SANACC

121st Scottish National Trout Fly Fishing Championship
2013

Sponsored by Ridgeline UK

Scottish National Trout Fly Fishing Championship
Heat 1 - Lake of Menteith 23rd Apri

New season, new sponsor, new lodge and cafe at Menteith. The Scottish National Trout Fly Fishing Championship, which this year is sponsored by Ridgeline UK, got underway on Tuesday 23rd April at the Lake of Menteith and the competitors made the most of the cafe and other facilities available in the new lodge there. The cafe is now open from 8am and anglers can enjoy a variety of hot rolls, tea and coffee when they arrive.

There were 49 competitors in this heat and the top 25 go through to the semi-finals. We have been plagued with cold and windy conditions since the start of the seaon and although temperatures sometimes reached 10 deg the wind for the first heat was strong and blustery. The wind made conditions difficult and most of the competitors opted to go to Lochend and the Butts. One boat however spent the day in Hotel Bay and the two anglers were rewarded by taking sufficient fish to qualify for the semis. Conditions may have been bad but the 49 anglers still managed to net 358 trout.

Top rod in the first heat was Lee Anderson of Balbeggie AC who netted 18 trout. Lee receives a Ridgeline Razorback Soft Shell Fleece for winning the heat. In second place was Phillip Hunter of Airdrie & District AC with 17 fish and the third spot was filled by Andy Dunn of Change FF AC who had 16 fish.

Lee spent the day at Lochend where he fished cormorants on a fast intermediate. Phillip and Andy were drawn in the same boat and they went to Lochend and the Gravel Pits where they took their fish on diawl bachs, cormorants, boobies, buzzers and blobs on lines varying from a floater to a fast glass.

We move to Carron for the second heat on Thursday 25th April.

photo: Lee Anderson
receiving his Ridgeline Fleece

photo: Andy Dunn Lee Anderson and Phillip Hunter

Heat 2 - Carron 25th April

The National Championship moved to Carron for the second heat and with 33 anglers taking part the top 17 qualified for a place in the semi finals. A new lodge is being built at Carron and hopefully it won't be too long before it is finished. Jim and Ian are trying different things with their stocking at Carron and judged by the results there at heat 2 their stocking policy will be a success. Fortunately the wind had dropped a bit from the previous days but the competitors were once again faced with a very cold day. That didn't stop the competitors who had been practicing there over the last few days and who had found the fish and the methods. Between them the 33 competitors netted 197 trout and a minimum of 5 was required to qualify for the semi finals.

Top rod on the day and winner of the Ridgeline Razorback Soft Shell Fleece was Peter Edge of Grizzle Cats who had 19 fish. Brian McKenzie of Glasgow Post Office FFC was second with 16 fish and Peter's boat partner, David Tyrie of Heriot AC, was third with 13 fish.

Peter and David found that a variety of flies would do the trick but that they had to be presented on a HID line. That gave David a bit of problem but Peter was good enough to lend him a spare HID. They took their fish on a viva, orange sparkler, mini humungous and a GAC and every fish was taken in Lone Tree Bay.

Brian took his fish on a black cat, viva and a dunkeld and presented them on a DI3. All of his fish were taken on drifts starting at the top dam and working his way down to Stockie Bay.

The Championship stays at Carron for the next heat which is on 30th April.

photo: Peter receives his Ridgeline Fleece

photo: Brian, Peter and David

Heat 3 - Carron 30th April

What a difference from last week. Spring almost arrived at heat 3 and there were clear skies with a chilly light breeze for most of the day. In the afternoon there was more cloud cover with a stronger north west wind and it was good deal colder than the morning. There were 17 competitors for this heat and the top 9 qualified for the semi finals. A total of 99 trout were caught.

James Litster of Neilston FF continued his good run to win this heat convincingly. On Sunday, James fished his heat of the Scottish National River Championship and qualified for the River's final by taking the third spot. He certainly stepped up on that today by netting 21 trout on Carron. Conditions were far from perfect and the top three competitors netted 48 fish between them which was exceptionally good angling.

Mike Willis of Bridge of Allan 76 AC caught 14 fish to secure the second spot and Allan Gamble of RAF Fish Hawks was third with 13 fish.

