A big thanks to Niall Colthart for the following feport from a trip to Jura......
"What a difference a day makes, or rather four days. I passed loch Aircil on Jura last Thursday after cycling in through Inver on my way to climb the paps via Scrindale. I sat in glorious sunshine watching fish rising and decided to return before long armed with the rod. I Headed for the first ferry to Jura on Monday morning which was a day of torrential rain and mist. Parking the car at Evans walk it was a wet and miserable two hour walk with the compass for company and no more than ten yards visibility.
Arriving at the loch I lost no time tackling up and dropping the flies into the water prior to casting and I had fish one on a leaded shrimp. At least it wasn't going to be a blank. Cast two, another, then another and so it went on. Five doubles on the bounce and then a treble. Three hours and a hundred and four fish later my flies torn to shreds I'd had enough. A long wet walk and a damp tent to look forward I turned for home. Loch Aircil sits in one of the finest settings anywhere and has held decent fish in the past but out of the total bag of fish I maybe had a brace of keepers.
Tuesday dawned bright and showery and a quick blast out to one of the more northerly lochs was in order. The loch in question although small, repuditly holds some nice fish but has a reputation for dourness that would put the old Sgor to shame. The walk out was not the easiest with some serious concentration required to negotiate the numerous adders lying out in the sun. The loch sits in a stunning location with fine views to the west. The wind was perfect and I started working my way down the north west bank changing flies every twenty yards or so. A couple of hours later and starting to question whether there were any fish in the loch, I was nearing the end of the loch next to the ruins of an old boat shed and had just uttered the words "looks like a blank" when there was a large swirl at the point fly and the softest of takes. After a fantastic fight the fish came to the net, the coachman fly sitting with the smallest grip on the top lip and weighing in at just under the pound and three quarters. Running out of loch I decided to call it a day although the two hours had hardly done such a fantastic wee loch justice."
Cheers Niall Colthart
Inver Outing 10/7/10
A healthy 14 anglers attended the Inver outing on Saturday and the weather stayed favourable despite a poor forecast.
The top rod on the day was Kevin Morrison who also had the heaviest fish with a nice fresh sea-trout over 2lb
Gordon Dunbar won a feircely contested battle for the top tube.....................
top dog ?......more pics courtesy of Graham Rainey in the gallery.
Scottish Club Championships
Congratulations to the P.E.A.C. team that travelled out to the Lake of Menteith last week and put on a good display, a good practice session was followed by a successfull competition evening with Jim MacDougal getting the maximum 5 fish bagged and Donnie Holyoake getting a trout too.
I am hoping that some more info and maybe pics will follow soon.
Neil Carmichael
ON SAT THE 5TH JUNE MYSELF AND WILLIE LEASK SET OF TO FISH ONE OF THE EASIER TO GET AT LOCHS ON ISLAY FOR DAYS FISHING AND WE WERE REWARDED WITH SOME NICE TROUT RANGING FROM 8OZ TO 12OZ IN WEIGHT WITH THERE BEING NO WAVE ON THE WATER AND PLENTY FLIES ON THE WATER DRIES WERE THE ORDER OF THE DAY WITH THE DADDY LONG LEGS THE TROUTS FAVOURITE THE TAKES WERE VERY AGGRESIVE AND ALL GIVING A GREAT FIGHT A GOOD DAYS FISHING ENDING WITH WILLIE LOOSING A FISH HE THOUGHT MUST HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 2 POUND IN WEIGHT.
Glenastle Float Tubing
1/6/10 went for an evenings foat tube fishing on loch Glenastle with Dod Dunbar. The trip started off with bright sunshine and a breeze from the west and we thought it might turn out to be a warm evening, but that was not to be. After the tubes were inflated we got into the water and the old flipper controls came back to us just like riding a bike.
As we headed toward the west side of the loch there was some early turns and splashes and it wasnt long until we were into a fish or two, the flies that worked best on the night were Bibio, olive bumble and a muddler. Probably about a dozen trout were caught and released over the course of the evening but unfortunately it just didnt warm up to bring on the usual expected Glenastle rise, it actually ended overcast and cold so another trip will have to be organised soon.
