Jewels in the Stream (also rod review)

I was planning on doing a review on a recent purchase , i was needing a new loch rod  ,so with lots of praise for this brand   i bought a Flextec streamtec 9'6" #6 , and also a 6'6" #3 of the same model  . These are auctioned on ebay by tacklediscounts for a buy it now price of £79.99 or you can get them in the auction as i did for   £40 or less.

Streamtec 6'6" #3

 Today (now yesterday) i decided to give the wee 6'6" rod a go . My first impressions were good , it comes packaged in a tube and sock , and  looks strikingly similar to a greys stream-flex , only  obvious difference and a nice touch was the coppery coloured fly keeper which compliments the olive/brown blank , and ofcourse the price tag , the cork quality is very good, couldn't fault it cosmetically apart from a few bits epoxy on the snakes , which i removed with my nail.
    Now to the fishing . I decided to give the rod its first outing on a proper wee burn. Spoilt for choice i wasn't  sure which burn to choose , so decided to sample two local burns , the Murieston water and the Linhouse water.

Below the confluence

The Murieston water meets the Linhouse at midcalder and then meets the main river the Almond  perhaps only a hundred yards or so from there confluence.

The Confluence

First of all i fished the short stretch below where the waters meet , i used  a glister bug under a klink and it didn't take long for the stream-tec to break it's duck. A typical wee brownie.

At the cofluence i decided to head up the Murieston water first , what a smashing wee burn this is , with equally beautiful little trout.

Big pool on murieston water

Murie burn trout (smudged red spots)

After fishing a hundred yards or so i turned back downstream and fished up the Linhouse. The Linhouse is the bigger of the two burns , and perhaps the peatier of the two . It too fished predictably well producing many lovely little brownies typically decorated with lots of smudged  red spots.

Linhouse weir

Despite being near some major cities , the air is clean as proved by the presence of lichens , and its a great escape, in fact I'm sure some folks wont realise just whats on there doorstep, miles and miles of beautiful countryside. , and i was content breathing in the beauty and solitude the stream offered, enjoying a lunch by a rock after landing my best trout of the day.

Ginger beer and "mans chocolate"

The rest of the day continued in the same vain. As for the rod , really like it , it may not be every ones cup of tea though as it's pretty fast , but i can see myself using this rod a fair bit.  These rods present exceptional value for those looking for a new fly rod and have many differing sizes in the range  .

Pollocks and paracetamol at the Pinnacles

For our last day we were tempted to go back to the loch we fished on the Friday, but that would be predictable , so we went to a new mark on the north eastern side of the island known as the pinnacles.
On the way we stopped for plasters and paracetamol as Brian had a sorehead., the Skye version of the tour DE France made the journey a bit slower than usual we passed a few landmarks such as the old man of Storr.

It was a lovely day the sea flat calm we arrived an hour after high tide , plan was to fish the tide down then back up again , with a bit lrf  during the middle part of the day just to mix it up and probably

more importantly give our arms a rest.

First few casts i took 3 small pollock,  Brian took another then it went dead.

So we went looking for a decent rock with good depth to fish from, depth seems to be the key, a deep gulley fringed with kelp being ideal. brian spotted a rock which looked good so we went there.
He quickly took the first decent fish of the day on his lure rod he had taken a gulp Sand eel.

I stuck stubbornly with the fly rod , couldn't get a fish on a clousers so changed to a chartreuse and white deceiver dressed on a 1/0 hook , this seemed to be getting a response , the fishing was extremely visual with fish appearing behind my fly 20-30ft down following , sometimes they would take most times they would turn away at the last minute. Sometimes a take would be registered by watching the White fly only for it to disappear, then it was fish on.

 Others you could clearly make out the fish , and you would be willing for it to take, on one occasion a massive pollock followed my chartreuse and red clousers, only for it to turn its nose up last minute I could almost work out the unconvinced expression on his face as it slid away into the depths , which only left me punching the air in frustration and shouting obscenities in its general direction.

I now also had a sore head, perhaps too much sun? So I went for a walk , by the time I returned Brian announced he had just had his first lrf wrasse, he followed that up withe two more and a colourful long spined sea scorpion.

beautiful or ugly?

I managed a poor cod when I decided to have a break from the fly, then after trying unsuccessfully for a wrasse I decided to try for pollack on the soft plastics, when I got a few modest pollock.

A late return to the fly rods seen a few more pollack followed by a late appearance of some coal fish , speaking to another angler  it seemed we hadn't done to bad in the bright conditions as many had blanked even the boats struggled.

On that orange fly again

That concluded our fishing in skye as the following morning we headed for home. Another trip wiser we will be returning again next year for some more of the same.

These boots are made for Wading!

This is a first on Streamside diary, but i thought I'd do a  review on one of my favourite  angling purchases  . I must state  ,I have no links to the company  and this is my own experience with the product (others may vary).

A couple of years ago. I decided to bite the bullet and spend a bit more money on wading boots , after yet another pair of boots disintegrated whilst wading  a    highland stream . Up until then it was not unusual for  me to go through 2" cheap" pairs of wading boots in a six and a half  month trout season, usually of the felt sole variety. so i decided to look for vibram soled boots, soles which i like on ordinary walking boots.  First i looked at Simms, then a bit googling i came up with these.

Orvis clearwater II with the eco-trax sole. I can't speak highly enough of them , there comfortable, give support and they can take a beating. After   almost 2 busy seasons fishing rocky  rivers , float-tubing , visits to the sea , winter grayling fishing, they are still going strong even the replaceable studs are almost untouched. Yes there is a few signs of wear but much less than expected. i would expect to get a good few more months out of them possibly another season but they owe me nothing.

Orvis have updated this boot marginally so you can find this boot currently in their sale outlet  at a good price , just under £100 they are a real bargain giving there  longevity  . Ive decided to buy another pair ,  before they disapear they are best wading boots I've ever had though ive no doubt there other vibram soled boots will also be good . One thing id recommend is to get 1-2 sizes bigger than shoe size to accommodate for the stocking foot. 

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