Dunlichity House

Congratulations to Colin Keith, who ended the 2012 Dunlichity Cup competition as a worthy champion.  Held over 7 heats between April and November, Colin won two heats and was in the top three in two others.  Colin had a season bag of 37lb 4oz and also caught the biggest fish of the competition at 12lb 1oz.

Ian Young came a creditable second with a season bag of 24lb 7oz, with James Gray third with 22lb 7oz.

During the season, 27 anglers competed, in excess of 295lb in fish were taken and prizes to a value in excess of £1200 were distributed. 

The final rankings were as follows:
There will be a few changes to the way that the competition operates in 2013.  These changes, together with the competition dates will be published shortly.
 

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The lochans have fully thawed out but the banks are very wet.  In addition, we have a couple of burst pipes in the Bothy which will require attention.

We plan to reopen this morning (2 January) at 10.00 am.  There will be no water or toilet facilities until the bursts have been repaired, and care will be needed on the banks to ensure safety and minimise damage.

Any further updates will be posted on the Blog.

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16 of Dunlichity Trout Fishery's top anglers braved the elements in mid-April to compete in the fish-off to determine the 2011 Troutmaster Champion.  Prizes went to the top five competitors, with the winner receiving £100, a personal trophy and sponsorship towards the UK Fish-Off at Grafham Waters.
32 fish were taken on the day, to a combined weight of more than 130lbs!  Hendrick Cornelius (12lb 0oz) and George Noble (12lb 3oz) took 5th and 4th places respectively.  Will Jack set the early pace with a bag of 12lb 8oz (including the biggest fish of the day at 8lb 1oz) which was good enough to secure 3rd place.  Ist place went to Donald Patience, with a bag of 13lb 6oz, which was good enough to edge George Skinner into 2nd place with his bag of 13lb 0oz.
Dean Geddes also deserves a mention for his two fish bag of 11lb  10oz (but we won't mention the one around 3lbs that he put back!).

Watch out for a later blog to find out how Donald fared at the UK Fish-Off at Grafham Waters.

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We have woken up this morning to an overnight frost that has frozen a third of the top lochan. Our hope is that the ice will burn off early on, so the Fishery will open albeit with limited fishing until the ice clears.

The Bothy water is back on so the toilet is available.

Good fishing yesterday, with Martin Patience catching 13 ("and lost as many"). Reg Cambridge also caught fish, including a Troutmaster entry of 3lb 7oz. This means that we now have three at the top of the leaderboard, all with the same weight! Today is the last day of the February round of Troutmaster.

Fishery Conditions and Stocking
There have been nationwide problems getting fish for stocking, with most suppliers struggling to meet demand. Fortunately, we were able to secure a stocking of 233 fish to go with the good numbers of fish already in the lochans. We do, however plan to get a further stocking at the end of this week prior to the next Dunlichity Cup competition on 6 November. We have had our first frosts over the past few days and advise all anglers to check the fishery status on this blog as the weather changes.


Catches
Since the last update, some large bags have been recorde in single sessions - John MacDonald and Stevie Wright (21 each), George Skinner - 18 and Gary Patience - 15. The number of fish caught during their various visits for the following anglers were:
Darren Mackay - 43
George Skinner - 39
Ron Maslin - 34
Gary Patience - 33
Bill Greig - 30
George Swanson - 28
Bob Matheson - 24
Alan Urquhart - 24


Big Fish
We continue to get large fish caught, with the September Troutmaster winners being:
1st - K. Gordon (Munlochy) 9lb 12oz
2nd - L. Skinner (Avoch) 6lb 10oz
3rd - A. MacDonald (Fort Augustus) 5lb 8oz
October's Troutmaster has only been going for a few days and already we have an 8lb 0oz (Darren Mackay) and a 7lb 0oz (Dean Geddes).


Other News
We have installed a number of new signs to the fishery. Designed to prevent the non-fishing passer-by for getting an unwanted piercing, we hope that the signs will lead to greater interuption-free fishing!

It feels like a broken record - "Changeable weather conditions"!

After drought conditions earlier in the week, we have had strong winds and showers today that have made casting a lottery!

The dry conditions have caused oxygen depletion and on Thursday, we lost 4 fish including a 12lb+. As a result, we have decided to buy an aerator for the top lochan. The increased oxygen levels should improve the fishing generally and the water circulation may give us a few extra days fishing in the winter!

Significant catches this week include:

• Sean Cowan - 16
• Robin Scott - 15
• Ron Maslin - 11

Success has mainly been on buzzers, albeit that Muddlers have had results in the drier weather.

Next heat of the Dunlichity Cup on Saturday 17 July.