Fraser on fishing: Floundering on the Lake

I really struggled at the Lake of Menteith in what I found to be difficult conditions, writes STUART FRASER.

A swirling wind kept turning the boat in all directions and made casting a real problem.

I have found in the past that the best way to get the results from the lake is to keep on the move. If, after 20 minutes I don’t get any interest I relocate and I must have covered every inch of the water this time. It was only when returning to the sheltered butts area did I catch sight of any fish moving or getting caught.

I persevered on a fast glass line with three fly cast for most of the session and when I got in a real fankle I changed my line and cast. Going on to a full floater I went down to two flies – a white cat on the bob and a black cat on the point.

Within ten minutes of changing I had several offers and one good fish on. The blue trout took the tail fly hard in to the reeds and took a real benny. Splashing and leaping all over the place I took time to play it out and into my net. Ten minutes later I was in again and it was another good fish at 3lb on the same fly.

Despite the offers and continued interest I could not get any more. It was a hard shift but a good one, I was just a little disappointed that I could not get any more, but that’s fishing.