Over the last two weeks, we have had teams from Croatia, Germany, USA, Poland, France, Italy,  Czechoslovakia and Australia practicing for the world fly fishing championships. They are rather secretive about their flies and indeed their catches and all fish caught were returned. We did however get enough feedback to know that there were some excellent bags. Aside from the teams, fishing has been very busy with excellent brown trout catches. Best bags for trout reported to us by John McGill from Balloch whose two man boat landed 10 fish with a best of those kept weighing in at just over 2lb and two lads from Glasgow who landed 9 fish on the boat and returned 3 more. Best weight was just under 2lb.

Overall, an excellent time for the brownies. The West end of the water was performing best. This might have been influenced by the persistent easterly wind. Floating lines were working well with the usual range of traditional flies. Grouse and Claret was the favourite on the best boat.

Some excellent pike returns too this week. Best boat claimed 7 fish with he best a shade under 20lb. We understand that some bank fishers landed some fine fish but we did not receive direct reports of this.

Venachar is at its best right now.

A week of steady but unexciting results. Pike anglers were recording a good number of fish but we have not been notified of any sizable specimens. The brown trout results have also been steady with the poor weather giving the boat anglers a hard time. Best bag reported was relatively low at just 5 fish for two anglers reported by Jon Edgar and Richard Mulhall visiting from Ireland. With the water warming, floating lines are starting to work. Clan Chief and Dunkeld were claiming success. Interestingly a complete beginner on his first solo trip landed a brownie of nearly 2lbs

Things are really getting going with the brownies now. An excellent week generated some great bags. The best was landed by Norman Radcliffe from Fife. A fine bag of 4 brownies with one at 1.5lb, 2 at 1.75lb and a beauty at 2.25lb. In addition he returned a further 2 at an estimated 1lb each. The southern drifts were showing results but the best was still the Lendrick Bay area. Dunkelds were doing well as were Kate McLaren and Clan Chief.

A much better week for pike too with 2 at 23lb and many in the high teens. As usual, boats to the west of the water were finding the fish.

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.

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.

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.