It’s still being a difficult year on the river

July ended with some respite from the heatwave and its associated drought.

Salmon anglers had earlier accepted that they had no chance of sport.

Trout anglers were not too far behind in realising that the top end of the Clyde was also being starved of water.

There was little hope of being able to find feeding fish in these conditions.

Just before the month came to an end, there were several light showers.

The first was a very gentle affair; it cooled the air and allowed the water, in the lower reaches, to rise by a few inches.

Almost immediately, a few salmon made their way through Glasgow and into Mid Clyde Angling Association water.

A few of them were caught, but quite a lot of them were trying to quickly make their way over or around Blantyre Weir.

It would not be long before they would be seen in water looked after by the United Clyde Angling Protective Association.

Sadly, a few dead salmon have been seen down in Mid Clyde’s water. This may have been caused by polluted water being discharged from overloaded sewers, but the fish could also have been hooked and played by anglers. The fish could have been lost, or they could have been released without sufficient care.

Anglers are asked to use line that is strong enough to bully their fish into the net before they are completely tired out.

By doing this, if the fish is lost, it is still fit enough to recover. If the fish is successfully netted, it has to be treated with the utmost care, especially in warm water.

Advice given is to keep it wet - this means keeping it in the net while it is being unhooked, and then holding it under the water until it is strong enough to swim safely away.

There are still too many anglers who feel compelled to hold a salmon up while someone else photographs it. It is a form of trophy hunting, but this could be achieved while the fish is in the water.

Near the end of the month there was a much heavier storm, and much of the Clyde rose by a significant amount.

It was soon obvious that the water was discoloured, which is always a worrying sight.

When the river is low, a sudden influx of dirty water could result in a lot of dead fish. So far, there have been no reports of dead trout in the upper reaches.

Trout anglers were generally having a lean time. However, when the rain freshened up the water, fish started to show at the surface, obviously feeding on insects.

On bright days it was necessary to wait until the early evening, when insects were hatching in good numbers, and trout followed them up to the surface.

More insects are eaten as swimming nymphs than as emerged duns, but many anglers still prefer to catch trout on dry flies.

When sport is slow, many of us use a floating dry fly, supporting a sunken nymph beneath it. This gives us the best of both worlds.

Unusually for July, when the drought broke and the heatwave had come to an end, it was often worthwhile to be on the water in the middle of the day; trout were abundant in most areas.

Unfortunately, even the best anglers were disappointed. While they could catch good numbers of fish, none were heavier than 1lb.

The presence of so many small trout is a good sign for the future of the river. What was missing was larger trout that the Clyde has established a reputation for producing.

What appeared to have been a substantial storm caused the upper reaches to rise by less than an inch. This is ideal if there is not a large accumulation of silt on the bottom.

Anglers who know the river can work out where it is possible to fish. With the Clyde still at such a low level, the trick will be to avoid disturbing any silt or alerting the fish to our being there.

August is never an easy time to fish for trout, but this has already been a difficult year, and anglers are hopeful that things will improve.