Stillwater · Mixed · West Lothian

Bowden Springs Trout Fishery

Bowden Springs Trout Fishery terrain map
Terrain map

A spring-fed commercial rainbow fishery on the outskirts of Linlithgow in West Lothian, catching rainfall and groundwater on the Bathgate Hills.

Fair · Rainbow
Kate McLaren · 12-14
Fairlive now
Good summer conditions for Bowden Springs Trout Fishery
Useful ripple, fishable wave. Worth a session if the wind holds.
61% confidence
What moved it
  • WindSW 3 km/hCalm
Today’s fly
Kate McLaren
Kate McLaren12-14
Retrieve, in the film
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Wind
Calm
SW 3 km/h
N
SW
from the south-west
WaveFlat calm
Water temp
Air temp13°C
CloudBroken
Pressure1021 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm

Some readings unavailable — check directly before fishing.

How to fish it · for rainbow
When
April to October
Where
Start with Claret Dabbler (10-14) — on the bob / top dropper. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. If that does not produce, switch depth or speed before changing the pattern entirely.
The plan
Plan A

Start with Claret Dabbler (10-14) — on the bob / top dropper. Rainbows respond to more active retrieves — try short strips between pauses. If that does not produce, switch depth or speed before changing the pattern entirely.

Plan B

Fish early and late, try deeper during the heat of the day with a fast-sinking line.

Watch for

Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.

Bank

Bank fishing near inflows, dam walls, and weed beds. Move to find feeding fish.

Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Daphnia SwarmHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
Lake OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
2
Silverhorns & LonghornsHatch
1
2
2
2
1

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Rainbow fly box
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Condition match
65%
Cloud70%
Wind65%
Temp60%

A reasonable day here, though temperature isn't quite in the sweet spot.

Other water nearby · 5
About this water

A spring-fed commercial rainbow fishery on the outskirts of Linlithgow in West Lothian, catching rainfall and groundwater on the Bathgate Hills. Two small lakes, both clear, both managed, both stocked with rainbows on a regular cycle with the occasional bigger fish thrown in to keep the regulars honest. Day tickets, tuition, open year-round. This is not the place you come for wildness — the landscape is arable and the M9 is audible if the wind is wrong — but Bowden Springs is an honest local fishery with a steady following of West Lothian anglers who just want a few hours at the end of a working day and a rainbow or two on the line. Which is, when you think about it, most of us most of the time.

  • Fishery
  • Mixed
Why this score
  • summer conditions with mixed skies and calm wind.
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Troutyear-round → year-round
Related guides
Booking & contacts