Hi Guys

Being brought up down south course fishing big slow rivers or ponds/lakes the shallow fast trout rivers on Scotland are very alien to me and to be honest very intimidating ! When i converted to the art of fly fishing a 3 years ago stocked fisheries and lochs were where i honed my fly fishing skills ........i did try a day on the river ended in frustration, dozens of lost/sacrificed flies to the tree gods lots of swearing kept well clear ever since ............

However over time ive more away from stocked rainbows and more interest in wild Loch browns ................living so close to the river Carron i decided this year i really should explore this river fishing lark a bit more hopefully ive learnt alot since i last tried i decided to keep a spare set of gear at work so i can hit the river straight from work.

Tuesday i nipped out for a few hours tried fishing goldheads through deep runs czech nymph stlye to no effect...........confidence weaning i tried a black pennel on the dropper ( my mate always seems to catch well on the river with them) few cast later a wonderful "tug" and my first fish on the fly from the Carron a wee Salmon parr. I was well pleased simply not to have blanked And i only lost 7 flies although now im loosing them to low over hanging branches which i see as a big improvement as before i was loosing them behind me !

Nipped out again Thursday again using Dads 8' Sonik 3/4# my old greys "G" series reel and cheapy old 3# yellow line, fished a size 14# black pennel through a lovely looking stretch to no avail ..........

Then i found a narrow deep run tried a size 12 grub hook pheasant tail body and hot red collar behind the gold head and a simple size 14# hares ear gold head 2 ft above again czech nymph stlye first trundle through hooked and lost a fish ,which was encouraging. Sadly i lost both flies to a over hanging branch a few casts later my only red collar ptn...........

Stuck on a size 14 black ptn copper head i tied up the night before and another size 14 gold head hares ear above few cast later saw end of the line jolt forward i struck ......"fish on !" The fight was superb from an 11" brownie which i think was wild rather than stocked ? It took the black ptn and being my first Carron brownie on the fly was kept for the pot.

Fished on .........ended up switching on a single size 14 black pennel which my mate does very well with first swing across and down resulted in a 4"-5" brownie nailing it but pining off ! Slightly longer swing hooked a nice "keeper" (i.e over 9") however i was standing 4 ft above the water and as i lifted my rod to play the fish it shot up in the shallow fast water and tail walked and came off

Few more casts a fat 10.5" stocked brownie nailed the wee black pennel this time i played it rod low and side on this kept the fish deep and it used the current to really put pressure on amazing the amount of fight in these little river trout the the 8' 3/4# certinally helps ive no qualms keeping a stockie for the pot, called it quits soon after.

Really, really enjoyed myself learnt loads put alot of theory into practice and got my dinner too



11" Brownie from the river Carron wild or stockie ? Caught on Dads 8' Sonik 3/4# and my old Greys "G" series reel.

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Englander

"Barbless since 2008"

Vision GT Four catapult 9' 6#
Vision GT Four SW 9' 9#
Vision 3 Zone 9' 5#
Vision Cult 9' 3#
Shakespeare Trion 9' 5/6#
Cortland Endurance 9' 6#
Shakespeare Expedition float tube
Vosseler DC3 reel
Okuma Helios 8/9 reel
Greys G series 3/4 reel
Snowbee Geo 3/4 reel

E.. well done mate

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WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!