Spring Newsletter
DDAC Spring Newsletter 2010
Dear Member, - Soon it will be time to get the gear out and get ready to enjoy another season of good fishing. This newsletter contains information which might be useful to you over the coming year.
Annual General meeting (AGM)
The AGM will be held this year at the Argyll Hotel, Dunoon, on Tuesday 2nd February starting promptly at 7.30. Please come along.
Proposals from your committee were outlined in the last autumn newsletter. These are Subscriptions will increase as decided at last year’s AGM:
1. Ordinary £75 – senior* £32.50 – junior £21
*(senior members must have at least 25 years of full membership)
New members entrance fees are: ordinary £95 – Junior £10
2. Catch limit at reservoir to be reduced to 3 fish
Subs are due in advance by 1 April and should be paid at the AGM or to the membership secretary, Andrew Leech at Purdies in Argyll St. Please make cheques payable to Dunoon and District Angling Club. As usual members may be fined if payment is not made before 1 May and membership will be terminated if subs are not paid by 1 June.
No member can fish until the subscription has been paid and Mr Leech will ask for your card.
With your new card you will also get a new car sticker and I would ask you to put this on your windscreen. These are very helpful to our watchers and can save a lot of time. Membership cards are valid to the end of February 2009.
Returns
The official return must go to The Scottish Office by 1st December so we need returns in by mid November for processing. However, many members did not send in a return at all and some are putting them in late. Also at the reservoir, many permits are not returned in the box or to Purdies. Please try to get returns in on time and make sure you record your catch at the reservoir and at the Lochan. It might be a good idea to keep a “fish diary” showing where and when you fished and your catch. This helps a lot when you are completing your return. We used a new format for the returns this year and I hope you found it helpful.
Next Year
The coming season ahead is well organised with plans to stock the waters much as was done last year. Convenors for the waters and members of the committee are proposed as follows
Reservoir Lee Lindop tel. 704 528
Loch Loskin David Morrison tel. 705 249
Loch Tarsan Karl Ferguson tel. 870 378
Loch Eck and R. Cur Jim Chapman tel. 704 550
R. Massan Paul Maclean tel. 840 267
R. Finnart Stan Share* tel. 810 228
R. Ruel Russell Buchanan tel. 704 688
Outings David Lilley tel. 810 260
Fly Tying Jim Park* tel. 830 686
Youth Convenor Jake Chambers tel. 703 177
Health & Safety Convenor Peter Menzies tel. 701 443
Member at large Harry Lindop tel. 703 036
* Non committee members
Officers of the club are proposed as follows.
President Colin MacDonald tel. 701 404
Vice President Karl Ferguson tel. 840 687
Treasurer* Ian Henderson tel. 701 117
Secretary Jim Sharp tel. 830 748
Membership Sec. Andrew Leech tel. 703 232
Members and officers will be recommended for approval at the AGM.
* to be confirmed at AGM
Electronic communication
Please let us know if you would like to receive newsletters etc electronically. If you would, please give an e-mail address to Andrew when you renew your sub. If enough people want this we could send future newsletters by e-mail or put them on the web site. Hard copies could still be sent by post to people who would prefer that option. This would be good economics for the club.
Tight Lines and a good season to
Jim Sharp (Hon Sec)
Attachments
Convenors’ reports, Outings details and order forms, 2010 activities.
2010 ACTIVITIES
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Tues 2nd Feb |
A.G.M. Argyll Hotel 7.30 p.m. |
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Sat 24th April |
First Tarsan Competition |
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Sat 15th May |
Second Tarsan Competition |
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Tues 18th May |
Boats in L. Eck 10 a.m. and litter clean |
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Sat 22rd May |
Outing to Lake of Menteith |
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Sun 23rd May |
Junior Day at Knockdow Estate |
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Sat 5th June |
Third Tarsan Competition |
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Wed 10th June |
Dunrod match ------ to be confirmed |
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Sat 19th June |
Tarsan One day Competition |
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Friday 25th June 7pm to 11pm |
Tarsan Moth Competition |
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Sat 26th June |
Outing to Loch Leven |
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Wed 14th July |
Over 50s Competition – may be changed to weekend |
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Sat 24th July |
Fourth Tarsan Competition |
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Sat 31st July |
Outing to Linlithgow Loch |
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Sat 14th August |
Fifth Tarsan Competition |
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Sat 4th Sept |
Outing to Loch Carron |
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Sun 19th Sept |
Junior Competition |
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Sun 26th Sept – |
D. Pittman Reservoir Competition |
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Sun 10th Oct |
Boats away L. Tarsan 10.00 a.m. |
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Wed 3rd Nov |
Boats away L Eck, 10.00a.m. |
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Sat 27th Nov |
Annual Dinner Argyll Hotel 6.30 for 7.00 p.m. |
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Tues 1st Feb 2011 |
AGM 2011 Argyll Hotel 7.30 p.m. |
Competition Arrangements
10 fish limit at all Tarsan Competitions
Loch Tarsan : Commences twelve noon on each of the five days (all Saturdays) with the weigh in at the boathouse at 6 p.m.
