Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Hamish Young

A few days with Euan
« on: 06/07/2013 at 11:49 »
Euan 'soundmixer'  :z1 came up for a week to try out some of the lochs around me as a change from the Assynt trip we normally go on in early June.
There's so much water near to me that it seems daft not to get out and try some of the lochs.
I would love to say there was a plan of action - but there wasn't. We winged it.
First day was at a hill loch which we took a rather longer than intended route to. Never mind, the exercise was errr..... invigorating  :z7
Here's Euan with his first fish of the trip:
I had some similar success with some really nice brownies to about 1.5lbs.
Second day we headed to Loch Eye, a loch we had both had a hankering to fish for some time. It is, undoubtedly, one of the most interesting lochs I have fished in recent times but - I think - we were maybe too late in the season. That's right, I did say too late. Eye is very low lying and also quite eutrophic, it fishes well early in the year and on until early July (allegedly) so we were a smidgen disappointed to see the water was already really quite murky with algal bloom and pretty much a flat calm. However it is a bonnie place:


and

and the murky waters


Hopefully Euan will post some pics too, we fished hard there and we each managed fish which was more than most did that day. Mine, however, came to a tactic I've been experimenting with on lochs for a couple of seasons. More on that later or in another post :wink

The next loch we fished was Loch Benevean. Often used as a location for Alfa GT photo shoots  :z7 it is also well known as possibly one of the midgiest places in all of Christendom, especially in a flat calm. Guess what we had :? Yup, that's right..... not a zephyr of a wind. Feck all breeze and every bastarding midgie for miles around homed in us like a cluster of laser guided smart bombs. Still, the pain of getting eaten alive is made up for by the fact that it is achingly beautiful up there, it really is gorgeous. You might think that this first photo of Benevean is murky cloud etc, in fact they are midgies......


It really was pretty hopeless, no wind on lochs makes the fishing hard going. So much so we decided to have a brew in the middle of the loch and Euan deployeda jedi mind trick or 'the force' in an effort to boil a kettle:


I did say it was lovely there, right :? I wasn't kidding:


Honour was satisfied by catching some trout on previously mentioned technique I have been experimenting with and we legged it, we bravely ran away. Ok, we turned into a pair of middle aged pussies and retreated rapidly for the comfort of home, a nice shower and some wine.

Our last day was at another loch on one of the many hydro systems local to me and a loch that my Dad and I had hoped to fish some thirty years ago  :shock but back then we didn't as we couldn't get a boat. This time though, Euan and I did get a boat. Firstly though we explored the glen a wee bit, for a change we were not short of wind and this photo from the dam right at the head of the glen doesn't really reflect just how much wind there was:


I singly failed to take many photos of the loch we fished (I know Euan has some) but this was taken at the bottom of the loch (almost):


And this is one of Euan taking a photo of his Alfa, which did very well as a fishing car for the week I have to say:


It was a great week with a mix of some great sport and great frustration, but the craic was always good.

H :cool:

Mike Barrio

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #1 on: 06/07/2013 at 12:01 »
Great stuff Hamish .... thanks for sharing :z16

Cheers
Mike

Euan Innes

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #2 on: 07/07/2013 at 12:07 »
I have been trying find time to post about this trip since I got back so here we go.
Day one on the wee loch, after a circuitous route  :z7, got us to here.
 


And here's Mr Young with his first fish of the trip



It is a really pretty loch, and I'd like to go back there sometime.







Loch Eye - so full of promise, so full of dark murky water. Once again it's a really pretty place but get there when the waters are clear.



So here's a happy Hamish with the first trout.




And a closer shot of that fish (really bonnie)



The no outboards rule (only electric, we didn't have one) meant that I had to put my back into the row back up from the first drift, so lunch was a godsend!



I can't add any more to what Hamish has said, just that it was hard going. I'll go back, but sometime in May, not June.


Loch Benevean

Midgies, flat calm, breath taking scenery, different tactics and a water feature
I can't say much more than that but just look at the pictures and tell me it isn't pretty.


