James and Allan were drawn in the same boat and fished the same method to give 34 fish to the boat. They caught the majority of the fish in Lone Tree Bay and later in the day they moved over to Burnhouse Bay to take the rest. All the fish fell to buzzers fished on floating lines.

Mike adopted different tactics and took his fish in 30 Minute Bay and down the road shore. He started off on a DI5 and changed later in the day to a DI3 with the fish taking a dunkeld sparkler and a small dancer.

The next heat is at the Lake of Menteith on 2nd May.

photo on left
James receiving his Ridgeline Jacket

photo on right - the top three
Mike Willis James Litster Allan Gamble

Heat 4 - Lake of Menteith


The National Championship returned to the Lake of Menteith for Heat 4 on 2nd May. 56 competitors took part and the top 28 go through to the semi-finals. The day started off on the cold side but with a light breeze and these conditions lasted for a fair part of the day. All good things must come to an end however and by the end of the day it was wet and windy.

It was apparent by noon that it was going to take a good bag to qualify for the next round and at the weigh-in the competitors reported a total catch of 454 trout of which 289 were released. There were 11 competitors from Caithness, Orkney and Shetland in this heat and the practice they put in paid off once again with 8 of them making it through to the semis. There were plenty of hard luck stories with numerous trout being hooked and lost but good fortune shone on some. David Kemp of Stanley & District AC stood in at the last moment to replace an injured club colleague and duly snatched third place with 16 fish.

Winner of the Ridgeline Razorback Soft Shell Jacket and top rod on the day with a superb bag of 20 trout was Chris McAllister of Raemoir TF. Steven Leask of Neilston FF was second with 17 trout and as mentioned above, David Kemp was third with 16 fish. Thirteen competitors had bags of ten or more fish and to qualify for the semi finals required a minimum catch of 7 fish.

Chris caught all of his fish at Lochend and they were all taken on a blob booby, diawl bach and buzzers fished on a midge tip line. Steven Leask was fishing at Lochend and the gravel pits and took his fish on a cat booby and cormorants fished on a slow glass line. David was in the Kates Brae and gravel pit area and caught his fish on a green eyed cat booby and red cormorant on a cortland blue.

The Championship remains at Menteith for the next round on 7th May.

photo on left:
Chris receiving his Ridgeline jacket

photo on right:
David Chris and Steven

Heat 5 - Lake of Menteith 7th May

Summer came to the Lake of Menteith for Heat 5 on 7th May. Temperatures were in the high teens throughout the day; the sun shone for most of the day and there was only a light breeze until mid afternoon. The trout haven't had these conditions all season and it seemed that they did not know what to make of them. A few rods did particularly well but most competitors struggled even when the fishing were showing. In the end a total of 169 trout were caught.

Fifty five competitors took part and the top twenty eight progressed to the semi-finals. Winner of the Ridgeline Jacket and top rod on the day was George Whyte of Crieff FF. George had 15 trout for 31lb 2.8oz. In second place was Robbie Mather of Monikie AC with 12 fish and in third place was his boat partner and previous National Champion Alex McEwan of Rainbow Warriors with 11 fish.

George took all his trout in the Lochend area where he fished diawl bachs and a tequila stinger on slow glass and midge tip lines. Robbie and Alex went to Cages Bay and stayed there for the day. Robbie was fishing boobies and cormorants on a Cortland Blue and Cortland Ghost tip line while Alex was fishing boobies and diawl bachs on a Cortland Ghost tip.

The Championship moves to Carron on 9th May for Heat 6.

photo on left
George Whyte with his Ridgline Jacket

photo on right
Alex McEwan, George Whyte and Robbie Mather

Heat 6 - Carron

The National returned to Carron for the 6th heat and with the weather returning to wintry conditions it was not an easy heat. The wind was a gentle south east breeze when the boats went out but it quickly turned to a strong easterly with an unseasonal chill to it. The rain arrived mid afternoon.

The catch and release for the National heats at Carron is 3 trout retained with 1lb being allowed for each returned fish. All fish are capped at 2lb. Twenty nine competitors took part in this heat with the top 15 going through to the semi-finals.

