[Fishing in S.W. Scotland]

There are numerous venues to try. If you like wild and natural places try Loch Ken for roach, bream and perch, Woodhall Loch for roach and perch, Loch Rutton for bream, roach and perch. There is a good commercial fishery at Annan (Broom Fisheries), and other places worth trying are Cowans Farm near Dalbeattie and Kelhead Quarry near Annan. I have a loch of my own but not ready to fish yet unfortunately!

If you would like more info about permits and access to these and other venues give me a ring on 01556 650122. If you are looking for accommodation visit our web site at www.greenhousegallery.co.uk.

[Midges ! ! ! !]

Don't think there is a repellant that works against midges. Try a salt / water solution and apply to face, hands etc. It does seem to reduce the number of bites, and if you can resist scratching the ones you get you might just cope with fishing!

[How can accommodation be improved for anglers?]

hi

 

since when are scottish wild trout waters stocked?. i have been fishing wild trout waters around scotland for years. in particular campsie and stanley. these waters cost £4.00 per day to fish and the fish are amazing. these waters hold a good head of trout , salmon ,sea trout , grayling, roach, rudd, and numerous other coarse fish. people who fish managed waters which are stocked are not fishing for wild fish. trout and salmon magazine done a study on where to fish for wild trout and guess what scotland came first by 70%. i have no doubt that ireland has good fishing i have fished the shannon for salmon on numerous occasions but you simply cant beat scotland.

 

I was actually refering to coarse fisheries when making the point about high charges and little or no management or stocking. You are absolutely right that there is brilliant wild trout fishing in Scotland at a very reasonable cost.

[How can accommodation be improved for anglers?]

I work for VisitScotland and am putting together recommendations for all accommodation types (from hotels to caravan parks) on how they can be as welcoming as possible to anglers. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Feedback greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

What anglers coming to Scotland require more than anything is information about fishing venues, permits, prices and availability of bait. Here in Galloway we have some great coarse and trout (and sea) fishing but information for visitors is not good. Many places are charging exorbitant prices for permits for coarse fishing because they don't really care. As an example £5.00 - £10.00 a day to fish waters which are unmanaged and not maintained and probably have a head of wild fish (limited species) and never been stocked. In comparison I can fish on a commecial water in England which is well maintained and has been well stocked for £6.00 day. It also has facilities such as toilets. Access is another problem. There are many places where there is no access for coarse fishing as it is controlled by trout and salmon interests. I know of one spot on the River Dee near Castle Douglas whch is perfect for access and full of coarse fish such as Roach, Dace and Bream. However it is exclusively salmon fishing controlled by The national Trust for Scotland. This particular location would not hold any salmon and would never be fished by any salmon angler. Carlingwark Loch in Castle Douglas is another venue perfect for development and would benefit the local economy tremendously. At the moment it is fished primarily by 'holiday anglers' with inadequate equipment, is not controlled, and many fish are subjected to poor treatment. The loch could be stocked, platforms built and I believe the depth could even be increased which would help the blue algae problem and subsequent smell! This would benefit everyone. Many anglers travel through Galloway to get on the ferry to go to Ireland to fish, particularly coarse anglers. Here we have better scenery and potentially better fishing and there are no ferry costs involved. I have just started an organisation called the Coarse Angling Development Group whose primary aim is to lobby for access to coarse fishing venues and provide advice to land owners. I can be contacted on 01556 650122 or through my web site www.greenhousegallery.co.uk

[Goosander]

Ah Springholm, I set off from Redcar at about 3am and get to Springholm for about 6am just in time to get our freshly grilled bacon butties from the newsagents shop on the High St, you'll know the one.

 

You just can't beat their bacon butties after a 3 hr drive and they set you up for the morning.

 

I could be wrong but has your fishery been in one of the angling papers for a fishing review.

 

Whereabouts are you in relation to the newsagents.

 

You never know, there might be enough interest in a fish in at your place from members on here.

