Coldingham Loch, Berwickshire.
For whatever reason, I use this as my 'local' fishery albeit its a good 40 odd mile drive, I just love the place. Perched on top of cliffs only 400 yards from the sea its a magical place. The following information is taken from the SSSI citation detailing the loch’s special features.
‘Coldingham Loch lies approximately 3 km north-east of Coldingham near the cliff top of the Berwickshire coast, and is the only naturally nutrient rich loch in the Scottish Borders. The location of the loch so close to the sea is a rare feature in eastern lowland Britain, giving the loch unusual chemical and biological features.
At the south and west shores of the loch there are emergent and floating plants and to the western end is a fen, which itself encloses a small area of water. There is a small amount of willow growth around the loch shores, with most of the shore grading into rock outcrops and rough grassland.
Locally rare species include the aquatic plant horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris and fen plant greater spearwort Ranunculus lingua. Two locally rare species of dragonfly have been recorded at the loch, and in the water there are land-locked distinct morphotypes of stickleback.
Although not notified features, the site is also locally important for a wide range of wintering wildfowl, geese and waders including long-tailed duck, whooper swan, widgeon, pink-footed and greylag geese. ‘ Note: not common but the Loch also visited by Osprey and White tailed Sea Eagle.
Additionally the Loch enjoys close proximity to some truly ancient settlements. A few hundred metres north of the north end of the loch you can find the site of two hill forts and an enclosure ‘Tun Law’. This settlement is thought to be Iron Age or earlier and overlooks the Loch at the highest point from the North between the Loch and the cliffs giving some superb panoramic views across the landscape.'
I was out last Thursday and despite very sunny and windy conditions took seven on dry fly.
Lake of Menteith, Perthshire.
This is the premier Rainbow Trout fishery in Scotland. It also holds very big Pike. It is the venue for many competitions and Internationals.
I will usually fish it 7 or 8 times a season (with varying success) A good day is pushing double figures, on a bad day its possible to blank.
Fish are almost always close to the surface so nymphs, buzzers and dry flies work well. Last time out I took 9 on a mix of flies. Thought I had done really well however my boat partner had 18! One feature is that because a lot of 'catch and release' gets practiced, the fish become very very wary. At one point in the day we had so many fish feeding round the boat, you could have walked across their backs to the shore. Could we catch them though? No chance.
The Lake is brilliant if you like birds. Ospreys fish here and it is not uncommon to have one take fish from just in front of the boat. The grebe mating displays are also quite something to watch.
