We had few fishers in July which was a pity as there were quite a few late springers about, which were in great condition and were being caught throughout the river system. Fish of 28lb, 21lb and 18lb were recorded above us, and we had 6 fish in the week commencing the 14th.

August

We had 5 inches of rain in the first 10 days of the month which brought floods to the area and a local dam at Kilbirnie Loch burst, causing panic in the area.

Scottish Power, who control Loch Doon and the hydro power stations down through the Galloway system, were doing some maintenance work on Drumjohn Tunnel and because of the high water in Loch Doon dumped an extra 50 million gallons of water a day down the river which had the effect of lifting the water by 6 inches for the whole month. While the extra clear water looked great and even the overhead conditions were good, due to the lowest amount of sunshine hours for 40 years, the fish were put off the take as the water was cold and dead. Worse of all the fish ran through our beat and we had very few residents.

Some of the beats further up the river were catching more than their normal amount at our expense, however, we managed to intercept some 25 fresh fish, including a cracking 17lbr to Phil Plant.

September

We really suffered in September with fish coming in on each tide and not stopping. This is when we need some resident fish to slow up the fresh fish coming in, but alas it was not to be.

Our first big spate was on the 16th September and we landed 8 fish, normally on our first spate we catch more like 28 fish.

One bit of good news was that we caught 2 very big fish, one measuring 42” and the other 38”, both these fish would be over 20lbs, which are big fish for a small river and they were both returned to go about their business.

We ended up with 30 fish for the month.

October

Nearly 10 inches of rain fell this month, including the biggest spate this decade on the 10th with 6 feet of water going down the river, the field at the swallow braes was flooded.

What with the high water and stormy weather bringing down more than our fair share of leaves, we lost 10 days fishing in the month, which is another record for us.

However, as the fish came in from the sea they slowed down and we started to see residents for the first time this season. Our guests, when able, picked away at them and we ended up with 54 for the month including many fresh fish and another 20lbr.

Conclusion

Another poor year due to so much wet weather combined with little drying as there was virtually no sun, and adding the water put down the river in August by the hydro made it a terrible year for us, surely this continual rain in summer must change, certainly the hydro have said 2008 was a one off.

We fishers must be optimists!