Dounreay Fly Fishing Association: New names feature among Boat League contenders
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Dounreay Fly Fishing Association's 2023 Boat League is shaping up to be very interesting with new names already featuring at the top of the table and on results sheets after just two competitions.
The latest event, an all-lochs evening session, was held last Friday with only lochs Calder and Watten being fished due to others being stirred up by recent strong winds. However, by the 6pm start, the wind had fallen to very light and variable with some cloud cover and that lasted to lines up at 10pm.
With 16 anglers entered, the eight crews were evenly split with four boats on each loch and opinions as to the best draw varied, with Calder probably the favourite due to the lack of fish during the competition on Watten three weeks earlier. But angling is an unpredictable sport and Watten provided the best three baskets.
As the crews gathered at the Brown Trout Hotel for the weigh-in, a common complaint was that many fish were rising during the final hour but were ignoring any flies presented to them.
On only his second DFFA boat competition, Mike Skerritt put three nice trout weighing 4 lb 4 oz on the scales to secure first place, 16 points and the Ian Hanna Trophy. He had used a floating line with a Red Tag fly to take the fish from Laid Bay.
Second place fell to Kevin Imlach with another basket of three, for 3 lb 14.5 oz. He had wisely stayed on drifts (wind permitting) from near the boat berths to the Red Hut. A Green Foam Daddy and Coachman-style fly on a Midge Tip line gave him 14 points for third place.
Les Robertson took boat partner John Campbell's advice and steered to the area still known as Pat Grant's where he caught the best fish of the evening at 1 lb 14.5 oz. A DI 5 sweep line and a red and black Hopper fly gave Les the 12 points for third place plus the bonus point.
Loch Calder anglers occupied the next three places with George Robertson (three for 1 lb 12 oz and 11 points), William Plank (two for 1 lb 11.75 oz and 10 points) and David Cormack (a 1 lb 9.75 oz trout that earned him nine points).
The Boat League now has William Plank a clear leader on 25 points with James Simpson and Mike Skerritt tied on 16. Kevin Imlach is fourth on 14, followed by Les Robertson 13 and Billy Thomson 12.
The Watten Bank evening competition is next up for the club and is scheduled for this Friday.