A Shakespear rod has been found near Skerrols Loch and looks like it was lost from the roof of a car, anyone that has lost a rod in that area recently please email for more details.
Went up to Loch Kinnabus today with Colin with the view to taking the boat out ,it was quite calm when we arrived and we started getting fish in the bay that the boat lies in right away ,drifted down the right hand side picking up a few fish here and there ,the wind started to get up ,a cold wind and pput the fish down and made it a hard row from the sandy bay back to the pier,i ended up with 13 fish heaviest 12 oz with plenty of other offers and a few lost ,Colin ended up with 6 and a few offers ,a nice wee couple of hours with plenty of steady action until the wind got up ,successful flies were bibio,kate and connamara black.
Club Championship Day 1, Glenastle 10/4/10
The first competition of the year took place on Saturday the 10th of April at Glenastle Lochs
There was a fine turnout of 17 rods which included lady member Morag MacMillan competing in her first competition ,the conditions were tough with bright sunshine and a southerly breeze and fish were hard to come by for some of the competitors but one angler managed to beat the conditions and land a couple of fine trout ,Bill Barclay took top honours winning his first ever competition after years of trying ,well done Bill keep up the good work ,Bill also took the award for biggest fish ,in second place and the bridesmaid for the fourth time running came Donnie Holyoake with Dod Dunbar coming third
All in all a good day out too start the season off and good to see a good turn out of anglers ,there is one award which was won by Ronnie Brown and that was for the first soaking of the season when he stumbled backwards and landed flat out on his back in the loch ,well done Ronnie but i dont think you will make the Olympic diving team this year
thanks to everyone that turned out to the 2 workdays which were great successes too!
Gordon Dunbar
Myself and Bill decided to go to Glenastle on Sunday for a couple of hours ,the wind was quite cold and fresh at the beginning so we decided to head up to the far off loch as it was a bit more sheltered ,third cast and a good pull, aye aye here we go then i thought but it was the last pull i got for over 2 hours but while i was struggling Bill had the right recipe and had landed 3 trout and had several other pulls ,the wickams being the successful fly
After walking and casting round the loch my first success of the season a small trout of about 5oz came to hand ,the bibio being the fly
The first outing of the season ,glad just to get out and a wee trout was a bonus but a bigger bonus was the flying display put on by the eagles ,great to watch and stayed with us for about an hour great to watch.
Glenastle 15-3-10
I was lucky enough to have opening day off again this year so I headed down to Glenastle which seems to offer the best early season chance of a trout of all our lochs. The weather was good with the sun just making the odd appearance between broken cloud, light winds and temperatures of 8 or 9 degrees made it the best on opening day that i have seen.
So I set the rod up with a 2 fly cast of kate Maclaren and Bibio, this cast would do for the whole session, a sink tip line was used too so that I could get a few different depths without changing lines. With the wind coming toward me I started on the left hand side of the first loch, nothing happened all the way aong the bank untill I got to the end when I turned a fish but it didnt take. I moved on to the second loch and after a few casts a nice wee trout about 1/2lb took the Bibio.....
I fshed all the way up the left hand side of the loch but it wasnt untill I reached the top that I hooked another fish, but by the time I got back to the bottom of the loch via the opposite side my tally had reached 10 trout, none of them matching the 1st fish but good fun all the same.
I returned to the first loch and cast down the opposite side of it too, casting over my left shoulder, and this resulted in one more fish about 6oz. It meant that I avoided the blank on both lochs and good casting practice for the begining of the season walking round both lochs fully.......something that would be repeated at Kinnabus on my next day out.
Kinnabus 17-3-10
After a good day on Glenastle I was keen to get back out fishing again while the weather was good and I was off work so I decided to give Kinnabus a cast to see what it was like early in the season. Unfortunately it wasnt as good as the previous loch but a good walk all the way round Kinnabus never does any harm and only one fish was hooked to avoid a blank at least. The weather was the same as my earlier trip but with maybe a bit more sunshine
.
