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Good Catches from Tingwall in Intercounty
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2008 Orkney and Shetland Intercounty teams |
The annual Intercounty fly-fishing contest was held on Tingwall Loch, Shetland
over Sunday 15th and Monday 16th June. A six man Orkney team – Ian
Hutcheon, Erlend Hutchison, Stuart Leslie, Sandy McConnachie, Andrew Morgan
and Malcolm Russell - travelled north by overnight boat arriving early Sunday
morning. With strong northerly winds blowing for most of Saturday a fairly
bumpy passage had been expected however it wasn’t too bad. The biggest
bump came when a team member got out of a top bunk without switching on
the light!
The team arrived at the loch side about 9.30am to meet their Shetland opponents
– Steven Breivik, Josh Brush, Graham Callander, Ray Phillips, Brian
Watt and Frank Watt. After the usual draw for boat pairings the first session
commenced at 10.00am under quite favourable conditions – mainly overcast
with occasional bright spells and a moderate wind which varied between north
west and north north east. Most of the competitors had caught a few fish
by lunchtime and it appeared to be quite close between the two teams. When
fishing stopped at 5.00pm the Shetland team weighed-in 30 fish for 16lb
09.25oz while Orkney had 40 fish for 20lb 13oz – a 4lb 03.75oz lead
for Orkney.
A reception is normally held after the Intercounty is complete but with
the Orkney team departing early Monday evening it took place after day one
on this occasion. A splendid meal was enjoyed by all at the Grand Hotel
followed by some good craic back at the Anglers Club.
Fishing time for day two had been set as 10.00am to 2.00pm but was delayed
until 10.30am after Graham Callander had to go home feeling unwell and another
Shetlander slept-in. Stephen Leask was called in to replace Graham, his
first appearance in an Intercounty for about fourteen years.
Conditions were still fairly good at starting time with overcast skies and
a light south west wind but it wasn’t long before the sun broke through
making it much tougher. This showed in the day’s results with three
rods blank, one for Shetland and two for Orkney. Shetlands second day catch
was 14 fish for 8lb 09.5oz giving them 44 fish for 25lb 02.75oz overall.
Orkney had 15 fish for 7lb 10oz and a total of 55 fish for 28lb 07oz thereby
retaining the Intercounty Cup. Stuart Leslie was top rod in the Orkney team
however it was a steady overall team performance which achieved the victory.
Brian Watt of Shetland had the top individual two day catch with 13 fish
for 8lb 10.25oz which included some of the heavier fish landed. Although
most of the fish were small, including numerous stocked sea trout, there
was plenty about to make for an interesting competition unlike some past
experiences on the same loch.
Fast sinking lines like Di7 and Di8 accounted for most of the fish caught.
Those who stuck to lighter density lines struggled to catch. Successful
fly patterns mentioned were Norski Lad, Black & Green Cats, Peach Muddler,
White Cat and Naked Spur.
A big thank you to our hosts in Shetland and Northlink Ferries who provided
subsidised travel.
Ian (Sore Ribs) Hutcheon