Clear daylight between Imlach and the rest in Watten all-night competition
Members of Dounreay Fly Fishing Association held the longest event of their competition season with a night of boat fishing on Loch Watten last Friday.
As they prepared to cast off at 10pm a south-east breeze was causing a bit of a chop on the loch, but it eased off to leave a light ripple on the way back to the berths. A haar covered the loch at times so that careful navigation was necessary.
By lines up at 7am most of the 10 anglers (football on TV was probably more attractive to some) were happy to retire to the Brown Trout Hotel for welcome bacon rolls and coffee before the quick weighing of only three baskets.
Kevin Imlach started proceedings by placing a 2 lb 11.5 oz trout on the scales, then added three more nice fish for a total of 7 lb 13.25 oz. This gave him a comfortable first place, the Hugo Ross Trophy, 10 Boat League points and the bonus point for best fish.
All Kevin’s catch came via Mayfly Muddlers on DI 3 or DI 7 lines with two from Laid Bay early on, then another brace during the final 10 minutes.
Another nice trout that weighed 2 lb 4.5 oz gave Callum Mackenzie second place – his best DFFA result so far and eight points. He had used a DI 7 line and an unnamed sparkly orange fly out in deeper water off the old Stone Boathouse.
After spending most of the night in the Village Bay area, Aivis Kreslins had had enough of fish nibbling his flies but not taking properly so tried a drift past the island then moved over to the Willows where he netted a 1 lb 7 oz trout. The fish gave him six points for third place after falling for a Clan Chief fly on an Intermediate line.
The club doesn’t award points for outstanding sportsmanship – if it did then skipper Neil Clyne and crewman Peter Creasey would qualify for one after stopping to attach a towline to a nameless pair’s boat, as their outboard motor had lost its cooling water.
After four Boat League events the top two retain their places, Alex Donald leads with 37 points and Robbie Hawken is next with 27. Aivis Kreslins’ 24 points moved him up to third and Neil Clyne holds fourth place on 21.
The top six is completed by James Simpson and Billy Thomson tied on 20 points.
The club’s next event is the Loch Calder boat competition on Saturday, June 29.