Contrasting conditions for Dounreay Fly Fishing Association events
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The contrast in certain aspects of the weather was high on two consecutive weekends of Dounreay Fly Fishing Association competitions. On Saturday, members had to put up with heavy rain, thick cloud cover and strong wind whereas on the previous weekend they faced wall-to-wall sunshine accompanied by a strong wind.
In addition to the bad weather, the water was very dirty after being stirred up by the continuous wind.
As the 12 anglers prepared for a 6am start to the Early Bird competition on Loch Watten, the rain held off until they left the berths at Oldhall. The fresh north-east wind saw all the boats setting course for various points along the north shore where they hoped to find a little shelter and some of the elusive Watten trout.
The heavy rain and the wind did eventually start to ease off, so that by lines up at 11am it was a pleasant day that helped ease the disappointing morning efforts. This led to a very short weigh-in procedure as only two of the drookit group had something to show for their efforts.
Les Robertson was first to the scales with a 1 lb 9.5 oz fish caught in the Lynegar area using a 4/6 Sweep line and a Peter Ross fly. This gave him 10 Boat League points for second place.
Neil Clyne wasn’t confident as he came forward with his catch as it looked about the same weight as Robertson's, but at 1 lb 11 oz it just secured the Grouse Trophy and 12 points plus the bonus point for best fish.
Neil had netted the trout near the end of a drift from the island towards the Targets using his favourite intermediate line with an Olive Hog fly.
As none of the leading six in the Boat League added to their points total, the table remains the same with James Simpson leading on 33 points and George Robertson, Kevin Imlach and Alex Donald tying for second on 29 and David Cormack fifth on 28. Toby Bracey and William Plank are also in a tie for sixth place with 27 points.
The next event is the inter-club contest with Shetland Angling Association this Friday and Saturday.
The next DFFA championship event is for the KML Trophy on Wednesday, July 26.
