[Steven Kidd]

I fished Loch Leven on Monday 26th April.

Here is boat number 3 on the 25min motor to Hole O' Inch.  Great that i was lucky enough to be allocated one of the original wooden boats, alot have now been replaced with newer fibreglass boats.



Not alot of sport to report I'm afraid, conditions seemed perfect, West wind etc.......but never contacted anything , I was drifting with drogue and pulling wets on a slow sinking line.  sticking to water about 9-12 feet deep, but nothing doing.  A good 4 drifts at Hole O' Inch and a couple from Duncans Corner to Brocks Hole at the Sluices.

I did notice that alot of boats now anchor up and fish buzzers.......I don't own any of those.......so will investigate for next trip.  I want to get to grips with this place, so will be back regular this year.

If anyone knows it well, feel free to hook up and I'll drive,

Steven

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff Steven 

Best drifting boats ever, I've got a real soft spot for them 

Cheers
Mike

[James Laraway]

I've read quite a few articles on Leven over the past year it two and they call indicate that fish habits have changed.

It used to be a 'wet fly' loch but now the successful/go-to tactic seems to sitting in a boat with some buzzers under a bung - not my cup of tea at all....

I'm afraid that I just don't 'get' wanting to cast what is basically a float out on fly gear and watch for it to go under. It would be far more efficient just to use a float rod and a fixed spool reel. I'll get my hard hat on...

[Jim Eddie]

Yes a lot of the locals have their own anchors and they anchor up off St Serfs and fish buzzer, each to their own but not for me.

Steven I was glad of one of the old boats last year when I fished Leven and a Gale of wind got up.

 
Jim

[Steven Kidd]

Aye, I'll stick to drifting with a 3 fly cast, .......

The buzzer boats anchored are a pain on a drift as you cant tell they're anchored until you get much closer to them.

I'll stick with the wets!

[Mike Barrio]

Loch Leven boats and Steven ... a recurring theme   

[Steven Kidd]

Jeez that was a few years ago Mike, 

I have a real soft spot for those boats, boat 46 was 'mine'......a lucky boat that one for me,

Steven

[Steven Kidd]

Now.......

I said i'd never do this,

But today I near drifted into Wullie the Ghillie in his boat fishing buzzers.........I was fishing my wets unsuccessfully over 5 hours........

So I thought to hell with it, dropped my anchor alongside Wullie and got a bit of guidance on what he was doing........I put on a couple size 10 Blakestones Black Buzzers and straight lined them really slow.....then hey presto!.......My first Loch Leven Brownie for nigh 10 years.....(two visits since then).

Also heard word that an 8lb 5oz wild brownie was caught using buzzers today, 




Steven

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff Steven ..... well done 

[James Laraway]

Well done on your fish and for trying really hard with the 'wets'
Also a big thumbs up for not using a bung 👍
I'd love to fish leven but I won't unless I stand a chance with wet or dry flies. Maybe it will change in future?
On a stocked water near to me some caught  a huge amount of fish the other week using a green egg fly under a bung. Seriously, what's the point?

[Steven Kidd]

James,

I hear ya, if a bung was the way to go.....i'd have left, 

Upon more investigation, later in the year pulling methods closer to the surface become more effective.  However looking back the Leven reports as far as 2011, at this time of the year the fish are focused on buzzers, and big buzzers they are, I was amazed that size 10s are the norm.

What baffles me about the whole thing is that a drifting boat covers brown trout that you'd think were territorial, therefore you move over the fish.  However on Leven folks anchor up on the same spot for hours and the fish find the flies......like rainbow trout would cruise about  horizontally?........ , baffles me that does...

Steven

[Steven Kidd]

On a side note,

I asked Wullie about the age of the wooden klinkers,.......'impossible to tell he said really,  and that they're a bit like triggers broom constantly repaired and parts replaced', huge effort to keep. 

Steven

[Allan Liddle]

Love Leven and it's such an enigma of a water that it's always a challenge.
It's always been a buzzer water and the trout have always locked onto them to the distraction of everything else, that said drifting with wets can still work but you really need to get down deep to the fish.

However all is not lost for the more 'traditional' angler on "The Loch" as the fish become more widely spread and surface orientated as the season progresses although evenings and early mornings are best.
I try and grab a dawn session on Leven every year if i can as, weather permitting, the loch can become the one that we hoped it would with surface feeding fish and big drifts.
Snatchers, borne in the white hot heat of Leven competition days, as still the go-to pattern for me here when it's like this although wee sparkle Dunkelds etc also work well.
However it's the surface stuff i look for and i've been very fortunate to have had some cracking sessions on dries here, although you need to be able to revert to pulling flies if this isn't working.  Watch out for the draw of the caenis feeders around Castle Isle, you can get them but they are frustrating and eat up a lot of time you could be exploring elsewhere.

Not so long ago i was out on Leven in a dawn session with my two labs Mac and Roni when Mac was still with us.  Stunning morning and we actually had the loch all to ourselves.  The dogs needed a leg stretch so we landed on the Vane shore and had a wee wander as the sun cam up.  It was beautiful and a sight that lives long in the memory, made even better as the water went flat calm and i could see fish starting to pop all over.  So sightseeing over, back in the boat and a successful troot chase was had.

So guys, consider the dawn sessions if you want a chance to see Leven at its best, yes it isn't always like this, but i've had more better sessions than not when out at the crack of dawn on "The Loch".   

[Terry Coging]

A pilgrimage to Loch Leven is on my bucket list.

Yesterday I fished the local reservoir with my old boat partner - we have been sharing a boat there since the 70's so we know the water pretty well. Our two 25 y/o friends were also there. We agreed to come in to share lunch and experiences by the boat house at 1pm.  They had boated 15. We had boated 3. In another 50 years they will probably be as successful as us! Does that sound wrong? Before we set out we told them where the best spots were to be found and that the fish would be 'down'. So off they went and anchored up. On with the HD5's blobs and snakes. At the other extreme, we had observed Hawthorn flies being blown from the bank. My boat partner is a dry fly fanatic so off we went, drifting, he with the dries and me with the Wafter, gently stroking the water with two dries and a nymph in between. We rose a lot of fish but they were missing. Probably the fist time they had surfaced since leaving the rearing tanks. (large weekly stocking here).  Our fish looked to be overwintered. Superb fish.
We had all had a very enjoyable morning in our different ways. Me and my boat partner used to whack 30 or 40 out because it was about 'numbers'.
Yes - in another 50 years our young protegees  my be as successful as us.....

What has this story got to do with Loch Leven?  Well, it's about the 'soul' of fly fishing....those old Leven boats and the history....

[Steven Kidd]

This has turned into a great wee thread, Alan, I really enjoyed your post, a great read, and stacked with great info and a delightful story.

Terry, i couldn't agree more.......I'd rather catch a single trout on a Black Pennell or a wee size 16 Greenwells Spider than I would 20 trout on a 'snake'. the essence of a day on the water must be preserved and passed along to youngsters.  There is more to a day fishing than catching fish!

Steven