River Leven

[granters]

Well chaps i finally got my application filled in (after much humming and hawing and a brief flirtation with moving to australia). Who else is a member on here? Im getting the full membership so you will be seeing my brother and myself arguing on the bank frequently. Does anyone have a bash at the loch for salmon and sea trout? Looks like excellent fun. I'll be set up with a 14footer for the season and my trusty sharpes 10ft7wt for the Fruin and Andrick. Sound okay?

[clydebuilt]

Hi Granters,

I will be re-joining again this year, only for the River and not the "Big ticket", having a young family and spending too much time at sea ( Funny you mention Oz, thats where I'm off to next for 6 weeks work) puts fishing in third place at the minute. Saying that, when I'm off, I can usually manage 2 - 3 days midweek and the river is much quieter then.

Anyway, I tend to use a 16' rod for the Leven most of the time, with a 13' in thinner water but I'm sure you'll be fine with your 14', its not a massive river to cover.

There are a few other members, Fruin is one and will probably have more a good deal more info about the Loch, Fruin and Endrick.

Hopefully bump into you this season and we'll see if those Snake's do any damage for the Seatrout!!

Tightlines
John

[lomond]

Hi Granters, myself & Fruin are members of the LLAIA. Haven't got time just now to give a detailed overview of the system ,both of us will provide more than enough info in the next weeks to get you started.
Brief overview - River Leven 14-16 ft rods, best time late April - early June for Springers. River Endrick & Fruin, best time Sept & Oct, although if wet ,July/Aug can be good. Flies- Alleys shrimps, cascades, Bann shrimp.
Loch Lomond - Late April onwards, trolling to start with the fly from late May/June onwards, although alot of boats troll all season.
Visit www.lochlomondangling.com for more info. The Balmaha diary is good for Loch info. There is aslo the www.robbieredball.net website for info on the Leven.

[granters]

Cheers John, I wondered where you got to! Hopefully will still get to Oz myself later in the year, flamin visas! So this might be my last season salmon fishing for a while and the Leven better be ready for some ridiculous spey casting attempts. I tried tying up a few snakes myself, what's your preffered hook for them?

[granters]

thanks lomond. I'll see you on the bank one day probably. Looking forward to getting started.

[clydebuilt]

granters said:

I tried tying up a few snakes myself, what's your preffered hook for them?

Granters.

I started with the Eagle Claw red 3x Trebles but now prefer the Partridge BMD's.

It would be god to meet up with some of the lads on here for a days craic on the Leven aswell.

[granters]

Tried experimenting with doubles, just doesn't seem to balance. but I've got a new box of tricks to unleash this coming season. Been a boring winter. Will be hitting the Leven in Feb, if only for some casting practice and who knows...

[Fruin]

Granters,

As I've said before, if you need somebody to show you parts of the system, give me a shout. Lomond would also be willing to help I would imagine.

I really only fish the rivers, with only the very occassional day on the Loch when Lomond twists my arm!

14 footer is perfect for the Leven, and a single hander is all you need for the Endrick and the Fruin. There are lots of local rods that will point you in the right direction. A lot of people only fish the top half of the Leven, and usually gather in force for a blether around the Bonhill Bridge.

Smaller flies are usually the order of the day for the whole system - 0.5 inch to 1.5 inch tubes on the Leven during spring and autumn, down to size 16 depending on water height and temperature. I took a good few fish at the back end a couple of years ago on a half inch tube when the water was sitting at 6 and a half feet
Size 10, 12, and 14 and microtubes on the Endrick and Fruin. Trout flies in low water.

A lot of anglers fish the sink tip the whole season on the Leven, and this with different weights of fly would probably suffice. However, I like to have a sinker to hand as well.

If any of the forum members that fish the Leven fancy a get together on the river, give me a shout and we'll organise something.

