Pike fishing has been excellent this past week.   Darren Reynolds for Fife - 15lb fish using roach.  Derek Gilmour from Motherwell - 27lb 10oz (32″length) using smelt.  This pike was in peak condition.  Peter Dlabic - on holiday from Czech Republic - one pike 10lb and one pike 8lb.  His son fishing for trout caught 4 brown trout all about 1lb. This was all from boat fishing.  Burrows & Andrew - 11lb pike from the bank near the Harbour Cafe - fish in good condition.  Mr Taylorson from Paisley 9lb 30z fish using mackerel tail.  Jason Walls from Dunfermline fishing from the boat caught 3 pike averaging 9lbs.

 Trout fishing has been slower, however, Jason Barr from Perth caught a fantastic 2lb 4oz fish - fly fishing from the boat towards the south bank.  The fish was returned unharmed.

There were a few others reported trout catches all around 1lb - 1.5lb.

The banks have been relatively quiet and there has been a good family atmosphere, where people have been camping.

As usual the anglers prefer to go the the quieter areas or fish from the boat.

We are continuing to work with the rangers to keep Venachar litter free and discourage anti-social behaviour.

And with the weather, the catches improve - last week Mr Black from Skinflats, at his usual spot on the east bank caught a very good 2lb brown trout however his grandson who is 6 years old, but has fished for 2 years, caught a fantastic bag of 6.5lbs, 4 brown trout.

 Martin Tucker from Livingstone on 21 July caught a 2lb brown trout from the north bank, Martin removed an old hook and line from the fish and released the fish unharmed.

 However the trout catch of the month is a 3.5lb specimen caught by Shannon Stokes at the week-end.  Shannon photographed the fish and returned the fish to the water unharmed.

Pike fishing has been very good over this last week as the water level rises.

Ross Waterson from Alloa - 16.5lbs

Mr Rochan from Edinburgh 14lbs

Mr Steel from Carluke - 11.5lbs

Steven Dawson from Alloa - 12lbs

Daryl Strang from Alloa - 7.5lbs - this was young Daryls first pike, so he was thrilled with this.

 However with all this good news there is one piece of misfortune, Mark Warrington from Larbert landed an 18lb pike, the pike put up little resistance and Mark found that the fish had a full wire trace wrapped around and through its jaw and gill.  The fish also had a protruding stomach and other damage.  Mark did his best to sort the fish out but after an hour of trying to get it to swim he eventually had to kill the fish.  Mark was, as most pike anglers will know, devestated to kill such a specimin

Yes the weather is helping with the fishing catches- Alistair Arniel, on holiday from Norwich, managed to convince his wife that boat fishing was good therapy and he caught 2 very clean brown trout using a black and gold buzzer (1lb to 1.5lb). Mrs Arniel enjoyed her trip out on the boat, she had a picnic lunch(supplied by Harbour Cafe) and read her book. Both fish were returned unharmed. Mr Black from Skinflats was back last week and kept up his catch record with a couple of brown trout. Fishing from the bank using a maggot. 

The trout catches that have been reported this last 2/3 weeks have in the main been around 1-1.5lbs fish. they have also been reported as good clean fish, this is all good news for the Loch.

Pike fishing has been as usual, the regulars are back and some tell me of their catches and some do not,a recent example, 12th July, Steven Dawson from Alloa fishing from the bank landed a 9lb  then a 12lb pike using  lampray bait. Both fish were returned unharmed.

I have had conversations with several angling club members , they have told me why they have not fished Venachar recently. We are working hard to improve all aspects of Venachar- the banks the boats and the catches, however we will never compromise on the quality of Venachar water and maintain this loch as one of the few wild brown trout fisheries in the area.

Please feel free to comment and make suggestions on how we can improve and make your fishing more enjoyable. I will certainly take on board all suggestions- I may not agree with all your suggestions but I will listen and I am willing to learn.

I apologise for the lack of reports recently, I was unavoidably detained in a hot country with nothing to do except laze around, admire the view and drink water!

The water level is still ridiculously low- however the catches have been reasonable considering the conditions - hot and sunny then wet and windy.

Mr McNiel from Edinburgh, fishing from the North Bank, caught 2 good sized Pike - 10lbs and 12lbs - 5th July.

Mr brian West from Dunfermline caught a fantastic 19lb specimen using a mackerel tail from the boat,  Peter Ireland , visiting from Surrey,caught a14lb Pike using sardine bait from the boat on Fiday 2nd July.

