All good fund
THE Scottish Youths National Fly Fishing had their first fundraiser of the year last weekend – and the competition at New Haylie fishery saw more than 300 fish landed on the day.
Although the conditions were a bit rough before the first whistle sounded, the forecast hadn’t deterred a full turnout of 35 anglers, who would all have agreed that a bit of wind and rain is easily overcome with a set of waterproofs and a positive attitude.
With prize sponsors including Trinity Park Heating and the Glasgow Angling Centre, the action got going early on.
Approaching the first peg, there were fish moving already, with trout being caught in spite of conditions that continued throughout the day.
I’d drawn the shallow bottom end to start.
Armed with an Adjusta bung and a Wozzit fly, recommended by one of the youth team, it wasn’t long till I missed my first take, much to the amusement of Jim Litster, the team director.
I did manage to get my eye in, though, and wet my net on a few fish. Drifting the bung around or twiddling back apps bloodworms just under the surface seemed to be the order of the day.
The competition gave way to camaraderie as pegs were hopped every 30 minutes – a catch-up, some pointers and a laugh as some pegs had resulted in more fankles than fish in the breeze, while others mourned the ones that got away.
After we were heartened by a fantastic lunch, the fish kept on coming as the weather cleared in the afternoon.
The winner on the day was Kevin Andrews (25 fish), who received vouchers worth £200. Second was Blaine Lyon (20 fish), who won £150 of vouchers, and Brian Brown (16 fish) was third. He received a £50 voucher and a bottle of whisky.
I saw winner Kevin bagging up on one of the dam wall pegs, picking off some fish up in the water and making short work of several hard-fighting fish toward his winning total, as well as a few that dropped at the net.
It was a fantastic turnout on the day and it was great to see such good support for the future of our sport.
There will be more of these fundraisers at lochs across Scotland this year.
They go a long way to helping the Youths compete in the internationals this July Ireland, so keep an eye out on social media and, if you can, come along to fish or help out the team.