Drummond Loch
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 03 April 2008 06:20
- Written by Brian Tulloch
We all look forward to the 15th of March and the start of the brown trout season here in Scotland. The winter months may have been spent chasing grayling with varying degrees of success, restocking our fly boxes, and dreaming of the capture of big trout in the forthcoming year.
But unfortunately, when the season does begin, the first couple of weeks can sometimes be a bit of a disappointment with the trout still out of sorts after the rigours of spawning and the hardships of winter. Of course there are some exceptions, lochs which, because of their shallow nature and rich feeding, produce quality trout from the word go.
Drummond loch near Crieff is such a place, with some superb specimens coming to the net right from the beginning of the season. Although the fishing couldn't be described as being truly wild, as the loch is stocked by the Crieff angling club once a year, it’s still a great early season venue. Any trout encountered at the start of the season are over wintered and fully tailed, and I think very similar in appearance to Loch Watten trout.
The loch lies within the Drummond castle estate and is surrounded by parkland and natural woodland, making it a picturesque place to spend the day. There are three good quality boats available for hire on the lochs 86 acres, and, with no bank fishing, overcrowding is never going to be an issue. Drummond also plays host to an abundance of wild fowl with greylag and pink footed geese wintering here. Ospreys are also a common sight, and are always fascinating to watch.
Much of the loch is shallow, very shallow in some parts and these are the areas to concentrate on at the very start of the season. Some of our favourite drifts at this time of year are at the west end of the loch where there are several small islands and shooting butts, fishing in and around these can be very productive, depending on wind direction. Another drift that we have found to be productive is along the reedy shoreline opposite the boat moorings, often producing a trout or two . In general though, fish can be picked up from all over the loch as long as you are drifting over suitably shallow water. An important point worth mentioning is wind direction. Later on in the season the windward shore is often productive, but at the start of the season fishing in more sheltered areas may prove better. I found this out to my cost on opening day this season; we fished all morning down at the west end where the wind was blowing with one touch for all our efforts. After lunch the wiser heads in the other boats concentrated in the more sheltered areas and reaped the rewards picking up some nice trout along the warmer shoreline. I'll remember that next time!
Bearing in mind the shallow nature of the loch fast sinking lines aren’t generally required. My preference is to use a slow intermediate, such as a Cortland 444 blue, a great line this, nearly always my first line of attack. I think one of the most important things to remember early season is not to retrieve your fly’s to quickly, the trout aren’t going to be in a hurry to chase a fly speeding past them. The loch can also take on a tinge of colour depending on weather conditions, and in such conditions slow retrieval becomes even more important.
Some of the flies that we have found successful tend to be more lure orientated, with the mini black cat, viva, s/s ace of spades, cormorants and black tadpole variants proving successful. That’s not to say that traditionals aren‘t important, and the green tagged Kate, normal Kate, Zulu, Conemara Black, Bibio, Peach Muddler, palmered March Brown, dabblers and bumbles all having proved their worth. If your lucky enough to be fishing when there’s a bit of warmth in the air you may well get a buzzer hatch so it’s worth carrying suitable dries and nymphs.
So if you are looking for a good early season venue to start off your season, then why not give Drummond loch a try, and be prepared for big fish, two pound plus fish are common enough, and three pound plus fish are a real possibility.
For more information on Drummond Loch http://www.crieffanglingclub.org.uk
Brian Tulloch lives in Kirkliston near Edinburgh with his wife Ruth, daughter Megan and son Jamie. Brian works for a gardening contractor firm. He fishes mainly for brown trout on rivers and lochs, but also enjoys fishing for grayling and pike. Brian's favourite place is Dunalistair water, the home of both big trout and huge pike.