Fishing – over 20 fish in one morning session at Harlaw

One angler had a real red-letter day at Harlaw. He caught and released 21 fish in a morning session and his big haul came a few days after re-stocking, writes Robert Ross (pictured left), a director of Malleny Angling Ltd.

The successful fly was a small black lure. With the high number of sticklebacks and minnow in Harlaw, the fish soon lock onto this food and a small black lure such as a viva, cormorant or yellow dancer should tempt fish.

The yellow dancer seems to work better in bright/cloudy conditions and where the water is slightly coloured. Meanwhile, fishing over the last week has been variable, although most anglers caught fish.

A fresh head of fish was introduced which liven up the resident fish and the new fish settled in quickly and were soon feeding on surface flies, nymphs and sticklebacks.

This year has however, been the Year of The Blob with this lure accounting for a high number of the fish caught.

The favourite colour seems to be lime green or a variation on this colour. The blob or FAB is fished below an indicator at a depth of two to three feet with perhaps a buzzer or weighted nymph fished below.

With the fish this high in the water, dry fly will also take fish with the favourite a small deer aair sedge, either natural or black with a trailing nymph. A black rainbow nymph or pheasants tail nymph seems to the favourite.

Fish have also been caught on traditional flies such as a Kate McLaren and trout are, on average, 2 lb plus but there are many fish in the three to four pound plus class, many of which are hard fighting, and superb condition blues.

With the season rolling on and next week entering August, we should see larger numbers of sedges and crane flies (Daddy Long Legs) which will increase surface activity. Bottom feeding snails will soon start to pop up which see many fish lock onto this form of food.

The water level remains good and very clear with good visibility and early morning still remains the best time for fishing. Tight lines.