Caught my first ever salmon in the Bannock in my early teens. Out of the big Falls Pool, seen in the video. Had numerous beautiful trout, up to 3lb, over the years me and my brother fished it. Spent our youth on it, and caught trout from below the spill at North Third, right down to the Clay Hole, below Bannockburn. Happy days indeed. What a burn. Full of cracking trout in those days. In the summer, we used to go and catch, by hand, lampreys.. Ugly buggers, them! Put them back, of course. Used to catch young elvers in the motorway culverts, below the A9.. How they ever got up there, still amazes me. When travelling north on the A9, passing over the Bannock Burn (sign), look left and you'll see a waterfall, created by iron girders. Well the deep trough that's been pounded out, by years of heavy spates, used to hold some tremendous trout. I watched a fulla, one day, catch a 6lb brown trout, in that very spot. What a fish! It must have been washed down from the loch, or maybe from Swanswater. Swanswater, when drained, has a pretty big natural burn running through it. It was good for browns, years ago, but I don't know now. Anyway, an absolute belter of a "troot". A lifetime of great memories spent on that burn. I would turn the clock back in a heartbeat.
Would you be able to point me in the direction of how to get started with fishing? I'm confused about permits etc, I live in Stirling and haven't fished since I was a kid with my Dad but would love to take up the hobby again. Fly fishing preferable as it seems more enjoyable to me. Thanks.
