A piece of friendly advice weeds out the fish at Moffat

IT was a bit of a surprise to find so much surface weed in the fly pond at Moffat, writes STUART FRASER.

But, although it was a bit annoying, it was still fishing. Normally a sight indicator with a single Buzzer or mini lure suspended below would suffice but not so on this occasion.

The bright sunshine did not help and cast a huge shadow over the surface, so it was a question of keeping as low as possible.

Not wanting to move very far I concentrated on the main basin to see if I could pick off one of the fish that were showing. After an hour or so of little or no offers I was beginning to think it was not going to be my day.

Having gone through my box of flies I could not get anything to work and was near to calling it off when, by coincidence an old friend happened to pass by and offered some advice and, being one to listen, I gave his tip a try.

Staying with a floating line and a long leader I attached a single Damsel and proceeded to strip as fast I could.

It was not long before a big bow wave chased behind my fly before turning away at the last moment.

After several casts and follows I decided to strip the line fast before stopping dead.

After a few seconds I would move the fly again but before it got far it was seized by two fish well over 4lbs.

It was not a great way of fishing but it was effective and great to see those big fish chase.

Moffat has good top-of-the-water sport and some classy looking fish which fight well.

It is a fishery definitely worth a cast and worthy of the travel.