June

01st June

On Friday tea time Brian McCaskie caught his first and last springer of the season. He took it from the Bridge pool on a stoat's tail fly and the fish weighed 11.5lbs. Well done to him. I didn't receive any reports of fish being caught yesterday. A quiet finish to the spring fishing season. Catches of springers for the season? From reports that I received the river produced eleven springers. There were very few reported lost. How good a total is that? It is almost double that of last season but about a third of the amount two seasons ago. In previous seasons two dozen would be the average. Therefore the verdict must be IMHO a poor spring season. One reason would be the number of anglers fishing the river was probably the lowest in living memory. On the bright side the Loch produced about twenty springers which appears to be good but is it? The total for the river and the Loch matches that of the total for the river itself two seasons ago. The total was thirty. Despite the publicity from elsewhere the overall catches from the system wasn't impressive. The reporting was more impressive than the facts! These figures are the minimum amount caught and there were obviously some not reported. However we can only go on what was reported! No doubt this report will be contradicted elsewhere?

10th June

The last ten days has seen little activity on the river. The prolonged - seven weeks - of low water has been off putting for most anglers. This has meant an increase in weed in the river that wasn't apparent last season because of the high water that was present for most of the season.  No reports of sea trout catches. Yesterday Paul McCann caught a salmon about 8/9lbs from the Floors on a flying C. This part of the river has produced very few fish in recent seasons. Last year it became deeper - not because anglers dug holes - because of the scouring of the river bed due to high water. Hopefully it will once more hold fish and be fished more? Saturday was very quiet and the only fish that some could get their hands on came in a paper bag! For this duo it is probably the norm? Thanks to Jack for the image.

18th June

The river generally speaking is still quiet in relation to catches but with one exception and one near exception.

Hi Robbie,
 
Tony here, just to let you know I caught a salmon in the mackinnons on tue 17th june at 18.00 using a black flying C.
 
The fish weighed 10lbs and gave a very good fight.
 
Cheers
Tony.

The other exception was the loss of a good fish on Monday evening as it was getting dark. Regular Davy Watt hooked a fish estimated to be in double figures at the Haldane burn on the Flying C. It took him downstream before straightening his treble and departing. The Flying C was purchased in a well known Glasgow fishing store and the hook was particularly on the soft side Any Flying C's purchased recently by anglers should be checked and replaced. Regrettably Chris the bailiff has resigned his post and gained employment elsewhere. A shame because he was shaping up to be a good bailiff and was respected in the short time in the job. One wonders how long the bailiff force on the river will remain at one? The river level remains at summer low and I have been told that the Loch is at 25ft, twelve inches below opening height. That will take some topping up? Thanks to Tony for the image and the e mail.

22nd June

Yesterday was possibly the busiest Saturday this year Up until 14.00hrs there weren't any reports of fish seen or caught. Unusually the Bailiffs weren't to be seen so there weren't any reports from that source. However I did receive an e mail from Mike Bainbridge.

I fished the river Saturday evening on the fly from the top pool down to the Double pipes, It felt fishy but no pulls. However a local face Paul caught a fresh sea liced fish 9lbs. at the Haldane burn on the worm. He was also smashed by a bigger fish. He also said another fish had been caught at the Doubles 7lbs. not sure what method. Is this the start of the Grilse?
 
cheers,
Mike Bainbridge.

Mike.... thanks for the information. The fish are probably too big to be grilse. They could be summer fish though but one never knows. Don't want to give false impressions! Regarding hooks mentioned in the last up date... yesterday I spoke to Tony and he assured me that he had changed his hooks to "Predators" a while back. I think they are pike hooks and they cost £2.50 for ten. He had purchased his Flying C's from the same venue. There were three fish reported caught on the Loch yesterday. The forum has information.

27th June

Because of the heavy rain the water level has risen during the week and the level is now about three or four inches above the weekend height. Yesterday evening Gordon Pollock hooked a fish estimated to be about 15lbs on the Flying C at the Glebe. It swam all the way up to the cables at the Bonhill pool before parting company with the hook. Stephen Gilfeather caught a fish about 12lbs on the Flying C just below the Sandy hole during the week and a John Mellie had a fish about 10lbs at the bottom end. Encouraging signs for the river? Ironically these fish are too big to be grilse. There hasn't been any signs - that I have heard - of them running the river? As to sea trout, contrary to reports in the Trout & Salmon, there hasn't been any reports of catches, at least in the river. Normally at this time of the season the Association hire a cutter and trim the banks. Earlier on in the season the bailiffs done a good job of trimming some sections. Because there is only one bailiff on the river at the moment the trimming can't continue due to health and safety considerations. It looks like the cutter won't be hired as per usual which means that the banks are rapidly becoming overgrown again especially at the Double Pipes. If the gates were to be lowered due to the Loch filling up then it would be a major problem for bank anglers. Last Saturday was a busy day so I would expect it to be the same tomorrow especially due to the water level and forecast for cloudy conditions?

Up-date

This evening Gordon Pollock had a 10lbs salmon - safely returned - at the Factory wall on an Ally's shrimp fly. Well done.

29th June

On Friday evening Jim McDonald caught two salmon on the Flying C. One at the Chapel hole and another further down the river. I believe that they weighed 10lbs and 12lbs respectively. Saturday was a fairly busy day. A lot of anglers were fishing the fly which surprisingly hasn't done too well this season. Ally Kerr hooked into a good fish at the pipes at the bottom end of the Bonhill pool. Unfortunately it parted company with his hook after five minutes. An interesting e mail from an angler by the name of Ralph. Thanks for the information.

Dear Robbie,
 
I went down the Leven for the first time this season on Saturday because my local Trout Loch never got stocked and I could
n't get on any club outings. I was encouraged by the unseasonable rain fall and the reports of fish off during the week. I
headed for the usual Renton Area expecting to do nothing more than to check my gear. As I was watching a grey squirrel a 10LB tide fresh fish with Sea Lice grabbed my Ally's Shrimp and after a good scrap I beached it. What a start to my season!!!
 
Regards,
Ralph

I haven't posted much information regarding the Loch recently, mostly because the catches were proving difficult to track but I have received an e mail from Robert Mair Once again thanks for the information.

Robbie
Pictures from weekend 1st photo Toomy 11.5lb salmon caught Friday 27th am ,outside Cameron House,2nd photo Kev Gath 2 salmon caught on Friday 27th also lost a nice fish at the lucky chucky on Saturday afternoon (black cat in boat!), 3rd photo Pricey with a 12.5lb salmon caught above Rowardennan on Saturday afternoon.
Keep up the good work
Rab

The Loch is obviously fishing well as it has been for the last few weeks and there are signs that the river is recovering from a poor spell. The arrival of the grilse soon should see more anglers on the river and boost ticket sales which I believe are selling very slowly.