The Isle of Lewis has a lot of lochs and it has been my tradition to spend September trying to get some fish from them. This year the end of August and early September we were mostly tied up with family things as we had a Lewis wedding to attend, with folks staying in the cottage my girlfriend rents, and then my folks came up and stayed in Dollag's Cottage for a week.
Lewis has some wonderful salmon fishing and, unlike a lot of salmon fishing, the Lewis fishing actually brings with it a real chance of catching a salmon and can often be had at very reasonable cost, or even free. The island also has a lot of trout fishing in lochs, some very remote, and although the average size of trout is not large there is a lot of satisfaction to be had from walking to a remote loch and catching a trout that will never have seen an angler in its life. Much of the trout fishing is also free allowing the angler to chose from a nearly infinite number of lochs.
Once the family matters were out of the way there were several fishing guests due into the cottage during September and I was lucky enough to get to go fishing with one of them as she was a little nervous walking the moor alone and I'm most keen to take guests to remote lochs, and enjoy getting them a fish. The fishing guest seemed to enjoy her day on the hill, and we got lots of good trout, but was a little unfortunate in that there was no water and so we didn't manage to get her a salmon during her stay. Having "local knowledge" she was able to concentrate on the trout in the knowledge that the chances of a salmon on her chosen waters were slim to zero. The day we headed out for some remote trout lochs was perfect for trout fishing:
While on the loch I like to use the old shielings to make some tea and lunch so I was occupying this one for a little while during the day to the amusement of my visitor who, I suspect, had never seen anyone make himself quite so at home in a remote and disused building while fishing:
The dry weather also had a significant impact on my salmon catching success but I did manage 5 fish for what probably amounted to around 3 days fishing. This fish came from a local river that is free fishing and which can produce decent fishing for both salmon and sea trout with the right water:
And this fish was one of 3 taken on this particular day, the only day I got with decent levels of water or at least the levels were decent for an hour in the morning but fell rapidly during the day:
I'd guess that in most parts of the UK 5 salmon for a few days fishing might rate as success but on Lewis it wasn't such an impressive result. However, as is my inclination, when the fish weren't taking I could always get the stove going behind a big stone and have some tea:
As some might know I've been playing with all sorts of mad photo processing techniques and so enjoy taking some photos and processing them. This shot was taken above the trout loch at the village of Brue. This loch can produce some big fish and as you can see the Atlantic breakers come crashing onto the rocks just yards behind you while you cast on the loch. It makes for a most impressive fishing location, especially if there are good waves coming in:
As is always the case on Lewis fishing means walking the moor and I had a few lovely evenings out on the moor. The night this photo was taken was just before the full moon and soon after I snapped the photo the clouds cleared leaving me with a lovely clear sky and a rising moon. I walked back in under the moonlight enjoying having the moor to myself:
As a fishing destination it would be hard to imagine anywhere better than Lewis and if you are looking good quality self catering then be sure to check out my girlfriend's website:
http://www.7south.co.uk/