Monikie Angling Club is embarking on a milestone season and a quest to net more than just hard-fighting trout.
The club’s 50th anniversary year casts off on Saturday.
Thousands of rainbow trout were delivered to Angus this week and demand for its 12 boats has been high.
After a tough 2024, club president Ian McLean is quietly confident the 150-strong membership will enjoy a rise in fortunes this season.
But what the lifelong fisherman would love to see is greater numbers experiencing what the club believes is some of Scotland’s best value fly fishing.
And it couldn’t be more accessible than in the heart of the popular country park.
Monikie ponds supplied city
The roots of the club may go back half a century, but the waters they fish have been around for almost 200 years.
Monikie’s two reservoirs supplied water to Dundee.
The Island and North Ponds – rather larger than a dub with a total of around 120 acres – are now part of the Angus Alive country park.
The council’s leisure trust recently revealed £135,000 plans for a family-friendly aquapark at Monikie.
It is due to open at the beginning of May.
The open-air addition will still leave masses of space for anglers to pursue their quarry of brown and rainbow trout.
Free Monikie Angling Club fishing for under-18s
Ian, 73, said: “There’s always excitement for the start of the season.
“It’s looking good for this year.
“Last season was a difficult one. We did a lot of work with the council to get the sluice gates at Crombie and Monikie operating.
“That allowed us to drop the water levels and refill the ponds.
“It was a big operation, but already we’ve seen fly life on the water so hopefully what we’ve done is successful.
“Monikie’s quite a structure and I’ve always felt it is one of the best venues around.
“We’ve a loyal membership we kept the season ticket prices down for them.
“Our baliffs are all volunteers. It’s the only way we can run it, we couldn’t afford to pay a baliff.
“But the big issue is that there’s not a vast amount of youngsters coming in,” said Ian.
“Anyone under 18 gets free membership and free fishing, but they have to be accompanied by an adult.”
The club also has a ‘wheelie boat’ for disabled anglers which was added to the fleet last year.
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