Myself and long time good buddy John McInairnie and Eric Dey and man mountain Neil McKirdy taking up boat two!  Starting to get excited about it, at time off writing, it’s been storms here for three weeks so really just getting excited bout getting a rod back in the water.

Remember and follow our social media pages, to see how we’re getting on in the competition. Tight lines and I hope you guys enjoy the read!

READ ARTICLE HERE 

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We had a short break from the pike here at fish X this January. We chose to put a few sessions in to target some specimen winter Grayling .

Grayling

This was not going to be an easy task as water temps never really got cold enough to produce the best fishing conditions.  Water levels remained too high throughout most of the month. However, we picked our sessions and managed to net some trophy sized Grayling in a very short window.

Usually in the winter, as the temperature drops Grayling shoal up in deeper runs.

This was not the case this year and the fish were scattered throughout the river system. Fishing the duo and trio set up was the technique we found most successful. These big Grayling really put up some fight when they engage. That big dorsal fin in the strong current and a few had me running done the river to get below them, before they snapped my light tippet.

Brown Trout

Some nice out of season Brown Trout turned up too. We look forward to targeting these fish with our guests in a month or so, when the brown trout season reopens here in Scotland.

Spring is in the air!

I love being out on the river at this time of year as you start to see life taking hold again. Wild flowers like the snow drop (Galanthus) start to pop up and animals start to become a bit more active. Subsequently, Spring appears to be in the air as I write this.

Winter rainbows

Apart from Grayling fishing we joined our good friends Wes and Jen up at You Fish Scotland for some fun with the Rainbows! Having just got our new float tubes though from 12.bb which are now available to purchase direct from our online store.  We couldn’t wait to get out on them.

As you can see from the pics, we had a great time. With numerous rainbows into double figures and as always great hospitality from Wes and Jen. They had the kettle constantly on the boil throughout the day. The 12.bb float tubes are definitely one of the best in the market. That is to say as far as quality and safety they surpass any other belly boat I’ve used in the past.

If you choose to join us on one of our float tube safaris, you’ll experience this for yourself. These are what Fish X will now be using.

Guide style fly’s

As you can imagine, the Scottish winter can put a limit to your time on the water. However, we haven’t been wasting our time indoors. We have been replenishing and rebuilding our fly boxes for the year ahead and i’ll bring you some of these trusty guide style patterns over the next few months.

Get in touch to book your Fish X experience and Join the 5%!

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In the lead up to the festive period myself and Euan Miller joined up with the Pike Anglers Alliance for Scotland on their organised events on the lake of Mentieth. We fished both days and it was a tale of two halves. The first day saw me land 10+ fish. Eight of which were into double figures, at one point having two doubles on at the same time. Euan had a few fish to doubles figures. The highlight of his day being when he struck into a fish and the rod, he had borrowed from myself exploded on contact. Euan seemed to find this hilarious! Me not so much! The second day was Euan’s turn, with not as many fish turning up but Euan managed a magnificent specimen of 26lbs.

Our man on the Isle of Bute John Mcinairnie, just as he always does, has steadily brought big fish to the boat, with numerous Pike over twenty pounds and this Rainbow Trout of 15lbs Looking forward to 2019, myself and Johnnie will be representing Team fishX at Perchmania on Grafham water on the 30th & 31st of March. This will be both our first exploration into the world of competitive angling, so it’ll be interesting to see how that goes.

Graham Faulds was out on a guided trip with myself. Graham is an avid fly fisherman for Trout and Grayling, never having had a go for pike before. After we got him out the habit of dabbling his fly on the surface (this might just work at certain times of the year but not at the start off December!) Graham took to it like a duck to water. He fished hard and thoroughly deserved the few fish he had, the largest being a mid-double.

Graham obviously enjoyed his day and was impressed by the tackle. So much so he’s now rigged himself out with a new Loop outfit from https://www.ffcentre.com/shop/ and seems to have joined the increasing number of fly fisherman, turning to pike on the fly! Anyone needing any advice on what loop products are suited to them and their casting style and type of fishing, or any other fishing related matter. Get in touch with us here at fishX and we will try to help you to the best of our ability. Advice is free, we enjoy nothing more than educating others and making their own fishing experience better. Hopefully though time, we can make the 5% the 10% or the 15%!

