Coarse anglers hail Drumtassie despite being ‘plagued’ by trout - Nigel Duncan
The Edinburgh and Lothians Coarse Angling Club (ELCAC) opened their season by making their debut at a new water and the consensus was everybody enjoyed themselves according to the club’s social media correspondent, Bruce Lawrie.
Some members were “pestered” by trout as the coarse fishing pond at Drumtassie near Blackridge in West Lothian has been created from a former trout lake, but Lawrie understands steps are being taken to reduce the trout population.
Lawrie added: “Everyone appreciates the potential of Drumtassie Match Lake, especially with the planned stocking programme. We [ELCAC] are fortunate to be participating on this maturing, potentially outstanding match lake.”
ELCAC are understood to be the first club to hold a match on the Match Lake and Lawrie admitted there was “trepidation and uncertainty” among the membership because nobody knew what to expect.
Club anglers are now looking forward to Round 2 of the Summer League on May 16 and this will herald the start of the Knockout Cup.
Bosses hope to see more new faces next time but they welcomed Alexander Kerr, Robert Bartusik and Bartek Kolowski to the fold on Match Day One.
Several members expected the opening match to be a low weight affair but Lawrie added: “Well, all I can say, is our trepidation was unfounded. The Match Lake comprises a generously-pegged 21 permanent platforms with space for another four pegs, if required, with still room to spare. It has two islands.
“The right-hand side of the lake is the ‘deeps’ with the middle four pegs being around 9ft to 10ft deep at 11 metres and 6ft to 7ft feet deep around four sections. The left-hand side is the ‘shallows’ with depths ranging from under 2.5ft to 4ft at the bottom end to 4ft to 6ft at the top end.”
Lawrie confirmed that the club has 23 members not including two honorary lifetime members Geoff Lowe and Bill Hamilton.
The Summer League format remains the same, a ten-match league with anglers dropping their four worst results with the Knockout Cup, the Pairs and the Rod and Reel event added to the mix.
A total of 17 anglers were split into four sections for the opener and, as per last year, and statistics for the first match showed an improvement with a higher winning weight compared to the last two seasons where 21lb won Match 1 in 2024 and 32lb won 2025. Backing weights were also up compared to previous years, with every section won with weights in double figures.
New member Kerr was the runaway winner in Section A with 21lb 14oz. He caught on maggots. Lawrie was second with 7lb 9oz. He enjoyed a great start with four fish in four put-ins, then the wheels fell off and he was “plagued” with trout.
Third in Section A was Roz Cassidy with 3lb 6oz, consisting of small carp with East Lothian-based, Simon Clynshaw, fourth on 1lb 14 oz, a carp caught on the tip rod early on, then nothing.
Section B winner and third overall was Mark Gleave with a weight of 32lb. He fished a tidy match on expander and micros (pellets).
Second was club chairman, Darrin Ferguson, with 18lbs 13oz made up of carp caught on short pole with maggot and a few on the tip rod using dumbbells or maggot. He also lost a few.
Third with 6lb 5oz was Will Martin, who caught on short pole with fourth going to Shug Smith with 5lb 6oz.
Section C was fancied, with a slight breeze and the island peg, and it didn’t disappoint. This was the section to be in, and it produced the match winner in Andy Roberts with a superb weight of 56lb 3oz using pellets and expanders in 4ft. He caught steadily through the match.
Second in the section and second overall was Joshua Lloyd with 46lb 12oz. Like Andy, he fished pellets and expanders, and third was Bartusik with 13lb 1oz. He was disappointed and thought he should have caught more. Fourth was Jimmy Jones with 10lb 7oz.
Finally, Section D, and last year’s ladies champion, Heather Lauriston, was top rod here with 6lb 12oz. This section proved to be the poorest weight-wise, but Heather caught on maggot at 13m. Second was Stewart Ritchie with 3lb 14oz and Gordon McKay weighed in with 2lb 9oz.
On to trout fishing and the Edinburgh Angling Centre at Granton host a Loop Tackle weekend on May 9 and 10. Anglers can inspect the latest equipment and there are casting demonstrations from a world champion single and double-handed champion. Tuition will be given.
Prizes can be won on single-handed casting accuracy competition, and proceeds from a raffle will be presented to the Tweed Foundation which aims to introduce more people of all ages to fishing.
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