Fraser on Fishing: Markle fish prove elusive

Laurie Taylor of Ayrshire with a 3lb rainbow taken on a Tequila blob at Lake of Menteith

A soft east wind was blowing and that’s never a good omen over the dam wall.

Fish were showing in shallows at the far end but the biggest concentration was about ten feet out from the dam. However, seeing them and catching them proved a little elusive as I was about to find out.

As the fish were well on top of the water I went out with a floater and single daddy. Despite getting the odd splash and bit of interest nothing would lock on. Changing to two yellow owls met with the same result.

On the far bank one angler was feeling lucky using an intermediate line and a black and gold lure. Using a slow to medium retrieve he picked up two fairly quickly and I was tempted to change.

However, I decided to stick with the dries and was rewarded with a nice blue. Fishing over by the crags and casting say a rod and a half’s length out and leaving static I watched closely as the owls bobbed up and down on the surface until the blue surfaced and took the tail fly down.

Fishing the dry fly is one of the best ways to fish and one of the most rewarding when things are tough.

After a five-minute battle the fish came head up into the net and after giving it time to revive, swam away strongly.

Whether it was the east wind or atmospheric pressure the fish were not in a playful mood so after another hour without success I called it a day. I could see plenty of fish moving but nothing was taking and so I put it down to one of those days.

• Fraser on Fishing is sponsored by 7 Plus 7 Construction Ltd. For more info, go to www.7plus7.co.uk