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The mild winter meant that there
was little snow on the hills. As a result
the water was high. Levels were consistently
high throughout January and February. Unlike
1997 many of the kelts were washed downstream.
High water also meant that spotting redds
was difficult and thus estimates of spawning
success was difficult. Fortunately the high
levels did not turn into true floods so redds
should not have been washed out.
Opening
Day (January 15th) was very well attended.
Over 300 visitors came to the opening ceremony
and large numbers of rods took up the offer
of free fishing (donations were made to the
Tay Foundation instead. No clean fish were caught
- only a smattering of kelts. The Gala Dinner
at the Kenmore
Hotel was a great success. The Burn's Address
to the Haggis was exceptional. An excellent
meal was enjoyed by all and the party went on
until the early hours.
The first clean fish was taken
by Mr. Devonshire from the Hotel Pool on February
14th. It fell to a silver toby (18g) late
in the evening. This was a small fish .. only
5lb. Could have been a half sea winter fish.
The remainder of March saw more
rain. Some snow fell on the hills but soon
melted, leading to more high water. A good
run of fish went through, but did not stop.
Rods in Killin killed good numbers of fish
as did the boats on the loch. Several fish
over 25lb were reported. The Dochart and the
Lochay thus received good numbers of Spring
fish which could bode well for this years
spawning.
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