Top rod and winner of the Ridgeline jacket was Steven Welsh of Denny & District AC. Steven had 9 trout for 7lb 1.5oz. Mark Stephen of Stewarton AC was second with 4 trout for 6lb 13.75oz. Mark had a magnificent overwintered rainbow of 6lb 3oz which was capped for competition purposes at 2lb. In third place was the captain of the gold medal team from the 2012 Autumn International, Nigel Burns of Crieff FF. Nigel had 7 trout for 6lb 13oz.

Steven took all his fish in Burnhouse Bay where he was fishing a gold humungous, clan chief and a cat on a DI5 sweep line. Mark was in the next bay up at Bin Bay where he was fishing black buzzers on a floating line. Nigel was in the next bay up again at Carron Bay where he was fishing cormorants on a DI3.

The next heat is at Loch Leven on 21st May.

photo on left
Steven with his Ridgeline Jacket

photo on right
Nigel Burns, Steven Welsh and Mark Stewart

photo:
Malcolm Russell, Ian Hutcheon and Ken Kennedy

Heat 8 - Loch Leven

Twenty competitors took part in heat 8 with the top 10 making it through to the semi-finals. The day started of bright wift a soft wind and throughout the session there was a mix of sun and cloud with the wind frequently changing direction. It was not an easy day but Tom Burnett, who had just returned from Bewl where he was part of the Gold Medal Scottish Team, showed that success breeds success and netted 6 trout to win the Ridgeline Razorback soft shell jacket by finishing top rod in his heat. Gordon Hayward was second with 3 trout and Brian Mackenzie who was also in the Giold Medal Team at Bewl was third with 2 fish.

Tom took his his fish at the Hole O' The Inch, Mid Buoy and East Buoy. All were on sparklers, kate, dabblers and a red thing on a DI 7 line. Gordon took his fish at the Hole O' The Inch on dunkeld sparklers on a DI 7 and Brian took his on mini lures and a red thing at the East Buoy on a DI 7.

photo on left:
Tom with his Ridgeline jacket

photo on right:
Brian, Tom and Gordon

Heat 9 - Lintrathen - 22nd May


Conditions for Heat 9 were more like February than the end of May. 38 competitors took part and with two of them tied for 19th place they were both allowed through to the semi-finals so the top 20 rods qualified. It was a cold, bright day with an icy, blustery wind with some forceful gusts.

Neil Anderson of Monikie AC coped well with the conditions and had 6 trout for 10lb 11oz which earned him the Ridgeline Razorback soft shell jacket as the top rod. Jock Kettles of SANACC, who was in the Gold Medal Scottish Team at Bewl last week, finished second with 5 trout for 9lb 3oz and Malcolm Selvie of Monifieth Trout AC was third with 3 trout for 7lb.

Neil took five of his fish on the Rhododendron Shore with the sixth one coming from Smarts Bay. He was fishing a 15ft ghost tip with a booby on the tail and a cormorant and a blob above it. Jock also took his fish on the Rhododendron Shore and Smarts Bay with fabs, blobs and crunchers fished on a fast glass. Malcolm took his fish from Smarts Bay and behind the island on sparklers and crunchers on a DI 3.

photo on left:
Jock Neil and Malcolm

photo on right:
Neil with his Ridgeline Jacket

Heat 10 - Lake of Menteith
30th May 2013


The last of the heats was held at the Lake of Menteith on 30th May and winner of the Ridgeline Razorback soft shell jacket with the heaviest bag was Jock Royan of Saltire FF. Jock was in Hotel Bay for the full session and used a midge tip line with boobies and buzzers to take 15 fish for 32lb 5.2oz.

Greg Donnelly of Craufurdland FF was second with 15 fish for 30lb 9oz. Greg was in the lochend area all day and used a floating line. Paul Garner of Alba Orvis FF was third with 14 fish and he was also using a floating line at Chapel Bay and lochend area.

With 56 competitors taking part the top 28 go through to the semi finals. There was a mix of weather with changeable winds and bright sun for most of the afternoon.


The draw will now be done for the semi finals which start at Lintrathen on 18th June.

photo:
Paul, Jock and Greg

Entries for 2013