Fishing in the highlands 2025

James Laraway · 17/03/2025 at 09:35

New fishing year at least so a new thread.

I headed up to the Dornoch on Fridays night to attend the annual AGM and as i was staying the night arranged for a day out on Saturday as the weather was looking OK.

I decided to try a loch that i had never tried before, Loch Laoigh.

Now this one is high in the hills above dornoch do to be fair i wasn't expecting much even though the forecast was looking ok for this time of year ( sunshine and light(ish) winds)

What has put me off in the past was the fear that the gravel road to the loch could be rather tricky but it had been re-gravelled. Don't get me wrong its 1st or 2nd gear stuff for about a mile but its ok even with 2 wheel drive ( once or twice i was hoping i kept going but it was OK)

arrived at the loch and it was stunning

Within about 5 mins i had my first fish in the next - a feisty 1/2lber which tool a kate maclaren muddler on an intermediate line ( it was only about 6 degrees so a wee bit cold for a floater !)

It was at this stage you think - wow - I'm going to 'bag up'. That was soon put paid to as I had to wait about an hour for my next fish, but what a lovely one it was.

My fly ( a grey and silver number) got hit really hard and the fish absolutely ripped off - absolutely flying left to right and back again - so much so i almost lost touch with it a few times . It fought very very hard - probably due to the low water temp. When i finally got it in the net is was a find perfect wild brown of 1.3lbs It fought with the strength of a fish double the size. As you can see from the picture it was a really chunky fish which amazed me for the time of year so the feeding must be excellent.

I missed a cracking take shortly after and finish about 1pm with another smaller fish

I finished early as my toes were getting cold.

Stunning loch with an island, lots of lovely features and stunning views over the Dornoch Firth. I'll be back when everything is a wee bit warmer...

BTW - you can fish most of the Dornoch AA lochs as a visitor for very little money

https://www.dornochangling.co.uk/index.php

Alex Russell · 17/03/2025 at 10:11

Well done James nice wee report, need to cast a line there soon

Alex

James Laraway · 17/03/2025 at 15:24

Loch Laoigh is lovely. It would not be nice to fish on a windy say though as it is rather high up and a bit exposed as there are no trees ( apart from on the island)

There is also a lovely hut that hold the oars for the boats etc.

I'd say one of the boats would be great for 2 people, the other looks ideal for 1...

James Laraway · 25/04/2025 at 11:34

So, at short notice yesterday i decided to go and wet a line as i hadn't been out for a number of weeks.
Forecast not great - sunny and quite windy but no matter.
In the morning i went for a floater and a variety of flies. Managed one fish of about 3/4 and missed a good take.
Stopped for lunch and thought - " I'll change to an intermediate"....
Within 5 mins of the re-start i was 'in' . A nice fish of just over 1lb i reccon. Took a muddler with a black deer hair head, pink wool hotspot and red pheasant tail legs and gold body.
2 mins later I'm in again - and on the same fly.
This fish was a different scale and was nice and chunky

I have cracked the code thinks me....

Turns out i hadn't and i had to keep working hard and making changes to get fish in the net

Ended up with 5 for my day which given the conditions i don't think was too bad.

James Laraway · 19/05/2025 at 09:55

When you are hoping conditions are prefect.....

So on Sunday i headed up to a hill loch. At home the weather looked promising, very little wind, overcast a relatively warm.

One hour later i arrive at the loch to be faced by a howling N/W wind heading straight down the bloomin loch right into my face

And not only that but due to the drought the loch was about 3 ft down on my previous visit at the beginning of the season.

Anyway off i went in the tube but it was hard going just to get out of the bay !

Fished hard with a floater up till lunch but not a sausage and not even a sign of a fish, even in the lee of an island where i was sheltered.

after lunch i switched to an intermediate and had about 4 fish in 30 mins down a more sheltered side of the loch.

Finally thinks me - got the tactics and the fish have switched on. Wrong. All went quiet and not another sign of a fish.

Ended up with 4 in the net and missed one. Darn weather.....

James Laraway · 02/06/2025 at 12:01

So, I headed out on sunday for the pike at lochindorb. Sunny and windy meant no pike but i did take the chance to head out for a look round the castle in the middle of the loch

James Laraway · 16/06/2025 at 09:48

So i took the day off on Friday to head to the hills.
This loch has both rainbows and browns, so different from my 'usual' lochs.
Landed 6 'bows, including for the first time in years a 'double header' - luckily my leader was 8lbs ! I managed to get both in too which was no mean feat as i was fishing from my tube !
The fish were in excellent condition - the largest was about 2 2/3 lbs i think.

I then switched to targeting the wild brownies and managed 4 in total, all on excellent condition. This was the biggest of the day and a lovely looking fish

Alex Russell · 16/06/2025 at 12:03

Nice one James now it wouldn't be *moderated from here* a loch near Inverness would it

Hamish Young · 16/06/2025 at 17:31

Nice pics James

@Alex Russell - your post was adjusted at the request of another forum member.

James Laraway · 18/06/2025 at 09:03

Hi Alex, I was up at Dornoch again for a cast - saying that there are a few lochs closer to inverness i need to get out on again...

James Laraway · 07/07/2025 at 09:58

So tootled out on Saturday for a cast. The forecast was looking good but when i arrived at the lochan the wind was absolutely howling and there were white horses.

Gone were my thoughts of getting the #4 out so the #7 is was.

Worked down one bank and within 5 mins i had 3 splashed at the muddler on the same cast. Missed the fly. Cast again - bang - but the hook didn't find a hold

.

