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Swannay is the venue for the first competition of the season,wooly hats and warm clothing advised |
April 2008
March passed by without much improvement in the weather, which was desperate.
With the turn of the month comes some optimism that April could see some
benign weather and an opportunity to wet a line in earnest. Harray should
be the first to produce some trout from the shorelines but most Orkney anglers
tend to put a lot of time in on Swannay, as the trout there can be in excellent
nick early in the season. This months’ choice of flies is made with
Swannay in particular in mind.
Top dropper position has to be McConn’s Ace of Spades, a variant of
an already useful pattern but Sandy’s version is an absolute banker
on this loch. Fished on any line, but especially a fast sinker, it accounts
for the vast majority of fish in the opening weeks on Swannay. “It
will if everybody is fishing it “, I hear you say, but dispense with
it at your peril! This variant seems to account for fish feeding on sticklebacks,
black buzzers and sedge pupa, a genuine all rounder.
Mid position is the Claret Bumble a fly which can take fish regularly in
the mid position,a claim which cannot be made for many patterns. Usually
a genuine top dropper fly, it has to be relegated to the mid position because
of the effectiveness of the A O S. Claret patterns are very useful in peaty
or brown water lochs and the Bumble is one of the best.
Point fly is the Alexandria, jazzed up a wee bit with fluorescent red head
etc. Unfashionable nowadays but can be absolutely deadly amongst stickleback
or fry feeding brown trout on most lochs. A very successful variant is used
locally with the silver body being substituted by Mirage, giving a bright
green body and sometimes an increase in catch rate.
Other patterns to have to hand would include Christmas Tree, Montana, Clan
Chief, Dabblers, Viva, and Hedgehogs if there is a good hatch of early buzzers.
KK
click on fly to view larger image
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All trout flies tied and photographed by Jim Adams text by Ken Kennedy