 

As it's a loch you have on your land I'm presuming it's an old water with a naturalised stock so I'm curious if theres any pike and perch in there as well as those mentioned

 

The loch was originally a flight pond and I had it enlarged about two years ago. There were some wild Brown Trout in and some Rainbows but only a few. I stocked it with 150 brownies between threequarter pound and one and a quarter. There are now some decent sized fish in it. I have stockrd with a limited number of small coarse fish up to now as I believe it is the best policy for fish achieving decent weights eventually. I intend to continue with this process over the next few years. The fishery has never featured in any articles and it is located just outside Springholm on the A75 heading for Cstle Douglas. I have a guest house and holiday cottage (the Green House). There are no Pike or Perch that I know of!!

[Goosander]

Hi galloway, Im also from your region and we do have more Goosanders on our inland waters than we do Cormorants. i still dont think there is enough to cause any real problems at the moment, but who knows what might happen in the future. What water do you run if you dont mind me asking?

 

Hi McFudge, Good to hear from you. I have a small loch on my land near Springholm. Stocked with brown trout at the moment and a few Grass Carp and Mirrors. Just added 50 Common Carp, 50 Crucian Carp and about 20 Roach and Tench. I intend to run it as a coarse fishery from next year.

[Goosander]

That is indeed a very interesting post!

 

L Leven is always screaming for a Cormorent cul, and there are certainly a lot there (although not as many as I've seen in pictures from midland reservoirs). The thing is that there ued to be about 300 that roosted under the Tay rail bridge every night. Now there are none. They've all upped sticks and moved to Trout Lochs because they're such an attractive source of food.

 

There are also demands for a seal cul in the Tay estuary, and there certainly are a lot of seals. However, despite the seals, this year has been the best spring salmon run for decades - some beats have been having catches of well over a dozen fish in a day (I've heard of two anglers taking 23) , it's literally 20 - 30 years since those sorts of catches have been reported. There is also good snow accumulations in the highlands, which will keep river levels up through the spring and early summer so hopefully a good season.

 

This is probably due to the fact that the Danes havs stooped commercial salmon netting on the waters around Greenland. If salmon are allowed to thrive on their feeding grounds, then nature will provide plenty off fish to keep anglers and seals happy.

 

At present, the only large scale comercial netting is off the west coast of Ireland. These fish are heading for the big French and Spanish rivers which, by all accounts still have very few fish. The Danes are actually **** of with the Irish for not stopping this. They clamped down on netting off Greenland to allow salmon to re-populate European rivers, not to benefit the Irish fishing Industry.

 

 

I have a coarse and trout fishery in Galloway and I have had a male and two female Goosanders on the loch for some time. They do eat fish and regularly dive for their prey. They are not uncommon on inland waterways in certain areas and they generally nest in trees. They are also quite shy and difficult to get close to.

[advice please]

I dont know about the hengelsport box but Badger do a good quality seat box which is reasonabbly priced. If your going for something expensive to show off i would'nt bother with badger but badgers boxex are cheap and cheerful. Hope you look on this site and something takes your fancy. Hope this helps.

 

I wouldn't bother with Badger. I had ordered a seat box system and trolley from them but five weeks later was still waiting delivery and told it would be another week. I cancelled the order. It's the worst service I have evr had from the tackle trade who are usually so good and anxious to help.

[HELP!]

Can anyone help me with a replacement top section for my favourite fly rod. It"s quite old but casts beautifully. The rod is a Shimano Powerloop Fly 10068, length 10ft. AFTMA 6- 7. Thanks.

[Cheaper Ferries To Ireland?]

why bother going to Ireland? South West Scotland iseasier to get to, has better scenery and great coarse fishing.

[new box]

hi i am buying a new box i am looking at the preston 5 draw box, the tardis, the fox box, and also the badger creative box. any info plus or negative would be great thanks in advance

 

I have just ordered a system w box from Badger. They didn't tell me at the time that it would take weeks to deliver. Don't know about the box quality but not impressed with the service.