Tarsan One day : (For members who have not won a club trophy) Dawn to weigh in at 5 p.m.
Loch Tarsan Moth : Bank fishing commencing at 7 p.m. with weigh in at the boathouse at 11p.m.
Over 50s : Boat and bank fishing 10.00 a.m. to weigh in at the boathouse at 4 p.m.
Reservoir (Pitman) Competition : Dawn to weigh in at the car park at 5 p.m. each day. Permit must be obtained and paid for at Purdies of Argyll for your chosen day. You cannot compete without a permit. Only first 5 fish to count.
Social Outings : Fishing 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Non Competition catch Limits
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Tarsan 5 |
Reservoir 3 |
Loskin 3 |
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All Rivers – 1st salmon and 2 sea trout |
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Fly Tying
Fly tying started last year (2009) and runs every two weeks until 11th March 2010. Come along and join us for some learning and some fun. Dates in 2010 are January 14 & 28th, February 11 & 25 and March 11th. Held at Community Hall, Edward Street. Starts at 7:30pm. Jim Park overseeing.
Finnart Report - Stan Share
A good year for the wee Finnart with plenty fish, plenty rain, a few more genuine holiday fishers and very few cowboys fishing on
one outdated permit. There was also less shore fishing early in the season to catch spent fish recovering from spawning in the river. I believe this caused an earlier run than usual with lovely clean fish running in early June and July and weighing 1 ½ pounds. No big fish were reported this year. I believe about 40 fish were caught up to 2 ½ pounds and mostly returned, especially late fish. With running earlier the fish were starting to darken in Mid August to September. The heavy rain and two months spates in mid August to September giving high water, hopefully took the fish up to higher spawning pools and I requested anglers not to fish there. I am trying to encourage fly fishing, more especially among younger anglers and reminding them about serious conservation and how to safely return any fish caught. These young lads are our future anglers and once well “hooked” they will fish for a lifetime. For safety reasons all really young anglers are given permits only when accompanied by an adult or parent to keep watch. No mink were seen this year but the usual wildlife was seen. This included deer, foxes, feral cats, and one pine martin together with several birds of prey and the usual dippers, herons and other wildfowl.
Lochan Report - Davie Morrison
The season started, as usual, with a bang with 8 people catching 33 fish on the first day. As with the trend nowadays, 18 of the 33 were returned. In April, although cold and dark for most of the month, 145 fish were caught and 117 were returned. In June and July the weather turned very warm and slowed down the fishing with totals of about 60 or 70 per month. Most were released. With the weather being warm the evening fishing was also poor. Then August arrived and the rain seemed never to stop. Day after day there was heavy rain and it was dull and miserable. This was reflected in the fishing with the totals being down to the 20s. With no evening fish at all, August was a very dismal month. Surprisingly, September came back with a bang at the end of the season. Totals went up and people were fishing even in the evening session. At this time a sea trout of 2lbs 5 oz was caught making the total for the year of 4 to 5 caught throughout the season. The number of fish returned was high and this should leave a good head of fish for next year.
Massan Report - Paul Maclean
2009 has been an encouraging season for the River Massan. Small shoals of finnock were present in the system from late May. Much larger shoals of fish began to venture into the lower and mid stretches in mid June following some small spates. Once the river levels settled, shoals were often visible in most of the pools and in slower stretches of river that offered the fish some protection and cover.
As anticipated, June and July offered the most consistent sport with anglers fishing at night reporting good catches of sea trout with fish averaging the 2 pound mark with larger fish distributed throughout the system. This productive time of the year offers the chance of a tide fresh Sea Trout that will give a memorable fight on light tackle. Whilst checking pools during the day I observed much larger Sea Trout in low water conditions tightly shoaled with smaller fish. The best capture during July was a superb 4 pounder closely followed by fish of 3 pounds and 2 pounds all taken during the same session on fly. Bait anglers also experienced good sport from the pots and falls with fish to 2.5 pounds reported when the conditions were favourable.
Early August proved to be a frustrating period with fish that had been resident for a number of weeks proving very difficult to tempt on all methods due to the prolonged period of low water. In mid August and September we had some periods of very heavy rain and a number of club members enjoyed some good sport in the spate conditions. The common spate stream adage of being in the ‘right place at the right time’ was never more evident as shoals of sea trout took advantage of the high water conditions and ran through the river to the upper reaches in good numbers. Experienced club members used these conditions to their advantage to fish the upper stretches and on occasions catch 3 to 4 fish in quick succession. I had one report from a regular Massan angler that he took 3 fish in 3 casts the best of which was touching the 5 pound mark. All of the fish were tide bright and all took a large fly presented across and down in very aggressive fashion. Once river levels had settled, the fishing became more challenging and only occasional catches were reported with most fish coming to small flies when the light had gone.
