SANACC

Spring International 2011
Loch of Harray
10th June 2011

Scottish Team sponsored by Lake of Menteith Fisheries,
Pentland Ferries, Fishers, BVG Airflow, Edmundson Electrical, Flyfish Europe, Modus Building Services and Thrums Engineering Services.
(click on sponsors logo to go to their website)

2011 Spring International - Loch of Harray

Scotland chose to take the 2011 Spring International to the Loch of Harray and all four countries had a tremendous weeks' fishing there. Scotland and Wales appeared to have arrived at similar conclusions after the practice days but on the competition day it was Wales that came out on top to take the Gold Medal. Scotland had to settle for silver with Ireland taking the bronze and England the wooden spoon. Aled Dixon of Wales took the Brown Bowl with an outstanding bag of 18 trout only one ahead of his countryman Anthony Cartwright. These two were five clear of everyone else.

The Orkney Trout Fishing Association pulled out all the stops to ensure that everyone had the opportunity to appreciate the quality of the Harray trout and it was only with their help that the competitors were able to gain an understanding of the water. Harray has numerous skerries situated in many areas of the loch and while they usually hold fish they are a safety hazard for those that are unaware of their locations. Local knowledge is essential and the members of OTFA gave up their time to act as boatmen and provided their boats throughout the week. The OTFA Committee and their members have considerable competition experience and did an excellent job of organising the facilities both on and off the water. It must have taken a considerable amount of work to organise the boats and reorganise the Association site and all four countries are indebted to all involved for making it such a memorable week.

The match was fished on a partial catch and release basis with competitors retaining their first six fish and thereafter recording and returning all eligible ones. The minimum size for the trout was set at 11 inches with 12 ounces being awarded for returned fish. At the start of the day the boats set off in various directions as they made for the areas that had been identified in the practice days as holding fish. It was apparent that trout had been found in numbers in many parts of the loch as boats went south to Kirk Bay, straight over to Stoneyhill, the clayface and Ballarat, slightly up the loch to Bochan and north to Tenston and Bankhead.

The Scottish rods had been seen to be doing really well in the first half of the day however in the second half it was the Welsh rods that were seen to be constantly bending into fish. The deeper water looked the place to be. As the competitors came back in at 6pm a quick tally by the team managers before the weight-in identified that the afternoon had done it for Wales putting them 13 fish clear of Scotland. At the weigh-in it was announced that the Gold had gone to Wales with 126 trout for 97lb 4.5oz. Silver went to Scotland with 113 trout for 87lb 0.25oz. Bronze went to Ireland with 81 trout for 62lb and England collected the wooden spoon with 63 trout for 46lb 6.5oz

The winner of the Brown Bowl and top rod for Wales was Aled Dixon with 18 trout for 13lb 6.25oz. Top rod for England was Andy Croucher with 9 trout for 6lb 4.5oz. Arden Pollock was the top rod for Ireland with 11 trout for 9lb 7.75oz. Arden also had the heaviest fish which went to the scales at 1lb 11.75oz. Nigel Burns was the top Scottish rod with 12 trout for 9lb 1.25oz

This was a great team effort by Wales led by two outstanding performances by Aled Dixon and Anthony Cartwright. Once again the Scottish team put in a superb team effort with all 14 team members finishing in the top 38.

Nigel Burns had the honour of partnering Aled Dixon on competition day. Aled won the toss and after they had discussed where they wanted to go throughout the day Aled opted to start at Kirk Bay. Nigel started off on a DI7 and picked up 4 fish in the first 30 minutes and following a quiet spell picked up another fish to put him on five with Aled still clean. Aled changed to a 7 sweep and started picking up fish and as they drifted back and forth over the area and went from 5 to nil down to 10 to 5 up. Apart from a triple header of keepers for Aled It was fish for fish after that and it finished with Aled on 18 and Nigel on 12. Nigel's best flies were Erlend's Cat, Merky Maid and the Tugboat Hedgehog.

Peter Auchterlonie partnered Andy Haskins of England and after winning the toss he opted to go to the golden triangle. Peter was on a DI7 and went two down to Andy who was on a DI5. At noon, Andy opted to move to Nistaben. Peter changed to a 3 sweep and picked up a fish there. They moved down to Ballarat where Peter picked up another one. A change to a DI7 and a move back to Nistaben saw Peter pick up another 3 and at 5pm had a triple header with 2 of them keepers. At the end of the day Peter had 11 fish to Andy's 7. His best flies were Erlend's Cat and a peach muddler.

John Buchanan partnered David Wortley of England and lost the toss. Following discussions on where to go David opted to be advised by their boatman, Jim Harcus, and they headed for Hutch's buoy at Stoneyhill. John fished a DI7 and picked one up and dropped one in the first 20 minutes. They found it slow and tried round Ned's Island and Bochan but as nothing was doing there they went over to Ballarat where they drifted from the shallows over the deeper water. John picked up fish there including a double header and had 7 in the boat by 1pm. At 2 o'clock David opted to go back to Hutch's buoy where they had an unproductive two hours. They moved over to the front of Bochan Farm where John picked up his eighth. His 9th and final fish was picked up at six minutes to six drifting to the harbour. Erlend's Cat was his best fly. David finished with one fish.

Kevin Porteous partnered Pat Hoare of Ireland and lost the toss. They agreed that the deeper water was the place to be and Pat opted to go to the Sword and drift out from there. Kevin was on a 5 sweep and they both picked up fish there and started to average about one fish each per drift. The wind dropped and it slowed so they moved down to the clayface about 1pm. Kevin had two triple headers with only one keeper and by 2pm had 7 fish. He struggled during the last four hours but picked up a further 2 fish to put him on 9. Kevin's best fly was Erlend's Cat. Pat boated 11 fish and was the second top Irish rod.

Team

Willie Simpson (Captain)

Club: Rothes Oak AC

Previous Caps: 4

Peter Auchterlonie

Club: St Fillans & Lochearn AA

Previous Caps: 7

History: Scottish National Champion 2010, Brown Bowl 1999, Phoenix Silver Salver 1999

John Buchanan

Club: Newton Mearns FF

Previous Caps: 8

History: Brown Bowl 2000, Phoenix Silver Salver 2000. Has had a gold medal in all four countries.

Nigel Burns

Club: Crieff Flyfishers

Previous Caps: 3

Jock Craig

Club: Brechin AC

Previous Caps: 1

Ronnie Gilbert

Club: St Fillans & Lochearn AC

Previous Caps: 3

History: Scottish National Champion 2008

Jock Kettles

Club: Change FF AC

Previous Caps: 9

History: Phoenix Silver Salver 2004 and 2009. Has had a gold medal in all four countries

Stephen Leask

Club: Neilston FF

Previous Caps: 2

History: Phoenix Silver Salver 2010

David McAllister

Club: Port Glasgow AC

Previous Caps: First Cap

Davie McMillan

Club: GFFC

Previous Caps: 1

Alan Porteous

Club: Dounreay AC

Previous Caps: 2

History: Phoenix Silver Salver 2010

Kevin Porteous

Club: Dounreay AC

Previous Caps: First Cap

Fraser Robertson

Club: Canmore AC Forfar

Previous Caps: 1

Allan Smith

Club: Stormontfield AC

Previous Caps: First Cap

Sandy McConnachie (Coach)

Club: OTFA

Caps: 5

John Ross (Manager)

Club: Falkirk FD

Caps: 2

History: Phoenix Silver Salver 1998

History as Manager: Gold: 10 Silver: 2 Bronze: 6