Colin the carp is the star attraction at Eliburn where young anglers are encouraged

New officials at popular Eliburn Fishery plan major changes to encourage more local anglers to make regular visits to their reservoir in Livingston.

Eliburn fishery is encouraging more young anglers.

The three-acre fishery is fishing well currently with Colin, their record-breaking carp, having been netted again and he weighed-in this time at 26lbs 10oz, over a pound more than when he was landed earlier this year.

Other carp in excess of 13lbs have been hooked and quality tench and bream have also been recorded in recent weeks.

The committee is using the quieter winter months to smarten up swims and pegs and tidy up the popular member and day ticket fishery.

Long-term plans currently being discussed include removing deep roots in weed beds, and coaching sessions to bring more young people into the sport.

Emma Ford, a keen fisherman who is the not-for-profit club's secretary, said that there are a number of other ideas being discussed, all with the aim of making this a real community fishery.

She would love to see local anglers come to Eliburn instead of getting in their cars and heading for Magiscroft near Cumbernauld, Orchil near Auchterarder or even further afield to Broom, which is near Annan.

“We would love people to realise the calibre of fish we have in the water at Eliburn,” she said. “Colin, our big carp, was landed again recently and he has increased in size thanks to our regular feeding programme.

“Quality roach, bream and tench have also been netted recently. Admittedly, it is not an easy water to fish, but we have sizeable fish in there.”

A day ticket is £7 for two rods and fishing currently is from 8am to 3.30pm. Barbless hooks plus a landing net and unhooking mat are essentials for anglers who are not allowed a keep net on Eliburn.

A variety of baits including boilies, luncheon meat, maggot, Powerbait and sweetcorn are fished on the water which is a maximum of 13ft deep in places.

Mrs Ford added: “We recently had a weed cutter in but we realise that that is not a permanent answer. There are some really thick weeds here and our future plans include removing the roots. Cutting back weed can be like cutting your grass as it can encourage growth.”

The committee continues with a regular feeding programme to encourage the fish to move around the water and to stay healthy and her husband Sean is heavily involved in the maintenance programme along with Sean Henderson.

The club has an interim chairman in James Brown and the treasurer is Andrew Taggart, owner of local fishing shop, West Lothian Angling, and a member of the Scotland carp team.

Ms Ford said: “We've been in place for several weeks and we are trying to get to grips with what we have to do, but we have ambitious plans and have a future vision, post COVID-19, to make this a really strong fishery which has regular customers from all over Central Scotland.

“We are particularly keen to encourage young people into the sport and our future plans include coaching sessions, but that is in the future and there is a lot of work to be done in the next few months.”

For those who have not been to Eliburn before it is near the Livingston Community Football Club, not to be confused with the Scottish Premiership side Livingston FC. The postcode is EH54 7EE.

There is a car park only yards from one end of the fishery and tickets can be bought from bailiffs on the day.

Meanwhile, the sixth round of the Bass Rock Shore Angling League's winter series is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18, with registration at 6.15pm. Details of the registration point and the venue will be posted on their Facebook page on Sunday.

Pace-setter Barry McEwan has extended his lead after winning the fifth round, claiming four fish, three cod and a codling, fishing off rocks near the old harbour at Dunbar, He weighed in at 5lb 3oz.

The self-employed carpet fitter recently came second in Mike and Chris Horn's winter heaviest cod league on Tayside which attracted around 40 top anglers. The second round is today.

Second in the Bass Rock competition was Stuart Fairbairn from Haddington who hooked two codling for 2lb 3oz but ten other fish tempted to his hook had to be put back as they were undersized.

Third place was claimed by Jimmy Green from Musselburgh who weighed in two fish for 2lb 1oz but dropped another six fish.

Dunbar-based Alan Brown was fourth with one fish for 1lb 8oz but he was another angler who lost a number of fish, including a sizeable one, during the three-hour event fished between Bellhaven Beach and White Sands near Dunbar in a chilling westerly wind. Lugworm and mussel proved the preferred bait option.

Finally, Fishers of Penicuik have received a consignment of drop-shotting tackle following a surge of interest following the extensive article on the tactic in the Evening News last weekend.

The grayling season is upon us and two special offers noted in-store on Friday were a Vision Keeper wading jacket which was £129.99 on sale for £79.99 and a Hardy SDSL fly reel discounted from £359.99 to £199.

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