FISHING NOW ALLOWED IN SCOTLAND AFTER COVID-19

On the 28th of May the Scottish Government announced its first phase of opening back up the country after the 10 week lockdown restrictions. Thankfully for all the anglers out there it included the addition of fishing as a suitable outdoor activity.

We are advised to only travel within a five mile radius of our homes although this is only a guideline and not law, clearly stated by the first minister herself. We are strongly advising clients to bear this in mind and to follow the guidelines. This includes social distancing measures.

With that in mind as of Monday we will be opening back up and offering tuition and guiding services in the locality whilst also practicing strict hygeine measure to prevent the spread of the virus.

You can be assured that your health and safety is always our priority and in preparation of getting back to work our Head Guide has sat an online course from the World Health Organisation in the infection prevention and control of Coronavirus (COVID-19).



All tackle and equipment will be wiped down with anti bacterial spray upon the session ending.

Where possible we would advise all clients to use or bring their own tackle and waders etc. This also applies to food and drinks for the foreseeable future.

With the rivers opening today there has already been some great Salmon catches and with them reming untouched for over two months I suspect the fishing to be insanely good for the coming weeks so don’t hesitate to get in touch and get back out on the water! Jus think how little flies all those fish have seen in our rivers and lochs – how exciting!

Tight lines to all the Scottish anglers venturing back out today!


Fly Fishing for Golden Dorado South America – Golden Dorado Fly Fishing Film

Fly fishing for Golden Dorado in South America is something I have always dreamed about. A bucket list item if you wish!

I recently managed to make this dream come true thank to a man named Felix! Felix works closely with the Don Jaoquin River Lodge,  A Golden Dorado Fly Fishing Lodge in Corrientes Argentina based on the Rio Parana (South Americas second largest river) & the Rio Corriente.

This is a slick operation. Owners Diego and Ramon Salonet have been running the fishing lodge for five years and have a team of captains and guides delivering a great experience to customers from all across the globe!

The lodge was outstanding. The rooms were very comfortable, great beds.

The food was excellent! We arrived back to the lodge every night to a three course meal. Made with locally sourced ingredients and local dishes including the delicious Argentinian meat!

Washed down with Imperial Lager or a Malbec from the famous Mendoza region, it was a great way to end the evening after a day of total carnage on the river!

The fishing! Wow – the video only shows a little piece of what we experienced.

We caught Plenty of Dorado over there days up to 9lbs. I could never tire of this species. They hit fast and so hard they will rip the line out your hands! As soon as they are hooked they are up in the air jumping, it is such fun species to catch!

We also caught some other species including the stunning Surubi Catfish, Pacu, Savolo, Palometas (Piranha) & Pira Pita.

This short film was pieced together pretty opportunisitcally with a half day sacrificed at the end of the trip as the aching limbs and tennis elbow were taking their toll on me. Until then the fish goggles were well and truly stuck on!

We witnessed some cool wildlife whilst fishing also. Capybaras, Wild Boar, Charancho birds, Parrots,  huge Toads, wall climbing frogs, glow in the dark Beetles and Anacondas!

Our guide Chuillito – a legend, huge thank to him! He put us on the fish from day one! My first day was my most productive with over 20 Dorado to the boat – what a way to start the trip!

Special thanks to Felix our host, what a guy! He collected us in Buenos Aires and transported us seven hours north to the lodge. Stopping on route to experience the local foods, Millanesa, Empanadas and a of course – good beer.

He educated us on the local culture. Introduced us to the local alcoholic refreshment of Coca-Cola and Fernet Branca, served with lots of ice – wow! Also providing us with lots of humour throughout the day to keep us entertained also.

Our first night we arrived we ended up in the local town of Esquina for a few drinks and witnessed the start of their carnival celebrations. The flag movement!

There were hundreds of people on the street with reggaeton music blasting out of huge car sound systems. Guys singing on top of open top lorry decks. A sea of green and white, everyone was wearing the towns colours.

Typically as Scots we joke about always seeing a Glasgow Celtic football strip when on holiday and Argentina was no different!

We came away from this trip with such positive experience for the sport of Fly fishing for Golden Dorado. The Don Jaoquin River Lodge, Argentine people and developed a real sense of how vibrant the culture is in South America.

What a species, what a trip and what a country!

Spring & Early Summer Season Fishing Scotland Report 2018

It’s Mid July! We’re half way through the fishing season in Scotland and I find myself with an office day… I must update our blog!

Firstly apologies for the lack of content, we’ve been so busy! I hope our Instagram has kept you excited with all things fishy in Scotland!

March started off well for us with a Salmon landed for my American guest!

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Luke with a Springer from the River Tummel!

This one had been in the river a few weeks and was taken from a very fruitful lie for us this season. We had just lost one here the week before – same fish? Who knows!

Despite the well documented poor spring run of Salmon, we’ve had our best season ever! April into Mid May saw us land 11 Salmon for our guests and only lose two!

The biggest of the bunch was this 16 1/2lb stunner for returning guest Brant (Lefty) Weil.

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Brant with our seasons largest Salmon so far!

Regular readers of our blog may recognise Brant fished with me on the Tweed last October and also managed a Salmon on the fly!

It is fair to say the Spring Trout fishing hasn’t been as productive as recent seasons. This was partly due to the cold start to spring.  This followed a surge in temperature which saw a couple of weeks of great fishing before it fell away.

We still managed some stunning Browns though!

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His first ever Brown Trout – bravo sir!

Here my English guest displays a pig of Brown Trout! This was caught nymphing in early April amidst a sleet shower!

This Trout was landed 500+ yards downstream of where we hooked it! Yes, his first ever Brown Trout would you believe it!

German guest Stefan made the most of a lift in water and topped off his Salmon from the Tay (after losing four in one day!) with this yellow bellied beauty!

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Butter bellies!

The Grayling fishing in early pre-spawn was great! We haven’t seen the numbers we would normally see, but the quality is excellent!

 

We managed some epic fish to 2lb 10oz for our guests and head guide Callum Conner managed a stunning 2lb 13oz Tweed Horse!

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Early season the guides get to fish!

 

The Pike fishing through late winter and spring was ever consistent. We managed lots of Pike up to the 15lb mark but no sign of the big mammas!

As the water warm up and the lack of rain continues, the Pike fishing will really come into its own.

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Chunky one for Paul visiting from the USA

Here is a nice double caught last week for our American Guest Paul.

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What a fighter this one was!

And another American guest Catherine with a nice one too.

As we come into the warmest part of the year we are still experiencing low and warm water conditions on our rivers which makes fishing conditions a bit more challenging.

Hopefully there is some rain soon to freshen things up. I have a good feeling about later summer and fall fishing this year!

Tight Lines!

Callum Conner

Trout & Salmon Front Cover!

First of all Happy New Year to all our readers! As the title suggests, this is my first published front cover image!

I was delighted to get a call from Trout & Salmon magazine about one of our Grayling images they’d like to feature on the front cover of the February issue of the magazine.

Trout & Salmon is undoubtedly the UK’s No.1 fly fishing magazine and features some of the best in the business in their appropriate fields.

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                                             Yeah boy!

It needed a little tweaking to fit so I had to wait anxiously before receiving a reply from Andrew Flitcroft that it was all good!

It’s been a goal of mine in recent years to achieve this so I am delighted to finally get there. I’ve had a few inside the magazine but including a double spreader but this is the first front cover!

The images is a first Grayling for a client I guided on the River Teviot. It is definitely one of my favourite Grayling images!

Also great to see our sponsor Loop Tackle on front cover too!

What a positive way to start 2018!