The River has been high for a few days and the cold wind and rain has not made fishing easy.  Despite this anglers have been out and some good fish have been caught including a first Almond Brownies for junior member Calum Chapman.  Other members have reported that the fish are in great condition and generally larger than last year, hopefully a sign that our Catch and Release policy is working.

Unfortunately the weather also meant that the demonstration by Paul Buchanan on czech & french nymphing and the Beat 3 familiarisation sessions had to be cancelled.  These events together with an evening session for newbies on Beat 2 will be re-organised.  Keep an eye on the events page and the forum for more information.

The first formal outing took place on Saturday on the Tummel, but despite a great deal of trying nothing was landed!  But, the feedback was excellent, it seems the guys just enjoy a good day out after all.

If you wish to find out about any future outings contact Adam.

Dr Matt Bell has also organised the Almond McNabb on 25^th May – prizes are on offer.  If you wish to take part please contact Matt.

Normal service will resume with regards to our Journal Posts shortly.

As I write this we have one of the highest water levels in a number of months!  The river was running at 1.4m yesterday but has dropped quickly to just 0.6m.  This is only slightly higher than the favoured height of most anglers on the Cramond water, so it would be well worth having a cast over the next few days.  The higher water level along with very high tides will undoubtedly tempt some of the bigger sea-trout into the river.  There have been finnock and smaller sea trout consistently being caught over the last few days, with the favoured area being on Beat One below the Cramond Falls.  Most of these fish have fallen to small spinners with only one or two coming to the fly.

With the lower water of the last week or two, the brownie fishing has been difficult but when you connect with fish the quality has been superb.

Everyone interested in the river and contemplating taking out a club membership might be interested to know that the River Almond will be featured on TV on Tuesday 17th April at 20:30 on BBC Alba.  Popular angling programme, ‘Turas a Bhradain’ where keen salmon angler Neen MacKay pays a visit to the waterfall at Cramond and actually manages to catch leaping salmon on camera! I believe a few CAC stalwarts are also to be seen leaping about!

I hope you get an opportunity to get out on our water over the next few days and if you have any success please do let us know.  The next best thing to having success to your own rod is to hear how others are getting on!

Calum McRoberts, Vice-Chairman

What a cracking start to the year, with some excellent Brown Trout and Sea Trout making an appearance in the catch returns!  Noteably a Sea Trout of 3 1/2lb, which is a nice fish on any river.  The wee warm spell at the end of March certainly brought a few brown trout to the surface, with fish showing right into the dark at the Cramond Brig! 

Apart from the usual suspects, the Grey Duster and the Iron Blue Duns seem to be doing well!  I’m still of the opinion that a good spate would make all the difference, clearing the silt and debris which has built up over the winter and spring so far!

Tight lines.

The highlight this week was away from the river bank, when 33 members of the club gathered at Cramond Boat Club on Monday evening for another wonderful fly-tying event.  The club would again like to thank Paul Buchanan who gave a talk on a variety of nymph fishing techniques and then spent the time showing the members how to tie them.  Having someone of Paul’s skills giving up their time is invaluable and I would encourage all members to come along to these evenings.

Paul showing a junior member how to tie one of his nymphs

Fishboy and Fishermans Friend putting it into practice.

Concentration….

There was a great atmosphere and with 33 folk turning up, many agreed it was the best evening we have held so far.  Paul has kindly agreed to do a practical session on the river later this year with a promise that members will be amazed just where fish are to be found and how easy they can be to catch!  I’m looking forward to that one!!

Fishing was quiet this week as the low water conditions persisted – 0.36m most of the week, but there was a short-lived spate on Saturday with the water jumping to 0.5m, but dropping back again soon after.  I’m not sure if there were many anglers out on Saturday, but Friday saw many anglers on the water enjoying the sunshine on Beat Two with a few other members just walking the banks.  As far as I know there were no fish caught but with the trout season fast approaching that should change soon enough.

If you have any interesting news from the river – catches or otherwise please get in touch at admin@fishalmond.co.uk

It’s been a quiet week on the river and with no rain to speak of the water levels remain very low at 40cms.  With only 32 days to the start of the brownie season, anglers thoughts are turning towards the warmer days of spring and the increased fly life.  Despite the low water, there is always the chance of finnock or sea trout, especially in the lower reaches.  Many folk will choose to spin at this time of year and if that’s you, then choose lures such as a size 2 or 3 mepps in any colour that gives you confidence, but I’ve always liked silver in the spring.  Whether you use fly or spinner, remember to fish it deeper and slower than usual and remember that there are no treble hooks allowed on Cramond Angling Club water this season.

