The loch and harbour are still frozen but the ice is getting thinner due to the milder temperature and a lot of rain settling on the surface. As long as this does not re-freeze at night then the thaw should continue with some areas possibly becoming fishable shortly. Further updates to follow depending on any positive change in conditions.
Although the loch and harbour remain frozen there is a definite thaw in progress due to the mild temperature today. If this stays the same for the next few days the loch should become fishable. As soon as this happens, the website will be updated.
The loch and harbour remain frozen, but with a slight thaw near the road shore. Conditions are still bad but, hopefully, there will be an improvement soon.
The Loch and harbour are still frozen and unfishable. If there are any changes in the near future then we will update the report. Thanks.
Unfortunately, Venachar has frozen over as of 21/12/10. Due to this we are now closed. This is a pity as the loch was one of the last waters to freeze and was fishing well, with anglers coming from as far as Gretna and the Borders and also Glasgow to take boats out on the water and to bank fish right up until this date. Having checked projected forecasts, we are hoping that come Boxing Day there will be a thaw and most, if not all, of the loch will become fishable again. If it’s possible to clear the ice in the harbour and/or bank fishing areas, we will. please check the website for future updates. Thanks.
The Loch has been partially frozen for the past two weeks with all of the car parks and the Cafe & Boating closed due to the weather. However, after a recent thaw we will be open again from 11th December onwards. If you would like to hire a boat or bank fish please contact us at the usual number to get information on availability/conditions etc. Thanks.
Loch Venachar is looking particularly stunning at the moment with a slight frost covering the ground, snow on the mountains and thick early morning mists rolling on the loch; surely one of the most picturesque places in Scotland to fish. The water level has dropped slightly so there’s more shore line to fish from and the water temperature is also steadily lowering with conditions on the loch mostly calm and ideal for boat fishing. The winter conditions have also brought about an increase in the feeding frequency of the pike with a lot of the fish caught recently looking very fat having fed up.
Our main objective over the winter is to keep ensuring that proper pike angling practice is adhered to with new permits being drawn up for the New Year detailing exactly what the loch policy is concerning the treatment of the fish, equipment, minimum requirements etc. That way there is no confusion and no excuse for bad practice, which will only benefit the pike and, ultimately, our regular fishermen. We’ve also been very busy maintaining and refurbishing our fleet of boats to get them in top condition which is why it’s even more important that catches are reported to either the boathouse (in person or by phone) or by e-mail to the cafe as we can’t get round the banks as often as we’d like to. There was an excellent article in the News Of The World on Sunday 21st Nov by their fishing expert Alan McGowan about how pike fishing is becoming increasingly popular and recommending Venachar as the place to do it; much appreciated. We’re also quite close to obtaining a photo of the legendary boat-caught 42 pounder hooked by a Norwegian tourist in 2002. Although a lot of you have seen it, it would be good to have a solid copy. (P.S. surely a Scot could bring the record back home ?)
Some recent (reported) catches :- David Galloway (Partick) 20lb 1oz & 22lb 8oz using brown trout, Eoghann Thomson(Milton Keynes) 11lb 6oz using joey mackerel, Robert Strachan (Clydebank) 23lb 2oz using roach, Pat Reid (Glasgow) 12lb 9oz, 8lb & 17lb 3oz using mackerel and sardine, Sam Dempsey (Airdrie) 20lb 4oz using eels, Ian Anderson (Stirling) 15lb 8oz and 13lb using mackerel.
It would seem that the water level of Venachar has finally returned to it’s optimum height with practically every area within our boundary now open for fishing. Every swim from Little Drum, Lendrick Bay and the Road Shore through to Milton Bay, Portnellan and Beetle Bay seems to be producing decent results and with the more serious, dedicated anglers appearing in numbers this Autumn/Winter it looks set to be a promising few months. We’ve also had some impressive photos of 20lb+ pike sent in to us by the likes of Ian Lambert, Darren Reilly and three beautys from Neil Kerr all of which went in the gallery. We know not every angler is over-enthusiastic about reporting catches or e-mailing photos but it does allow others to see the quality, conditioning and size of the pike being caught at Loch Venachar. It was also encouraging to get a recommendation from The Sun’s fishing expert Mike Kernan; the man knows his stuff!
It was great to see members of the PAC GB from all over the country fishing here over the weekend at a nearby competition and with the largest reported fish caught there weighing in at 15lb, maybe they’d have better luck at Venachar!! It’s also encouraging to welcome back a number of anglers who haven’t fished here in a while; good to see you again and we hope you have continued success.
Here are some recent (reported) bank and boat catches :- Ian Lambert (Kilmarnock) 21lb 6oz & 10lb 2oz, Gary Batchelor (Edinburgh) 21lb 7oz, Derek Hutton (Cambuslang) 14lb 8oz, Daniel Watson (Falkirk) 18lb 3oz, David McCafferty (Paisley) 14lb 1oz, George Lang (W. Caulder) 14lb, 7 & 4, Jim Guest (Bathgate) 21lb & 19lb 6oz, John Macdonald (Balfron) 19lb 8oz & 14lb, Darren Reilly (unknown) 24lb 6oz, Lawrence Salmon (Cowie) 18lb 2oz, Scott McBride (Motherwell) 14lb 8oz, Forbes Allan (Glasgow) 10lb 6oz, Nigel Parker 16lb 20z and the three from Neil Kerr which, although no weights were given, all look above the 20lb mark (some by a fair way!) photos on wall in Harbour Cafe.