Myself and Euan Millar attended the organised Loop tackle event on the banks of the river Dee in conjuction with Aberdeen & District Angling Association, it turned out to be a great day. I was enlightened by the amount of work that  is going on towards salmon conservation.  When I see the issues were having in Ireland at the moment, I only hope through time, we will see the same value in our Pike fishing as we do in our game fishing .

 I had the Pike fly rods set up and many of the salmon anglers had a go. A days pike fly fishing can be a good addition to the start or end of a weeks salmon fishing. Euan done a fly tying demonstration and gave instruction on leader set ups for differnt styles of fly fishing, from french nymphing to pike fly fishing. I even managed to squeeze in a quick lesson from Gordon Armstrong on using the double hander.  Its hoped well see more such events organised across scotland in the upcoming year, so keep your eyes peeled. #loopaktiv

Below is a selection of pics, of some of  the clients we’ve had the pleasure to have taken out over the last few months.

I’m ecstatic how things have went since starting fishX, six or seven months ago. I’m still learning on my feet, I’m not the best with I.T. but I’ve got some good people around me and we will get there. Looking ahead to 2019 I can only say im like a little kid, buzzing with excitement about the things to come. The diary is open for taking bookings and already spaces being filled into September. Remember it’s not only pike fly fishing we provide. We cover all methods for pike and perch and fly fishing for brown and rainbow trout. You can even contact us for short, four hours session around the central belt. So if you find yourself stuck in a hotel on a business trip, get in touch and we can sort some fishing out for you. Hotel pick up and drop off can be arranged. You can now find us on Flymen’s guide locator and through numerous tour providors. fishX on tripadvisor, fishx@sportfishingoutfitters on facebook and @team_fishx on Instagram.

Tight lines to all the good guys in 2019 from fishX!

and  remember to get in touch to book your 2019 trip

join the 5%!

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We are really excited about the future and connecting with predator  fly fisherman around the globe and building fish X into a community for all to share ideas and offer each other advise . #fishX #loopaktiv  #Looppredator

We connected with fellow guide service You fish Scotland @ https://youfishscotland.com/ and enjoyed a trip with Wes Parke. To say Wes’s hospitality was second to none would be an understatement. I think its safe to say, this will be the first of many trips together and we look forward to returning the kindness and getting Wes down on some off our waters. Wes states the perch is one off his favourite quarry’s, so I foresee a trip for perch in the near future. As you can see those highland Pike are a bit camera shy but i’m not one to shy away from a tussle with a Pike and after a few rounds and some battle scars to prove it,  I subdued her long enough for a few quick pics before she slipped back off to her watery home. till we meet again! #noreleasenoglory.                                                                                                         

We have updated some stock to the website, with Euan Millar wasting no time at all in getting to the vice and whipping up some pike fodder with them. The quality of Euan’s ties are  off the highest quality, whether it be pike tube flys, bugs for grayling, up wing dries or salmon flies. check them out on instagram @vivadabbler. From time to time there may be some of Euan’s flys available for sale. We have done a few batches already but they have sold out immediately on social media, so the chance of them making it to the website is slim. So follow us on facebook

@ https://www.facebook.com/sportfishingoutfitters/ for your chance to own some of Euan’s flys.

Next time read about how John McInainie ( our man on the Isle of Bute) has been doing, some pics from recent guiding trips and  myself and Euan participating in The Pike Anglers Alliance for Scotland’s organised events on the Lake of Mentieth. Any interested in joining P.A.A.S. can do so @https://esoxscotland.co.uk/ I highly recommend anyone with an interest in pike fishing and pike conservation in Scotland support PAAS in the work they do to promote pike as the true sport fish it and and the conservation work they do, not only in Scotland but supporting our Irish pikers and throughout the UK! keep you eye peeled for some xmas bargains and Ill leave you on this! Team work, makes the dream work! Stick together, look after our quarry and spread the love! Join the 5%, turning dreams into reality! ( if your dreams catching monsters that is! 😉 #fishX

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