It is the time of year where we sit back and reflect on the season that has passed. Allan Liddle does just that.
If there’s one single bit of advice I can offer a wild trout angler to help them through the ‘Close Season’ it would be this: always carry your camera when you fish. Take lots of photos, then take a load more as without doubt during the long dark winter days ‘Cabin Fever’ is sure to hit at some point, often accompanied with a liberal dose of those ‘Winter Blues’ and one of the best ways I’ve found to offset this (notice I didn’t say beat, there really is no antidote to this than to actually go fishing) is to pour a large glass of your favourite (Speyside Single for me), fire up the computer and re-visit those successes and failures from the season past. Yup we’re living in the ‘Digital Age’ and pocket sized point and shoot cameras are easy to find, relatively cheap, easy to use and certainly easy to carry.
And what better way to record those ‘trophies’ than with a few photos? It’s an essential tool for C&R, few pics, quick weight taken on a wee set of digital scales and back it goes. Photos you can look back on rather than fish often, soon forgotten.
Fish pics aside you’ll soon be snapping away places, company, insects, anything really, sparking thoughts of sights, sounds, smells, thoughts, weather, fishing methods and often some great ‘craic’ (fishing banter; makes the world go round) all adding to that retrospective ‘Après Fish’ enjoyment.
Ok it’s not long before you’re trawling through other years but it’s amazing how looking at a photo sparks the memory and those creative ideas on possible trips, flies and tactics you might want to attempt in the season to come. Failing this then it’s bound to get your thoughts turned towards a wee cast or two, even in the depths of cold as you shortly find yourself chasing grayling or rainbows (course or sea fish even?) through one of our short daylight winter days, even then with camera close to hand?
So how was the 2013 fishing season for you? Whether you were out every opportunity that you could grab, or even a single outing, I’m sure you’ve got something ‘piscatorial’ to look back on? For me it was almost a season most memorable because of the extremes of our weather, starting slow as a long cold winter hung about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit well into April, keeping everything at bay. Unsurprisingly flies were slow to hatch, fish certainly lethargic and March a non-event.
But eventually things started to happen; despite the Arctic grip and chilled water, olives came to the surface and fish, certainly hungry came after them almost immediately. Snouts pierced the surface and nether regions were risked to the chill as careful patient wading was often required to accompany anything resembling a half decent presentation (even allowing for the Overwintered Rusty Casting Technique) and successes were gained. Followed by brisk walks along the bank to get the blood flowing again.
Eye opener number one: most (almost all) of my big trophy river fish came in this ‘Arctic’ period from early through three quarters of April. Yes there were still chances after this through May into early June, but not as many as normal (not on running water at any rate), but great fishing’s not just measured on fish size. Some quality river fish were still encountered through the latter part of spring, but it was certainly more a case of quantity before trophies this year.
Eye opener number two: the incredible speed in which the temperature all changed, almost one day we were literally freezing our nether regions, the next it was shedding garments and donning sun block. And the plant / vegetation growth was phenomenal, open banks late April, battling ‘jungles’ mid May. From being two to three weeks behind it seemed we ended up two ahead in the space of a few days.
Another reason to remember 2013 (look back with abject disappointment and dismay for migratory anglers) was the lack of rain. A few minor flurries and water rises, then nothing significant to mention. If cold can suppress fly hatches and activity then low water can do the same, so days of the bubbling surface activity were certainly not as plentiful as can be on the rivers. But…..
Eye opener number three: loch activity. Some of the mid to late spring / early summer hatches and fish activity that followed had to be seen to be believed, with many a loch’s buzzer and olive populations quite simply ‘erupting.’ Pick a target? No you picked an area, looking for places where two or three fish were feeding hard in close proximity, pitching above them and holding on tight.
The heat wave also brought an earlier look than I would normally consider (certainly on a serious fishing front rather than the escapism feel you get from these wild places) to those higher up and remote waters I like to visit. Results were mixed but fish seemed to have recovered well, pointing towards some cracking sport later on.