October produced a number of freshets and spates. From my visits to the river angling pressure was very light towards the end of the season. I only saw the occasional angler during October. I encourage all members to give this productive time of year a try as fresh sea trout were present in the Eachaig and Massan systems right up to the last day of the season on the 31st October. This time of year also offers a very good chance of a larger, late running fish in high water.
Grilse and Salmon were absent from the catch reports this season but I am aware of grilse being observed in the lower stretches in mid July and much larger fish rolling over spinners and lures in some of the deeper pools. At the time of writing the 2009 season catch returns are being collated so this outlook may change over the coming weeks.
In summary, the 2009 season has been generally successful on the River Massan and those anglers that have persevered through blank days, nights and midges have eventually been rewarded with some lovely Sea Trout when the conditions have been right. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the majority of anglers who exercised restraint and safely returned large numbers of fish to the river following capture. Your efforts are complimented by the encouraging numbers of smaller sea trout and parr in the river this season which bodes very well for the future.
Ruel Report - Colin MacDonald
The first runs of fish on the Ruel started late July with the first fish being caught in August. The extremely wet months of July and August kept the water levels high and allowed fish to travel far upstream.
It is very encouraging that fish are now regularly being seen in the river by anglers, albeit there is still only a small percentage of the membership fishing the rivers. The Ruel is a lovely river and well suited to fly fishing.
There were 19 members that fished the Ruel during the season and catches were 21 sea trout for 33lbs, only one of which was kept weighing 4lbs. Grilse caught 5 for a total weight of 26lbs. Two grilse were kept for 10lbs. Two salmon were caught weighing 16lbs. One of the salmon was returned.
I am delighted to see members and visitor’s alike returning fish and I would ask that members continue to return salmon and especially hen fish where possible. Argyll Fisheries Trust Biologist -Alan Kettle White and his team are continuing with the smolt surveys in the estuary and again last year it showed healthy numbers of smolts both trout and salmon present in the system which bodes well for the future.
Alan Kettle White is planning to attend the AGM to discuss the benefits of catch and release and discuss the proposals for the future to try and improve and maintain fish stocks in the Ruel system.
Reservoir Report - Lee Lindop
Looking at this year’s figures it has been the best year ever. Approximately 1550 fish were stocked, 1850 were caught and 600 returned. This is due to our members adopting a catch and release policy which maintains excellent fishing throughout the year. So thank you. The fishing has been good all year and this will hopefully continue next year as we will be adding an extra stocking. This will hopefully increase our permit sales as the club’s waters were recently highlighted in one of the top fishing magazines. Many thanks to all our members who helped with the work parties and all those involved with the work done on the gravel bank, especially the watchers who supervised. This years Pittman was won using a sinking line and boobies which is a method that works well during the winter months.
Cur & Loch Eck Report - Jim Chapman
A mixed season weather wise, despite Loch Eck and the River Cur having it’s own micro weather climate, it has apart from a couple of heavy spates kept the river flow more or less level. During the spates in August , salmon and sea trout were reported to be moving through the Echaig system with an 8lb Salmon and several sea trout being caught, the best being 3 lb. This continued through September and October with some fine salmon being seen at the head of the loch. At the time of writing, the numbers of Salmon & Sea trout caught are unknown but it appears that anglers trolling have had a reasonable season.
The numbers of members & visitors fishing the River Cur increased in September & October with reported catches of small to medium Brown trout in plentiful supply, several Sea trout, but no Salmon being caught in the river.
Please if fishing with a worm and you intend to return the fish caught, use barbless hooks, or if the hook is well down cut it off and return the fish.
The fields around the River Cur still give a varied display of Flora & Fauna, and in the summer months a good supply of insect life , but the number of fish seen feeding on the surface is still disappointing. Despite this, the display of wild flowers and bird life is worth the walk.
One or two members have asked me the limits of the clubs fishing on the River Cur. As a reminder I have include it in this report.
Salmon, Sea Trout , Brown Trout. 1st May - 31st Oct. Any legal method of fishing may be used. catch limit 1st Salmon. & 2 Sea Trout. Fishing Rights extend from Loch Eck on the East Bank approximately 1.5 miles upstream to the Invernoaden Burn. Members wishing to fish the West Bank up to and beyond the Glenbranter Bridge should contact the Forestry Commission at Glenbranter. There is no Sunday fishing on River Cur or Loch Eck. Many thanks to the Club members for a successful litter clean of Loch Eck, and for putting the boats in and out also the “Watchers” for their vigilance and boat bailing.
