SANACC

Heat No 3 Carron Valley
Tuesday 4th May 2010

Heat No 3 was at Carron Valley on Tuesday 4th May and as the 37 competitors set off the morning was still very cold and it looked as if a difficult day was in store. However looks were deceptive and Carron fished really well with trout being taken on most parts of the water. As in Heat 2 most of the competitors headed for Carron Bay and 30 Minute Bay with 3 or 4 boats staying to fish the dam wall. The boats at the dam wall took fish early on and competitors were to be found there throughout the day. By 4pm, 233 fish had been caught to give a rod average of just over 6. Ninian Fotheringham (Avonbank Fishing Club) boated a rainbow of 10lb 12 oz which, although it was capped at 4lb, helped him to qualify. 19 anglers qualified for the semi finals with the cut off weight being 10lb 9oz.

Top rod on the day was John Buchanan (Newton Mearns FF) who had 15 fish for 23lb 3oz. Second was Steven Nicoll (Defending Champion) who had 11 fish for 20lb and third was John's boat partner, Ian Anderson (Northern Constabulary) who had 12 fish for 18lb 12oz.

John, who is the captain of the International Team heading to Lough Conn for the Spring International, took fish from behind Gull Island, 30 Minute Bay, Carron Bay and Burnhouse Bay. Both John and Ian were fishing a DI 3 with a mix of a Carron Bunny, Cat, Kate McLaren and Dunkeld Sparkler. John's flies are shown in the photograph below.
Steven Nicoll took all of his fish In 30 Minute Bay fishing buzzers on a floating line.

Heat 1 Result

Heat 2 Result

Heat 3 Result

Heat 4 Result

John's cast

Photograph
Ian Anderson (left)
John Buchanan (centre)
Steven Nicoll (right)

Photograph
Ninian Fotheringham with the 10lb 12 oz rainbow

Heat No 2
Carron Valley: Wednesday 28th April 2010

The second heat of the 118th National Trout Fly Fishing Championships was held at Carron Valley on Wednesday 28th April. Conditions were difficult from the outset with a strong South Westerly blowing across the water. The top three rods all took their fish from the bays on the South side and most of the competitors were to be found in these areas. 92 fish were caught with the brown/rainbow split being roughly 50/50.

Top rod on the day was Tom Wilson (Grizzlecats) who had 9 fish for 12lb 14oz. Second was David Bradshaw (Craufurdland FF) with 4 fish for 9lb 2oz and Brian Fletcher (Dalry Garnock AC) was third with 5 fish for 8lb 14oz. Tom took his trout on a cat booby fished on a midge tip line in Thirty Minute Bay. David caught his fish in Carron Bay fishing buzzers on an intermediate line. Brian also took his trout from Carron Bay on an intermediate line but with black and green snatchers. Nineteen competitors qualified fro the semi finals and these included Tom's boat partner, Peter Edge (St Mungo AC) who had 5 trout for 7lb 12.5oz. George Bell (Falkirk Fly Dressers) had a superb rainbow of 7lb 8.5oz

The Top Three
David Bradshaw (left), Tom Wilson (centre)
and Brian Fletcher (right)

Heat No 1
Lake of Menteith: Tuesday 27th April 2010 Session 10am to 5.30pm

The 118th Scottish National Trout Fly Fishing Championship got underway at the Lake of Menteith on Tuesday 27th April. The day started well as the 56 competitors took to the water and with very little wind the trout could be seen feeding on many areas of the Lake. Although the fish were moving freely most of the competitors found them difficult to tempt. The wind gradually picked up from early afternoon and as the temperature dropped there were fewer fish to be seen. At the end of the day 200 fish had been caught.

The top two rods were in the same boat and between them they were a superb advertisement for the strength and future of our sport. Top rod was veteran Jim Mackie (Dalzell AC) with 10 fish for 19lb 6oz and second spot fell to youthful Martin McCafferty (SANA Youth) who had 9 fish for 17lb 8.8oz. Jim Mackie has fished in more National Championships than he cares to remember while this was Martin's first event at Senior level. Martin was a youth internationlist having represented Scotland's Juniors in 2008 and 2009. In third place with 8 fish for 14lb 15oz was Mike Connet (Bank of Scotland - Glasgow District).

Jim and Martin covered much of the Lake. They started off at Kates Brae before moving on to Lochend, International Bay, Cages Bay and Sams Point. Their top areas were Lochend, Cages Bay and Kates Brae. Both of them fished blobs and cats and while Jim was on a DI5, Martin was on a slow glass. Mike had 4 of his fish in International Bay in the morning and the other 4 in Cages Bay in the afternoon on a booby and midge tip line.

Photograph

Mike Connet, Jim Mackie and Martin McCafferty

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