The owner of Burnhouse Lochan Fishery near Bonnybridge was a member of the ladies squad which triumphed in tough conditions at Lough Lene and she admitted: “I can't stop sleeping. Well and truly burnt out.”
It was a tough week for the squad and Maisy revealed: “We arrived at beautiful Lough Lene and our homework told us that it would be a hard water and when we were in the boat we soon realised why.
“The water was gin clear, the majority of it was shallow and it had a light sandy bottom, you could see everything, beautiful to look at, but not ideal for a competition.
“Our training days went well, in fact, they went very well. Our team picked up a good number of fish every day. We worked hard and gained an incredible amount of information on flies, lines, areas and times.
“We could also see that the other teams weren't having quite as much luck so our heads were held high and we were confident. However, even though on our last training day we were still picking up fish, it was beginning to slow and I made an early prediction that the International match would see a lot of blanks from all nations.
“There were, in fact, 25 blanks out of 36 ladies. The water bowed to the pressure and the soaring heat.
“We left the water exhausted, burnt to a crisp and emotional. I had a good cry on the bus while the score cards were being tallied and when we were called back to the shore for the results I don’t think I took a breath. We all broke down when England were read as silver. We increased the water level with tears.”
She added: “The homework, the hard work, it all paid off. We were bringing the gold back to Scotland. It was painfully close though, it came down to 1cm.”
Manager Iain Earle shared his knowledge and the squad were “gutted” he couldn't come to Ireland but Gary Hamilton stepped-in as our manager and Maisy said: “We could see how much it meant to Gary when we lifted that trophy.”
There was disappointment, however, for Scotland’s ladies carp fishing team in the Tri-Nations in Wales.
They had hoped to move on from their silver medal 12 months ago to claim top spot despite having a new-look team, but England prevailed in the 48-hour event with Wales in the silver medal slot.
The squad worked as hard as they could and a spokesman said: “We can walk away feeling very proud of ourselves and our efforts.”
Meanwhile, Ronnie Couper won the Stillwater Bank fund-raiser at Drumtassie with Wilie Carr second and Richard Gray third.
Typical Scottish weather greeted the participants with sun, rain, hail and wind.
Locally, Bowden Springs near Linlithgow is back in action after a week-long break and nearby Linlithgow Loch say the most successful set-ups recently have been floating lines, midge-tip and Di7 with orange blob/FAB, buzzer, diawl bach, black and green lures, dries, including daddies, and Nemos.
Millhall near Polmont confirm that the water is still producing consistent sport with successful flies including damsel, cormorant, diawl bach, buzzers, egg flies and dries.
Allandale Tarn near West Calder report decent dry fly action and Glencrose boss Bill Taylor advises that the current web site for the popular fishery above Flotterstone will cease to operate fom August. Kenny Knox, the incoming owner, proposes to start a new site.
In East Lothian, regular Kevin Walkinshaw (Gorebridge) had 16 on FAB and buzzers at Newlands Tweeddale and the next late closing day is on Friday, May 30 (today) with fishing from 9am to 9pm. Derek Plenderleith, fishing manager, said: “Due to lack of interest, the fishery will only offer late closing on a Friday.”
Sea fishing now and Jimmy Green from Musselburgh emerged with the top prize in the fourth round of the Bass Rock Shore Angling League’s summer series.
He was the only angler to return a card from the three-hour event on Seacliffe Beach near North Berwick. It was fished in a north-east swell of between 6ft and 10ft with loads of weed in the water.
Secretary James Ogilvie said: “We stuck it out in a biting easterly wind.”
Green’s fish was 23cm and he took both pools on the night. Round five is next week at a venue to be confirmed this weekend on the club’s Facebook page.
The Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers host their fourth open match on Sunday, June 8 at Riverside Drive in Dundee with registration from 7.30am to 8am and fishing from 9am to 14.00.
It is a pegged match sponsored by Tronixpro with catch and release applying with release to 18cm. Pre-book only and contact Chris Horn on 07872 944807.
Coarse fishing now and the Scottish Canal Championships are on Sunday, June 29 and the match length is likely to be Wyndford Loch back towards Kelvinhead.