2024 Veterans Cup Round 2 Lake of Menteith

Military Veterans Fly Fishing Cup Round 2 Match Report by Jock Royan.

21 anglers fished in Round 2 of our Veterans Cup yesterday at the Lake of Menteith. We were met with favourable conditions and recent reports of fish high in the water had everyone chomping at the bit. Unfortunately the wind was unsettled and constantly moving from North to East. This made setting up the drift frustrating at times however fish were consistently feeding on the surface and could be caught with a little stealth. The fish were predominantly feeding on small black midge and during periods when the wind dropped and sun came out, the whole Lake was literally alive with fish.

Breakfast and lunch were once again generously supplied by John Paul Maestri & The Rose House and a great opportunity to discuss tactics prior to and during the session. Some had found the morning session quite tough but as usual, there were lots of smiling faces and great banter.

Byran Yip had an outstanding afternoon catching 8 fish after a doughnut at lunch. It’s refreshing to see the improvement in skills and confidence that comes from these events.

Graeme Sharp volunteered to take out the single boat, much to our Charman’s dismay 😂. We wish Graeme good luck with his forthcoming back operation and look forward to seeing him back on the water, later in the season.

I fished with Jock Kettles and we had a great day together. Jock landed a fish on his second cast and had 5 in the boat within the first 15 minutes. This activity attracted quite a few boats so we switched location and he quickly landed 2 more. 7-0 down and I predicted a 10-0 whitewash by lunchtime! 🙈 Thankfully, a few fish decided to stick and we were 8-6 at lunch, where Jock quickly refuelled on a trio of doughnuts!

We bounced around a few areas during the afternoon and I learnt quite a bit from the master about the Lake’s underwater features. We landed a couple of real rod-benders that just wouldn’t give up. The strength of these fish is simply outstanding and pound for pound arguably the best fighting fish in UK.

In true Veteran style we had a great day with lots of shared information on tactics and a few War Stories thrown in. I have respected Jock’s consistency for many years and saw at first had that he just never wastes a cast and is always reading the conditions. We ended 16-10 which was a fair reflection of the day.

Looking forward to seeing you all on 26th May for round 3. We have 15 boats booked and I’ll be in touch soon by email, requesting your confirmation of attendance.

Results.

Those with the same number of fish are separated by the time of their first fish.

Jock Kettles - 16 Fish = 1 point.

Jock Royan - 10 fish = 2 points.

John Maestri - 8 Fish = 3 points.

Byran Yip - 8 Fish = 4 points.

Cameron Duncan - 7 Fish = 5 points.

Eck Moffat - 7 Fish = 6 points.

Glen Lamont - 6 Fish = 7 points.

Graeme Sharp - 6 Fish = 8 points.

William Shepherd - 4 Fish = 9 points.

Stevie McArthur - 3 Fish = 10 points.

Kenny McClymont - 3 Fish = 11 points.

Des McLaughlin - 3 Fish = 12 points.

Ed Fullerton - 3 Fish = 13 points.

Graeme Ferguson - 2 Fish = 14 points.

Stuart McBean - 2 Fish = 15 points.

Graham Fulton - 2 Fish = 16 points.

Geoff Allan - 1 Fish = 17 points.

Dave Penny - 1 Fish = 18 points.

Ian Drummond - 1 Fish = 19 points.

Ian Howland - 1 Fish = 20 points.

Jim Watson - 1 Fish = 21 points.