Thought it was quite funny finding these speed bumps on the canal the other day while doing some pike fishing.

This is part of the canal system at Fountainbridge Edinburgh, its pretty well used by cyclists and I suppose it can get a bit dangerous for walkers and anglers. Most cyclists are ok using their bells when they approach but I must admit there has been a few times they have nearly put me in the water.

It also good to see some nice art work.


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Ahhh the memories,

That very spot, just where the houses start on the far bank was one of my favourite haunts as a kid - caught my first roach there and it was always a good spot for big perch and the odd pike. No speed bumps or art work in my day - more glue sniffers and underage drinking

Folks still live the far side of Harrison park might just to have a shot for some course fish on the fly the next time I visit.

Norm

Wow,only cyclists.... when fishing my old local cut...many stretches where used as a speed track for underage plantpots on motor bikes....I once saw 4 lads all under 15 on THE ONE BIKE.. it was crazy... calls to the Police always got promises....I could count on one hand, in many years, how many times i saw a bobby on the bank.......

Sf

Learnt my trade on this part of the canal as a kid,as well as the "Happy Valley" pond and the Water of Leith...great memories.

Fished "Happy Valley" and the WoL as well. Still have a cast down the "burn" when I visit Edinburgh but I think the stocking policy is ruining the place - its a shame as it is a great urban trout (& Grayling) stream.

Norm

Aye Norm,the "burn" was a brilliant wee stream to fish.I used to know it like the back of my hand especially around Saughton.I tended to fish up towards Balerno rather than down the way.
I think it is merely a shadow of how it used to be.Fly hatches have dwindled and there is nothing like the head of fish in it.Mind you I hardly fish it now,wheras through the 80's I would fish three/four days a week.

Whats the score with the stocking policy nowadays.....?,it used to be all wildies in its hey day.I hear the grayling are thriving in the lower half of the river and for a couple of seasons (mid 90s) I was catching them regularly on my local stretch but they seemed to dissappear after that.

The stocking policy is a joke, last season there were fish of up to 6lb put in or so the "bailiffs" proudly told me. I asked where they had gone in and the pools where they had been put were pools where I had taken good numbers of decent wild fish the previous season. I enquired why they had selected those particular pools and I was told it was "'cos there was too many wee fish there like & fishers don't like to catch small fish, ken!" Morons.
Thankfully, the harder to access areas above Kates Mill seems to have escaped the stocking and there are still good numbers of wild fish there.
I have enquired about fishing for grayling in the winter and apparently it is not allowed as the fish are breeding, all fish breed in the winter according to City of Edinburgh Council

Cheers

Ben

It will be interesting to see how long they remain there in their original condition...

richard

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Who resides on the right bank of the Derbyshire Wye and is lulled to sleep each night by the mutterings of a weir, dreaming that "When the rivers and their inhabitants come first, we ALL win..."

"Morons"... is putting it mildly Ben......is there nowhere we can go to escape the bigger is better mentality.Six pound stockies in the wol......WTF.

I fear the sport is losing the ******* plot......

I can only second your thoughts guys. The honory baliff's on the Water of Leith advise the council on their fishing policy - unfortunately they speak a load of pish This year I fished the "burn" on four occasions, I was stoped and asked for my permit three times which is equivalent to the amount of times I've been asked in 30 plus years of fishing the place! It was good to see the river being policed, god knows it needs it. However, I was not impressed by the baliffs - on one occasion I came across one knocking back a few cans of "super ****" while taking in the cricket at Roseburn Park, on another I came across their head honcho (I think) who I quizzed a little about the stocking policy. His tale went something like this:-

Electro fishing has proved that there is not enough juvenile trout in the water and, what with the introduction of grayling, causing additional competition the trout would all die out if they didn’t put some fish in! In fact they have only put 2300 trout in (over 14 miles of water) when the scientist tell them they should really be stocking 3000 fish to maintain a viable population.

Obvious pish! In the past the wild trout have managed to survive stockings of Rainbows, Brookies, Brownies, pollution incidents galore and hordes of bait and fly anglers. Sure they were challenging to catch but that was why they surrived. I doubt the current policy of polluting the water with bigger stocked fish will eradicate the native fish but the competition is obviously driving them to the "wilder" places at the top of the river. I have to admit that I like fishing in the heart of the city (probably something to do with living in rural Perthshire) when I visit and I'd hate to see it turning into a some sort of stockie only river. Maybe the grayling will turn out to be its saving grace

Wee Jimmy, we must have spent a lot of time fishing the same places - Saughton was my local stretch, I fished it heavily through the late 70's & 80's and early 90's

Norm