Fighting Midges.

I have just returned from the River after taking 2 pleasant Gents from France fishing - Basson & John. The sun has been shining some of the time, there has not been a breath of wind, and when the sun went behind the clouds the dreaded Midges arrived. Normally I can just about cope, but today I must admit they even defeated me. Deet, Jungle Formula, Avon Skin So Soft, you name it, I tried it every6thing was just like a red rag to a bull !!

Never mind, at least the fishing was good. Today Basson and John fished Acharn beat, then Claggan. Acharn runs from the falls at Uillin all the way down to the Suspension Bridge Pool, some 2.5 miles making it the longest beat on the River. It is however on the upper part of the river, before Arienas empties, and it therefore fills up quickly, and also drains quickly. Even after the rain we have been having therefore, it was quite low, and any fish to be found were in the pools.

This is the Suspension Bridge Pool today, and if you consider that the water was up to the top of the far bank yesterday, you will appreciate how quickly it drops.

Despite never fishing for Salmon before, the lads quickly adapted their trout styles to suit the river, and soon had one or two "thumps". Low water meant small flies however, and a change to a size 12 Assassin quickly brought results for Basson, seen here with a nice wee grilse , maybe not the freshest of fish, but a good fighter on the 6 weight rod that he was using.

As is the policy here, the fish was returned to fight another day.

After Acharn, we moved down to Claggan Beat, part of which is the famous Big Pool. This is on the main part of the river benefiting from the run off from Arienas, and as a result had plenty of water. With fish jumping all over the place, it also held plenty of fish. A couple of hours later however, after one or two knocks, nothing had been hooked, and the midges were f#####g murder !. The lads had had enough, and frankly so had I !!

Good news however, talking with Simon the Estate Stalker, I learnt that there had been quite a few fish, mostly fresh, netted in the past couple of days. With my 2 on Saturday, the total is at least 8 in 4 days fishing. News from elsewhere on the West Coast is also good with most rivers reporting excellent runs of Grilse - hopefully this is the start of the return to what things were.

Finally - heard today that a Brown Trout of 11lb has come off Arienas - from Big Fish Bay on a Loch Ordie in a slight breeze. This is the biggest this year so far, and if I was a betting man, I would say that amongst all the big Brownies in the loch, there has to be one over 20lb.!

Fresh fish are now coming into the system with every tide, and with luck ( if I'm not dragged shopping ) I'll be getting out again soon - watch this space.