Friday 8 April 2011

Banton Loch

I took a walk round Banton Loch today after the rain stopped to see if there was any point of wetting a line and took these photo's.

fishinscotland,fishing,scotland,trout,fly fishing,Banton Loch Kilsyth
KFPA Notice

fishinscotland,fishing,scotland,trout,fly fishing,Banton Loch Kilsyth
View from where the old boathouse used to be

fishinscotland,fishing,scotland,trout,fly fishing,Banton Loch Kilsyth
This photo is a bit unfair as there isn't rubbish all around the loch but there were a fair amount of empty cans and Buckie bottles.

fishinscotland,fishing,scotland,trout,fly fishing,Banton Loch Kilsyth
View from the bottom end.

fishinscotland,fishing,scotland,trout,fly fishing,Banton Loch Kilsyth
The battle of Kilsyth memorial at the outtake for the Lade.

This water must have one of the greatest unexploited potentials in central Scotland if folk could just get together and bring the place into the 21st century. I'm not intending this post to be a go at the Kilsyth Fish Protection Association but surely it's time this water was returned to it's former glory with a boathouse and some decent bailiffing. I spoke to a guy and his young companion ( I assume it was his son )who were float fishing with powerbait and I'm not against this type of fishing but if just a wee start was made there could be room for fly fishers and bait fishers alike.

There's a general location map for Banton Loch on this site

14 comments:

  1. I agree mate.
    You only have to have a look around the general fishing forums to see that most of the people who turn up here are either -

    a. Totally unaware permits are required.

    b. Totally ignore the fact that there are NO SWIMFEEDERS or FLOAT FISHING allowed.

    Nine out of 10 people I see here are doing one of these , some are 'lying in' , which , despite being a traditional time honoured method around us - is ILLEGAL when using rodrests...the rod MUST be in your hand at all times.
    Banton could be so much better if they took an interest in it , especially by putting the swimfeeders and float fishing issues to bed.

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  2. I've bumped this post to the top because of the above comment.

    You've a point there bud, sorry don't know your name. Even the smallest of changes would be a start.

    Some new signage around the loch saying what was and what was not allowed would start to show people there is a presence in force. If a place looks neglected then folk will treat it as though it doesn't deserve respect.

    I reckon if you start to make the place look as though folk care about it then others will start to care about it too.

    I agree with what you've said about forums as there is genuine interest regarding Banton Loch from quite a few people in and around the Kelvin Valley area.

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  3. I also note that if its the same sign I saw that you have in a pic then its about 20ft up a tree where its highly unlikely to be noticed...

    A wee bit of signage around the place , some of the wee paths repaired/upgraded it would be miles better - even a basic wee fishing hut would make a difference.
    At the very least - some new signage is well overdue.

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  4. I think that sign has been there for about 20 odd years. when we were walking there on Sunday, we said exactly the same thing you have about the paths and a new fishing hut or boathouse. I wonder if the KFPA were to draw up plans to put a new fishing lodge / boathouse on the site and run courses for youngsters whether local authority or lottery funding would be available ?

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  5. Thats a good point Donald - you would think there would be some form of monetary help available.

    A strong enough lodge , with a decent security fence round it should do the trick , defacing or destroying somethings no worth the effort if you can get yer haw-maws ripped aff climbing over a jaggy steel fence...think thats why the old boathouse was so easy a target - it was out in the open wae no way of keeping idiots away from it.

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  6. as a member we of kfpa we are very much ltd of what we can do here.we only own the fishing rights.british waterways own the loch and surrounding paths etc.we stock it twice a year out of our own funds which is not alot.it also has a good head wild brown trout which we encourage catch and release.as for bailiffing.this is mostly done at weekends .presently the loch is getting a total litter clean up.we keep premit costs down so everyone can afford to fish.under £10 a season must be the cheapest ticket anywhere.as for the nebs this is the society we live in these days i am afraid.

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  7. Dear annon, We, my Son and I are trying to find out where to buy a permit to fish at Banton Loch and would be greatfull if you could inform us where to buy one from.
    I have spent the last 3 hours trolling the web with no luck, perhaphs this is part of the problem as to why people are not buying permits. It would be great if you could help.
    Thank you.

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  8. Hope this helps

    Accessible to all at very reasonable rates of £4 per day ( under 16 - £2 ) or £10 per season ( under 16 - £6). For Information and permits contact Mr Archie McInnes, 40 Arnbrae Rd., Kilsyth. Telephone 01236 821654. Permits can also be purchased at J B Angling, Kirkintilloch, (telephone 0141 775 0083), at G Miller, Greengrocer, Main St., Kilsyth and at the Swan Inn, Banton.

    The information was taken from John Grays Site which can be found here http://www.graysofkilsyth.com/places-to-fish.htm

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  10. Banton is a water I hold deep in my heart ! this is where I caught my first brown trout as a teenager and I used to fish this place every weekend of the season from march right through to October from about 1987 to the mid 90's. I made many fishing friends here who taught me a lot about fishing, wee jimmy from tollcross, big john from twecher to name a few.
    I came back to fish the dam about 4 years ago and was disgusted on how it has declined. the litter was appalling.
    I did mention this to the bailiff but to me he basically said there was nothing they could do!!!
    to me if the Kilsyth club really cared about this place there is plenty they could do !
    (1) raise the season price to around £30 a season
    (2) do more baillif patrols ( only patrolling weekends at the start of season is no good)
    (3) warn the anglers about the litter problem

    also wwhen I spoke to the ballif I was fishing the path side. there was anglers on the wooded side but the baillif said he doesn't go over there because path is too muddy . so how did he know they had permits?

    you can read about my trip to banton on my blog here

    http://fishingscotland.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/first-outing-of-season.html

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    Replies
    1. banton holds a lot of memories for me I fished every weekend when I was a lad 52 years ago always fished the side that had the boathouse sheltered in it many a time best time was first light with either a small dark fly or a tiny mepp or when night fell the fly and maggot was in the right conditions deadly it was bubble in fly in those days although I think the most I ever caught was six lovely half pound trout I think they sold permits at the swan inn

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  11. Hi John, thanks for your comment and sorry for the delay in publication. Fair points your making there but to be fair, the last few times I've been down, the litter problem doesn't seem to have been as bad.

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    1. Hi
      reading this post has actually made me think about giving banton a try in a few weeks . its only about 15 mins away which makes it great for throwing the waders and fly and spinning gear into the back of the car for a few hours fishing

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  12. It's a good wee loch John and could be one of the best fisheries in the west of Scotland given better stocking, bailiffing and a new boathouse but that would reflect in the permit prices which at the moment are within everyones price range. Forby that though, it's still a good wee loch on a summers evening. The local guys are all ok and if the ones who leave litter and burn trees would just stop it, it would make such a big difference.

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