Well, it’s been a strange summer so far with the weather still being as unpredictable and changeable as ever, but with some fine fish being caught nevertheless, particularly from the boats. The shore-line around Venachar is still receding due to a very high water level but all of the most popular and productive areas such as Little Drum, The Road Shores, Portnellan and Invertrossachs are still available. Get there early to bag the best spots! The pike are getting back to something like their fighting weight which isn’t a surprise as the loch is teeming with prey fish, and the brown trout are in excellent condition after gorging on insects for months. There have been quite a few reports of high single-figure trout (8,9 lbers) being spotted all over the loch…they would make a fine catch!

Some recent reported catches :-

Andy Mearns (Coatbridge) 21lb 8oz pike, 20lb, 19lb 3oz, 18lb 4oz, 10lb - mackerel & sprats, Liam Mearns (Coatbridge) 13lb & 10lb - mackerel, Ryan Bain (Rosyth) 20lb 6oz - pollan, 18lb - smelt, David Stevenson (Dunfermline) 17lb 6oz, 17lb - smelt, Martin Callaghan (Airdrie) 2lb 8oz & 1lb 4oz brown trout - maggot, David Davies (Newtongrange) 10lb - mackerel, Mark Wright (Haddington) 9lb 8oz - mackerel, Roddy Steven (E. Calder) 15lb 9oz - lamprey, Sami Burden (Falkirk) 15lb 7oz - mackerel, Dean Ribaudo (Crieff) 8lb 7oz - b.trout, Mark Wilson (Crieff) 15, 10, 12 & 13lb - mackerel, Richard Smith (Buckinghamshire) 1lb 7oz & 2lb 12oz brown trout - jungle dabbler, Stuart Lang (Wishaw) 16lb 10oz - trout, John Lees (Airdrie) 1lb 7oz brown trout - worm, Owen Cook (Kelty) 1lb 4oz brown trout - worm, Gary Cullen (Coatbridge) 16lb - m. tail, Paul Ross (Coatbridge) 10lb, 6lb - m.tail, Daniel Birch - 11lb 8oz - smelt, Kevin Mackenzie (Falkirk) 17lb 14oz, 14lb 13oz, 11, 11, 12 - lamprey, m. tail & trout, David Noble (Kirkintilloch) 18, 15, 12, 10 & 7lb - mackerel & bluey, John Noble (Kirkintilloch) 15, 15 & 12lb 6oz - sardine & bluey, Angus Paul (Bathgate) 1lb 2oz brown trout - maggot, Conor Bartley (Bailliestoun) 2lb 8oz brown trout - maggot, Frankie Smith (Bellshill) 15lb 2oz, 8lb - trout, Jamie Differ (Milton Of Campsie) 12lb 7oz - sardine, Derek Sneddon (Falkirk) 15lb 9oz - smelt, Forbes Allen (Glasgow) 15lb 7oz - m.tail, George Campbell (Dunfermline) 14lb, 9lb - trout, Dave Penny (Warrington) 12lb 4oz - smelt, Davy Russell (E. Kilbride) 16lb, 15lb 10oz - lamprey, Phil Smith - 1lb brown trout - maggot, Joe Bohlen (Illinois) 2lb 12oz brown trout - black gnat parachute, George Richie (Crieff) 19lb, 13lb - mackerel, Mark Thompson (Falkirk) 18lb 6oz, 13, 13, 11, 10, 10, 9, 9lb - mackerel, sardine, lamprey and finally congratulations to Robbie Williamson (Ayrshire) who landed 3 x 1lbers, a 1lb 8oz, 1lb 11oz and a 12lb pike with his tiny mosaic gold-head fritz fly!