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Feature Article
Loganlea Trout Fishery
Just minutes from the suburbs of Edinburgh, high in the Pentland Hills, there is a glen and in that glen there are two reservoirs within which there be trout. Glencorse, a place of tranquillity and great beauty, where you could be forgiven for believing you are hundreds of miles away from the hustle and bustle of city life. In late April I had a day on Loganlea Reservoir and enjoyed the best of both worlds, fishing on a mature reservoir for fishery quality rainbow trout and I wasn't disappointed.
Loganlea Trout Fishery rests high in the Pentland hills a mile past Glencorse reservoir. Built in the mid 19th century to supply fresh water to Edinburgh, Loganlea sits in a deep cleft at the top of the glen resulting in a long, narrow fishery 51 feet at its deepest point. Stocked with fit fighting rainbows up to 4lbs, brought all the way from Devon, this fishery offers exciting fishery fishing in as close to a natural angling environment as you can get on a man made water.
One glance at the terrain tells you that wading is inadvisable at Loganlea. As the fishery manager, Alex Jack, pointed out, one step into the water is usually ok, two steps are usually one step too far. Just a yard from the bank the water plunges into the depths giving anglers the first clue as to how to fish this water. Long casting is not a necessity at Loganlea for the fish cruise along close into the precipitous bank. Watch out too for the cable strung on telegraph poles along the right bank, it cost me a few flies until I changed to Spey casting to eliminate the overhead back cast.
On the day conditions were windy with the wind blowing in from the east but it did not stop fish from rising in the choppy water which suggests that in calmer conditions fishing the dry fly could be great fun and very exciting as there are many double figure fish in this water.
Alex advised that buzzers and damsels had been very effective the day before and reinforced this by reading out some of the catch returns including 4 fish for over 16lbs. The average catch the day before had been nearly 4lb across the board! At the prices charged at Loganlea this quality of fishing puts many fisheries to shame. I paid my £17 for 3 fish for 6 hors fishing with the opportunity to fish catch and release with barbless hooks when I reached my bag limit. Permit in hand I set off to explore the fishery.
Starting
with a cast of two flies, a black epoxy buzzer with green 'cheeks' on a
dropper and a gold head green damsel on the point fished on a long leader
with a floating line I started fishing about a hundred yards up from the
boat harbour. Several plucks and one good run got me well warmed to the
fishing and hopes were high. I could see that other anglers were having
success from both bank and boat, then the few clouds disappeared. The day
turned into a bright and breezy day with not a cloud in sight and the offers
stopped. I plugged away at the water in hope, regretting that I had come
later in the day. Looking around I realised that I was the only one left on the water
as all of the other anglers had achieved there bag limits before the
sunshine blazed through.
Alex wandered down to give me some advice on the hot spots suggesting that I either move to the shallow top end of the loch, the area around the harbour or down to the deep water near the dam. I took his advice, it would be foolish not to take the advice of someone who has known the water for many years. I chose to move up to the shallows. Changing to an intermediate line and a single Yellow dancer with a gold head I started fishing from the white post as Alex advised. The tactics were right, getting down deeper in the peat stained water got me among the fish again and the first few knocks happened in quick succession but frustratingly I failed to connect with the fish. Perseverance paid off and I had a solid take from a fish of about 2.5lbs which turned out to be hen laden with spawn in late April!
Next came a solid knock and another fish was on, a bright bar of silver weighing in at 3.75lbs. Finally I hit into a feisty fish, the smallest of the trio that fought well above its weight. Back at the fishing hut the days catch was 3 fish for 7.75lbs, a two and a half pound average but as Alex observed an unlucky bag well below the average in previous days. For me on a bright sunny afternoon it was a satisfying day out.
The
fishery is a gem, man made in the reign of Queen Victoria the fishery has a
great atmosphere, a fantastic setting for a day out and delivers the goods.
I will be back to have a go on the 'top' spotting rising fish with a dry
fly. I am told that the fish just love big dry flies like Loch Ordies which
should produce some explosive takes to get the ticker going. Alex also
relates how he encountered a double figure brownie down by the dam, a
remnant from the previous administrations policy of stocking brown trout, a
few of which still survive in the deeps. There are wild brownies in the
fishery and it would be fun to test them out too, these small fish will
fight like furry I am sure.
Loganlea Trout Fishery, Milton Bridge, nr Penicuik, EH20 0PP. Call 01968 676329 or 0131 663 5055.
Boat and bank fly only fishing for stocked rainbows and wild brown trout. No Boobys and no deep wading for reasons that will be obvious.
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