Nigel Duncan on fishing: Kailzie Fishery confirms re-opening date with spaces limited

Kailzie Trout and Salmon Fishery near Peebles have confirmed that they will re-open on May 6 and only a handful of spaces are available for opening day on the fly pond.

Spaces on the bait pond are, however, still available and the new owner, Connor Alexander Newcombe, confirmed that hot and cold soft drinks and snacks will be available. Newcombe said that ponds have been tidied and buildings spruced up as the popular fishery has been closed for over a year.

Fly pond catch and release prices are £19 for eight hours, £17 for six hours, £15 for four hours and £10 for two hours and children aged 15 and under receive a £4 discount on catch and release only. Kill tickets are £35 for eight hours and taking home five fish, £30 for eight hours and four fish, six hours and three fish £25 and four hours and two fish £21. Rod hire for the fly pond is £10. Bait pond tickets are £16 for an adult taking home two fish while children 14 and under are £14 on a two fish ticket. Any fish caught after that will be £6 a fish and all fish caught must be kept. Rod hire on the bait pond is £5 and an adult and child can share a ticket on an adult cost. Opening times are Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm but the fishery will be open on May 8 as a one-off.

Meanwhile, Drumtassie Coarse Fishery bosses confirm that the popular day ticket venue will be open until 8pm from May 1 . Chanelle Mavor, the manager, also revealed that the water near Blackridge has proved a success story in its first year and Drumtassie has attracted coarse anglers from as far afield as Dundee as well as a number of regulars.

Connor Alexander Newcombe, now owner at Kailzie Fishery.

The star attractions are Maisie the sturgeon, who weighs in at around 36lb, and Doris the 28lb-plus carp which, incidentally, has not been hooked since last summer.

Chanelle said: "It has been quite a year for us and it has been great to meet so many new people and learn so many different things about coarse fishing. We are getting more popular but I believe a lot of people still don't know about us. We need to keep promoting and people will come."

She added: "We have people from Edinburgh and Glasgow and from Dundee. Obviously, we get people from Livingston and Bathgate as well as the surrounding areas. We have mirror carp, common carp, ghost carp and we have silvers like bream, rudd and roach and we also have baby sturgeon which are growing. Our tench are growing really well and they are up to around 3.5lb and, in the carp pond, we have Masie the sturgeon. Another attraction is Doris, our big carp."

The fishery has a supply of maggot, bait and pellets in their on-site shop, and they also stock pop ups which Maisie seems to like and Chanelle recommends Robin Red or Betaine Green groundbait. The fishery also has their our own house pellets plus Dynamite and Red Krill.

Kailzie near Peebles busy before it closed over a year ago. Picture by Nigel Duncan

Chanelle confirmed that Drumtassie is a day ticket water and the only memberships available are for overnight fishing.They are £100 for a year and anglers also have to pay for a permit. Back to fly fishing and Lake of Menteith boss Quin Glen reports that the qualifiers in the Greys Pairs were Kevin Porteous and James Bews, who had their eight fish by 11.15am fishing Sandy Bay and were from the Outer Hebrides.

Also through were Gill Farid and Ronnie McKean, Michael Low and New Zealand Phil, Ken Kennedy and Sandy McConnachie and Jim McKinlay and Craig McKean. Glen hopes the weather warms up, but there have been good bags this week and a 20lb plus pike was taken on the fly.

Linlithgow Loch secretary Tom Lambert reports that the best catches this week have gone to anglers fishing floating, midge tip, intermediate and fast glass lines and flies taking the most fish were blobs, buzzers, black/green lures, cats, cormorants, damsels and muskins.

He confirmed that water is crystal clear and among the best catch returns have been George Pelini with Ian Dobbie who returned 27 fish, all caught on buzzers with floating lines while Craig Cowan and partner returned 19 rainbows using the same set up. Boats are available on most days for a full day or four-hour sessions. Call 01506 671753 or book online.

Picture 3: David Hamilton with Doris the elusive carp from Drumtassie Coarse Fishery

Nearby, Paul Dancer had 12 fish during a session at Bowden Springs with a best of 8lb using Kate McLaren, buzzer and dry flies while Jim Bryce, another regular, had ten with Rab Edwards netting a 12lb trout for a personal best. Pottishaw is also fishing well just ask William McSeveney who had eight fish including a brown trout of 8lb and a rainbow around the same poundage.

Allandale Tarn near West Calder reports good sport and they are now open to 8pm every night. Closed all day Tuesday. Owner Iona Allan reminds anglers that they should unhook fish in the net and not handle them which can cause internal organ, muscular and external bruising.

Near Livingston, Morton owner Sandy Mabon confirmed that tank No 17 since re-opening in March was due this week and Ross Carnegie had 13 to the boat in tricky conditions, mostly weighing between 5lb and 10lb. At Harlaw near Balerno, two poachers were caught spinning and reported to police by Malleny Angling (MA) who administer the water. Officials confirm that random patrols continue. Sean Williams provided one of the best recent catch returns with ten fish on bloodworm 3ft down on an indicator. Anglers here are reminded that MA do not allow fishing with a plastic or foam bung even with a hook and permits to fish are only available online and not at the water.

In Midlothian, Dan Brown pulled snakes and boobies on a Di3 line and reported 20 to the boat at Glencorse. He added: "The place was bubbling. Great day out." Nearby Rosslynlee say that lures, snakes and damsels have been working a treat. To East Lothian, and John Jackson, who owns Tweedale Fishery near Gifford, has cracked down after anglers were reported taking over their limit and not weighing in. The only cars allowed on the bait and fly ponds are blue badge holders. No spinning is allowed on the bait pond and catch and release is only allowed for fly anglers.

Simon Gawesworth with a superb fish. Contributed by Rio Products

Across the Forth, anglers who failed to qualify for the Kingdom Fly Championships at the recent heat at Stenhouse near Burntisland have been given another chance at a cut rate. There were still spaces for Heat Two on Saturday (April 29) at the time of writing and non-qualifiers from Stenhouse can re-enter for £10, that's half price.

Onto trade and Far Bank have launched a video series featuring well-known fly casting instructor, Simon Gawesworth. There are six episodes concentrating on the intermediate level fly fisher and each video has been written with the aim of helping anglers get better at fly fishing in a river, learning essential new casts that open up more water, learning to read the river and find fish, or mastering essential fly fishing skills needed to be successful.

Gawesworth, who has fished in the world championships, said: "Fly fishers of all abilities and experiences will benefit from watching this series."