Weather still causing havoc

We have experienced some changeable weather over the last six months.

A particularly mild winter was followed by a cold spring and, apart from a few cold spells, we seemed to be facing a cold, dry summer.

The weather seems to affect fish more than birds and mammals. It certainly affects anglers.

This time last year we were hearing about large numbers of big fish being caught from practically every part of the river.

The anglers, who had braved the biting winds of May, all came back with reports of very fine trout specimens moving around and even splashing on the surface, as if they were taking some food items, which often remained a mystery.

On one of the few mild days, a huge cloud of light brown caddis flies was gently wafting up the Clyde, near Carstairs.

Out of the blue, the river came to life, with trout sucking down the insects as fast as they could.

Unfortunately the rise did not last long enough to give the anglers a chance to take advantage, and the river quickly went to sleep again.

A week or so later another caddis fly graced the river; this species is much darker, with more prominent antennae. This is usually good news because the trout go crazy for them. However on that day nothing moved, and the weather deteriorated.

Much-needed rain stopped the flies from hatching and trout were not feeding as voraciously as they should have been at that time of year.

In retrospect those sporadic splashes could have been trout chasing caddis pupae, which were making rapid swims up towards the surface, before deciding not to emerge into the cold air.

Perhaps the anglers would have fared better had they used nymphs which resembled the swimming pupae.

A few of the larger trout did fall to baits. Some took maggots, some took worms. A drifting maggot might have looked inviting to a fish that was not really hungry.

Worms seemed like a strange choice when there had been no rain for several weeks. When it did rain, what fell was bitterly cold and this discouraged proper feeding.

A few trout were seen taking floating mayfly duns and some were even being caught – the long wait might be over.

Salmon anglers should have been seeing their chosen quarry moving into the lower reaches a month ago, but no such thing has been reported.

The low flow, and lower temperatures, have held the King of Fish back in their run up from the sea. A change in the weather is long overdue.

The first fish will be seen in Mid Clyde Association water and then they will make their way beyond the obstruction caused by Blantyreweir.

The salmon can choose between making use of the fish ladder and going over the top of the dam, if conditions allow. There will be a lot of interest shown in whether salmon will choose to make their way up the Avon and try out the two new ladders near Chatelherault.

During the last two years the Scottish Government took an interest in Scottish angling, imposing unwarranted restrictions to many Scottish rivers, causing a lot of unrest among anglers. It could be argued that they had no right to make these decisions.

On April 1 the Crown’s interests, which had been looked after by the British Government, were transferred to the Scottish Government.

It has been said that there is to be a second reappraisal of the classifications which were assigned to all Scottish rivers last year.

It will be interesting to hear what new information experts will have at their disposal to base any decisions upon. Catch returns provide some of this information.

On other rivers there are accurate fish counters, which have provided information for several years, but the Clyde does not have that advantage.

The United Clyde Angling Protective Association are in the process of putting together the rules of their new salmon competition, which they are running in conjunction with local tackle manufacturer Daiwa.

Fish are to be photographed, with a date and the tapeline used to measure it. A witness must also be able to verify the catch.