Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Eddie Sinclair

up North and West
« on: 05/06/2013 at 20:03 »
Guys,
I have been away for 10 days fishing first 3 were on a beat of the Spey but although I caught a few fish I will not dwell on it apart from a picture of my first sea trout of the season. This is because one sporting gentleman hooked and landed a fantastic brown trout of over 5 pounds on a toby in high water and it was despatched with the agreement of the Ghillie and the beat proprietor.



So on to the good stuff. My mate Kenny and my soon to be son in law went up to Durness to fish the limestone lochs. The first day was not conducive to good surface fishing cold winds and bright skies so Kenny decided to fish a slime line and the Shuggie. This resulted in 10 trout up to about a pound and three quarters for Kenny. I stuck to my usual skinny hares lugs and buzzers on the 4 weight and ended up with 7 good trout whilst Stu on his first trip ended up with one brownie and a finnock from the Kyle at night to show for his efforts. 18 decent trout on our first day so things were looking good.

Day 2 dawned overcast and warm, great we thought as we approached our first loch of the day and sure enough in the first 10 minutes a fish approaching 2 pounds was duly landed and photographed before releasing see picture below. Kenny soon had one as well. Even though conditions seemed much better than the previous day that was that even though we did try some other corners of Durness. So it was off to bed to prepare for the journey into the unknown in the Hebrides.


We took a ferry the following day to an unnamed destination in the Hebrides. We wanted to see if there were any lochs that could compare with the limestone and boy were we in for a shock. Day one permits bought for a loch on an island across a causeway attached to the island we were staying on. It was very shallow for the first 200 yards and then shelved off into deeper water and was crystal clear. Kenny and I were now joined by our usual mates, we will call them Adz Ronnie and John, mainly because that is their names. It was wall to wall blue sky when we tackled up and off set Kenny with his slime line and Shuggie again. I had just reached the drop off and started to fish when I heard a reel screaming like nothing I have ever heard trout fishing. I looked to my right and Kenny's rod was bent in an incredible arc. The fish meanwhile just kept on going until the inevitable followed by a number of expletives as the line fell slack. Kenny is a man who caught a near 7 pound trout on the limestone lochs and he was shell-shocked by the power of this fish. Near the end of the day Ronnie got into one that was between 3 and 4 pounds which was duly photographed and congratulations were given for a cracking trout. Later on on our last night we were staying with a freelance Ghillie in his B&B and he described Ronnies fish as average. He also told us that the loch is not well known but those who do fish it use 10 pound leader. During our day there Adz spotted a trout mooching about in the shallows estimated seven or eight pounds.

We fished another couple of lochs during our stay and we all caught fish. I had 5 up 2 pounds on the second day and 12 up to 2 pounds on the 3rd day. Judging by what the ghillie has told us about the sea trout. fishing we were only scratching the surface of the potential and the ghillie had 2 rods out and they had 38 good trout to the boat and he was disappointed as the fish have not really come on yet this year. I cant wait to go back. I have a picture of one of the island trout below




Eddie :z18 :z18

Jim Eddie

Re: up North and West
« Reply #1 on: 05/06/2013 at 20:05 »
Great report Eddie, sounds like you had a grand time  :z16

 :z18

Jim

Eddie Sinclair

Re: up North and West
« Reply #2 on: 05/06/2013 at 21:05 »
Jim,
it was really good but need to do some more planning before the next spot of Island hopping. There is one loch in particular that has real glass case potential, not easy but definitely doable.

As Arnie said I'll be back.

 :z18

Sandy Nelson

Re: up North and West
« Reply #3 on: 05/06/2013 at 21:27 »
Great stuff Eddie

I have to go and try some of these lochs, think I'll plan for a proper trip out next year :z18

Cheers

Sandy

Mike Barrio

Re: up North and West
« Reply #4 on: 05/06/2013 at 21:45 »
Great stuff Eddie, cracking Brownies and a good read :z16

Cheers
Mike

Noel Kelly

Re: up North and West
« Reply #5 on: 05/06/2013 at 23:37 »
Glad to see it went well, fishing sounds awesome and that loch sounds like somewhere worth spending a lot of time!!! Lovely trout in the pics :z16

Allan Liddle

Re: up North and West
« Reply #6 on: 06/06/2013 at 09:09 »
Great report Eddie, sounds a crackin trip.  :z16

Mark Zhang

Re: up North and West
« Reply #7 on: 06/06/2013 at 13:20 »
 :z16 :z16 :z16 :z16 Excellent report and photos.
Mark

Eddie Sinclair

Re: up North and West
« Reply #8 on: 06/06/2013 at 16:36 »
Guys,
thanks for the kind remarks.

Having fished the limestone lochs for a number of years I truly thought that they were the best I had ever fished but I have now found some that are at least equal if not better and will be planning additional trips to increase my knowledge of these waters so that I can do them justice.

One loch in particular stands out as a place to be camped at to fish in different conditions as there is every possibility of a fish of a lifetime.



Here is a shot of the loch in question,  :z14 :z14 :z14

Eddie

Steven Sinclair

Re: up North and West
« Reply #9 on: 07/06/2013 at 00:53 »
Why oh why did Susan pick to get married in October!!!!

Ah well there's always next year I suppose :-(

Cheers,

Stevie.

Iain Cameron

Re: up North and West
« Reply #10 on: 07/06/2013 at 15:00 »
hi Ed

cracking report - sounds like a great trip!
cheers
iain

Eddie Sinclair

Re: up North and West
« Reply #11 on: 07/06/2013 at 22:47 »
Iain,
I think that we should organise a forum trip for next year. There is something for everyone over there. I am going back again this year and will do a bit more research.

I am off to Azerbaijan on Monday on business for a couple of weeks so it is not all fishing, however my son has kindly volunteered my services to the Banchory river festival on Sunday to do some fly tying in the craft tent so if you fancy some free samples for your fishing day in August come along and I will furnish you with what you need.

Eddie :X2

Iain Cameron

Re: up North and West
« Reply #12 on: 08/06/2013 at 08:23 »
Iain,
I think that we should organise a forum trip for next year....

..the Banchory river festival on Sunday to do some fly tying in the craft tent ...

Hi Ed - trip idea - excellent! I'd be up for that.

Might well pop into Banchory River Festival - remind me where and when? Flies for august? Aye, i'll need to pick your brains a little. Smallish, blackish, touch of blue and silver would work a charm for me!

I see the ferret racing is on at 1pm in Bellfield  - I'm up for that. I've not been in training, but I still reckon I could beat a ferret over 50 metres. (the secret is to shout "rabbits!" at the 40 metre mark to distract 'em)

Eddie Sinclair

Re: up North and West
« Reply #13 on: 08/06/2013 at 12:22 »
Iain,
the river festival is from 12 to 4 tomorrow afternoon in St Ternans park which is behind Morrisons supermarket according to Rob.

Eddie. :z18

 




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