[John Wastle]

 I am heading to Shetland for the first time later this month. A lot of great information on the Shetland Anglers website, almost too much as its proving difficult to whittle down to 6 days fishing. Almost every other loch seems to have good fishing.

I'll be based around Brae and will probably stick to lochs around central and north west mainland, Benson, Esha Ness and  possibly a day trip to Whalsey are on the cards.

Any first hand nuggets of information, dos and don'ts would be greatly appreciated. I'll be taking the float tube and looking out lochs with a decent stamp of fish. I would particularly welcome suggestions for multi loch trips into the hills.

Please PM if it is anything specific.

Thanks
John

[James Laraway]

be really interested to hear how you get on...

[Andrew Boswell]

Hi John

I fish the westside lochs and burns (Tingwall - Sandness road) when I’m on Shetland with work.

Make sure you pick up a copy of the Fishing on Shetland leaflet from the Shetland Times bookshop when you arrive.

You can get an annual permit (£30) from LHD on the harbour front in Lerwick. DH Marine up by the marina, and Ocean Tackle in Brae, also have a decent selection (but pricey).

Standard tackle and leader set up work on the lochs. Limit your cast to two droppers/flies if it’s windy. And don’t forget to try a Foam Daddy from August onwards.

It’s worth having a cast in the burns/voes for an early seatrout, although I’ve had most luck in September for them. You might want to consider taking spinning rod for the days when it’s too windy for flies.

I haven’t fished up by Brae so can’t give you much specific advice, other than to say most of the lochs seem to hold fish, so if your struggling on one loch just walk over the hill to the next.

If I had to choose my favourite locations, it would be the Loch of Clousta for brownies, and Peerie Spiggie beach for sea trout.

Have fun - the locals are often happy to share information on good spots, and the Trout Fishing in Shetland Facebook page and SAA website are both excellent resources.

[Andrew Boswell]

A few photos from my last couple of trips:

[John Wastle]

Thank you for that Andrew. A great help. I had pencilled in Loch of Northhouse and surrounding lochs for a day. I will add Clousta to that. Looks like there would be a trips worth just on the Tingwall - Sandwick road.

John

[John Wastle]

Update as requested James. I had a very enjoyable trip. The weather was decent, could have been a lot  worse as they say.

I probably got more wrong than right but then you are faced with an almost overwhelming selection of fishing. Main points being,
Most of the peaty moorland lochs produced well fed modest fish in modest numbers. Perhaps getting a little late on at that latitude? There was very little fly life (except midges).
The fertile waters were quite weedy but rewarded the effort. More fly life too. I had fish to 2lb 12 oz and a few around the 2lb mark.
I left it too late to properly explore the salt water side.  That was a mistake. Only a couple of sessions at the end of the trip. No sea trout landed but one grilse, my first from salt water.

I'll go back as soon as I can. Probably around the same time for the saltwater although early summer  would make sense for trout.

Only downside is the travel costs of going solo. Everything else was great.
John

[James Laraway]

sounds like you had a great time and a grilse from salt water - not many people can say that they have had one of those !

[John Wastle]

A great place for the float tube James. A lot of waters have drive up access or are a relatively short, flattish walk in.  There are some exceptions though! I saw one guy tubing in a Voe. I wasn't brave enough for that, though if you know the tides I guess it's safe enough.

Already thinking about the next visit!