The fishing over the last week has been variable, although most anglers caught fish. A fresh head of fish was introduced which liven up the resident fish. The new fish settled in quickly and were soon feeding on surface flies, nymphs and sticklebacks.

One angler had a real red-letter day, which was a few days after the stocking, catching and releasing 21 fish in a morning session. The successful fly was a small black lure. With the high number of sticklebacks and minnow in Harlaw the fish soon lock onto this food and a small black lure such as a viva, cormorant or yellow dancer should tempt fish. The yellow dancer seems to work better in bright/cloudy conditions and where the water is slightly coloured.

As is normal in July the fishing has become more testing. Regular fishers at Harlaw are still having success with four or five fish being caught in a few hours of fishing. By far the favourite time is early morning and to a lesser extent late in the day. The evenings have been a little cool with top of the water activity tending to tail off after 8 pm. The fish generally have been feeding in the top three to four feet of water, but going deeper when the choice of food moves to snails or Blood Worm.

The preferred method by most anglers is a floating line fishing the washing line technique with a Sedgehog or small Boobie fished on the point. Two droppers with buzzers, nymphs or Dawl Back completes the cast. A small well-presented dry fly will continue to catch fish.

Even this late in July, Mayfly are still hatching and a Mayfly nymph, Pheasant tail or Hares ear tied on size 10 or 12 long shank hook, not a muddler length, will prove a good imitation and still tempt fish. The hares tied with a hot head is worth a try.

The fishing at Harlaw in the past week has been patchy with exceptionally good days then other days when the angler had to work at contacting fish. Although one of the best days was two days before stocking, a fresh stocking of blue and Rainbow trout midweek livened up the resident fish and excellent catches were again reported.

The best time is still early morning to mid-day with many anglers accounting for several fish in just a couple of hours. During the warmer evenings fishing has been good from around 8pm to sunset. The trout have a variety of food sources ranging from snails and Corixa to hatching Mayfly, Mayfly nymph, buzzers and sticklebacks.

Although weather conditions were variable in the past week, the fishing at Harlaw was excellent with anglers reporting catches of ten to twelve fish in one session. The fish are in superb condition and a number of the fish caught were in the 4Lb class. The average weight of fish is around 2.5 lb to 3 lb. Really big fish of 8 lb to 12 lb weight are still proving difficult to tempt, but some anglers have connected with big fish and have been broken or the fish has thrown the hook. One angler commented that he was into backing in a matter of seconds and found the fish unstoppable.

Periodically we put all the completed catch returns in a hat and the one drawn wins a permit. Kenny Robson from Bonnyrigg has just won a free £20 All Day, 3 Fish Limit day permit. 

After fishing please email your catch return to: The Club Secretary.
Please include:

  • Your name and date of visit;
  • How many rainbow and brown trout you caught, kept and returned;
  • An estimate of the weight of fish.

Completing a catch return helps us properly manage the fishery.