Hebridean trout fishing

In my previous post I, mostly, concentrated on salmon and sea trout fishing but in this one i thought it might be fun to talk about some trout fishing adventures.

Lewis has a lot of trout lochs, some people say 1200 or even 2000 which sounds excessive to me to be honest, and a lot of the joy of Lewis fishing is the "wild" aspect of a day out on the Lewis moor. I love nothing more than to spread the maps out at breakfast time and pick some remote trout loch as the target for the day. I usually try to pick a loch that will allow me to fish a few others on the walk out and back so sometimes I reach my target, and sometimes I get diverted by another loch that takes my fancy.

Lewis trout tend not to be huge and on the majority of lochs a 1lb fish is a decent fish, indeed on many lochs it might be normal to get 4 trout to the pound. However, these are real wild brown trout and it is a wonderful challenge to catch them no matter the size. It is possible to get big fish and there are lochs where big fish are often seen, especially on a calm evening, but the big fish are not at all easy to catch and if you want one then you will work for it.

As was the case with my previous report what I will do is post plenty of photos along with comments.

Walking back in after a day on the moor I captured this photo of the light on a Lewis loch. This loch and the others out the moor from it can produce decent fish in the 3/4 to 1.5lb range and I had about 10 fish for my day out with a few going into the bag for my dinner:



Walking the moor to the trout lochs can be rather rough going but the advantage of the Lewis fishing is that there are often only a few hundred yards between lochs so you rarely have to walk a long distance in one go plus there is almost always a view to keep you inspired and the various moorland plants and animals can also provide a lot of interest.



Eagles often join me on my moorland travels and the rapidly increasing numbers, in introductions, of sea eagles would appear to be having a significant impact on the behaviour, movements and range of the native golden eagle. Getting decent photos of eagles with a pocket point and shoot camera is far from easy so these are pretty poor but they show two pairs of eagles which joined me for a little while when out fishing this year. Usually it is more difficult to go out and not see an eagle than it is to actually spot one:





As well as walking to interesting places, and fishing interesting places, I also enjoy stopping and getting my stove going to make some tea. In the past the locals build little stone houses out on the moor called shielings and I would often use the remains of one of these as a good tea spot:



While there are lots of lochs, including some of the best, by the road sometimes there is nothing else for it but to get out and walk while enjoying the view:



Due to the very low water all throughout the summer months the salmon and sea trout fishing has been difficult in many areas but the trout fishing on Lewis did very well this year and I enjoyed my days out on the moor and was very successful. I don't kill many fish in a year and tend not to take photos of them but I did take this snap of some fish that I nipped out to get for lunch. These came in almost flat calm and pretty bright conditions over a period of about an hour - I used a small black wet fly fished on a fairly long leader to tempt them and was mostly casting to rising fish working along the edge of what little ripple there was on the surface. I've posted this one before but...



The Lewis fishing experience isn't for everyone and if you want to roll out of your car and hammer big fish that were released into a pond 10 minutes before you got there then it will not suit you. However if you want a real, wild, trout fishing experience chasing fish that were released into their remote lochs 10,000 years ago as the ice retreated my experience is that there is simply nowhere else to compare and it really should be on your "must do" list.

This is Loch nan Caorach which is where I got my SD username from. Caorach is the gaelic plural for sheep, so this is the loch of the sheep:




Finally my key tip for the Lewis angler - chill out and enjoy your fishing as you don't need to race anyone to the best spots and your problem will not be getting somewhere to fish but rather will be deciding where to fish next.

 
Great article _ I love Assynt, but the approach is much the same for me. My Kelly kettle gets a lot of use. Not so much fun now my old lab who was fishing mad is no more, but I hope at least my border terrier is showing the right signs, but she's nothing like as hardy.
 
It looks like a great place!

Nice write up, great pics and some lovely trout!

How did you cook them?
 
Lovely pictures. My sister moved to Barra a few years back. I have never had the chance to get up to see her with work and two young kids. But i'll need to get up to see her and the islands.

Regards kev
 
Lovely pictures. My sister moved to Barra a few years back. I have never had the chance to get up to see her with work and two young kids. But i'll need to get up to see her and the islands.