I had started with the same cast as before but by the time I had reached the far side of the loch and hoked my only fish of the day I had changed to a PTN which took the fish, about the same size as my best on Glenastle so it was not too bad at all.
All the fish that I caught on both lochs were in surprisingly good condition for o early and put up a very good fight and returned to the water very strongly.
A.G.M. is on Monday 1st March at 7.30pm in the Ardview Inn
Port Ellen Angling Club Chairman Duncan Stewart sadly passed away on Tuesday 23rd of February, Duncan will be sadly missed for his efforts, dedication and as a great person around the lochs, our thoughts are with his family.
14 rods contended the Couillabus Quaich on Loch Kinnabus which saw some good fishing and also resulted in an excellent 1lb 10oz trout being caught, a great sign of the improvement in the quality of fish in the loch.
Colin with his 1lb 10oz brownie
Placings overall and the 4 anglers that will travel to the Lake of Menteith next year is :
1st Jim MacDougal
2nd Donnie Holyoake
3rd David Taylor
4th Colin Tocher
Good luck at Menteith and well done in the competition.
the proud top 4
The following letters have been sent to me from team Canada which I would like to share with you, as i'm sure is their purpose.......... please take time to read them and admire the photos............
from Jason Doucette
Greetings,
My name is Jason Doucette and I was a competitor for Team Canada at the Commonwealth fly fishing championships held on Islay. I just wanted to say how grateful I am for the opportunity to fish your waters and for all the help that was given by many of the club members including yourself. I was amazed how the entire community embraced the event and all who took part. Special thanks to one of your members who allowed me to take him on what might have been a wild goose chase but with a small miracle from the heavens, made my poor showing at the competition forgettable. Christopher Bermingham is a very generous soul who I will soon not forget. He is an incredible ambassador for the the Island and your club. His efforts made it possible to catch and release the Sea Trout I was so excited for prior to my arriving on Islay. Thank you for helping to conserve Wild stocks of Trout and the waters in which they swim. Many thanks and God Bless.
Jason Doucette
from Todd Oishi
On behalf of both Canadian teams, I just wanted to express our sincerest appreciation for all of your efforts and hard work, and for making this year's Commonwealths such a TREMENDOUS success and a great time for everyone involved! Your efforts as well as the hospitality and kindness that was shown to us by the members of the Port Ellen Angling Club and all of the residents of Islay surpassed all of our expectations.
The exceptional lunch/feast that was provided to us courtesy of the wonderful ladies and gentleman at the estate house on Ballygrant was truly a sight to behold, and one of the most thoughtful gestures of kindness that I have ever witnessed.
Please pass along my message of thanks and appreciation to all that were involved!
Best regards,
Todd Oishi
Captain of Fly Fishing Team Canada 1
P.S. I thought I'd send along a few photos and notes from my journal, which provides some insight on my experiences in Islay...
The full report and pictures can be viewed by clicking herein the fishing reports page......thanks team canada for getting a report in before any of our own members!
The 2009 Commonwealth Fly-Fishing Championships took place on Islay from 15th to 20th June on Lochs Kinnabus, Ballygrant, Finlaggan and Gorm amid mixed weather conditions. Wednesday morning saw heavy persistant rain with the remainder of the event mainly consisting of breezy sunny weather with scattered showers.
The eventual victors in the team event was the home country of Scotland, who ran so far ahead going into the final session that they only just had to turn up to retain the title that they won in New Zealand last year. Neighbours England were runners-up with Australia (gold) taking 3rd place. England angler Phil Dixon won the singles event, winning every one of his sessions on the way to the title ! All 5 Scottish anglers finished in the top 8 places including 2nd and 3rd place, a brilliant acheivement.
The weeks competitive action came to a close with a fly tying competition at the Machrie in the afternoon prior to the dinner and prizegiving on Friday evening.
