B&W 'Bruce' Powerlite 12 foot #7-9

[JJ]

Hi

Any advice much appreciated..

I saw this rod in my 2nd favourite fishing tackle shop at the weekend for £250. I fancied a shorter rod for the Speyside Avon and the Welsh Dee but there was no one around to demonstrate it (I dont buy without a try!).

I looked in the B&W catalogue to find no mention of this rod at all! Does anyone know anything about it?

ie is it worth the money?
is the Bruce taper the fast or slow taper?
what line would you recommend?
is 12 foot too short for the Avon?

Thanks a lot - JJ

[JJ]

Thanks Graham - its probably not what I am looking for!

- JJ

[Bogyoch]

A 12' rod on the Arn should be fine. I use a 13' rod and can easily reach all the fishy bits on the water that the Minmore House House takes from Ballindalloch.

[JJ]

Richard

You have fished at Minmore House?!

I have got some day tickets booked in September and can hardly wait. What is it like? Will I have a chance of a fish?

Any tips MUCH appreciated!

- JJ

[Bogyoch]

JJ

The MHH takes two beats from Ballindalloch, the upper and lower, but I'm not sure of the numbers of these beats, 2 and 3 I think. The upper beat is fished Mon, Tues, Wed and the lower the rest of the week. To date I have only fished the lower beat, but I hope to get a chance this May to fish the upper beat.

There are really only four main pools on the lower beat, connected with fast streamy water with the odd deep hole that the odd fish rests in for a moment or two. Polly's is fished from the left bank only and requires a little wading at the top of the pool in fast water, but then it cools down a bit and you fish it from the bank. This leads into Polly's Run, that is generally fished from the right bank with easy wading down to a V, and then into fast broken water with the odd hole, particluarly at Mitre Rock. Then the main pool, Boat, is easy fishing from the right bank. The bottom pool is accessed via a Suspension Bridge (hence its name) and consists of a very deep narrow channel leading under the bridge to a wider section, but is marred by a big back eddy.

You will have the best chance in September as the fish run later in the season on the river, with small flies being the order of the day. Size 12 or 14 dully dressed cascades or brown shrimp patterns seem to work well then, unless the water is peaty so something brighter will be required. Do remember though, if the water is low and clear, you will not find clearer water anywhere than on the Arn, so the fish will certainly see you!

My last day's visit in September 2005 resulted in 11 fish to two rods, with probably the same number of fish lost! Sadly, most of these were coloured.

A 12 or 13 foot rod is perfect for the river, but I would plump for the 13 foot that would give a bit more line control and, if the water is up a bit, some extra distance if needed.

Good luck in September.

[woburn]

Hi Richard,

Those names of pools sound so familiar. Really rang a bell with me. Would the Richmond Arms in Tomintoul have the fishing on the opposite bank by any chance? I'm sure I've fished those pools with my grandfather. There is another pool where the Glenlivet joins the Arn which I remember. There is also a 'kirk' on the banks of the river, St somethings???

Maybe he was poaching!!!!

He used to fish the first week in June every year between about 1975 and 1990. He always used to get fish, salmon and seatrout. He would fish the pools with a 13 ft double hander and then fish upstream worm in the runs and pocket water.

Good luck in September JJ. Its a fantastic bit of river.

Regards,

Sam

[Bogyoch]

Hi Sam

I'm not sure how long the Hotel has been leasing the water from Ballindalloch, but the two beats they do take are both double banked. There may be a kirk on the upper beat, but I'm not too sure as yet. I have fished the beat above (Ballindalloch 1b I think) that leads down to the pool where the Livet joins. However, we found that this isn't really fly water, more suited to spinning and worming that Ballindalloch allows. There's also a stretch above that the locals can fish, and they have great success with worms and seatrout in June.

When I'm there next in May, I'll try to get a bit of history and let you know.

[JJ]

Great advice - I'll report back when I've fished it!

I am actually going to give it a try for browns over Easter too

So much fishing so little time! - JJ