More Lewis fishing

The forecast for the yesterday and today were reasonable with relatively light winds promised. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out like that and relatively light winds turned into flat calm:



Last night I wandered out to my chosen camping, and fishing, spot and on the way I passed a few little lochs. I didn't stop for a cast as time was already getting on plus I was carrying a very heavy pack. With camping gear it seems to can have light or inexpensive, but not both, and light can be very expensive indeed for someone who might only camp a few nights in a lifetime.



You can see that even on the way out there was little or no wind and really it might have been more sensible to turn and come home again but who is going to give up on a fishing trip? I got the tent up just on sunset:



This shot taken just after sunrise shows that I picked a spot handy for the loch but the lack of wind made fishing really tricky, especially for someone like myself who only fishes wet fly. Maybe a dry dropped out there and given the odd twitch might have taken a fish or two:



As it was with my timing I only really got about an hour of fishing in the evening but I did have a few decent fish when a tiny ripple came up on the loch and that is always nice on a fishery which is completely wild and where the fish have been resident since the end of the last ice age:



Due to there being little or no wind for most of the time the midges were pretty bad and a head net was necessary for quite a bit of the morning, however that's what you get for going out in a flat calm and it wasn't completely unexpected:

 
Priceless despite the midges. Always carry a few CDC's in your fly box for those occasions.
 
Lovely shots. I've not camped up there, but I have fished the moor lochs north west of Stornoway. A windless day up there is unusual... It's a stunning spot.
 
Priceless despite the midges. Always carry a few CDC's in your fly box for those occasions.
I know, but all I had was the wet flies. I have a box of CDC and other similar stuff but haven't used one of them in years since I moved to fishing wet fly only. I guess it is sort of like the folks who only fish dry fly and it isn't just about catching the fish but a sort of "ethos" that comes upon you. I have some small black pennells in the box so putting one of them on a fine leader would be pretty close to nymph fishing and in those conditions it would probably fish in the surface film anyhow so that's me back fishing the dry fly :)

I must say that Smidge really is the thing when the midges are that bad, it simply works well. However when they are so thick in the air you need the head net just so you can open your eyes or breathe. Of course eating didn't work so well as it required the removal of the head net, and I didn't want to get into the tent to eat if I could avoid it.
 
Yes I know what you are saying about using one method you enjoy, several regulars at our reservoir only fish dry fly.
What would be your most successful team of flies for those wild brownies ?

Like the sound of that Smidge (midge repellent) ... been using skin so soft. ATB Gaz
 
Yes I know what you are saying about using one method you enjoy, several regulars at our reservoir only fish dry fly.
What would be your most successful team of flies for those wild brownies ?

Like the sound of that Smidge (midge repellent) ... been using skin so soft. ATB Gaz

I've never been a big fan of the skin so soft but on the other hand I haven't given it a good trial. Smidge is great because it doesn't melt anything, like deet does, plus the FDA say it is safe to use even on children and it has tested as effective as deet against midges, ticks etc. I've no connection with the people making it but when you get something that works for a real pain like the midges then it is good to spread the word. The active ingredient is also in something called Autan and I believe the selling point of smidge is that it is waterproof.

When it comes to flies that I'm not too chosey really but often I have a Zulu or Blue Zulu on the dropper and a Black Pennell or a Connemara Black on the point. I used to fish 3 flies but have settled on 2 these days as I get less tangles. Probably it would be better to learn to cast better but I haven't seen any decrease in catches with 2 flies so there seems to be no down side.
 
Thanks caorach.
Up in the Highlands for a bit of wild fishing in a couple of weeks time, so will have the smidge at the ready by then. Hopefully the wee troot and perhaps a salmon will be pulling also.
 
Excellent pictures, and the sunset one was a cracker, my mate and few of his buddies from down south went fishing up some islands up north and they had one hell of a catch, filled nearly half the boat, takes me back to when i was a wean oot on the boats. anyway nice pics.
 
Thanks caorach.
Up in the Highlands for a bit of wild fishing in a couple of weeks time, so will have the smidge at the ready by then. Hopefully the wee troot and perhaps a salmon will be pulling also.

No rain here on Lewis in 5 weeks!! Unbelievable as I got here a month ago with rivers in reasonable order and now the rivers are almost totally gone. There are lots of fish in the pools but they are getting pretty stale and hard to catch. I fished for maybe 4 hours yesterday for one sea trout and the whole island is reporting 6 salmon for the week so far - I'd be expecting 6 salmon myself for a day, never mind a week. I've only fished one day for salmon in the month and all I could get were a few sea trout. However, when the rain comes it should be spectacular so hopefully your timing will work out. The other thing worth considering is that, certainly here, there are a LOT of sea trout and they are mostly coming to small trout flies with some people fishing as small as size 14. Now I'm not hearing of any big sea trout but one chap I was talking to last night hooked about 50 for a day, and managed to get about 30 to the boat.

The advantage we have here is that as well as the rivers we have lochs which will fish even in low water if there is wind plus also estuary fishing which just depends on the state of the tide. I have access to some fishing in saltings (mostly sea trout) that fishes on the high tide and some in the salt (again mostly sea trout) that fishes on a low tide and they are only a short distance apart so the tide is always good for one or other :)

Hopefully tomorrow I'm off to a very remote sea trout loch and conditions don't look too bad with a bit of wind so there is the possibility of some fish and a report or two, the loch is stuffed with fish including quite a few salmon but catching them when they are getting stale is another matter.

I know people say the brown trout don't do so well in August but I'm going well with them so far so it is good you have them as an option if you don't get water as they are giving decent sport. A lot of people seem to look down on the brown trout fishing given the salmon and sea trout available but to be honest I think the browns can be even better fun, and much more of an adventure.

Good luck with the trip.
 
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