Balfron Piscatorials

Lake of Menteith 4 Man Greys Team Competition

Evening all, just a wee write up on the Greys competition at the lake. This was a 4 man team event. It was fished to international rules and mainly on a c/r basis with no bag limit.

This was an event we were all looking forward to. As we were coming into September, it was anticipated that the fishing would get better at the lake and there would be more catchable fish all over the lake, NOT just the cages😂.

Day 1 presented unfavourable conditions with sun and a decent East wind as the day progressed. Despite the challenging conditions, the Menteith Ospreys came out on top with an impressive 38 fish. We were lying 6th with a lot of work to do to even make the top 3.

The plan on day 2 was to send out two of our boats in the open water in the East basin for the whole day and target these fish on dries. The other two were to go to the Cages and grind out some fish from there. Thankfully, the plan paid off and we managed to finish in 2nd place. The methods that we used were buzzers and a fab on a tip line or dries.

A huge congratulations to the Menteith Ospreys, they all set the standard on the lake! We would also like to thank the competition organisers and the fishery staff. It’s great to see a great competition being held North of the Mince and Tattie line.

Tight lines to all for the rest of the competition calendar 🎣

Scottish Open at Lake of Menteith 18/08/24

The Lake of Menteith held its annual Scottish Open competition yesterday. This is the 4th year this competition has been running and it’s always a great competition to take part in. The competition is completely c/r where you note down the time of your first two fish in the event of a tie.

Conditions on the day were windy with sunny spells- not exactly ideal conditions. Most of the boats motored to the Cages but a sprinkling went to the Roadshore and the Malling.

Top three rods on the day were:

1. Brian Kennedy 12 fish
2. Nigel Burns 12 fish
3. Robbie Gibson 11 fish

Congratulations to Brian on his win! Brian mainly fished in the Cages with Robbie. They both used a 6 foot slow midge tip and washing line tactics to catch their fish. After speaking to several people, it seemed that twiddling was the best overall method. Dries did make an appearance in the catch returns, but it didn’t seem to be a consistent method throughout the day.

We look forward to the Greys 4 man team in a couple of weeks and wish everyone the best of luck for that.

Tight lines 🎣

Lake of Menteith Head of the Airflo Open (13 June 2024)

This post is a report on today’s success in the Airflo Open. We were absolutely delighted to get a 1st place finish in our heat. All the lads caught well on the methods found in practice. Our best methods were: various CDCs on the top and pulling dabblers and bo***es on sinking lines. None of us really cracked the usual twiddling game in practice.

In general, olive in various shades seemed to be a standout colour. Most areas produced fish for the team and other competitors throughout practice and in the competition.

Well done to all the other qualifiers in the heat! Also a “thank you” to Airflo and their team for setting up a great competition! The Lake is fishing really well just now and it’s reflected in the catch returns.

Tight lines 🎣🎣

Saturday 8th of June 2024- Scottish Club Championships Heat 5 (Lake of Menteith)

Afternoon folks, just a post regarding last nights heat of the Scottish Clubs at the Lake of Menteith.

With the team being faced with windy conditions upon arrival it was always going to be tricky. We utilised slow sinking tip lines with a fab on the point and cormorant patterns on the droppers.

Our main areas were Gateside Bay, Malling Shore and the Road Shore with a good head of fish in each of these areas.

Congratulations to Gordon, Bob and Bradie who finished top spot on the night as well as taking the top 3 individual placings! We would also like to congratulate the other teams on the night who qualified Leslie and Glenrothes AC, Black Bull FF, and Balbeggie AC! 🎣

We would also like to thank all of the SANACC officials for running another great match last night. It is very much appreciated the time the officials give up to run these events!

Saturday 1st of June 2024- Scottish Club Championships Heat 4 (Lake of Menteith)

Hi folks, just a post regarding last nights heat of the Scottish Clubs at the Lake of Menteith. At the start of the night conditions were bright with a steady ripple so the first few hours were sure to be a bit tricky.

The tactics we employed were slow sinking tip lines with a fab on the point and changing between nymphs and cormorants on the droppers. As the sun started to drop a bit and conditions got a bit duller a switch to dries brought the team a few extra fish.

