REPORT ON THE MILNES PRIMARY SCHOOL OUTING TO THE ROTHES GLEN FISHERY ON 15TH JUNE 2010
On 15th June the Spey Fishery Board organised a trip for 28 pupils of Primary 5 of Milnes Primary School Fochabers at Rothes Glen Fishery under their 'Schools go fishing' initiative.The pupils arrived by bus at the fishery but, as the bus could not get up the narrow unmade road to the fisherY, the boys and girls had to walk up from the metalled road. The children were accompanied by class teacher Mrs Spencer and a number of parents and school helpers.
There were several members of the Spey Fishery Board in attendance including Roger Knight Director of the Spey Fishery Board and Bob Laughton Biologist of the Spey Foundation. A number of Board employees and river bailiffs also supported the day along with Mel McDonald Chairman of the River Spey Anglers Association accompanied by Frank Clark who is a committee member of RSAA and also sits on the publicity committee of the Spey Fishery Board.
The cost of the fishing for the children was fully sponsored by River Spey Anglers Association.
The children were split into two groups and one group went off down the Rothes Burn to look under stones for bugs and beasties and young fish while the second group were split up into pairs, each with one adult to supervise, and attacked the bait pond at Rothes Glen with spinning rods, bubble floats, corn and maggots. The groups switched over at lunchtime.
A number of the children were successful in catching their first trout. The majority had never fished before and seemed to enjoy and get quite excited with the experience. Rothes Glen staff were on hand to provide tuition on fly casting for those who were interested to try this method out. The outing including a fish feeding session in the stock ponds.
The photos (in the photo gallery section) show the group photographed just before the start of the afternoon session and a group of successful children who caught their first trout.
Tackle was provided by the Spey Fishery Board and RSAA with safety gear provided by RSAA.
The next Junior Outing is planned for August 2010. If you are interested in attending this outing please phone Mel McDonald on 01542 839925 or Alex Sinclair on 01343 870032. Numbers will be limited. Tackle will be provided and Junior members of RSAA will be able to fish free of cost. Juniors need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
REPORT ON THE JUNIOR OUTING TO THE ROTHES GLEN FISHERY ON SUNDAY 9 MAY 2010
The second RSAA outing of 2010 saw 16 young people aged from 5-16 participate at Rothes Glen Fishery on a fine but cool early May day. As usual committee members were on hand to offer help and advice and to answer many questions and to try to help the young people to catch a trout and sort out tangles. The fish were not in co-operative mood but quite a number of very good trout were caught with several of 3lbs and above and with one just under 4lbs caught by young Bailey McKay who landed 4 for his day.
The kids were well supported by parents and friends. Some of the mums and dads even had a cast themselves and one young mother landed her very first trout at around 3.5lbs....a notable achievement. You can see her, pictured with her daughter holding the fish, in the Photo Galleries Section, along with other photos taken on the day.
A group photo was taken before the start which clearly illustrates the anticipation on the faces of the participants....if you can see them beneath their protective sunglasses and lifejackets.
All in all a great day out. Many thanks again to the management and staff of Rothes Glen Fishery for doing everything they could to make the outing enjoyable and giving us the facility of a loch to ourselves, and to the parents and friends for providing transport and support.
Keep an eye on the website for details about the next outing which is scheduled for late August.
Fishing will continue to be offered free of charge to juniors who are members of RSAA.
REPORT ON JUNIOR OUTING TO THE ROTHES GLEN FISHERY SUNDAY 11TH APRIL 2010
The first of the planned Junior outings for 2010 took place at the Rothes Glen Fishery on Sunday 11th April 2010. The weather was warm and fine all day and the 14 young anglers who attended seemed to thoroughly enjoy their day out. Some had fished before but for others it was their first time.
Although the weather conditions were extremely pleasant, it was a difficult fishing day with a lot of surface movement but limited takes from the trout. However, despite this all of the youngsters managed to catch a fish, albeit on occasions with a little help from the RSAA Committee members present.
The RSAA would like to thank the Spey Board for their help in supplying some of the equipment for the Juniors, to the Rothes Glen Fishery for their assistance on the day and for all the Mums, Dads, and relatives who kept the youngsters' spirits up throughout the day.
Photographs taken on the day can now be seen on the Photo Galleries page of this website.
Don't forget that the next Junior outing is planned for Sunday 9th May 2010. If you are interested and have not yet got your name down you will need to contact Mel McDonald on 01542 839925 to see if there are any places still available.
REPORT OF JUNIOR OUTING TO ROTHES GLEN FISHERY SATURDAY 7TH NOVEMBER 2009
Another highly successful outing was held at Rothes Glen Fishery with 23 young anglers aged from 6-16 years participating.
The weather was ideal for a late season outing with bright sunshine all day and a very light wind which made casting easier. The autumn colours and reflections were brilliant.
Most but not all of the young anglers managed to catch a trout including very first trout for some.
Thanks must go to the Spey Fishery Board for the use of their trout fly tackle and to Rothes Glen Fishery for all their assistance during the day including individual coaching from Kevin.
Thanks must also go to the mums, dads, and grandparents and guardians who came along to support and encourage the youngsters including those that had a try themselves.
Thanks also to RSAA Committee members and volunteers who organised and assisted throughout the day. The next outing will probably be during April 2010.
Photographs from the event can now be found on the Photo Gallery page of this website.
REPORT OF JUNIOR OUTING ROTHES GLEN FISHERY - SUNDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2009
Following on from the successful Salmon Goes to School, and Schools Go Fishing Projects sponsored by the River Spey Fishery Board, The River Spey Anglers Association sponsored a fishing day for young people at Rothes Glen Fishery on Sunday 6th September 2009. Following a mail shot to existing junior RSAA members, newspaper advertising in the Northern Scot, and an invitation to a number of schools in the Spey catchment area, 25 young people between the ages of 7 and 16 took part in the outing which was fully sponsored by the River Spey Anglers Association. This meant that all youngsters participating could fish for the day free of charge and could borrow tackle provided by RSAA and the Spey Fishery Board and could obtain some individual instruction and take home their first fly caught trout.
Nearly all of the boys and girls, many of whom were beginners trying out fly fishing for the very first time, were successful in learning to cast with a fly rod, as well as catching their first trout. Some of the Mums and Dads & Granparents in attendance had a try as well.
Sincere thanks are due to Rothes Glen Fishery for their fisrt class support and for the assistance of Kevin and Dave and particularly for their help and instruction during the course of the day and for the private use of the ‘ wee’ loch at the fishery for the day.
There were a number of ‘first fish’ for many of the youngsters as the photo gallery on the River Spey Anglers Association website at www.riverspeyanglers.org.uk will illustrate. (Note there is currently a problem with the web site and photos will be inserted asap)
RSAA hope to be able to hold a further outings for young people in the near future and details will be sent to those who participated and will also be posted on the Association website.
Thanks are due to Committee members of RSAA, Mel McDonald, Graeme Mackenzie, and Derrik Smith who gave of their valuable time to assist during the outing as well as Bob Laughton Biologist of the Spey Fishery Board, and Richie Miller Biologist of the Deveron Bogie & Isla Rivers Trust. Ritchie was present to assist and was keen to learn from the RSAA experience in youth angling with a view to setting up a similar youth angling facilty in the Deveron Valley.