And finally, Benacharan. From nae wind to o'er muckle wind. It was lumpy shall we say.
Hamish and I are quite at home in that kind of swell, but even we looked at it and said "this could be interesting".
So with me in the bow to keep us steady we set sail.









This is another stunning place to go fishing and if you never have, you should.
Finally, as Hamish has said the GT turned out to be great fishing car. The boot swallowed an outboard, fuel and most of the gear. It went up roads that I didn't think it would, returned middle forties in mpg and was a real hoot on some of the faster sections of A road near Beauly.



Epic!

 :z1




Mike Barrio

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #3 on: 07/07/2013 at 12:13 »
Great stuff Euan ... certainly put a smile on Hamish's face :z16

Marc Fauvet

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #4 on: 07/07/2013 at 12:51 »
looks more like a smirk...  :z4

lovely report and pics !  :z16

Euan Innes

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #5 on: 07/07/2013 at 22:23 »
I have to add one more picture.
I've just been up to a neighbours house to sample her latest malt whisky purchases (she deals, and does it well) and one in particular reminded me of something. She had two Dalmore 12 year olds, one fairly new and one old, with a printed label and a painted stags head on the bottle.
I came home with the old one at a great price! The taste sent me north and had me right on a loch. The smell, the taste, the memories.
My wife wonders why I drive for 2.5 hours to get up there, but this photo should answer that!



The slap of the water on the boat, the fresh air, the creak of the oars, Hamish's dry humour, the craik, the silences that mean that you have fished with one person for a LONG time and you don't need to talk all day, the scenery.
I need to fish more and I am trying to do so. I just wish all my trips were at places like that.
Thanks H  :z16

 :z1

Iain Goolager

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #6 on: 08/07/2013 at 18:23 »
Cracking photos gents  :z16

Lay off the whiskey Euan, you're bringing a lump to my throat.



Iain

(Did my spelling annoy you?   :z7)

Euan Innes

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #7 on: 08/07/2013 at 19:16 »
Quote
(Did my spelling annoy you?   )

No Ian, it didn't  :z7

 :z1

Iain Goolager

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #8 on: 08/07/2013 at 20:05 »
Nice backhand volley  :z4

Euan Innes

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #9 on: 08/07/2013 at 22:33 »
 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4 :z4

 :z1

Allan Liddle

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #10 on: 09/07/2013 at 00:30 »
Great pics and looks like a crackin trip  :z16
Interesting comments on Eye.

Euan Innes

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #11 on: 09/07/2013 at 07:33 »
Quote
Interesting comments on Eye.

Indeed.
There was much talk about large fish both on the website and with Roger that sells the permits. Fish seen in the margins taking sticklebacks, big fish everywhere, great hatches etc. But the water was cloudy and the fishing hard so I will go back, but much earlier.
As a bonus the RAF kept us entertained bombing the sh*t out of Tain ranges!

 :z1

Hamish Young

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #12 on: 09/07/2013 at 07:49 »
Loch Eye is a water with huge promise and I can see 'big fish' written all over it. Somehow it reminds me a wee bit of Leven - full of promise but ultimately often bloody frustrating :!
However..... timing of the visit I think will be key.
Euan and I fished that water hard for the day - really hard - caught more than the other boats afloat but it was damn hard going. I'm thinking a boat in mid-May next year :z17 May investigate a back end day this season too - we'll see.

H :cool:

Euan Innes

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #13 on: 09/07/2013 at 09:00 »
Quote
I'm thinking a boat in mid-May next year  May investigate a back end day this season too - we'll see.

I'm in!
Must get an electric outboard....

 :z1

Eddie Sinclair

Re: A few days with Euan
« Reply #14 on: 09/07/2013 at 10:36 »
Euan,
if you ever need to borrow an electric outboard drop me a note. I am note sure where you live but if it is anywhere near just South of Stonehaven then the logistics would be easy. I use mine a few times each year and on waters where no petrol motors are allowed it is a godsend.

Eddie.

 




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