Our main areas were the top end of cages, the burnmouth and there was also a good head of fish on the malling shore.

Congratulations to Glencoe FF who put in an impressive performance to take 1st place and to FNF Falcons, and Port Glasgow A who also qualified last night! 🎣

We would also like to thank all of the SANACC officials for running another great match last night!

Last weekend two of the team fished Clywedog. The fishing was incredible and big numbers were caught. Main areas were the cove in the Elbid basin, the Cages and the small dam up the top end of the lake.

Successful methods were the b**g, dries, nymphing on slow tips and bo***es on a di8. A couple of nice browns were also caught. We also managed to catch a couple of “Spartic” trout.

We highly recommend visiting Clywedog and would recommend the Hafren Forrest Hideaway for accommodation.

Hi folks, just a wee post in relation to the Scottish National Heat. Yesterday Bradie and Robbie fished Lintrathen and both managed to qualify for the Semi-final in tough conditions and in a very good field of anglers.

Well done to all the other qualifiers and especially to the Menteith Ospreys for collectively qualifying in that heat. It must also be said that the SANACC officials are absolutely critical to our competition scene and are greatly appreciated for the time and effort they put in by all competitors.

Conditions on the day of the heat were far from perfect- bright sunshine and windy. We both put in a lot of practice and were confident that we would manage to qualify for the Semi-final.

The tactics that we used were either a Slow Glass 40 plus or slow sinking midge tips. B***y or fab on the point and nymphs/cormorants on the droppers. The main fish holding areas were: Stockie Bay, Back of the Island and the Sawmill Bank.

To end on a slightly negative note, it must be said that Lintrathen has the potential to become a great fishery. However, the lack of stocking for the size of it and the temperamental engines on the boats prevent it from becoming a “go to” fishery for everyone.

Bradie and Robbie are off to Clywedog next week for some good fishing and a few well deserved 🍺. Tight lines everyone 🎣.

Fario Sunburst Candy B***y
https://www.anglingactive.co.uk/fario-sunburst-candy-man-booby.html

Fario Sunburst & Chartreuse FAB
https://www.anglingactive.co.uk/fario-sunburst-and-chartreuse-fab.html

Fario Red Holo Ice Dub Cormorant
https://www.anglingactive.co.uk/fario-red-holo-ice-dub-cormorant.html

Saturday 20 April 2024- Fastmail Pairs (Lake of Menteith)

Hi everyone, just a wee post regarding today’s heat of the Fastmail Pairs at the Lake of Menteith. The conditions on arrival were flat calm and intermittent sun and cloud. Brad and Adam went to the Kates Brae area, and Robbie and Jake went to Malling Burn. Brad and Adam’s plan of attack paid off because they were in for 10:29 🎣🎣. Considering it was Adam’s first competition, it was a brilliant achievement and they gained a well deserved 1st place. Robbie and Jake went from area to area with not much success until spotting rising fish in the middle of the Rookery. Eight fish were quickly caught, and they made the beach at 11:15 for a 2nd place finish.

Tactics were pulling 🐍🐍 on fast glasses and Di3s. I appreciate that many people do not like them, but they are highly effective and are great for a quick bag up.

We all went back out for a jolly after weighing in and found washing line tactics on a 6 foot slow to be consistent in the areas mentioned. Spotting risers and covering them was a common theme in our catches.

Many thanks to Phil and the Lake for making it another memorable comp. Tight lines 🎣🎣🎣

Friday 29th March 2024- Pleasure day (Lake of Menteith) Brad and Robbie.

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is well and raring to go for the new season ahead. The purpose of this post is to give a report on yesterday’s outing at the Lake of Menteith. We will be reporting more on our outings this year. This may be of benefit for the anglers who are fishing the first heat of the National at the Lake.

The conditions on arrival were overcast, slight wind and mild, which meant plenty of buzzers were hatching. After a few conversations around the car park, we decided to head to the Butts and start our day there. On arrival it was confirmed that it was a good decision because there were numerous fish sipping away at the hatching buzzers (noticeably jet black). The method employed was a washing line with 3 black buzzers and a buoyant fly on the point - either a small suspended buzzer or fab. We steadily caught in the open water down to International Bay and had some absolute crackers (photos are attached).