Trout catches have largely gone unreported, we continually ask for the returns to be given to the Boathouse. this information is vital to us and will help formulate our future fishery policy. - Some of the reported catches-

Alan Prentice from Glenrothes landed a1.5lb brownie using a red/black, fishing from the Port Ellen bank, Mr G Morton from Stirling landed a 1.75 brownie from the boat using a maggot-

So the fishing continues, and the recent dry spell  has seen a lot of anglers enjoying the view and the scenery as well as enjoying this fantastic location for Fishing.

The survey I reported on earlier has now concluded and I await the results. This report and reccomendations from it will greatly influence our future Fishery Policy.

I will continue to monitor the catches on the Loch and look forward to your cooperation in maintaining the high standards we hope to achieve on Loch Venachar.   

The water in the loch is very low still, however that has not deterred the sports anglers and we have had some good catch reports this week.

James Randalls from Grangemouth caught a magnificent 2lb brown trout from the north bank using a maggot.

Reece Gibson from Bo’ness - fishing from the bank at east Lodge has been trying all week for a big pike.  He tells me he has a few runs but his best has been a 11lb junior.  His best trout this week was also a junior a 1lb trout with a maggot.

Raymond Clarke from Paisley caught a 15lb pike using mackerel bait from the north bank and Thomas Krawec from Edinburgh caught an 8lb, 10lb and a 14lb pike from the boat.

All fish were returned to the water unharmed.

 We are at present continuing to work on ou fishery stategy and policy.  I expect to finalise this towards the end of July, when the final results of the Loch survey have been analysed.

The National Park Rangers are continuing to monitor behavious on our banks and they seem to be relatively hapy that we are striving to encourage sports anglers and families to our Loch and that we are discouraging anti-social behaviour.

Our biggest complaint at the moment is the amount of litter left behind.  Please help with this problem.

 Enjoy the Fishing.

I must be one of the few people delighted to see the rain! The regulars will know that the water level is exceptionally low for this time of year.  Of course the Pike anglers were also happy for the bright sunshine to end and more favourable angling conditions are here.

 There were however several good Pipe catches recently:

 Paul Brown from Newcastle caught a 10lb, 12lb and a massive 17lb Pike from the north bank using smelt.

 Michael Simpson from Glasgow caught a 16.5 fish from the the boat.

Tony McTaggart from Glasgow caught a 17lb Pike with a super shadrap gold.

 The best fish year year possibly was Robert Rowan from Coatbridge - a magnificant 25lb Pike from the bank(near the farm).

The Trout fishing is progressing through the season and we are seing an influx of fly rods from the boats.  Catches have been reasonable, a  recent example was George Johnston from Callander caught 3 lovely brown trout - 1lb - 1.5lb from the boat.

 All in all the Venachar Lochside has been an enjoyable place during this spell of good weather.

Thanks for this are due to the work of the National Park Rangers and the local police in patrolling the banks and deep anti-social behaviour in check.  The families and anglers who come are most welcome.

Please enjoy our National Park.

The last week has seen some glorious weather on the Lochside- the conditions have been perfect for bank and boat fishing. The weekend saw every boat out on Saturday and 70% out on Sunday, if you can then please book for the weekend.

The best of the reported catches are as follows;

Lewis White from Dumbarton on the 18th May- 1.5lb brown trout on a worm from the East bank, near the Dam.

Mr Elliot from Cumbernauld-Thursday 20th May two sea trout between 1.5lb and2lb  using a damsil fly and incredibly he also caught a 12lb Pike.

George Elmslie from Valleyfield caught a perfect specimen of a brown  trout  2lb(it looked about 1.5lb) but he insisted it was more. Using a worm from the North bank.

Stewart beggs from Dumbarton caught 3 nice brownies again using worm.

Chris Smith from Killearn caught 2 beautiful brownies with a black spider fly

The best of the Pike- which was as expected quite slow due to the brilliant sunshine-

21st May Alan Thomson from Grangemouth caught an 18lb pike in sunny conditions using a comrad jointed lure and on Saturday 23rd  May P. McGlone from Coatbridge caught a 15lb and 12lb pike.  His lure/baite and location is keeping to himself!

Once again it was a pleasure on the banks this weekend and the national park rangers and local police are regularly patrolling the loch to ensure no anti- social behaviour and fortunately for us the anglers and families on the banks were a pleasure to speak to, you will always be welcome here.

