Walter Leask Cup
REASONABLE START TO 2009 SEASON ON SWANNAY
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Willie Smith wins the first event of the year |
The first event of the 2009 calendar for the fly fishermen is the Walter Leask Cup, and this was fished from 2pm to 6pm last Sunday. Not a bad day weatherwise, until about 4.30pm, when an absolute downpour for about 20 minutes soaked everything in its path
Prospects were pretty difficult to determine beforehand, as Swannay had been lightly fished, but those who had ventured afloat had good sport if the fish were up and feeding on the midge hatching, or very difficult if they were not. We must be an ageing population of anglers at the OTFA, for at the site prior to the start, the discussion was more about their ailments than the fishing! Nevertheless, despite the tenuous elbows, trapped nerves, gout, sciatica and stiff necks, the 36 anglers still managed to put a good few fish on the scalesTop rod on the day, and by a considerable margin, was Willie Smith with a cracking basket of Swannay trout, 5 fish for 6lb 9ozs, 4 of which were over a pound, so he could win other trophies with that bag. Closest to Willie was Jim Adams with 4 for 4lb 13, which included the heaviest fish of the day, a dark specimen shall we say, of 2lb. Other good efforts came from Raymond Miller and Stewart Wood with 5 for 4lb 9ozs and 4 for 4lb 5ozs respectively.
Tactics were not just the fast sinking lines and mini lures, Willie and a good few other anglers took their fish in shallow water with intermediate lines, so the fish were well spread out. About Jimmy Smith and the Island were where numerous fish were caught, and these areas seen heavy boat pressure. Other productive drifts were Loudenhill, Dale Shore, the Hatchery and Ernoo’s. Swannay is like no other loch in Orkney when it comes to successful fly patterns. You could literally fish the whole year with the same four or five on any line, and you wouldn’t go far wrong. They are the indispensable Ace of spades, Christmas Tree, Montana, Naked Spur, and variants thereof. Others which caught a few included the Bibio, Claret Bumble, Viva and Clan Chief Muddler.
It was good to see some new faces at the start of this new season, and even better to see that they all had fish to weigh in as well. As I heard one experienced angler explaining to one of them, ”For goodness sake don’t be frightened to ask the boys about anything you want to know, they will always give you the answer, though it might not be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but don’t let that put you off”. There is a week of rest now, and then back to Swannay for the hardest match of the year, an 8 hour shift from 12 to 8 next Sunday, better take a few extra Ibuprofens in the piece bag for that day!
KK
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