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ON THE HILL
* All the pheasant and partridge are in place and doing excellently. They are well grown and very healthy, having come from our supplier, Bettws Hall. The extremely rainy weather gave the pheasants a cruel start, but has helped them to harden and tail up early. The partridges are at home all over the hill; the longed-for sunshine arrived and ensured that they were fit enough to be released soon after their arrival.
* Mark Owen created four entirely new pens for pheasants - including a very large one and a medium one at Dullarg, to create a number of completely new high drives at that end of the ground. He has renovated and greatly enlarged the pen at Jamiesons - to serve both the high drives at Dhu Craig and Culcaigrie. He has also created another new pen at Fellend, the next-door estate, which we have added to the shoot, to provide several new pheasant drives.
* For partridge, Mark had put a total of fourteen pens on the hill - producing a true amphitheatre at Kirkconnell, a high gallery at Culcaigrie, and a series of screamers across and down the Gorge.
* We have considerably increased the number of pheasant and partridge put down, to cover the expansion of pens and drives throughout the estate.
* Mark has used well into three figures of new hoppers, which he made to his own specification. The birds are feeding themselves well at them, and of course Mark is also feeding by hand all over the estate.
* We now have a new dedicated chiller-room to handle all game.
* We have added two Mules to the transport, as workhorses and to take guns up to the headier drives. We are also converting the pick-up to beaters' transport.
* We have improved the access to many drives.
* There is still some partridge shooting to let in September and October, and we are still taking bookings for a few gaps in most months.
ON THE LOCH
* Last season recorded a marked increase in the average size of fish caught - frequently up to and over 3/4 lb. Not massive, but certainly more rewarding. Some fishers caught over 100 in a day, some were far less fortunate!
* In the Spring we renovated the antique rowing boats - which our oldest-established fishers tell us have been there for 50 years - and they had served as skiffs at sea before that.... We also gave the boats new oars, and kitted out the boathouse with a full set of life-jackets.
* The loch has fished well this season, despite the weeks of hard weather. The warm spell has seen a marked increase of fish surface-feeding.
* We have seen more weed on the loch this year, because of the early sunshine and low water. We have had a series of blitzes on weed eradication, which has greatly improved the position.
* Again we have received consistent reports of larger fish being caught, and heavier bags generally.
* And many sightings of the wildest and shyest creatures all about the loch.
* TIGHT LINES.
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