[James Laraway]

So, i finally dusted off the trout rods and got out for a 1st cast since Sept 2022 !
Thought i would take a day off and head down to a loch near Ft Augustus. Sadly there was a rather brisk North-Easterly and after about an hour of seeing nothing I popped onto my 'backup loch' which I had only fished once but turned out to be chock-full of trout.
Sadly the wind was whistling there too so my chosen spot was out of the question as casting straight into a NE wind was going to be no fun - so I set off to explore the loch...
I did pretty well early off despite the wind and got a few small trout and as the day went on the wind dropped a bit and the fish went nuts - I even managed my first 'double header' for a while
The size of the fish was nothing to write home about however they could fight on a #4 and the amount of takes was amazing - they were very pretty little fish too.
I reccon i caught 20 odd fish.....and missed far far more.
Top scoring fly at a ratio of about 4:1 compared to any other fly ? My pink tailed kate ordie....
It was lovely to be out again..
Scenery was amazing, saw deer and all sorts of wildlife

[Mike Barrio]

Nice one James and some bonnie pics 

[Matt Hart]

Lovely stuff, hoping to do quite a bit of highland loch fishing this year 

[Terry Coging]

Great stuff James - can't wait to get up there. Should be able to try the KO's on wild Welsh fish before then.

[Hamish Young]

Reminds me that I need to get 'little me' out after something other than stockies. Very nice James, must have been nice to be out 

[James Laraway]

Took an opportunity to pay a visit to Lochindorb yestarday. The wind made things a tad tricky but I did manage to winkle out a small pike ( sorry - no picture of the fish  what with the waves i didnt want to drop my phone in the water as i was in my tube...)

Here are a few 'scenic' photos

[Matt Hart]

There are a couple of smaller lochs just to the north east of Lochindorb that I've been meaning to try. Any chance you've had a go in them before? Loch Allan, Stuart, Tree and the Black Loch. They look to be very peaty in sort of a wetland area.

[James Laraway]

I've seen them when driving past and have stopped for a look. To me they looks very 'pikey' with lots of reed beds and deep looking peaty water. The bigger ones have boat houses on them and no fishing signs so I think it fair to say they have fish. Who has the fishing however is a different matter.....

[Alex Russell]

Fished them years ago, mostly small trout plenty sport though, belong to Moray Estates.

[Terry Coging]

Our little group will be headed up to the Assynt region tomorrow. We will fish the usual Lochs - Cam, Veyatie, Urigill, Assynt.
I am also booked on Little Loch Awe. Last time I fished there (for free) was from the bank almost 50 years ago. Just a single boat allowed on there now.
Hoping that it lives up to it's reputation for the Mayfly.

[Alex Russell]

Fished loch wee 5 years ago had a nice one between the islands, on it you catch a drouge it might be mine, in my haste I chucked it over the side it did not seem to be slowing the drift, turned round to pull on the role to open it up and I had never tied it on  doh.

[Mike Barrio]

Our little group will be headed up to the Assynt region tomorrow. We will fish the usual Lochs - Cam, Veyatie, Urigill, Assynt.
I am also booked on Little Loch Awe. Last time I fished there (for free) was from the bank almost 50 years ago. Just a single boat allowed on there now.
Hoping that it lives up to it's reputation for the Mayfly.

Enjoy 

[James Laraway]

So just back from a weekends camping with a pal of mine. We stayed on a campsite near Ft Augustus. To say it wasn't really fishing weather was an underestimate. It was boiling hot with bright sunshine and a north to north easterly breeze - all weekend !

No matter, we cracked on .

Spent Friday afternoon on one loch. Normally i do really well with lures on this loch as it has lots of minnows. My mate was on small wets and emergers. Suffice to say that by lunch he was 4-0 up and things were not looking good - for me anyway !

We sat down for lunch and he said " i'll just pop my flies out...."

Of course within 2 mins his line zipped away to make it 5-0. Urgh.

Luckily after lunch a change to a longer leader and a change of flies then a quickly got 4 on the bank and missed a few.  So all was well again in the world. Plus as you will see on the photo a heard of wild goats came down


Next day we were on Ruthven. The weather was even hotter, however there was a good ripple. Did we catch anything ? Not a sausage. I got the only pull of the day.

On the way back we stopped at a touristy bit and took a few photos - plus saw what was either a golden or a sea eagle !



After the disappointment of blanking on the Saturday i suggested a reliable loch on Sunday  (the weather was hot and sunny again with a northerly).

Sure enough we each has 20-30 fish each by lunch and the sport was fast and furious on a mixture of dries and emergers.

