Is ardgowan fishery still open for business as not seen any reports on it for a while..

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just one more cast

Yes is still open but dominated by power bait fishing

does it not have a separate area for flyfishing

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just one more cast

Nope - but you can take a boat out and escape them.

Yeah it is still open. I was up on Sun for a couple of hours and got three. Biggest maybe over 2 pounds but all in good nick. No marks on them and full fins. It was frozen up until a fortnight back. I did get a bit worried for a bit as the website disappeared over christmas and I thought that was an indication they had shut up shop for good, thankfully not though. The place fished really well last season for me. On the power baiters - yeah a boat is good for escaping them but I find that most of the bait fishers stay on the roadside bank and near the hut. If you get round the far side there are fewer bait fishers. The only thing I don't like about ardgowan is the litter and I reckon that the bait fishermen are leaving the bulk of it behind. It would be easy to fix with a walk round and bin bag before the place opened each day to - shame.

SOUNDS like a boat is a neccesity

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just one more cast

Was up with the family for a walk around Cornalees on Sunday , so popped into the Fishery for a coffee - its starting to look a bit run down these days.....the shop has hardly any tackle for sale (but tellingly a LOT of powerbait) compared to before and the place just has a run down feeling.

Only saw bait anglers on the water complete with Bivvy.

I was up that Sun steveo. I was the lone flyfisherman away down the far side away from the bait boys so you prob wouldn't have seen me. Yeah its a shame. I would agree that parts of the place look a little tired. The banking it getting pretty trodden down and eroded at the favourite 'bait' haunts and one of the days I took a boat out it was needing a good scrub as it was covered in green algae and muck. It looked like it hadn't been out for months. I like the place and its big enough that you can find a quiet spot away from the bait boys. Don't think that they are clearing the place out using power bait. A good number of days I have done better on the fly. The litter is my biggest gripe and it would cost nothing to fix as well. It sets a bad tone when you walk round and find bins overflowing with the same rubbish you saw a few days back. Also a lot of the rubbish that ends up on the bank lies there for long enough. I head to lawfield quite alot and you really don't see any litter.

if you go to the other side from the hut there is a good wading strech away from the power baiters not very deep and you can wade out a good 15 yards have seen a lot of fish coming out from there

I used to be a regular visitor at Ardgowan, when Brian Gilloway was the owner & when the current owner Robert took over. I have seen the place fall into decline, as others have over the last couple of years. It's such a shame to see it going this way. Maybe it's the current financial climate & they dont have the money to spend on the place, or they may have fallen out of love with the idea of running the loch. But picking up litter & cleaning out boats, should be standard practice. The bait fishermen were always there, the loch is big enough to cater for both fly & bait. With more & more fly fishermen turning to c&r, some fisheries need the bait guys to get a turn over in fish.