The perfect 10

HELENSBURGH angler Kenny Whitehead wasn’t so much on cloud nine after Heat 12 of the Scottish Club Championships but on cloud 10.

That’s how many hardfighting Lake of Menteith rainbows he landed to be top rod for the evening session.

Kenny, who fishes with the Cove and Kilcreggan Angling Club, helped in no small way to get him and his team-mates, Alan Hier and Bob Currie, into the semi finals of the prestigious competition.

They only had one trout apiece, but the combined total earned them second-top club bag.

Kenny’s terrific night also earned him a berth in the final of the Champion of Champions which is staged on the lake in October.

The top club bag of the evening was caught by the youngest team; Calum Stephen Stuart McLean and Stephen McVean, of the Future Fly Fishers “B” squad.

The trio, all under 23, and all former junior internationalists and Home International gold medal winners, have stuck together as seniors. And it paid on at the Lake where they landed 15 trout for 32lb 13oz.

In third place was Balbeggie Angling Club with eight trout for 18lb 8oz.

All three teams now go forward to the semi final on August 26.

Afterwards, Kenny, who owns a building company, revealed that he fished the Club Championships last year and got nowhere.

“I’ve had a bit more time to get out on the water this year,” he declared.

Asked what his team plan for the night was, Kenny said: “I started off with dry flies and then changed to a slow glass line with a black Cormorant with a red holographic body on the point, a pseudo Cat Booby on the bob, with a wee green Diawl Bach and a green buzzer in the middle.

“There were no fish rising and all were caught blind. My technique was to fish a long 30-35 yards cast, take two or three pulls in and then bring them back with a moderate figure of eight retrieve.

“Most of them were smashing the Cat Booby, but every fly on my cast caught fish.”

The top five rods going through to the final of the Champion of Champions are: 1. Kenny Whitehead, Cove and Kilgreggan, 10 trout for 19lb 3oz. 2. Mark Stephen, Neilston “B”, seven trout for 14lb 6oz. 3. Calum Stephen, Future “B”, six trout for 12lb 11oz. 4. Keith Doig, Balbeggie AC, five trout for 12lb 6oz. 5. Stuart McLean, Future “B” six trout for 12lb 0.05oz.

Altogether 80 trout were caught by the 13 competing teams, the heaviest, a cracker of 3lb 6.20oz landed by Balbeggie AC angler Keith Doig.