It all started as a headache for the organisers… The wind forecast was very uncertain and Orkney Harbours, the BBC and Magicseaweed wouldn’t agree on a definite wind direction for Friday 1st June… NNW, NW or N? Decision had to be delayed until the very morning when the east shore was the chosen option.

The KGS and Stronsay anglers met at the hatchery and, very promptly, the rods were put together and the 18 young competitors were ready for the 10:00 start. The section of bank which was to see the action for the next four hours stretched from the Hatchery to the north end of the Loch and the anglers were split into four different sections: Junior Fly, Junior Bait (including spinning with flies), Senior Fly and Senior Bait. Very soon, it became obvious that the baskets would be a lot heavier than last year’s, as rumours of fish being caught started spreading along the bank… The bait boys were doing well but the Kirbister trout were also taking well presented flies in the slightly broken water. It was good to see 8 members of staff from KGS and Stronsay having made the trip to support their pupils in weather conditions which were not as inviting as in the previous days. Two o’clock came and the last anglers arrived at the Hatchery for the weigh-in where Norman Irvine had set his scales, helped by Ken Kennedy and Stuart Topp from the OTFA. Some very good baskets reached the scales and it was good to see that the fish were well spread into the different sections. Eventually the results were announced with Marcus Scholes winning the Junior Bait section with a basket of 8 fish for 3 ¼ (the heaviest basket on the day), Fergus McIvor in the Junior Fly section, Cameron Singh-Johnstone in the Senior Bait section and Craig Stout in the Senior Fly section.

We want to say a special thank you to Mr. Erskine who helped the Stronsay pupils hone their skills on Kirbister and Harray during the whole two previous days, to the OTFA members who helped with the organisation of the competition and attended the event and to local businesses W. Shearer’s, WS Sinclair’s and Wisebuy’s for their generosity in providing great prizes and vouchers. For more details on the results, click on the table below:

Mr. P.