Gary

[granters]

Cheers fruin, fantastic advice there mate. Looking forward to it

[trollscot]

Iam a member of the LLAIA as well i stay in Fintry so i fish the Endrick quite a bit i mainly stay up at the Fintry stretches, if you want any tips on this end of the system give me a shout.

Cheers........james

[granters]

will do trollscot. That was one of the major attractions for me, the Fruin and Endrick. i love wee spate rivers and it'll be a great way to end the season. Cheers (and welcome to the forum)

[norrie004]

Hi granters iam a member of llaia just put the video the big loch (loch lomond) by Bill Mcewan
on to dvd if you want a copy pm me and ill send you a copy

[clydebuilt]

Hi lads,

Tried to check out www.robbieredball.net site this a.m. but i couldn't get it. Some domain registration thing popped up, any of you managing to get in??

Cheers
Clydebuilt

[trollscot]

I tried to day at 11.45, and got in no problem here is the link i used www.robbieredball.net/

cheers.......james

[kenziemac]

Afternoon all,
Granters, just to confirm that your set up is ideal and that there are many, many people who fish the Leven who will give you advice. Perhaps too much.
If you want a blether, Bonhill Bridge is normally well populated throughout the season, but especially around an hour after high tide. Robbie normally patrols the river at the top end, occasionally venturing down to McKinnons and beyond. His site hadn't been updated since November 2006 last time I looked, but it really is the place to get up to date info on the Leven.
If you can, also get a copy of the tide times for 2007 they will help and go from there.
See you down there in a couple of weeks.
Kenzie Mac

[clydebuilt]

trollscot said:

I tried to day at 11.45, and got in no problem here is the link i used www.robbieredball.net/

cheers.......james

Cheers James,

Tried it again and I'm still getting diverted to this site instead:

sedoparking.com/templates/50/why_popup.html??

saying that the site has just been registered??

Ach who knows, looks like i'll just have to use the LLAIA site instead.

Cheers
CB

[trollscot]

Another good thing with the Endrick is there is a phone line you can phone to get the hight of the river and how is running.

The phone line is operated from july to oct depending on how early we get water.

cheers.........james

[lomond]

I think Robbie just needs to re-register the site. He will probably update it when the season starts on Feb12. Should see some pictures of Fruin kelt bashing then. Only joking Fruin !!

Granters, the Loop bottle tubes, tied with artic fox or goat hair,fished on a sink tip line, seem to do well on the Leven. I think it is because the flow is so fast when the water is up abit that the brass tube cuts through the water abit better than a fly fished on a treble or double hook. Myself and Fruin will show you (or anyone) around the Leven.

We also know the Endrick and the Fruin very well and can do the same later in the season. I prefer to use a sink tip all the time on the Endrick/Fruin (Cortland DT7 ST) With an Ally's Shrimp and the tail and a Cascade on the dropper. Size 10/12 trebles or 8 in a big water. Seems to work quite well. Lower beats on the Endrick below the Pots of Gartness have not fished that well over the past couple of years. The fish seem to not want to stop until they reach the Coolies Lynn area. Lovely countryside up in that area also, a complete contrast to the Leven. Cheers for now. Lomond

[granters]

Can't wait mate. Would there be a problem with camping anywhere near the 2 wee rivers? I love getting up at first light or before and making a day of it. As I live about an hour away it would be easier to camp, and maybe have a go at the sea trout during the night. Thanks for the fly advice, i'm trying to fish with my own patterns this season, just find it that bit more satisfying. Got a few good looking fellas armed and ready. Who knows, might even catch one this year!

[lomond]

Never camped at the Endrick or Fruin, I would probably get permission from the local farmer though. Very few people now night fish on the Endrick for Sea Trout. Might be worth a go after a spate though. Alot of guys night fish the Leven for ST, Fruin does this occasionally.
Your own patterns will catch plenty of fish i'm sure. Probably more important is to get the rivers at the right water height. The Endrick needs to be between 1-3 feet,anything lower and it starts to get difficult. The hotline is very helpful to anglers what are abit away from the river.