Anyway im thinking that the weather has not put them off - wrong. 2 hours later and not a sausage.

Stopped for a bite to eat and changes to a floater - a bright orange GT 125 which I was donated by My Young during on one of his infamous 'clear outs'. Now i have only really fished SLXs and Small Streams ( as i like punchier fly lines) but thought i would give it a punt - and i have to say i really liked it. Cast really well , lands delicately and lies straight...lovely

Anyway, a few cast in and a fish takes the muddler on the dropper. A nice chunky and well marked fish. Sadly the photo doesnt do it justice

Ended up with 2 on the bank and missed a few more - all going for the stripped muddler.

Shame the weather was rubbish - and typically this week is going to be lovely !

Mike Barrio · 07/07/2025 at 10:24

Great stuff James, the wind has certainly been a bit of a pain recently.

Really pleased that you liked the GT125

James Laraway · 21/07/2025 at 13:14

So i was away in Dumfries and Galloway last week and visited some of my old fishing haunts.

There is one loch that myself and a pal used to visit when we were in our teens and was full of really nice wild brownies - we saw many over the 3 lb mark. We used to sneak up there and hide under some trees with our worm rods and winkle out a few.....

One night i remember my pal who was more skilled at the time with the fly than me getting a 3lb fish and it was amazing.

I digress...

I thought i would revisit the loch with the fly now i am a LOT older and can now actually stand a chance with the fly

I parked up and walked to the water - suddenly things shot out from the shallows and there was a rise . Wow thinks me....

I move along the bank to start fishing and get a small tug on my first cast. Amazing thinks me. I recast and look to my left. The water is 'agitated' and i see backs out of the water..strange.....

A fish takes my fly - this was not what i was expecting

It had almost swallowed my size 10 cormorant !

there were never rudd in here 30 years ago - however now there was and lovely rudd they were too !

Had an amazing hour of sport before home time.

As you can see from the photos - the fish were not lip hooked - every one of them tried to swallow the fly even the size 10 cormorant which took most of the fish ?!?!?!?

James Laraway · 18/08/2025 at 10:58

So, report from a different loch from the weekend - Loch Brora
Made the trip to fish a wee competition.
Now Loch Brora is the middle section of the river Brora which has runs of sea trout and salmon, but also has some good wild brown trout too. There are 3 lochs in the chain all separated by narrows.
Sadly the weather was what i would describe as a 'wee bit challenging' - about 18 degrees, bright sun, no clouds and no wind.

Amazing location though.

Now there is only boat fishing and being on a boat on a day like that was a bit like survival of the fittest !

Suffice to say the fishing was very hard so I only managed one brownie all day until we were drifting into the bay to anchor up at 4:30pm when i got a good hard hit and up came....

One of the many perch that have been 'introduced' to the loch.....

The first ones apparently appeared about 4 or 5 years ago and now reach about 3lbs or so apparently. When I was hooked up my boat partner had 2 on at a time!
Sadly having found the shoal the day was over as it was competition fishing time which was a shame as i would have liked to see how many of the shoal i could get. Maybe another day....

Caught on Barrio GT line and on one of my new Haldin glass rods 1st outing..

Mike Barrio · 18/08/2025 at 11:58

Nice one James, it's been a few years since I last caught a perch.

James Laraway · 29/09/2025 at 13:38

Tried somewhere new yestarday and quite local- Loch Belivat ( Lethan estates)

As you can see from the photos the weather was against me so i caught nothing( i seem to have said that a few times this year !!!) - but what a lovely lovely location...

Terry Coging · 30/09/2025 at 21:32

Missed my usual trip to the Assynt region due to health reasons - another bloody heart attack in Ireland trying to catch the elusive Sheelin monster. I did get a couple of decent fish on Lough Lene though.
So, back to Oban a couple of weeks ago with 2 great days on Loch Seil and a day on Loch Avich. Love both of these Lochs and always get plenty of fish but nothing over a pound.

James Laraway · 01/10/2025 at 09:50

Really sorry to hear that Terry. Glad to hear you are still out fishing though

Alex Russell · 02/10/2025 at 15:32

Fished Loch Belivat a few times, always in May, had some lovely marked trout in it, you were lucky to have it to yourself as the paddle boarders have found it

James Laraway · 06/10/2025 at 11:35

there was one lone paddle boarder - but she stayed well away from me which was good.

I guess as parking is limited that will limit the number of paddle boarders, which is a good thing as i would be a bit annoyed if having paid for the fishing it was then disrupted by people who are not paying for access to the water.

The estate did mention that there was a growing issue with paddle boarders...

James Laraway · 11/10/2025 at 21:25

So, headed up to my 'club water' today - Dornoch as there is one of the lochs that is stocked.
Arrived about 1030 and it was almost flat calm and there were a couple of fishing moving.
Put on my new Barrio midge tip line and started along one bank from the tube.
Missed a good take then caught a small out of season brownie - still, i had caught
About 11 the wind suddenly kicked up and that made it really hard going till 12 and lunchtime.
Headed up the the north end of the loch to get some shelter ( drove there as it was too hard to kick my way up in the tube !)

Worked my way along the reedline with the midge tip and picked up another couple of browns and missed a few too. Also had a good hit from a 'bow

Sun can out and the wind kept up so I did a tactical switch to 'get down and dirty'. Fast sinker and a humumgous ( in black and silver). A few casts later i got a 'bow just over 2 lbs, follwed shortly after by one out 1 3/4 then shortly again....oh, this feels heavy. A real brute of a fish over 4lbs - my best ever from the water.

Gave up at 3 as i was knackered..

Great day out though