All the fish were reported to be in excellent condition and returned to the water as such. Extensive efforts are also being made to keep the lochside clean and to enforce responsible pike-angling practice in terms of procedures and equipment; information is available on request.
The water level of Loch Venachar continues to rise with quality fishing areas that were previously dry now available again, in particular Little Drum Farm and parts of the Invertrossachs side. These are ideal hunting grounds for large pike and, judging by some of the recent catches, they’re using them. It was also good to see a healthy number of sea-trout and salmon back in the Loch.
It’s encouraging for all concerned in looking after Venachar and it’s fish stocks that excellent practice both on the banks and with the fish is being applied. The place has never looked cleaner and the fish stronger and healthier. We should thank responsible dedicated anglers for this and ask that if they see any malpractice or any inappropriate behaviour then to report it. With this in mind, it was good to hear from the Ayrshire branch of the PAAS who will be taking boats out on 23/10/10, and also to see the Lanarkshire branch who will be bank fishing. We’ll let you know how they got on in the next report. You can contact us using the details above if your club would like a day’s fishing at Venachar, we’ll even throw in tea and a hot breakfast first thing on arrival!
Some recent pike catches :-
[9/10] - Alec Armstrong (Coatbridge )15lb, 16lb using roach, [11/10] - Steven Scott 22lb 10oz using lamprey, Davy Russel (East Kilbride) ~ 18lb 2oz, 14lb 10oz (previously unreported) and another 18lber using mackerel from the 2nd car park (sorry to hear about the car, Davy!), [13/10] - Mr Mackenzie (Falkirk )8lb 10oz and John Greig (Stirling) 18lb 3oz using mackerel tail both at the farm, [14/10] Ian Mckechnie (Glasgow) 15lb, 6lb using lures from the boat, James Gray (Carntyne) 8lb from the boat, Gary Mcmahon (Ardrossan) 16lb 6oz, 9lb using mackerel at the 1st car park (thanks for the e-mailed catches Gary), [16/10] Scott Dickson - Gretna 17lb using mackerel at the 1st car park, [18/10] Alan Dow (Edinburgh) 19lb 4oz using trout at the Invertrossachs side, Gary Mcmahon (Ardrossan) 19lb oz using blueys from the 1st car park, [20/10] Anto Green - Coatbridge 14lb 2oz using trout 2nd car park.
All further catches including the fishing clubs’ will be reported in next weeks update.
At long last the Loch is back to reasonable water levels. The harbour is 100% useable and the place is back looking its best - a pleasure to be here working.
Trout fishing this year has not been so good, however we intend to address this over the winter. We have had discussions and reports from various trout fishing clubs and we intend to act upon our own findings. The long term target and I stress “longterm” is to return this loch to its previous status of “one of the best wild brown trout fisheries”. We will cater for serious fly fishermen and re-instigate previous rules to ensure Loch Venachar is a haven for sports anglers. I will report throughout the winter on our plans for trout fishing. Meanwhile we have a run of sea trout at the moment making their way up from the Teith, so that bodes well for next season.
Pike Fishing - firstly over the last 10 days:
23/9 Euan Allison from Ayr 15lb 20z using Perch at Little Drum
24/9 James Johnston from Uddingston 15lb.10lb and 7lb using Mackerel
24/9 Graham Mackie from Falkirk 12lb using Mackerel
24/9 Paul Allen from Falkirk 15lb using Mackerel
25/9 Mr McMohon from Ardrossan 18.25lb specimen in fantastic condition using Mackerel
27/9 Chris Ruddy from Carluke 13.5lb using Mackerel at Milton Point
27/9 Derek Roberts from Camuslang 21lb 12oz using Smelt at the second car park
27/9 John Needs from Blairgowrie 18lb 80z using Smelt at Little Drum
27/9 Chris Brown from Glasgow caught a fantastic 28lb fish using Roach at the second car park
3/10 Paul Ross from Coatbridge one fish 22lb one fish 20lb and last catch was a 21lb 80z using Pollen and Herring
3/10 Scott Ross - 21lb, 15lb, 14.5lb,13lb and a magnificent 22.5 specimen in good condition
A fantastic days fishing for the boys. All fish returned clean and in good order
3/10 James Linden from Coatbridge - 17.5lb. 11lb and 14lb
3/10 Brian anderson from Stepps - 8 fish in total the best of them a 19lb beauty, 16lb,15lb and two 13lb - a great days fishing
We will be doing our best to enforce our rules for Coarse Fishing. We will issue a list of minimum requirements for Pike Fishing. We will ask anglers not to harm the fish and return them unharmed. Anyone deliberately killing Pike will be asked to leave and not return.
We look forward to the return of our Pike anglers and hope to enable good conditions for Coarse Fishing.
Our Pike fishing season tickets will start in January 2011 - £90 for the Callendar Year.
£90 for a callendar year expires December 2011 if bought in January
£83 if bought in Feb.
£76 if bought in March
£69 if bought in April
£62 if bought in May
£55 if bought in June
£48 if bought in July
£41 if bought in August
£34 if bought in Sept
£27 if bought in Oct
£20 if bought in Nov
£13 if bought in Dec.