I don't know anything at all about the fishing on Barra but there aren't many lochs so I guess there can't be as much of it as on the Uists or Lewis and Harris. I prefer the slightly more "wild" fishing aspect of the Lewis/Harris experience but the Uists do have fantastic fishing and are much closer to Barra. You could always do the island hopscotch thing, Calmac do a ticket for it, and try the fishing on all of the Outer Hebrides.
 
I don't know anything at all about the fishing on Barra but there aren't many lochs so I guess there can't be as much of it as on the Uists or Lewis and Harris. I prefer the slightly more "wild" fishing aspect of the Lewis/Harris experience but the Uists do have fantastic fishing and are much closer to Barra. You could always do the island hopscotch thing, Calmac do a ticket for it, and try the fishing on all of the Outer Hebrides.

It sounds good mate i was thinking on booking some stalking aswell when im up. I haven't got it planed yet but its somthing for the future.

Regards kev.
 
There is good stalking, and bigger trophy deer, on North Uist Estate but the trophy fees certainly put anything except for cull animals beyond my reach plus it isn't as dramatic stalking or hard work as on Lewis and Harris, though for many people this might be a big plus point:

http://www.langasslodge.co.uk/nuestalking.html

The Lewis and Harris deer tend to be smaller in body and antlers so a big trophy is unlikely but because the stalking is, mostly, very hard work and dramatic then it is very much an "experience of a lifetime" type of day out. There is now some "lowland" forestry type stalking available on Lewis which can provide for an easier day out and which will allow for mechanical extraction etc. but in some areas no mechanical extraction is possible and so it is a matter of dragging anything you shoot. However, a ghillie can always be taken along to assist. As ever I will post some photos of Lewis stalking, both hinds and stags as the pictures were taken from a similar location so it makes a nice contrast:



 
There is good stalking, and bigger trophy deer, on North Uist Estate but the trophy fees certainly put anything except for cull animals beyond my reach plus it isn't as dramatic stalking or hard work as on Lewis and Harris, though for many people this might be a big plus point:

http://www.langasslodge.co.uk/nuestalking.html

The Lewis and Harris deer tend to be smaller in body and antlers so a big trophy is unlikely but because the stalking is, mostly, very hard work and dramatic then it is very much an "experience of a lifetime" type of day out. There is now some "lowland" forestry type stalking available on Lewis which can provide for an easier day out and which will allow for mechanical extraction etc. but in some areas no mechanical extraction is possible and so it is a matter of dragging anything you shoot. However, a ghillie can always be taken along to assist. As ever I will post some photos of Lewis stalking, both hinds and stags as the pictures were taken from a similar location so it makes a nice contrast:




I dont mind hard work i work on a large dairy farm with over 400 milk cows and on total there is over a 1000 head of cattle on the farm so hard work is second nature to me;) it would be a dramatic life time experience i would be after.

Thanks for the link i will have a look at it.

Kind regards kev
 
it would be a dramatic life time experience i would be after.

That would settle it then - Lewis or Harris for the stalking plus you will be fit enough to walk to the more interesting or spectacular fishing as well.

Most visitors are good for between 1 and 3 miles on the moor, probably less if you add in hills, so care is required as people are out for enjoyment not to get knackered. With visitors who come to fish I'd usually take them for an easy walk to lochs to see how they fare before considering other places to send them, even the ones who come claiming to be fit, but with your lifestyle you will be fit enough to stalk or fish pretty much anywhere and that gives you a huge advantage and flexibility.
 
Caroach I always look forward your write ups and especially pics what fantastic scenery and great sport I'm green with envy!
Atb jim
 
Glad you enjoyed it Jim, I love taking photos of the area as I enjoy the wild scenery and also the interesting wildlife and plants that I get to see out on the moor. Sometimes it is easy to overlook that all of these things are a major part of a day at fishing or stalking and, certainly for me, actually catching a fish or shooting a deer is very much secondary to the chance to get to these remarkable places and see all this interesting "stuff."

I've posted most of these before but there are a selection of photos taken over 2014 on this page, Dollanna usually has far more bookings for her cottage than she can deal with so I don't think my pictures make much difference to that (she is probably just humoring me by letting me post them on her site) but I enjoy letting people see all the great stuff there is to be seen out on the moor:

2014 photos taken around Dollag's Cottage
 
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