Good times. No trophies but sometimes its about the enjoyment, the company and the scenery

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff James, I'm looking forward to a trip up North soon too, and hopefully seeing some of these Brownies in the net 

[Terry Coging]

Nice report and pics James 
I got back from a week around Assynt on Sat.  Fished from a boat on Boralan, Urigill, Camma , Veyattie amd Little Loch Awe. Caught plenty on all five. Most fish to the mayfly, sedge and PTKO. Best fish over a pound from Boralan but best average size from Little loch Awe = two to the pound with 3 of about a pound. On our last day we made a visit to Lagg fishery, simply because we had never been there before and it piqued our interest. Two small lochs stocked with rainbows. Unbelievable - a ten pounder first cast! We all caught several fish the smallest being 5lb. They were not slobs either. Lovely fish that took off like trains in the shallow water.

[James Laraway]

Sounds an excellent trip Terry 👍. Any joy with those mayflies I tied you? I've never tried one myself....

[Terry Coging]

James - yes. I started the mornings with a team of wets with the your yellow mayfly on the point, PTKO middle and they both worked well. Changed to dry mayfly after a couple of hours or when some naturals were showing. Saw the odd mayfly every day but only one proper hatch. I suspect that they had shown earlier on this season. Top dropper was alternated between daddy, sedge or a bushy mayfly. A couple of times when there was a big wave I used a big red and black dapping fly tied by Hamish and it brought a few up while my boat partner was touching nothing. Used the 15' wafting rod and a 3 or 4 weight Smallstream all week. The 4 weight was better during the calmer periods.
Looking forward to going back up there later in the season. In the meantime I'll be visiting the Oban waters a couple of times.

[Sandy Nelson]

Our turn this week. 3 Days in Assynt, the phots don't do it justice, so there's no way any of my words will help.
Let's leave it at Spectacular scenery, prolific fishing and fabulous company. enjoy the photos.





















And a first for me and an elusive box to tick, a wild Scottish Char on the dry

[Hamish Young]

Awesome 

[Mike Barrio]

Yep, an awesome few days without a PC or phone signal ...... just great company and lots of Brownies 

Thanks for your hospitality Stewart 

Here are a few more pics .....

[James Laraway]

so yesterday I thought that as the forecast wasn't that great i would head to Lochindorb after some pike and made the decision to try the north end of the loch for a change so i set afloat on the tube.
With my I tool my #9 for the pike and my #4 for the trout ( just in case)

The weather was nice and calm with a wee breeze coming from the north



A few flies were coming off and the minnows were dimpling on the surface so i thought well, if i dont get a pike i'll get a trout.

My lunch I hadn't had a take from any pike and no sign of any trout either so I made the decision to move to the southern shore where i have caught pike before.

Much to my amazement there were about 8 guys pike fishing - most of them spinning and some 'bivvied up' deadbaiting ( the signs do say " fly only"...)

So despite this i launched and headed in-between the spin fishers , 2 of whom were in a boat.

I headed out to where i could see some weeds and started casting into the gaps. Amusingly  about 2 casts in *WHAM* - pike on . Not big but about 3 or 4 lbs

There was a look of bemusement from the spin fishers which only got worse 10 mins later when I got another.

For some reason then then all packed up and left 

I then thought " I'd really like a trout....."

As there was nothing showing in the loch despite flies on the surface I packed up and hit the road. There is a smallish burn that I always drive over that looks lovely so thought i would give it a go.

The weather by this point was boiling hot.

First cast into a pool and fish on - a lovely wee trout

The a range rover pulled up and a chap got out. I was preparing for a 'telling off' however he was really nice, asked if i had caught anything and said he has also always looked at the burn and wondered if it was worth a cast !

I wandered downstream with my #4 glass, bead head nymph on the point and a spider on the dropper. Caught loads of wee trout and missed many more. I've not enjoyed a days fishing so much for ages. Just exploring new water and having fun trying to cast to wee trout in challenging places.

[Terry Coging]

A great day James  ...and lovely photos.

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff James, looks like a cracking stream to explore 

[James Laraway]

So I seem to be getting up a bit of steam finally fishing wise.

Today i headed to a loch near Aviemore, one that I hadn't fished for about 20 years......

It contains pike and trout so I took my #10 and #4 afloat with me



It was meant to start raining about midday so i was ready for a soaking.

Suffice to say no rain came and it was a real scorcher of a day.

Worked my way round the first reedy bay and nothing, not a sausage.

The second bay looked even better  -lots a reeds, lily pads etc. Not too deep and not too shallow.

Near the end of the bay *whack* - first hit, but i think it more hit the tail of the fly so didn't connect. The fly was a black and silver tube about 8 inches long

I change to 'match the hatch' a tied on someone more akin to a small pike ( with a bauer rattle for extra attraction ).

About 4 casts in the fly gets hit like an express train - really savage...i still have NO idea how it didnt hook itself.

I thought " I have to catch something  " so put on a much much smaller flashabou tube fly and finally I'm in !

Small (tiny  ) but perfectly formed



some fight it gave on the #10 

Despite flies on the water no trout showed to my #4 stayed in the bow of my tube

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff James, and some really nice pics 

Looks a bonnie loch to fish.