Anglers hooked on Drumtassie Canal
Bosses report real interest in the ten-peg canal feature at the Drumtassie fishing facility near Blackridge.
Coarse anglers from as far afield as St Andrews are enjoying fishing there with one angler logging over 100 fish during a session.
Chanelle Maver, the fishery manager, is delighted with the up-take since the water was opened in February and she confirmed it has been stocked with “lots of F1 fish”, bream, some crucian carp and roach.
The carp are up to 5lb and the canal is ideal for float and pole fishing or for youngsters with a whip.
She added: “The canal pond has received a lot of attention in the last couple of months and one of the anglers caught 107 fish. He was here from opening time at 8am to 6pm.”
Chanelle believes he was using maggots as bait and she said: “They seem to be the best bait, but 2mm pellets and sweetcorn also go well.”
She stressed that you cannot loose feed corn. You can, however, lose feed maggots.
A hook size between 16 and 20 is suggested for the canal, and keep things small is best, according to the manager, and line strength should be between 2lb and 4lb to keep it as light as possible.
You can, of course, move around if the fish are not biting and Chanelle confirmed: “When you come to Drumtassie, and you buy a coarse pond ticket, you can move between our two coarse ponds and the canal as they are the same price, but not to the specialist carp pond.”
Sadly, fishery landing nets have recently been damaged or stolen and anglers are now asked to bring their own but there are some for sale in the on-site cabin.
Unhooking mats are also available to buy and the fishery recommend anglers use one.
Chanelle revealed: “I previously allowed people on without unhooking mats, and they unhooked fish in the water but, unfortunately, I have seen quite a lot of people recently lifting fish out of the water and putting them on the ground. This can harm them.
“So, if you are coming here, please make sure you have an unhooking mat with you and, for the specialist carp pond, you need an unhooking mat with padded sides or a cradle.”
The fishery near Blackridge is open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm and a ticket for the coarse pond and canal pond is £10 for one rod. It is £5 for a second rod. The carp pond is £13 for one rod.
The boss advised anglers to watch the weather forecast before travelling as Drumtassie is high up but she added: “We’ve had lots of good feedback from the canal pond with lots of fish being caught. Anglers seem to love it.
“We have anglers from West Lothian, of course, and Fife, the West of Scotland and we recently had an angler come down from St Andrews. The canal is an easy fish, it is so simple, maggots or sweet corn on the hook, and you can drop the line in and you will catch.
“You can also use worm as well and fishing here is ideal for kids during the school holidays.”
Elsewhere, Stewart Ritchie was a clear winner in the rod and reel match hosted by Edinburgh and Lothians Coarse Angling Club at Orchill near Auchterarder.
He netted a total of 60lb 3oz with Darrin Ferguson in second spot with 41lb 4oz.
Third was Simon Clynshaw from East Lothian with 31lb, and next best was Andrew Paterson with 16lb 9oz and Andy Roberts weighed in with 16lb 5oz for fifth, but it was a frustrating day for most of the anglers in the field.
On to sea fishing and Mike Horn from Kirkcaldy won the East Fife Open with six fish for 10lb 7oz and he said: “It was a great day weather-wise but the fishing was very poor with 36 anglers attending and only 14 weighing in.”
He finished well ahead of Kevin Lewis (Broughty Ferry), the team manager of the Scottish Shore Angling ladies team, who had four fish for 6lb 1oz. Andy Pasfield (Arbroath) was third with one fish.
Pasfield also landed the heaviest cod, a fine specimen of 3lb 9oz, and a big tide and scorching conditions didn’t help the fishing according to organiser Chris Horn.
A reminder that West Lothian Angling Association (WLAA) are hosting a clean-up in the River Almond from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, August 2 centred around the Civic Centre in Livingston.
There are believed to be around 60-plus shopping trollies in the river and volunteers are needed.
Fraser Thomson, the organiser, said that everybody who takes part will have a dedicated tree planted somewhere in the WLAA catchment area.
Thomson said: “If we want the council, police and the water authorities to listen and act we must show them what the Almond means to us.
“It is not fishers who cause damage and drop litter, but if we don’t clean it up nobody will.”
Catch reports include one from Linlithgow Loch where over 100 fish were hooked during the week with Ian Dobbie releasing 18 trout on one visit and 14 in another while Nigel Muckle and Jimmy Russell returning 14 fish with George Pellini releasing 12. Midge tip, sink tip, Di5 and Di7 with blob, boobie, buzzer, muskins, diawl bach, snakes and lures proving the most successful.
Brian Scott had eight fish at Bowden Springs, biggest 5lb, on dries but high temperatures have temporarily closed some fisheries so check before travelling.
Finally, Drumtassie host a catch and release fly competition from 7pm to 11pm on Saturday, July 26. Entry is £30 and includes pizza with £100 to the winner and a rod to the second-placed angler.