Sunday past saw us once more heading out of Wester Ross, freed from the varied shackles of life for a day of relaxing sport. Unlike my Saturday sport when I cycled 35 miles in a bid for a resemblance of fitness before it gets too late to even contemplate!.
We had been out in February for our monthly adventure and traveled to Dunlichity on an overcast cold Sunday but too few "proper" fishermen were there to convince us we'd made the correct decision. Indeed, throughout the day we saw only one fish landed, a fair sized rainbow trout being taken with an intermediate line and large bright attractor. What made it so annoying was we had both persevered at that very spot most of the morning with similar lines and a varied selection of flies without so much of a nibble!
Undaunted, like wee boys in the sweetie shop and anxious to spend their brownie points, we headed east once more with the Garmin navigator set to Mill of Kellas arriving at about 10.30 Quite a few cars were parked and a similar amount of fishers dotted round the main fly loch but, with the wind being blustery there was plenty room. Stepping inside the main building we were immediately stared at by a large elk head of fairly recent vintage and in very good condition mounted about 7 feet above the floor. Obviously this is a place of distinction I thought - but I doubted if the US oil influence on Grampian had affected the local wildlife so drastically! The gent behind the counter was an Eastie Beastie through and through and welcomed us with a bit of banter and advice, even showing us the sort of flies we should try. Pretty well anything with black and a flash of colour! He then went on to tell me that the elk was mounted at the height it would have stood at................ Now I have seen elk close to in the Arctic forests of Sweden and the just as cold forests of Maine........I just hope he's better at fly advice!!!!!! But he was fun, welcoming and full of enthusiasm, all the things that make a good day out.
The persistent wind and occasional "wintery" shower interspersed with full sunshine made it tricky for even the most talented of casters so I, in full character as Absolute Beginner, struggled awhile before settling into a routine with a sinking line - as was everyone fishing - and began to enjoy the peace of just fishing. Day Release seemed more determined though, picked his spot by an intake and methodically covered the water around it with occasional fly changes. By the time I'd taken in the surroundings, the ducks on the loch and the pheasants clucking in the tree margins, caught the grass a couple of times with errant casts, sorted out a tangle or two I saw his rod tip bend and knew we had broken our duck. He brought in a lovely 5-6lb blue trout which I netted for him, took the pictures of proof and Day Release slid his catch back into the water to tell the tale.
We tried the smaller of the two lochs after a piece eaten on the sunny decking watching the wildlife and fishermen but the wind lower down was worse and swirled about the hollow and the trees so we headed back to the main loch for another couple of hours. As the day wore on I gradually learned about wind and casting but little about actually catching a fish. Day Release, however, obviously now a master caster brought in two rainbow trout between one and two pounds. There were quite a few fish caught by others too but it didn't spoil my day. All in all, we decided, this was the best fishery visited so far and we have kept it on the Garmin for a further visit in warmer, calmer times. We would highly recommend a day here for fishermen like Day Release or non fish catchers............like Absolute Beginners.
