7th November 2020

Needing little persuasion I gladly accepted a suggestion from my friend and experienced angler Pat for ‘one last’ outing for the Season. To be honest I had resigned myself to packing up the rods for the season. However I had not previously had the chance to explore this further part of the beautiful River Annan and what an absolutely stunning section of the River Annan.

Having had some really valuable and helpful tips regarding this beat from my friend Kevin I arrived full of anticipation. Pat having arrived before 8.00am was already visible upstream of the car park casting in the mist that still clung over the water.

We spent some considerable time, perhaps too much, working our way down from the corner above the car park carefully covering each section, some more than once. Fish were evident in abundance from the point I arrived and some very sizeable fish too. However with fish jumping behind, in front of us and over the line neither of us seemed to be able to tempt them despite our best efforts and various fly offerings.

Having regrouped at lunch time to compare Kevin’s notes and maps and agree tactics we set-off reinvigorated determined to seek out some of the pools and runs downstream from the big pool at the car park.

We fished below this main pool, a lovely big run which is deep on our (right) bank but shallow in the middle of the river entering at the first point where depth permitted. In hindsight this was perhaps not the smartest tactic as fish most likely were also lying close to our bank. However like gold prospectors we were blinded by the sight of yet more fish rising just off the far bank once more.

We fished this whole section steadily, enjoying the easy wading in the middle and the good flow. Despite our best efforts neither of us however managed to connect with or even rise any fish despite there clearly being fish around once more. Two other anglers passing us confirmed that they too were struggling to gain the interest of the fish. Undeterred we decided to check out the section below this straight. This long run we had just fished ends with a right bend and an enticing pool before it widens into an enormous pool and ox bow lake. Pat opted to fish down into this really big pool and I fancied the bend and pool below the straight that we had just fished. The choice of my 11ft 7wt Sage X Switch setup seemed to be well suited to this water.

As I fished this section I was treated once again to fish showing above and below me and even over the fly as it landed just off the far bank of this bend. Curses had long given way to wry smiles as I now began to accept the fact that despite the number of fish around they simply did not appear to be in ‘the mood’. With the light fading and the sight and sounds of a large flock of geese on the wing I decided to call it quits and go find Pat.

There certainly were a good number of fish in the pools that we had fished and we had only scratched the surface of the pools and sections of this beautiful beat. We had not even covered the additional pools downstream including ‘The Creamery’ etc.. but agreed that we had thoroughly enjoyed the day and this beautiful beat. Back at the car park we learned that neither of the other rods had yet managed to entice a fish which whilst surprising given the numbers of fish in the system was in some way ‘reassuring’ and not down to our skills, tactics luck or whatever.

We both agreed that we would love another day on this truly lovely wee section of the Annan.