The Trout season started this week and I'm definately going to try to get oot on the river more this year.
Cannae beat a wee bit o' fly fishing for the wild broon troot of an evening. Wading up tae yer baws in the Tay, takin' in aw the sights and sounds. The Wildlife disnae expect you to be their in the middle o' the river, so ye get a right good deek at kingfishers, otters, deer, herons, dippers ect to name a few. You often get low flyin' ducks headin' straight fur ye, zoomin' aboot 3 foot above the water at heid level. It's the look on their faces when they clock ye at the last second and bank hard tae avoid ye.
In the summer you get the Daubenton's Bats at dusk, flying aroond yer heid efter the insects, sometimes they will go efter yer fly, so you hae to be careful and look oot for the wee dudes.
Anyway back tae the High Wall. I mind one summer we aw got the fishin' bug and spent the entire holidays up at Dunsapie Loch fishing for perch. We used tae dig up worms fae the back green and head up first light wi oor wee spinnin' rods. I mind it was a cracker o' a summer tae and we would sit aboot watchin oor bubble floats and shootin' the breeze wi one another. Sharin' cheese & pickle pieces, crisps and bottles o' dilutin' juice. Fond, fond memories o' good friendships, and a time when we were laddies who didnae hae a care in the world.
Occassionally we would catch a fish, maistly wee yins. They all went back except for one time when Arkos and I caught a couple o' perch aboot the 1lb mark. We decided that we would eat them so we gave them a few dull yins to the heid and trotted aff hame wi oor prize.
My Maw cooked one o' them for us and I have tae say fair play tae her, she got us tae gut it and fillet it efter a fashion. She then showed us how tae fry it in butter wi a bit flour. We ate it and it wisnae that guid, stillwater fish like perch are earthy and fu o wee bones. Mind you we were so proud o' oor new hunter, gatherer status that we didnae complain. We did however elect to gie the other perch tae a neighbours cat.
When I go fishin' now I often let ma mind drift and I remember guid times and happy places. The Dunsapie summer will always be one of them.
3 comments:
Talkin aboot broon trout. The only broon trout ah iver saw wir the ones thit floated in the water doon at Porty! Nae fucker wiz goanny eat them nae matter how much ye payed thum!
We went fishin wae ma auld man once, eh wiz a right keen fly man, effter aboot an oor o boredom ah started throwin rocks in the river, couldnae sit doon fur a week. Ah nivver knew yer erse hurt that much fae a bit o fishin!
Otters? Seriously otters? Ah've spent many an hour o ma life scourin coasts an riverbanks, drove aw the way tae Glenelg to check oot Ring o Bright Water country and have come to the conclusion that they dinae exist ataw.
Except in Kerala where ah saw 2 in a lake.
Bats're cool though - one flew between ma legs last June at the campsite in Aberfeldy. Cheeky fecker.
Yeah, I've got to agree with Alien Orders, those days long gone, fishing on Dunsapie Loch for perch, were brilliant. Warm weather, sun shining, the smell of plants and green stuff growing. And sometimes if we got up there early in the morning it was so quiet. Mind you I remember when our peace and quiet was shattered one early morning, as mist still hung over the loch. A VW van pulled up and the door flew open and a bunch of German (?) hippied piled out and started jumping into the water. Fair scared the fish away! Aye good times indeed!
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