Tuesday 3 October 2017

Angling trip to Kirbister Loch (8/06/2017)



My apologies to John and Philip!
As the brown trout season is about to close, I’ve realised that I had forgotten to post the photos of the angling trip to the Kirbister Loch that we did back in June! So, here they are, showing in that order, Philip hooking and landing his first wild brown trout ever (and a second one!) as well as John, fly-fishing and being shown how to “dap” (not “dab”!) by Jim. “Dapping” is a very ancient method for fooling wild trout which involves a long rod to help  control a light floss line ending with a length of nylon and a fly. The floss line catches the wind and lifts the line, leaving only the fly in contact with the water. Dapping requires an intense concentration in order to spot the take and keep the line off the surface.
It was a very pleasant trip with the Kirbister Loch bathed in sunshine! Considering that the day before, Orkney had registered one of the heaviest rainfalls in June for years, we considered ourselves lucky,  even if the trout were a bit too shy on the day for our liking!
A big thank you to Mr King for joining us on the trip and to Jim Erskine who has taught generations of Orkney anglers and still passes on his skills and experience to our pupils! 

Mr P.