Dunlichity House

As a result of various travelling commitment and holidays, this is the first update for 6 weeks! Quite a lot has happened during that time, with some big fish caught, a further two heats of the Dunlichity Cup and the Fishery joining the Salmon and Trout Association (see previous blogs). Other highlights include:

Fishery Conditions and Stocking
A dry period followed by a lot of wet and windy weather has provided a lot of varied fishing conditions. Generally, anglers have had to work hard for their fish - this seems to be a common theme across all of the fisheries in the area. At Dunlichity, everyone has been seeing fish in abundance!
There has been two stockings during the period - 190 fish on 14 July and 110 fish on 4 August. Because the Fishery had been quite lightly fished after the first stocking, we decided to put fewer larger fish in for the second stocking. As a consequence, the average weight of fish that went in at the second stocking was 5lbs!

Catches
During this period, the number of fish caught during their various visits for the following anglers were:
Ron Maslin - 68
Sean Cowan - 35
Bill Grieg - 33
Denis Strange - 28
S. Richie - 22
John Vickers - 18
Darren Mackay - 15
T. Lochhead - 15
George Skinner - 14
Mike Marshall - 14
George Swanson - 14

Big Fish
In addition to the big fish that have been taken and are on the Troutmaster board, many others were caught and returned. These included:
S. Nicol - 5lbs
Louis Andreas - 7 1/2 lbs
Andy Jarvis - 8lbs
John Vickers - 7lbs
Robert Anthony - 5lbs

Successful Flies
According to the Catch Register, the following flies were successful:
"Dries" - 36
"Buzzers" - 27
CDC's - 13
Damsels - 11
Daddies - 10
Various Fritz - 9
Diawl Bach - 9
Yellow Dancer - 7
WSW - 5
Klinkhammer - 6
Black Flash - 4
"Nymph" - 4
Sedge - 4
Black Spiders - 4
Others with more than one entry include Kate McLaren, Montana, Tadpole, Damsel, Hares Ear, Olive Dawson, Cat's Whisker, Okie Dokie, and Ace of Spades.

Forthcoming Events
The current Troutmaster month began on 21 August and there are already 4 names on the board. There is still lots of time to post a "big fish".
We will be carrying out another stocking over the next week or so.
The next heat of the Dunlichity Cup will be on Saturday 11 September.

We are pleased to have taken out Corporate membership of the Salmon & Trout Association.

Although holidays prevented a few of the regular competitors from attending, some new faces joined the competition including Robert Anthony, Richard Franklin, Gary Patience and Martin Schouten. Robin Scott's absence meant that his place at the top of the leaderboard was vulnerable!

In keeping with the last few weeks, fishing was hard and competitors had to work for their fish. That said, some good fish were caught, with George Swanson's 7lb 8oz, George Skinner's 6lb 7oz and James Watson's 5lb 10oz being the pick of the bunch.

In terms of the overall Cup, David Skinner has taken over first place with Robin Scott dropping to second. The full current placings are as follows:

Another good turnout for the third heat of the Dunlichity Cup. Almost everyone caught fish, with a few competitors returning a reasonable number of fish without finally getting one "on the board".

Leader after two heats, Robin Scott left it until the final hooter was about to sound before landing a 2lb fish. However, honours for the day went to John Vickers, with a bag of 6lb 9oz. George Swanson was second with 5lb 15oz and John McFeeley was third with 5lb 13oz. George Skinner won the bottle for the biggest fish outside of the top three, a fish weighing 3lb 8oz.

George Skinner, John McFeeley, John Vickers and George Swanson

The league table after three heats is:

1. Robin Scott - 14lb 2oz

2. David Skinner - 11lb 8oz

3. John McFeeley - 10lb 7oz

4. Ian Young - 8lb 12oz

5. John Vickers - 8lb 6oz

6. Will Jack - 6lb 5oz

7. George Swanson - 5lb 15oz

8. James Gary - 4lb 6oz

9. George Skinner - 3lb 8oz

10. Denis Strange - 3lb 2oz

11. Tim Watson - 2lb 12oz

12. James Watson - 2lb 2oz

Since we took over the Fishery in 2007, a number of double figure fish have been caught and released, but the record for a legitimately "caught and kept" fish was James Gray's 9lb 8oz fish on 1 May this year.

And then came Thursday 8 July ........

It was a really windy day when Ruaridh Macaskill and David Beaumont arrived to fish all day. They were both on a 2 fish ticket, and David, from Brora, opened the scoring with a 2lb+ fish. Then, fishing a black nymph he hooked and landed a superb 10lb 9oz fish.

David Beaumont with his 10lb 9oz fish

The later in the day, Drew Jarvis and Owen Condon arrived to fish. Not to be outdone by Drew catching a 5lb+ fish, Owen, from Dingwall proceeded to smash our current record by landing an 11lb 8oz fish. Owen Condon with his 11lb 8oz fish

Two records in the space of a few hours!

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.