Took a use it or lose it day’s leave today and decided to go for quantity rather than quality with a few hours trying for codling on Loch Leven. The forecast suggested the wind would rise in the early afternoon so I set the alarm for a silly time and packed the SIB in the car.
The sun was rising in a clear sky over Rannoch Moor as I stopped for a quick photo, conscious that the weather wasn’t forecast to last all day.
Arriving at Loch Leven I headed round by Kinlochleven to find my launch spot already occupied by some snoozing kayakers (non-fishing variety), but there was enough room to park and get setup so I was underway a little before eight in the morning.
Fishing was pretty much immediate with a good succession of fish, mainly small codling, queueing up in the modest tide run.
I tried a few other spots during the day, including one that was home to a rather startled otter – unfortunately I couldn’t deal with the deep shade it was in, so the image is more like an impressionist painting than a recognisable mammal.
The fish kept coming until the wind started to rise a bit in the early afternoon, and I ended up with around 35, mainly codling but with a sprinkling of coalies and a single Pollack and whiting putting in an appearance.
After retrieving the SIB I stopped off down the loch a little to grab a coffee and a bite to eat, and noticed these two anglers fishing away near the narrows.
And the way home provided one final photo opportunity, by way of a rather proud looking stag who was quite happy to have his picture taken.
Along for the first time was a birthday present to myself in the shape of a new wide-range zoom lens for the camera. I dropped my old 18-55mm lens back in December and buggered the autofocus, so I’ve replaced it with an 18-250mm. OK, so not the best choice from an optical viewpoint, but a pretty pragmatic option for a travelling angler with limited space.
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