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The Police Sport Angling UK organised International between Scotland, England, Wales, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland was held at the Lake on the 31st August. The five fourteen man teams netted at total of 461 fish (rod average 6.6). 133 fish were dispatched. the average fish weight was 2lbs 15oz. The winners of the Match were Scotland (by a country mile) with 125 fish (rod average 8.9), with Wales in 2nd place on 87 (rod av. 6.2). The boats were very spread out during the match with Hotel Bay, Gateside Bay and Lochend all producing fish. Top bag on the day by one once was Englishman Des Plamer with 15 fish (his two weighed in fish weighed 7lbs 12oz). Brian Carnegie of Scotland caught 16 fish but his weighed in fish were a lot smaller). Top tactics on the day were a midge tip line – often with a booby on the tip. Dries were also effective. The winning team Scotland are shown above with Team Captain Roddy MacIntyre pictured centre front. Match Secretary Calum Fraser has the Halo.

We have one space left for the Scottish Open Championship at the Lake of Menteith on Saturday the 2nd of September. First come, first served. Please call 01877 385664.  Many of you have still to pay your £20 entry fee and fishing costs (£34). All the entry fees will be awarded in prizes so the pot looks to be standing at £860. The prize allocation will be assuming there are no call offs £440, 280 and 140 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. The winner will also get his name on the Ronnie Glass rainbow oil painting AKA the Trophy and to keep the painting for one year.

The competition will be fished from 9am to 5pm. Rules are as per the Scottish Club Rules with the exception that the competition will be fished as catch and release. If you want to keep fish just pay the extra in the morning. Anglers will be required to fill in their boat partners catch in the catch cards provided and the time of the first and second fish which will be used to seperate competitors in the event of a tie. The rules will be summarised on the day

“STUNNERS” AT MENTEITH

Sad to hear that we have lost Jim Mackie. Jim gave me his set of pipes when he stopped playing – for “as long as you play them he said”. They mean alot to me as they were Dalzell Steel Caledonian Pipe Band issue from the 60s and Dalzell is where I was brought into this world. Indebted to you Jim.

Stockies for the last few weeks (and there’s a few thousand more to go in) are absolute stunners in the 2 to 5lb weight range.

Best boat today was 25 on dries at Gateside.

2 more spanking new Coulams arrived today. Bringing our total to 20.

Plenty of hats in stock now – with the (soon to be old) logo.

The water temperature at 6ft yesterday was 18.5C and the clarity 3.1m.

The fish are still in the shallow areas as the heat appears to only have affected the top few feet. Fingers crossed it stays that way. During the day SPRA East Police Division were out and they had 180 fish with their 22 rods. Top bag was Jimmy McBride (I think he had 21?) on dries …mainly at the Malling shore.

In the evening International angler Robbie Gibson from Dundee was top rod in the FARIO Boat League. He was fishing at the Malling Burn with buzzers on a floater with a washing line set up.

Temperature at 6ft 11.7C and Secchi disk Clarity 2.2m

5 BOATS NOW AVAILABLEON SUNDAY 7TH DUE TO A CLUB CHANGING THEIR DATE

EVENING FISHING COMMENCED AT THE START OF MAY.

FARIO BOAT LEAGUE KICKS OFF ON WEDNESDAYS commencing 10th MAY 6pm. New entrants very welcome. Randomly allocated boat partners fished to scottish club rules except it is all catch and release (timing of the first fish caught used in theevent of a tie). Starting to get quite a few names coming forward but the more the merrier so get in touch with the fishery to let us know you want to fish it and more importantly be ready next Wed with your £20 joining fee (more details on the boat league page on the website) There are good prizes every night and they are well shared out.

Well the heat is getting turned up gradually and the warm spells are becoming more sustained. Great fishing on the Lake so far this week with the buzzers and the drys working well at Shear Point and round into International Bay, the Butts and Todhole and Malling Shore – and some funny numbers being caught. Small CDC shuttlecocks and black or green buzzers so I am told. However there are plenty of fish willing to take a yellow dancer.

A selection of photos below from local angler John Burgess from Arnprior. 5 absolute belters – all caught this year. Further down some great photographs from Colin Riach. Various shots from renowned photographer Colin Riach and my poor shot of the white wagtail with a mouthfull of buzzers from the shoreline in front of our cabin.

Spring started yesterday at Menteith with the 58th Opening Day at the Lake. There is a tradition of asking local Ladies and or VIPs to Open the Lake and this year we invited our Ukrainian refugees who hail from Bakhmut. A city name we are unfortunately familiar with for the wrong reasons. To bolster their spirits we thought it would be nice to acknowledge their VIP status in our community. So many many thanks to Mother and Daughter Olena and Darya Zakharchenko for doing us the honour of getting the season underway at the Lake. As is their tradition they imparted good luck to the anglers by wishing them “No tail, no scales”. Sounds to me a bit like telling actors to break a leg but Darya tells me it is to molify the water spirits by telling them that the fishermens intentions are good and no fish will be harmed:).

The weather was pretty kind – just a bit wetter than originally forecast and reports came back that there was plenty of fish feeding activity but they were focused on the prolific buzzer hatch. There were a lot of big catches and most folk reported that they were catching overwintered fish – although some did find some recently stocked fish. Top boat reported 42 fish netted but the average catch for anglers that stayed out for the full 8 hrs might have been around 10 (please mark in your catches folks).  Many anglers were in early to enjoy the company and the array of homemade soups (think Connor got the soup prize – but they all went down well) and hot pies.

We are extending the qualifying period for the Jimmy Nairn Memorial Bowl Best Photo. The winner gets a hand turned bowl made by his son inlaw (Chris Carroll) from local wood. Some of the photos shown below are contenders…..

The Lake has a number of new special offers for customers in 2023. The 10% Discount card is already proving to be very popular as is the 10% discount off for all new customers. The Seniors discount days have been popular for many years. More details below. Since this Flyer went out we have made a new agreement with the Lake Hotel which is immediately adjacent to us on the Lake Shore and can now be directly reached along the front. The Lake Hotel is offering 15% off to all our customers – you just have to say you were fishing with us. Thats a great deal.

So get the diary out and secure your fishing boat and a day of peace and tranquility at the Lake. The Lake of Menteith Fishery re-opens for Season 2023 on the 18th March.  Book online at https://www.menteith-fisheries.co.uk/online-boat-booking/ or phone 01877 385664. Pay on arrival.

Yesterday we witnessed a life or death struggle when a sea eagle attacked a goose in Hotel Bay. The goose eventually prevailed but did look much the worse for wear.