We decided to bounce around the Lake and found fish tight to the shore in the Butts, Todds, the Gap (unusually between the two islands) and Hotel Bay. We found these fish to be more willing to take our flies than the fish in the open water. The fish in open water are educated and will not think twice about moving past your fly to intercept a real buzzer😂. Many swear words were uttered in the pursuit of these fish.

We found that keeping on the move instead of “camping” out in open water was beneficial. We returned a respectable 31 fish between us and, most importantly, had a great laugh.

We hope to see you all out on the water. Tight lines 🎣

01/04/2023 Greys Pairs Heat- Eden Springs

Hi folks, just a wee write up on the Greys Pairs heat at Eden Springs. However, before the report, I will give some background to this great competition. The Greys Pairs, formerly known as the “Scierra Pairs”, is a competition in which you can enter with a friend and fish according to fishery rules. It means a multitude of different methods and tactics can be used by all to achieve their intended bag limit of fish. It is a great competition for those who like to use other methods that deviate from the usual “international rules” competitions. It also provides a stepping stone into competition fishing for beginners if they are more familiar with large and weighted patterns. This years final is being held at Llynn Brenig in Wales.

Four members of Balfron were booked in for the heat at Eden Springs: Robbie and Jake as a pair and Bradie and Brad as the other pair. The limit is set at 8 fish at this venue. Any fish estimated to be over 6lbs had to be left in the water until a marshal made it out to the boat to weigh the fish. Twelve pairs were competing in the heat for the top two positions to qualify for the final.

Three of us managed to get in some practice the day before and concluded that the top area was behind Marshall Island. The best tactics were pulling lures on a fast glass and a b**g with cat bugs. The gameplan for both pairs was to fish behind Marshall Island with one person on the b**g and the other pulling on a fast glass.

Robbie and Jake managed to get the quickest bag up, managing their 8 fish limit by 10:31. The game plan was executed with Robbie catching four on the b**g, including a 7lbs 3oz rainbow, and Jake catching four on a fast glass and snakes.

Bradie and Brad only had two fish at this point. However, the lack of fish was quickly put to rest with the landing of six fish in quick succession from the shallows. In amongst the six fish was a larger rainbow of 7lbs 9oz which helped boost the bag weight and gave them 8 fish allowing them to return to the jetty at 11:45am.

Overall, it was a great competition with both team pairings making it through to the final at Llynn Brenig. Many thanks to Phil Dixon and the team at Eden Springs for making it a fantastic heat.

We would like to take the time to thank everyone who has taken the time to like the page over the past few weeks it is very much appreciated.

The page is a way for us to show how our team of young enthusiastic competition anglers are progressing in the UK lochstyle competition scene.

On Sunday 5 of the teams young anglers entered their first competion of the year a Scottish disabled fly fishing team fundraiser at Millhall Reservoir.

Faced with tough conditions upon arriving with very little ripple and bright conditions forecasted made for a tough days fishing for all competitors. Some members of our team had cracked it early on in the morning and where sitting in a good position going into the afternoon.

Robert was leading the way with 9 fish finding success on both pulling and twiddling tactics while 3 other members of the team had all found success on pulling.

The afternoon seen a more difficult session with fish starting to move out due to the amount of angling pressure. With the fish moving out and the freshly stocked fish all been caught early doors it was just a case of persivering.

At the end of the match it was apparent the lads had done well catching consistantly throughout the afternoon to produce good numbers. The team was delighted to hear that we took the top 4 places in the competiton against some taleneted competitors on an incredibly difficult day.

We would like to thank all the staff at Milhall Reservoir and the SDFFA for running a great event that was enjoyed by all.

1st place Robert Gibson with 20 points (13 fish)
2nd place Brad Gair with 16 points (11 fish)
3rd place Connor Wales with 16 points (10 fish)
4th place Bradie Heggie with 15 points (9 fish)