I must be one of the few people delighted to see the rain! The regulars will know that the water level is exceptionally low for this time of year.  Of course the Pike anglers were also happy for the bright sunshine to end and more favourable angling conditions are here.

 There were however several good Pipe catches recently:

 Paul Brown from Newcastle caught a 10lb, 12lb and a massive 17lb Pike from the north bank using smelt.

 Michael Simpson from Glasgow caught a 16.5 fish from the the boat.

Tony McTaggart from Glasgow caught a 17lb Pike with a super shadrap gold.

 The best fish year year possibly was Robert Rowan from Coatbridge - a magnificant 25lb Pike from the bank(near the farm).

The Trout fishing is progressing through the season and we are seing an influx of fly rods from the boats.  Catches have been reasonable, a  recent example was George Johnston from Callander caught 3 lovely brown trout - 1lb - 1.5lb from the boat.

 All in all the Venachar Lochside has been an enjoyable place during this spell of good weather.

Thanks for this are due to the work of the National Park Rangers and the local police in patrolling the banks and deep anti-social behaviour in check.  The families and anglers who come are most welcome.

Please enjoy our National Park.

At last the brownies are on the move. This week has seen some much better fishing with some excellent results at the weekend. Best fish was an beautiful 2.5lb native Brown caught in the Lendrick Bay using a size 12 Clan Chief. Others had some fine bags in the same area. This week also saw the first Sea Trout caught in the Boathouse Bay and generally good signs of activity all over the Loch.

Pike results were varied and a fine 25lb fish was landed from the bank below the farm at the west end of the Loch. Again, activity was on the increase and results picking up following the spawning season.

Boat demand is increasing and on Saturday several were turned away so book early for the weekends.

There have been more pike fishers out than brown trout fishers as the water is still extremely cold and will take about another month for the trout fishing to get going. The pike anglers continue to report some excellent fish with the 2009 record being smashed with an beautiful 29lb 14oz monster landed on a boat by Craig Faller with a Storm Rainbow at the west end of the water.

The first report of the brown trout season shows a quiet start with the cold water keeping the brownies deep and the anglers awaiting a warm up! Those who braved the chill were generally using intermediate lines teamed up with traditional wets such as Bibio, Zulu and Bloody Butcher. Best bag was Dick Harris from Paisley who landed a nice catch of 3 brownies with the best at 1lb 10oz  He found the Lendrick Bay most productive.