Tomorrow evening – Monday 13th – sees the Fly Tying Evening at Cramond Boat Club beginning at 7:30pm.  The club is again very grateful to Paul Buchanan who will be showing us some of his favourite flies as well as some techniques that are sure to put some extra fish on the bank this year. This event is for members only.

Membership numbers are currently ahead of 2011 and is now open to the public.  The start of the brown trout season on March 15th is when we traditionally see an increase in applications, so if you are considering applying don’t leave it too long.

A March Sea-Trout from 2010

If anyone is out this week and meets with any success please let us know by dropping an email to admin@fishalmond.co.uk

A good turn out with a kelt and Rainbow which was killed for obvious reasons
Thanks to the Piper Calum Chapman who is a club member and Adam for organising the event. It looks like we are ahead of last year regarding membership numbers and memberships applications are now open to new members.Please remember to carry your membership card whilst fishing the river. C.A.C are working in partnership with the F.D.S.F.B and Lothian and Borders police who have both committed to supporting us this season.
pictures of the event will follow on the gallery page

Dates for the diary

Mon.13th Feb Members only fly tying evening 7.30pm Cramond Boat Club
Thurs. 15th Mar Brown trout season opens

The river has dropped a fair bit and hopefully we will be fishable for Wednesday. All the paths have been cleared on the riverbank and we look well prepared for the start of the season. For those interested there is a new E-zine called East-sleep-Fish which has an article on the river Almond in this months issue The e-zine can be viewed here.
Applications for new members will be accepted from Feb 1st and all details are on the permits page.I have also been asked to mention that Mark MCGilvary will be selling some of his top quality flies at the flytying evening on Tuesday 13th Feb, with all proceeds going to Yorkhill Hospital, a very worthwhile cause. Good luck to anyone venturing out on the river this week.

Dates for the diary:
Wed 1st Feb opening day ceremony at the wall pool 9am
Mon.13th Feb Members only fly tying evening 7.30pm Cramond Boat Club
Thurs. 15th Mar Brown trout season opens

Dalmeny Lease signed by office bearers of Cramond Angling Club

Spring is just around the corner and the season opens for the Salmon anglers in 10 days time
There is currently a 2 week turn around on processing membership renewals/applications.Application for new membership opens on Feb 1st 2012

Not much to report this morning apart from the fact that all paths that the anglers use are passable after the work done over the past few weeks
The Bughtlin Burn is looking far better after the recent remedial work

Dates for the diary:
Wed 1st Feb opening day ceremony at the wall pool 9am
Mon.13th Feb Members only fly tying evening 7.30pm Cramond Boat Club
Thurs. 15th Mar Brown trout season opens

With the recent high winds we have been relatively lucky with very little storm damage. The vast majority of trees that have come down are not really affecting the river and those that were blocking the paths we use have been dealt with.

bank erosion at Willow island has enabled the river to now flow freely past both sides.This has prevented erosion on the path side but unfortunately wiped out the Sandmartins nests on the far bank

Not long now untill the season starts on our river. The opening day ceremony will take the same format as last year with a bbq at the “Wall Pool” on Monday 1st of February the start will be 9am. Season Tickets will not be sold on the day

Members only fly tying evening hosted by Paul Buchanan

we have been working on putting on a fly tying evening in February and we have been fortunate to acquire Pauls time to do the demo’s Paul as many of you know is an expert on the Almond and has represented the Scottish National River Team.His Almond patterns work. This is an ideal opportunity for all to gain that little bit more knowledge.Paul is also going to donate some tying kit to our junior tyers and therefore this is an ideal opportunity for all members.
The date has been booked for Monday 13th of Feb at Cramond boat club with a 7.30pm start

The agenda will be along the following lines…………

30 minute intro
French nymph technique – show the rig and indicator and the flies that are used (10 mins max)
Straight nymph technique – demonstrate the difference between this and French (5 mins max)
Nymphs on jig hooks – why they are so effective (5 mins max)
Manufactured Barbless hooks – styles, uses and effectiveness (10 mins max)

Fly Tying Demo
Proper Czech Nymph – show how to tie it the Czech way and hand out sheets on the colour variations
Example French Nymph – show how to tie a quick/simple example nymph that suits this style

Fly Tying Assistance
Float around helping everyone where possible until time runs out.

Raffle

I am sure you will all agree there is something for everyone here. Paul is also an extremely approachable chap and will readily answer any fishing related questions you may have for him.