I would like to take this oppertunity to thank everyone that helped out as controllers throughout the event, without whom the event could not have taken place, especially, on behalf of Tom Dunn and myself, those at Kinnabus who were excellent and prompt for each and every session, thank you. I would also like to apologise to those that were looking forward to the dinner on Friday evening which had been stated would be part of the week for the controllers which subsequently turned out not to be the case.
Ian Jones (right) after winning his heat on Kinnabus
ghillie service !!
if you require a guide or ghillie during your fishing trip to Islay then one of our members can be available to help, simply get in touch via the contact uspage with your details and requirements and we will do all we can to help.
I have added a new page Archive (2008)for viewing posts and reports from last season, so far this season there have been no reports sent but I have been told of good catches on both Glenastle, fish over a lb, and kinnabus also fishing well with one angler having 10 trout, none of them smaller than 1/2 lb. All the best for the season and keep the reports coming, it doesnt have to be club lochs, anywhere on Islay will be shown if you want to send a report.
Moor burn Holiday Cottage
Check out our latest addition to the list of accomodation, Moor Burn, a beautiful large cottage overlooking LochIndaal. take a look at this linkto see some great pictures and info.
Here we hope to provide you with helpful information to help you enjoy your fishing experience or just encourage and assist you in coming to this beautiful island that hosts so many lochs holding truly wild brown trout. Please have a good look around and look in all the links at the top of the pages and at the side of the "Club news and lochs" page for info on our lochs, and some reports from members from their days out on the lochs to give you an idea of whats happening.
P.E.A.C. has been going now for 30 years and is continuing to grow over the years, attracting members from all age groups and backgrounds who enjoy getting together on our lochs and others around Islay and Jura where several day outings are held throughout the season which runs from 15th March to the end of September. We have 4 lochs at our disposal, Kinnabus, Glenastle (lower and upper), School loch and Ghillie loch. All our lochs are admissible to the public for a small fee and boats are also available on Kinnabus and Glenastle, the boats are fully kitted out with oars and lifejackets and again a small fee is charged. There are no engines on the boats and only electric outboards are allowed if anglers wish to bring their own. Float tubes are also allowed on our lochs. All permits for boat and bank fishing on our lochs can be obtained at Iain Laurie's of Islay shop in Charlotte St, Port Ellen.
Unlike a lot of lochs, our lochs are more often fished from the bank as opposed to boat fishing, although the latter would probably be more productive. All the usual Scottish wet flies will give you a sporting chance of a take, bibio, Kate Mclaren, claret bumble and red tag being amongst the favourites. Winds on Islay are most commonly from the west and only now and again would it prevent you from using a boat, and if the wind was to increase while you are out on a loch, you should never be too far from dry land to take shelter.
P.E.A.C. holds several club competitions throughout the year so it is important that we let you know about our position with regard to the matter. Our lochs, as is the case with most islands lochs, are naturally overstocked due to many reasons and, unlike a lot of mainland lochs, are never in need of re-stocking. Due to the numbers of fish in the lochs we are actually improving both the health and quality of the fish by removing the fish caught during competition. This has not been based on our own opinions but indeed that of many large angling organisations otherwise we would have a different policy and we continue to monitor the situation and will change accordingly. Other islands such as Orkney, www.orkneytroutfishing.co.uk, also have similar policies for the same reasons.
P.E.A.C. is a member of S.A.N.A. and is represented by a team in the Scottish Championships at Lake of Mentieth every year. In 2003 Islay hosted the European Fly Fishing Championships which was greatly assisted by P.E.A.C. and testament to the quality of the club that we provided, the 2009 Commonwealth Championships are to be held on Islay, again assisted mainly by P.E.A.C. This also tells its own story about the quality of lochs available !
If you are wanting a website that offers a wide range of knowledge and fishing experiences, including posts from anglers who have visited Islay then you should visit http://www.wild-fishing-scotland.co.uk/
Port Ellen Angling Club is sponsored by Diageo www.diageo.com
R.I.P.