With the improvement in the weather, the catches have improved and Fly fishing is becoming more succesful on the Loch. On Sunday we had the Welsh Firemans Association on the Loch. They are competing in the National Fire Service competition on Lake of Mentieth (Tuesday 18th). Their catches were;

Phil Hooper 1 - 2.5lb and one 1.5lb brownie caught with a fly -gold nymph

Karl Pugh  - 2lb and one1lb on a green dialbach

Clive Pugh - 2lb on a gold head daddy  floating line

We wish them good luck in the competition and as we all know the rainbows are easier to catch!!

Talking of Rainbows there was a 2.5lb  rainbow caught from the banks on Saturday, South bank near the East Lodge, we think it may be an escapee from the Lochan  above. The Sea trout are also making their way into the Loch via the Dam access.  David Mcstay from Carluke caught a 2lb 12oz sea trout from the boat using a dry fly, and a 1lb brown trout with the same fly. Most of the other catches have been between 1lb and 2lb brown trout, from the banks using a maggot and from the boat the fly seems to be the best.

As you would guess the Pike catches have not been so many with the sunshine, however there have been a few smaller,9lbto 12lb reported but we refuse to document anything less than 15lb just now!!

We are still working to keep our banks clean and free of litter and we thank the majority of our anglers for their assistance it is greatly appreciated. We are also trying to assist the Police and the National Park Rangers to prevent and report any anti-social behaviour,again your help and co-operation is much appreciated. We can only ask everyone to Respect our Loch and Environment.

As stated before we have been woking towards having our own Fishing strategy and Stocking Policy, we are almost there and we will be reporting on this shortly. However can I say that since we have been logging returns and catches the signs are goodthe brown trout are difficult to catch but they are here in good numbers and in very good condition, exactly what is required on a sports fishing Loch. We will never stock Rainbows and make this another farmed fish outlet. Just for the record on a day like today (Tuesday) the Loch is  absolutely spectacular!            

The last ten days have given us some really good catches- both brown trout and pike.I will start with the best of the brownies;  Greig Thomson from Dundee caught a good bag on Saturday 8th May - 5 fish in total the best of them was a 3lb specimen.

                   Mr. Black from Skinfats,who fishes here regularly, caught a 2lb and a 3lb trout onMonday 10th May. Both in prime condition. The catches in general have been of sizeable fish. This gives us an indication that our brown trout population is surviving and thriving, a 2.5lb fish is around 4 years old, so when we are catching a lot of fish in this bracket and in such excellent condition this indicates a strong, healthy brown trout population in Loch Venachar.  The catches and records we have kept are now influencing our stocking policy for the Loch. Whereas at one time we were considering stocking with some large specimen fish we are now considering Pre-Yearlings and Yearlings. We are also looking at ways to protect these fish and maximise the survival rate to establish  a good number of 1.5lb  fish over the next 12 months. Be assured that our target will always be to have locally reared brown trout that have been reared on Venachar and maintain the Quality of Fishing that Loch Venachar is associated with.

Pike catches have been fairly impressive of late; Colin Smith from Coatbridge caught a 13lb fish onSaturday 8th May,  Thomas Devine from Salsbury nr Shotts landed a14lb 8oz fish on the 10th May using a lampray and his best of the Month was a 17.5 monster from the same location on the banks.

So all in all a good start to the season.    

The loch is fully open and fishing well, although so far the loch has been comparitively quiet, we are now seeing some serious fly fishing on the banks. We have been encouraging anglers to report all catches but there is still a reluctance to do this. Best trout fishing catch this week was a 2.5lb brown trout caught by Kenny Mcallister from Shotts using a maggot. Other  trout catches have been smaller but regular.

I am still in discussion with the angling associations regarding season ticket prices and any ways we can work together to improve the Loch. It may be the end of May before we can formulate and publish our plans however.

The loch is fully open again for pike  and the best catch of the week was a 17.5lb caught from the banks, I cannot say where or by whom as he says he does not boast about a fish so small!!

We are still trying to encourage anglers to take their litter home with them,  however  there is still a fair amount left behind so please feel free to encourage other Loch users to take their litter away, in the nicest possible way.

We look as though we will have a few boats out this weekend so please phone in your reservation as early as possible.

Good fishing and remember to report your catches.