, this was a ‘washing line’ team however these flies would certainly be angling just a couple of inches under the surface area, a bit more than my team.
On our first drift, the first fish dropped the coral reefs booby, appearing of no place to smash it off the surface, a truly exciting take! Were the fish right up on the surface or did that fish just see the bright colour as well as come as much as have a go? We proceeded with the drift to see what else would certainly happen …
We picked up a pair extra fish in between us as we wandered towards the shoreline, both beginning the nymphs– one on a buzzer and one to the cruncher. We were getting plenty of tugs and shed a couple of fish too, yet the critical point was that my companion, on the full drifting fly line, was obtaining the lion’s share of the action– time to switch to the full drifting
RIO Gold and also set up for the next drift
… Step 2– Adapt and also observe By the time we had actually motored back up to re-set the drift, there was substantially much more activity near the surface area. Fish were clearly climbing in the water column and sipping pests from, or just below, the surface area. By now we were both on full drifting lines with popper hopper factor flies as well as buzzer/diawl bach droppers. In overcast conditions like these, keep your eyes peeled for the subtle indications of fish travelling simply below the surface area. Occasionally you’ll be lucky adequate to see an open mouth or a dorsal fin, yet other times it will certainly simply be ‘worried water’ that offers a fishes position away.
I can not stress enough how important an excellent set of polarised sunglasses are to aid you try to find these indications, and also there is absolutely nothing far better for these conditions than Costa’s Sunrise Silver Mirror lens– a yellow-tinted lens which is simply unbeatable in overcast problems. Get yourself a pair, you won’t regret it!
I had barely cut the engine as well as established the drogue before my partner enjoyed a fish on his first cast, handled the popper receptacle point fly. After netting the fish for him as well as launching it, he landed one more fish on the following cast, as well as one more on the third– all prior to I had even flipped my leader into the water! Each fish involved the hopper which was evidence sufficient that fish were hard on the dries and searching for a meal– video game on!
What took place next was a day of non-stop action, genuinely a dream day of trout angling. We was determined with the 3-fly teams as well as continuously took fish throughout the day yet nearly all of the fish were concerning the dries. It was time to streamline … Step 3– Fish Simply It’s appealing to be determined with a team of flies, nevertheless, more flies in the water = more chance of a fish … or does it?
My boat partner, being the perfectionist he is, chose rather beforehand to switch from a 10ft 7wt as well as 3-fly team, to a 10ft 6wt and also single dry hopper. With 12ft of RIO Powerflex copolymer leader as well as a solitary fly, he was toenailing the fish quicker than I was, regardless of my having even more flies in the water– the 6wt showing to be a suitable dry fly rod.
Perhaps the copolymer was permitting his fly to sit greater in the water, whereas my fluorocarbon leader and nymphs were simply dragging my receptacle a little much under the surface area? It felt like sound reasoning, so I switched over to a single fly actors and attempted to play catch up …
This was the next large take-away from the day– do not over complicate things unnecessarily, and offer the fish what they desire. An extremely resilient, single dry fly was by far the most effective technique on the day, as well as being one of the most fun! As soon as the flies started an obtain a little bit waterlogged, a quick shake in a bottle of Dry Shake got them sitting high as well as completely dry again which presentation was what the fish were zoned-in on.
Do consider obtaining a 10ft 6wt as a big-water completely dry fly rod also, it has a minor edge over our typical 7wts in terms of delicacy and also a little much more ‘give’ when lifting into a fish. Going somewhat lighter is likewise great fun, straightforward and also pure.
Tip 4– Stay on the Move
Being decisive with your fishing techniques as well as watercraft positioning will aid you hugely. No one suches as losing their time, and sticking with an unproductive approach for as well long or staying in an unsuccessful location will obstruct your catch rate. Be crucial and action.
We discovered that we were wandering with good shoals of fish that were visibly preying on the surface area, but as quickly as we had actually wandered also far past them, we drew in the drogue, motored back about as well as re-set to wander via them again. It’s somewhat more of an inconvenience to keep making brief drifts, however if you have actually found a spot of fish it’s well worth the initiative to quickly relocate and have one more address them.
This method actually helped us on the day and also we definitely wouldn’t have actually boated as lots of fish had we not acted emphatically– an additional excellent lesson learned!
Many boats had an exceptional day on the lake that day, with our own boat and also others videotaping over 20 fish, and also some boats over 30. Remember It’s not all a numbers game though, yet these bumper days are well worth delighting in when they happen!
We headed back to the lodge having had a cracking day’s dry fly sporting activity, saw an osprey battle a trout from the water right before us, as well as above all appreciated the lake’s remarkable wild animals and scenery.