Edinburgh angler Dione Roberts pipped for Scottish Ladies fly fishing title by Jean Ferguson

Dione Roberts was edged out by a narrow margin to close rival Jean Ferguson as she attempted to defend the Scottish Ladies fly fishing title.

Jean Ferguson receives the Scottish Ladies fly fishing trophy from Quint Glen, manager of Lake of Menteith Fishery.

The Edinburgh-based Roberts netted 12 fish, the same number as Ayrshire-based Ferguson, but she fell short on measure during the event fished by 12 anglers at Lake of Menteith.

Jane Wright from Helensburgh was third and the match was fished in ideal conditions with a nice ripple.

Orange blobs plus diawl bach were among the best patterns on the day fished on either sink tip or floating lines and the biggest fish tempted was 57cms. Liz Fraser from Ardrossan was the lucky angler.

A total of 76 fish were caught and Jean was nymphing with a 6ft sink tip and did well at Lochend/Tod Hole. Dione was fishing a 6ft sink tip in Hotel Bay and Jane a slow glass in Hotel Bay.

Jean was presented with the trophy by Quint Glen, manger of the fishery which hosts the Scottish Open Fly Fishing Championship on Sunday.

Several anglers from the Lothian and Borders have qualified after a number of heats held during the summer.

Midlothian anglers Neill Barrett (Bonnyrigg), plus Stewart Barclay and Willie Davidson (both Dalkeith) are joined by Derek Purvis (Edinburgh) and Bruce Chisholm (Coldstream). George Charters (Dolphington) is also in the field of 62 anglers.

They are bidding for the £2,000 prize with £1,000 to the runner-up and £500 for third with prizes of fly boxes, flies and fishing lines provided by event sponsors Fario Fly for those finishing from fourth to tenth.

The start time is 9.30am (sign-in 8am with briefing at 9.20am) and all boats must be back in by 5.30pm and the event is totally catch and release. Anglers also record the time of their first two fish.

The match is being run by West Lothian-based Ben Robertson on international rules.

Only one fly rod can be used and no rolly polly style of retrieve is allowed. There is a maximum of four flies on a cast spaced at least 20 inches apart.

Robertson said: "Fishing at the Lake recently has been patchy, one minute dry flies and the next the fish have gone much deeper. Hopefully, the water temperature will cool before Sunday."

Lake staff say that fishing has been in the excellent to hard range recently and with a ripple and some cloud, some anglers have enjoyed their best fishing for a while.

Clarity has hit 3m for the first time and tactics have varied with double-figures catches recorded on damsel on the Road Shore and nymphs on a sink tip at Gateside Bay. Buzzers have also worked.

On to coarse fishing and Bruce Lawrie won the Knockout Cup organised by Edinburgh and Lothians Coarse Angling Club but only just from chairman Geoff Lowe.

Bruce was on Peg 12 and Geoff on Peg 14 at Alex's Pond, Orchill, and that meant they could keep an eye on each other.

However, Lawrie only had one carp and it weighed 10lb 9oz. He also weighed in 3lb 5oz of silvers.

Lowe tempted two good sized carp and silvers but the scales only climbed to to 12lb 14oz, ounces short.

Lawrie took overall second in the Summer Series match which was held in conjunction with the cup clash with Lowe taking overall third place.

A total of 14 anglers fished the five hour-plus match in overcast weather and it was cooler than expected. There were a few short bursts of rain.

Stewart Ritchie weighed in with 29lb 15oz to take the overall match and it was a win double as he and Heather Lauriston won the Pairs Trophy.

Heather said conditions were tough but Stewart hit carp and that made all the difference. The final Summer Series league match is on Saturday, September 18.

At sea, Steve Raeburn was the top angler in the police fishing competition held off the East Coast on boats organised by Aquamarine Charters of Eyemouth.

A total of 25 anglers took part in three boats and Inverness-based Raeburn hooked 26 fish (four species) and scored 680 points, 130 ahead of his nearest rival. The largest fish was a pollock measuring 82cm and weighing approximately 9lb and was caught by Mrs Lesley Bell from Elgin.

And there were a total of 287 fish caught from eight different species during the trip.

Onshore, 12 anglers fished the first match in the Bass Rock Shore Angling League's winter series in flat calm conditions, most concentrating in and around Dunbar Harbour.

Six anglers brought fish to the scales with Dunbar-based Alan Brown, the club's secretary, top rod with six fish for 7lb 7oz.

Other results: 2, S Gardner (North Berwick), 1 fish, 4lb 12oz; 3, N Anderson (North Berwick), 2 fish, 3lb 1oz; 4, C Cunningham (Port Seton), 2 fish, 2lb 14oz; 5, D McCallum (Port Seton), 1 fish, 1lb 3oz; 6, S Swift (Dunbar), 1 fish, 9oz.

The second leg is on September 22 at a venue to be picked.

Finally, a number of Lothians-based anglers are fishing the popular Clyde and West Open, in association with Tickers Tackle from Helensburgh, on Sunday at Greenock Esplanade.

It's Scotland's biggest event with 90 adults and 35 juniors booked in and organiser Lindsay Wilson believes there will be 30 to 40 walk-ups on the day.

Mike Kyle and his son from Dalkeith, Willie Stafford (Edinburgh), Dale McCallum, Barry McEwan and Cameron Cunningham (all Port Seton), Alan Brown (Dunbar) and James Ogilvie (Dunbar) are known to be entered.

Wilson, who has been organising the event for 30 years, said that the entire length of the Esplanade - around 1.5 miles - will be used with anglers coming from as far afield as Oban and Northern England to compete.

Wilson is team manger for the Scotland junior international team and the event, he said, will be used as a talent spotter ahead of selection.