Things definitely picking up for fly fishers on Venachar this week. Several were putting 2-3 nice fish in the bag around the north side with the Portnellen drift showing good results. Brown flies such as Invicta were getting the most interest  and the best weekend boat took 7 with a best weight of 1.7lbs. the South side of the water should be starting to come away quite soon now and bookings are picking up accordingly.

Pike fishing was by contrast quieter this week with many of the regulars disappointed although some large fish were seen. We are nearing the end of the spawning period so there should be some increased activity over the coming weeks. The largest reported this week was 21lbs caught with dead bait near the south west shore.

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.

The trout season starts on 15th March and we are busy finishing the refurbishment of our boats. we shall have about 18 boats available this year. Less than 2008 as we have removed some of the older boats from the fleet.

Pike fishing has been going well over the last few months. The latter end of 2008 saw some excellent landings with the best at 30lbs. While many fish the banks, the best fish have been from boats. We are expecting 2009 to be a good year for pike fishing on Loch Venachar and all responsible pike anglers are welcome.

We are pleased to say that our prices are DOWN on last year. Good news in these difficult economic times. Full details under Fishing Prices on the web site but the main numbers are £40 for a 2 man boat at the weekend including permits and fuel. Our weekday rate is now just £30. Quite a saving if you can avoid the busy weekends.

A warm welcome to Sammy Mathison, a very experienced local ghillie who will be starting with us next month to deal with day-to-day running of the fishery and management of permits and boats.

Well the 2008 season has ended and in common with many fisheries, it has been a disappointing year. The very dry spring allowed water levels to reach levels so low that we could only just operate our harbour. Levels recovered with the heavy summer rains but the stange pattern did not help the fishing. The season did however end with some very decent catches and anglers on Venachar during the final few weeks were finding some very nice fish.The fishery remains open over the winter for pike fishing with the boats available until the end of November. We then remove the boats from the water over the winter for safety and maintenance. They are returned to the water some time in February in readiness for the 2009 season. We are removing some of the older boats from our fleet and next year will offer about 18 instead of the 24 on offer this year.

Its strange how rumours start and then multiply! Word has reached us that we are shutting down. What rubbish!

For the avoidance of all doubt, we are absolutely NOT closing. Our fishery is very much OPEN and will be open for the foreseeable future. The loch will continue to be a Brown Trout water with an excellent head of natural fish supplemented by an appropriate stocking policy. We shall continue to monitor the habitat and feeder streams and to ensure that those interested in Brown Trout have an excellent water for their sport.

During June and July, our water level was the lowest in living memory and that made the fishing rather difficult. The recent rains have brought the level back to summer norms or even higher so our fishing is very much back to normal with reasonable catches.

We have seen some fantastic catches over the past week and most drifts are now fishing well. However, due to very bright conditions, the fish are mainly being found fairly deep. Fast intermediates and DI 3’s have been the best lines. The SANA National prelim was held on Friday producing 129 fish for 14 rods with an average weight per fish of 1lb 5oz. Mark Stephens was top rod with a very impressive total of 25 brownies for 27lb 4oz. Tom Taggart caught and returned a superb 2lb 8oz fish from the Grass Banks on a Kate McLaren. Those qualifying for the Semi’s are listed below:

Mark Stephens-27lb 4oz, Tam Burnett-19lb 13.5oz, Davie Bowie- 14lb 13oz, Ronnie Robb- 13lb 13.5oz, Ian Webster- 13lb 3.5oz, Archie Whitehead - 11lb 5.5oz, A. Young- 9lb 11oz.

The best drifts have been Milton Bay, Grass Banks,RoadShore and Portnellan. Successful flies were Doobrie, Sparklers, Dunkeld and Kate McLaren.

Club outings got on the way this week and there were some excellent catches. Despite a bitterly cold east wind (gusting to 20mph) and a water temperature of only 7.5c some boats have achieved their limits. The Road Shore drift, which offers shelter, has been the most productive with the Grass Bank and Sailing Club areas also doing well. With the air and water temperatures being low most anglers have been going down.

The best club over the past week was Aberfoyle FC with 20 fish for 25lbs. They also had the best boat, Ian Webster, Derek Peoples and Ian Wilson with Ian Webster catching 9 fish for 9.5lbs.

Successful flies have mainly been size 10’s traditionals such as Blue Zulu, Kate McLaren and Bloody Butcher.

The 2008 stocking program started in february and the loch has now received two large stockings of 1.5lb+ brown trout. It is our policy this season not to introduce any fish below this weight, many fish will be well in excess of 2lb’s and include fish up to 4lb in weight.

Having had a cold wet start to the season not many boats have ventured out onto the water but those that have braved the conditions have had, at times, good sport. Its still mainly intermediate lines teamed up with size 12’s traditional wets such as the Bibio, Zulu and Bloody Butcher.

Prospects are good for April and as the water and air temperatures rise many more boats will start returning good catches

With quite strong south westerly winds over the past few days the western drifts have fished well although those venturing down the loch towards the dam have had success at Portnellan, Grass Banks and Beetle Bay. The brown trout season closes on Saturday the 6th of October and a few boats are still available for most days to the end of the season, please phone the number below to book your boat.Last week the Northumbria Police had 6 boats out returning with 21 fish for 23lbs 6oz – best rod was Stuart Maxwell with 5 for 6lbs 2oz. Aberfoyle FC had 12 for 14lbs 14oz from 5 boats – best rods Derek Peoples, Ian Webster, and Andrew Peoples and Dunfermline Railway AC, 5 boats, took 8 fish for 9lbs –best rod Davy Moore with 2 for 2lbs 10oz. The best flies have been Sparklers, Bibio, Claret Sedgehog, Dunkeld and the Claret Bumble fished on midge tip lines down to DI3’s depending on conditions and the top taking areas have been Portnellan, Beetle Bay, Sailing Club, Grass banks, Lendrick Point and Bay fished close in

The loch is now fishing as well as it did in May and June with some excellent baskets of both stocked and wild brownies. The eastern drifts are still producing the best results. Jim Hamilton, East Kilbride, had a superb 3 pounder from Grahavie Bay on a Bibio using a DI 3 line and this proved to be the ‘fish of the week’. The Hedgehogs AC had a good outing with their two boats taking 7 fish for 9lbs 7oz; the Good Companions had six boats out returning with 15 fish for 17lbs. The Winchburgh AC had a great catch of 18 fish for 18lbs 15oz from two boats with Jock Cowan being top rod with 7 for 8lbs 6oz and the Balbeggie AC had six boats fishing that produced 24 fish for 27lbs – Sandy Sutherland was the best rod with 7 fish weighing 7lbs 5oz.The top taking flies have proved to be the Bibio, Yellow tag Kate, bushy Claret Bumble, bushy Soldier Palmer all fished to best effect on intermediate and DI 3 lines and the best drifts have been Portnellan, East Dullater, Beetle Bay, Grass Banks, Scout Bay and Grahavie Bay.