Scottish Canal Championships: Castlecary stretch chosen as venue as details emerge for entry
The draw will be made on the bridge at 8.45am and the match is between 11am and 4pm and Derek Brady, the organiser, said there is room for 22 pegs and the match will be capped at that.He said: "Everything is now good to go and we'll be fishing the Castlecary stretch which has less bikers, joggers and dog walkers, apparently."The usual federation rules apply and with the topic of possible no shows rising its head meaning there's the possibility for an angler to miss out, I'm taking a £10 administration fee that will guarantee you a place."This will then be refunded on the match day. The final cut off time for entries will be the week prior to the match with Saturday, July 30 the date, to give us plenty of time to sort pegging and sections."All that is required for you to fish is that you are a current member of the Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling."I'm not here to champion the federation, but it really is a no brainer that for only £8 a year you get to fish all of the lowland canals in Scotland for free and, if nothing else, you can feel good that you're doing your bit for our national governing body with the various initiatives that they're involved with on our behalf as anglers."In the lead up to the match there will be a work party or two required to clear the pegs and a few of the likely participants have been fishing the match length already.A few evening sweeps will be held and details will posted on Facebook.Third place receives £50, the runner-up £100 with the winner takes £150. There will be optional pools on the day.Brady finished 74th in the three-day Daiwa Pole Masters at Tunnel Barn Farm near Warwick this week. James Woodrow (Cumbernauld) was top Scot in 26th position, Gus Brindle from Dunfermline was 28th after a disappointing final day, David Corcoran from Edinburgh 43rd and Scott McGhee, a member of Edinburgh and Lothians Coarse Angling Club, in 93rd position.Meanwhile, on to sea fishing and the fourth round of the Bass Rock Summer League at Thorntonloch Beach near Torness Power Station proved difficult to say the least with a two or three foot swell and loads of weed.Organiser James Ogilvie said the weed was "horrendous" for the first two hours of the match and he added: "Thankfully, it cleared up a bit for the last hour."Eight anglers fished with five returning cards and Stuart Gardner (North Berwick) hooked into five fish - four bass and one flat fish - totalling 137cm to take the win. New Scottish international Chris Empson from Dunbar was second with three fish all flounders for 85cm. He also had the biggest fish, a 34cm flounder.Third was James Ogilvie (Haddington) with one 31cm flat fish was and fourth was Jamie McHale (Gifford) also had one flat fish for 22cm while Neil Anderson from North Berwick was fifth with a flat fish measuring 20cm.The fifth round will be on June 22 at a venue to be decided but is likely to be a beach venue.Kenny McCoy from Sunderland hooked the longest fish - a 36cm flattie - in the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers match at Riverside Drive, Dundee, with 60 anglers taking part.Jay Stoker was best junior and the results were: Zone A: 1, Kenny McCoy (Sunderland); 2, Ian Campbell (Falkirk); 3, John Taylor (St Andrews); Zone B: Steve Roberts (Newcastle); 2, Alan Combe (Kirkcaldy); 3, Steve Potts (Newcastle); Zone C: 1, Tam Tate (Sunderland); 2, Gareth Gardiner (Sunderland); 3, Mike Horn (Kirkcaldy).Meanwhile, onto fly fishing and Stevie Whitehead beat boat partner Eck Moffat by catching a fish with his last cast of the day right at the boat dock in the Scotland Youth fund-raiser at Glencorse.The Lothians-based angler hooked into eight fish on a day in which a breeze for most of the day made things tricky.Over at Harlaw, Robert Ross said that the last days of May saw the Mayfly hatch. He added: "This magnificent fly was on the water and in the air in substantial numbers. Trout were feeding actively on both the emerging and the adult fly."The Mayfly hatch normally lasts for more than two weeks and the Mayfly seems to have been emerging as the day warms up, around 11 am to noon. If the weather conditions are favourable the hatch may continue, in varying quantity, until evening."The wrong size or colour or a badly-tied fly can prove less than successful, he said. With the natural fly in great abundance, the fish can be very selective and will take only the most realistic and well-presented imitation.Loganlea is fishing well and Karen Jack reminds anglers that they are now doing evening sessions on a Wednesday but they need to be booked.Sadly, weather hampered activity at the Black Loch near Falkirk last week but there were 94 rods out the week before with 61 fish were kept weighing 207lb. A total of 125 fish were returned.Favourite fly patterns included buzzers, damsels, yellow owl, and dry flies were also catching fish when the temperature increased. The hot spots were Reedy Bay, School Bay and South Bank.Bowden Springs near Linlithgow confirm they are now closed every Wednesday but catch returns have been good with J Johnstone hooking into a fine 10lb trout on a buzzer and Scott Weir a 9lb fish on a cruncher. Craig Walker had a bag of ten with a best of 8lb on black apache. Mr Anderson had a fish of 9lb and P Bell tempted an 8lb trout on the fishery's bait pond using Powerbait.Linlithgow Loch report a quiet spell due to the windy weather but 132 rods were out, 49 fish were kept and 106 fish returned. Best tactics were floating and midge tip also, Di3/Di5/Di7 lines using buzzers, blobs, diawl bachs, cormorants, fabs and black/green lures.George Pollini and Ian Dobbie had great day with 25 fish returned between them. Francis Donnelly had 14 from the North Bank and the Edinburgh Mechanise club visited. Boats are available on most days for a full day or four-hour session.Jimmy McLachlan at Markle in East Lothian reports that the warmer temperature this week has seen fish rising all over the lake and he added: "It is 100 per cent dries here, daddies, CDC, beetles and small hoppers have been working really well. If you fish below the surface, hot head damsel and black pennel on the dropper are working."Finally, the postponed Heat Three of the Kingdom Fly Championship is at Ballo on Saturday, June 18.