June continued the same: very warm weather, not a lot of rain (couple of reasonable spates but they ran off almost as quickly as they fell). BWO hatches remained ‘patchy’ in the early part of the month, smaller fish happy to respond and a sprinkling of notable fish (between two and three pounds) so all in all a pretty good month. Sadly, and almost in the blink of an eye, we were halfway through the season, and July seemed to sneak up on us unnoticed.
July, the month for early morning ‘Dawn Patrol’ weekend sessions on Scotland’s most iconic trout loch, Leven where dedicated nocturnal anglers brave the ‘Red Eye’ in search of surface, or near surface feeding fish. In fact if you’re a real hardcore nut like me, then you’ll hit the Saturday evening session, quick bag of chips and head down in the car, before up and at ‘em again crack of sparrow fart Sunday morning. This year was marked by the late arrival of the big ‘Curly Bums’, large buzzers Leven’s so famous for. But the fish were happy still to chase buzzer patterns, as well as some frustrating but ultimately rewarding dry sport amidst some eye opening caenis hatches. After that it was a run over to Assynt for the Mayfly hatch amidst the blistering, almost oppressive heat. Sticking to the big cooler waters (Urigill, Borallan and Cama) and finding an impressive number of hard fighting Mayfly lovin’ browns in scenic splendour. Fantastic, found a cracking wee place to stay as well in the form of the Altnacalageagh recently refurbished with a handy wee bunkhouse and the wee pub next door happy to cater breakfast and evening meal for us hungry angling explorers. Happy too to serve a few beers to the Après Fish party (I had to attend just to be sociable you understand).
Then just to put the cherry on the top of the cake for July, a wee family jaunt to Orkney, staying at the famous Skaill House and juggling family trips with fishing sessions. Cow Dung’s for daytime, sedges for evenings and fish keen to look for dries equals one very happy angler.
August and a long awaited return to an angling paradise, Shetland where a group of us descended on these unsuspecting islands in search of a bit of something different. Fishing was patchy to be fair, but never poor, dries didn’t score as well as I’d have liked (couple of notable exceptions), pulled flies worked well and some cracking fish (including trophies) were landed or lost. Sea trout in the salt water Voes and joined by mackerel made for an interesting diversion from the freshwater, a wee sea fishing foray with an old pal of mine from those parts Gordon Williamson, was fantastic. Plenty small cod, wrasse, and herring came over the rail. But the real eye opener was the chance to explore a wee spate burn on Yell where I must have been one of the few Scottish Anglers in the 2013 Scottish summer to get the chance to fish a water ‘running off’. Sea Trout and Finnock happy to chase bright flies in a roaring wee burn, fighting like demons, fantastic.
September 2013 was undoubtedly a ‘Daddy Year’, after the long hot dry summer these flies were everywhere and the trout were not slow to cash in. Last chance saloon time, kind of a bitter sweet feeling when you reach the season’s ‘Back End’. Some of the best sport you’ll get all year, tinged with the fact it’s all over very soon, so in keeping with other years, I made sure I missed as little as possible
Culminating in the annual pilgrimage to the wilds of Sutherland and the Crask Inn, where a group of us make the trek in search of great sport, great scenery, great hospitality and great craic, so good in fact you’re usually quite happy to see the season off and give your body a rest. This year actually took in the real season end fishing right up to October 6th, with rain finally falling and the wee spate streams fishing as good as they often do. We were even blessed with the rain falling through the night, and settled fishing weather through the daytime (make the most of it it’s not often like this). Fish on the rivers loved the usual wee dries, on the lochs they seemed to be lining up for the daddies.
Sadly all too soon it was all over, a season that seemed to pass more quickly than others, full of excitement, always something new especially when you didn’t expect it, and once again a privilege to be part of.
In essence I suppose your fishing’s as memorable as you make it (I’m sure you’ll agree I certainly like to try and cram as much of it in as I can), and I’m sure you all have some happy memories from 2013, all that’s left now is to start to plan 2014.
Here’s hoping it’s going to be a cracker…….
More from Allan at the excellent Scottish Anglers site