Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Jon Boughton

aberdeenshire for novices?
« on: 01/11/2019 at 16:26 »
my wife and I are staying near Inverurie  in August 2020 for a few days and then moving on to another part of Scotland (not decided where yet).
We are both keen anglers but new to the fly. Are there any suggestions where to fish, permits and costs in the Inverurie area and then suggestions for the second part of our holiday as we are open to ideas.
Any tips would be good too.

James Laraway

Re: aberdeenshire for novices?
« Reply #1 on: 01/11/2019 at 16:56 »
Aberdeen and the 'shire are not real tourist hotspots. There is Royal Deeside etc for Balmoral  etc etc but I'd say if you want lots of things to see and do you cant go far wrong with Inverness.

PLUS there is some excellent fishing  :z16

If you are new to the fly the Don may be a bit tricky to catch anything decent s you may want to look at some of the stocked lochs. I'm thinking Haddo,  Mossat and may be Glen Tannar would be my reccomendations.

Lochter is nearby, has lots of fish but it is more of a 'hole in the ground' ( sorry Lochter) - the lochs I mentioned are far more natural looking


Fred Hay

Re: aberdeenshire for novices?
« Reply #2 on: 02/11/2019 at 08:49 »
I hope James comments are made 'tongue in cheek' otherwise I've risen and taken the bait !!
Aberdeenshire not a' tourist hot spot' and downing our fishing on the Don - come on James.
There are loads of things to do and see for everyone in Aberdeen and shire depending on what takes one's interest - scenery, beaches, golf courses, castles, gardens, distilleries etc etc. and that's before we even consider the experiences that Aberdeen has to offer.
As for fishing on the Don - my Club Inverurie AA has 2 miles on the Don and 4 miles on the tributary the Ury and this year we have recorded 363 brown trout (only fish of 1lb and over are recorded) and it is basically a public water with permits readily available locally or online, nearby other public access beats on the Don are Aberdeen and District AA, Alford AC and Kintore AC.
In addition to the River Dee (although predominantly a salmon river) but there are also the Rivers Deveron, Ugie, Ythan  where fishing is available although the latter two are not so well blessed with the trout stocks of the Don and Deveron - these are all in Aberdeenshire
And for stocked lochs - you mention Lochter (in derogatory fashion !) and Haddo but nearby there are also fisheries at Raemoir at Banchory, Loch Insch on the A96 at Colpy, Forgue Fishery, Delgatie at Turriff, Federate at Fraserburgh, Artloch at Huntly to name a few apart from those suggested by James.
Everyone of the fisheries whether on the river or a loch which I have mentioned would welcome visitors and be prepared to offer any assistance.
So Jon if you and your wife are coming to stay near Inverurie (my home town) I'll only be too pleased of point you in the right direction and give you any assistance when you in the area - I'm retired with plenty spare time on my hands so just drop me a PM at your convenience and I'll do what I can.



James Laraway

Re: aberdeenshire for novices?
« Reply #3 on: 04/11/2019 at 09:30 »
HI Fred

I was not slagging off the don ( I used to fish it a lot and have very fond memories) but I was going off the fact that Jon said he was coming up in Aug and the Don generally gets more tricky as the season progresses. Add to that the fact he said that they are fairly new to the fly and are up on holiday ( so may not be packing waders) I thought that perhaps the best chance of some Scottish trout action may be on some of the lochs ? Well, that was my thought process anyway.

One thing I always found the area lacked was a loch packed with wee brownies which would be ideal for someone starting out ( something definitely not lacking in the Inverness area !). The nearest one to Aberdeen I can think of would be loch lee - any other suggestions anyone ?

In terms of the stocked lochs I tried to suggest the 'prettier' / 'more natural' looking lochs - something that provides really nice asthetics and fishing - something that you would more associate with Scotland rather than something you could find anywhere.

Don't get me wrong, lots of people like lochter and it has plenty of fish - but I just feel it lacks 'soul' . That's just my opinion and im sure not everyone will agree ( like not everyone likes fishing for stocked rainbows) but that's all up to the individual

So I was really just trying to suggest somewhere that Jon and his other half would have a lovely day out - which I think they would have at Haddo and some of the other lochs suggested

regards
James



Fred Hay

Re: aberdeenshire for novices?
« Reply #4 on: 04/11/2019 at 11:46 »
Points noted - thanks for your clarification.

Jon Boughton

Re: aberdeenshire for novices?
« Reply #5 on: 04/11/2019 at 15:14 »
Thank you for the info , if its ok I will get in touch closer to the time of our visit. You have been a great help and we are very much looking forward to our time there.

 




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