Charles on the right does his best to look very happy (through gritted teeth) for his pal Thomas

And what a first time it was for Thomas Buchanan from Stirling!

Thomas was fishing for the first time on Sunday with his pal Charles Findlater, who is also from Stirling.

Having mastered the basics, he hooked into a huge trout that weighed in at 6lb 3 oz, using a wee viva fly.

Stevie from the Carbeth fluff chuckers was on hand to help Thomas land his first fish but told me that Thomas handled things like a pro.

Well done Thomas, I hope it’s the first of many (though as I mentioned to him – they’re not all that size!)

For other folk on the fly pond, it was a kind of up and down time. The kind of day that you just scratch yer napper and call ‘just one of those days!’

As I wandered around, I found that those catching had used all manner of flys. Buzzers, cats whiskers, Thomas with his wee viva, and even some folk fishing the ‘papa smurf’ (see previous post!)

Personally, I don't condone smoking. Smoked trout, fair enough though!

On the bait pond though, things were a bit more steady with most folk catching.

We had another young man called Devin who’s seven, catch his first fish, and more than that he caught a bigger one than his uncle David Rooney!

Fish were being caught mostly off the bottom and grubs seemed to be the bait of the day.

Although as the day wore on, the fish started to move up closer to the surface, so the bubble float and maggot/grub started to work.

Catches were also steady up at the top pond for both fly and bait.

I was really pleased to see David Stuart return to the fishery.

"Right Dad, are you watching? This is how it's done!"

If you remember from an earlier post, he also caught his first ever fish on his first fishing trip and again, like young Devin, he managed to catch a bigger one than his dad.

Not content with this, on Sunday he reached his bag limit before his dad!

Don’t worry Mr Stuart, it happens to us all.

I remember a day when my wee daughter who was six at the time, beat a lot of seasoned anglers – including me!

So, first times can be sucessful. If you know of anyone who has been keen to try their hand, remember that the fishery can hire tackle to them and tution is available too.

I’m sure many of you will agree that there remains a wee bit of you that still gets just as excited as the first time you caught. Even  when it’s the second, third or even  hundreth time around.

Tight lines