Small fry after flying start

What started out in almost perfect conditions finished in a near gale for the Alan Brash Memorial Shield at Rosslynlee Fishery, writes STUART FRASER.

The match was fished to full floating lines and dry flies until the wind picked up and then nymphs were allowed.

I got off to a flyer fishing a single Yellow Owl and connected into a nice fish on my second cast. However, whether the fish broke free or I was a little heavy handed, I don’t know but it got off taking my whole cast with it.

Quickly tying up again I put the fly back into the same area where I lost the fish.

Letting the fly bob up and down in the ripple it was now a case off just waiting and watching. Several fish were showing in the area off the fly but they were proving elusive, so I started tweaking the fly and I saw a fish finally rolling over and taking the fly down. I played the fish out and into the net; not a big fish by any means but at just over 2lb, good enough.

Moving round the water to cover more fish and to make better use of the wind I found the area in front of the lodge ideal. The wind was strengthening a bit and it was becoming harder to keep track of the fly. As luck would have it, another fish struck and took the fly straight down. It was about the same size as the first.

Conditions slowly deteriorated after this and it wasn’t until the final quarter of the match when I get an offer, probably the smallest fish caught but it was my bag limit. And just as well because heavy rain soon followed.