Tarsan Report - Karl Ferguson
Loch Tarsan received the first of two stockings mid March and once again the fish were spread out by use of the boats. Come opening day the fish had dispersed to most areas of the loch. Fishing early season was patchy mainly due to strong easterly winds keeping the fish deep and hard to locate. Best results were had fishing black or white lures on sinking lines.
Fishing started to improve mid May with some good baskets taken during the competitions. It has to be said that these were once again poorly attended. For 2010 all Tarsan competitions will go back to Saturdays. By mid June and warming temperatures the sinking lines could at last be put away. Fish returned to the shallows and were more than happy to take flies pulled through the surface. The second stocking also took place mid June with some excellent fish to 1.5 lb being introduced. During July temperatures rose up into the mid 20’s which made fishing during the day very difficult. Best results were had on warm evenings with good numbers of fish rising freely and willing to take. August saw heavy rain which raised the loch to the point that bank fishing from some shores was nearly impossible. For those that persevered fishing was good with fish taking various patterns close to the edge. September continued to fish well during the warmer days with the shallows at the top end holding lots of fish which at times were stuffed with minnows or freshwater mussels.
The best fish that was reported to me over the season was 2lb 4oz.
Outings for 2010 - David Lilley
We have booked four venues for 2010 , Loch Leven, Linlithgow Loch, The Lake of Menteith, and Loch Carron, reserving 8 boats at each except Loch Carron who can only give us 7 boats at the moment, in anticipation that the uptake will be similar to 2000. Even at this early stage we were not able to get the weekends we wanted at Linlithgow and Loch Carron but a compromise has been agreed. The fisheries need us to confirm our reservations as soon as possible in the new year; therefore could you please get your Booking forms in as soon as you get the Newsletter.
We have not received the 2010 rates for all of the fisheries but hopefully the £22/24 we budgeted for last year will be about right. As last year, we will adjust the final cost at each venue. For the last two years a generous member has donated the prizes which have helped to keep the cost down. The Alex Cameron Cup will be decided on the weight of the first 3 fish caught at each event and the Max Weight over the 4 venues.
DETAILS OF THE OUTINGS
LAKE OF MENTEITH Sat 22 May 2010.
We have maintained a May slot at Menteith for some years now as it is always popular . The water carries a population of natural brown Trout and is stocked every week with 11/2 to 2lb Rainbow. Apart from the fishing the scenery and wild life are exceptional.
LOCH LEVEN Sat 26 June 2010.
Loch Leven is a renowned fishery with a unique strain of natural Brown Trout supplemented with a limited number of Rainbow. There is a fleet of clinker built boats complete with outboards. Leven is a large body of water 3500 acres but shallow, with an average depth of 12ft making it an ideal fishing water. Although Leven is a little further than we normally travel it has direct Motorway access from Port Glasgow onwards. LINLITHGOW LOCH Sat 31 July 2010.
We have given Linlithgow a try this year as, apart from a blip in 2008, previous outings have given good sport. The fishery is stocked with Rainbow but does carry a small population of wild Brownies. The loch is pleasantly set and we look forward to a relaxed days sport.
LOCH CARRON Sat 4 September 2010
We had two trips to Carron last year and a number of members have requested another outing for 2010 .We tried for the end of August but had to compromise and accept 7 boats and the first week end in September. This is no great problem but an earlier date would have been preferred.
Booking Form for 2010 OUTINGS
Would you please indicate your preference for all or some of the following venues below. There will be a booking fee of £5 as usual, deducted from the final payment on the day.
I wish to attend the LAKE OF MENTEITH outing on Saturday 22 May 2010
Name -----------------------------------------------------------
Booking fee paid -------------------------------
Fishing from 10 am to 5 pm.
I wish to attend the LOCH LEVEN outing on Saturday 26 June 2010.
Name ----------------------------------------------------------
Booking fee paid -------------------------------
Fishing from 10 am to 5pmm
I wish to attend the LINLITHGOW LOCH outing on Saturday 31 July 2010
Name ------------------------------------------------------------
Booking fee paid -------------------------------
Fishing from 10 am to 5pm.
I wish to attend the LOCH CARRON outing on Saturday 4 September 2010
Name ------------------------------------------------------------
Booking fee paid -------------------------------
Fishing from 10 am to 5pm.
IMPORTANT :- Please return the above as soon as possible so that I can secure extra boats if we should need them.
Name ------------------------------------------------------------
Address -------------------------------------------------------------
Tel No ------------------------------------------------------------
Signed ------------------------------------------------------------
All correspondence to
SOCIAL CONVENER: David Lilley The Mount, Ardentinny , Argyll. PA 23 8TR
Tel/Fax 01369810260 Email ililley @ aol .com
