TROUT FISHING IN SUTHERLAND
I travel to the north of Scotland several times each year onbusiness trips and I usually take a couple of extra days as part ofmy annual holiday and go trout fishing. An experience not to bemissed.
Two or three years ago I discovered a truly excellent hotel, theInver Lodge, that gave access to salmon and trout fishing at veryreasonable costs and I’ve been back on quite a few occasions. Thehotel is just outside the small fishing village of Lochinver on theSutherland coast. The food is superb and is matched by the serviceprovided by the manager and staff. Most important after a long day’sfishing.
There is access to over fifty trout lochs within a five milesradius at a cost of a mere £5 per rod per day; the salmonfishing is a little more expensive. Fishing is also available onnearby rivers, mainly for salmon but with great brown trout fishing,too. The hotel organises the fishing in conjunction with the AssyntAngling Association. Boats are available for £10 per day.Non-residents may book at the Tourist Information Centre in thevillage where I found the assistants to be most helpful and quiteexpert. There is also access to many more lochs under the stewardshipof the Assynt Crofters Association, again information about thesefrom the Tourist Information Centre.
Some of the lochs are by the roadside with easy car parking, forexample, Loch Assynt, the largest water in the immediate area.Because the loch is huge, the angler is best advised at this time ofthe year to look for a headland or a sheltered bay and cast to risingfish. Ask for local advice to find out which loch is fishing well andwhich flies are taking fish.
On the bigger waters I use my Sportfish 9’6″ rod with a WF8floating line and a leader tapering to 3lb breaking strain or even atouch lighter if the surface is calm. Long casting is not usuallyrequired and many fish inhabit the margins out to twenty yards or sofrom the bank.
Locals fisher folk suggest traditional wet flies like Peter Ross,of which the local variant is a very bright, almost lurid flamecolour. Other recommended flies include Black Pennel and KateMcClaren. Dry flies can be even more successful especially fishedfine and carefully.
I’ve caught on the following, Tups Indispensable, Wickhams,Greenwells, Iron Blue Dun, Black Ant and Black Spider all fished onsize 16 or even 18 hooks. Most takes come the instant the fly hitsthe water and quick reactions are required but beware of pulling thefly out of the fish’s mouth. These small wild brown trout see the flyvery quickly and arrive at the fly like streaks of golden lightening,making their decision in a split second to take the fly or refuse it.
Most of the lochs hold a good head of fish and you may take ten ortwelve fish with perhaps only one over the pound mark. They fightwell, give very good sport and are in magnificent condition – buttergold and brightly spotted. On smaller lochs (or lochans) I have aGeoffrey Bucknall nine footer that takes a DT5 floating line and ismarvellous to use with either a wet fly or, better still, a smallHare’s Ear nymph. You can fish very discreetly and with the minimumof disturbance with this Bucknall rod.
Other lochs and rivers are less easy to fish and require a longwalk. I fished the upper beats of the Kirkaig River recently and itis an hour and a half along and up a winding path that runs alongsidethe river. It’s really no hardship because the views are somajestically rugged and there are golden eagles in this area, too. Onthis particular expedition I took a four piece, nine foot Daiwatravel rod and the minimum of equipment. It’s always an idea to havean insect repellent of some sort. The midges can be murderous inwarm, still conditions and can ruin a day’s fishing.
About half a mile from the beautiful Fionn Loch which is drainedby the River Kirkaig, I found a long pool at the end of a turbulentboulder-strewn stretch and with the sun mostly obscured and a gentlebreeze blowing I began casting a small Greenwell’s dry fly. Theinstant the fly touched the water small brown fly rose to meet it.This happened every cast for the next half hour. I missed a few butbrought many more to the side. They were all in the six to ten ouncerange, frisky and full of fight and in sparkling condition.
To perhaps search out a larger fish, I switched to a size 16 GRHEnymph and cast into the middle of the pool. The fly trundled downand, just as the line began to swing in the current, the take camewith a tugging ferocity. The fish weighed just under a pound and halfand it took an age to bring to the bank. It seemed to have theequivalent fighting quality of an overwintered rainbow twice thesize. The sun came out so I retired for lunch further up the bankside and feasted on venison sandwiches and the visual offering ofSuilven lowering over the rugged moorlands and hills.
After lunch I spent a couple of hours wandering the upper reachesof the river and exploring new pools. I did not find another fishover the pound mark but the fishing was excellent and in such grandsurroundings. Not bad for a fiver!
I have a return journey scheduled for mid-September and I intendto go that extra half mile and fish Fionn Loch. I’ve walked part wayround this beautiful highland water and it looks to hold good fish.Again, I’ll take local advice about how it is fishing before I makethe long trek from the car park by the Kirkaig Bridge that is theboundary between Western Ross and Sutherland.
TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION
Lochinver is an hour and half northwest of Inverness via Ullapool.There are a couple of hotels in the village and quite a few B&Bplaces. The Tourist Information Office is the best place for localinformation and availability of accommodation and fishing.
RECOMMENDED
The Inver Lodge Hotel
Lochinver
Sutherland
IV27 4LU
Telephone: 01571 844496
Manager: Nicholas Gorton
