Caorach

Another attempt, in somewhat less thundery weather, to get a few small trout and although I had a rather nice rainbow the brown trout weren't so keen on revealing themselves. I did manage a few, and a decent cup of tea as well, so all told it was an extremely successful afternoon out and about.

On a thundery July day I set out to chase a few wild brown trout only to find that they aren't called the dog days for nothing. Few flies were hatching off the water and even fewer trout were to be seen. I have to guess that it was the thundery weather as I've seen similar before but despite the conditions it was a fun and interesting day out.

The angler may be exposed to great danger when chasing the moorland brown trout and on my little jaunt today I discovered that someone had kindly erected a sign warning me that holding my head under the water could be fatal. It seems important to pass this information on to others as the internet is a place of drama and exaggerated claims and this seemed like a good time for me to join in. In the process I managed to catch a few little brown trout though not, perhaps, as many as I might have expected.

There is very little real wild fishing these days but the lochs in this video are rarely visited and hold little wild brown trout that have been there since the end of the last ice age. This is the best fishing available and regardless of the size of the fish or the amount of shouting required when you hook something nothing compares to a day wandering the moor after real wild fish that require considerable effort to catch.

This loch contains a head of wild brown trout and, for reasons best known unto themselves, they are rather more loath to leave it than the trout in many of the other lochs in the area. Despite this I gave it my best shot at catching a trout and I tried wet flies, fast sinking lines, shouting personal abuse, and a range of other tactics all to no avail.

I set out to go trout fishing in the Hebrides but ended up not reaching my intended loch and so I ended up somewhere else. The conditions were challenging with, mostly, bright sun and the loch I was visiting had an interesting back story including the release of some rainbow trout about 5 years back. Despite all of this I did manage to catch a brown trout for my dinner.

A fantastic day of late season salmon fishing on the Isle of Lewis in the dramatic Outer Hebrides which offer some of the best Atlantic salmon fishing in Scotland. Perfect conditions for it with the Met Office reporting gusts to 71mph and good cloud cover but the river was rising rather quickly due to the showers. I managed a wee salmon but the star of the show is the second fish that appears!

On the last day of March I ventured out to see if I could catch an early Hebridean brown trout. Recently I was lucky enough to be able to get a box of flies tied by local Lewis fly tyer John Maclean who produces fantastic flies designed for the wild brownies, sea trout, and salmon. I rarely catch anything this early in the year but was lucky enough to not only have a great walk and a great day out but also to catch some wonderful early season trout helped, no doubt, by the fantastic flies John ties. I've no connection with John other than that I appreciate the wonderful and novel flies he ties but if you want to get in touch with him you can check him out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057469959391

On the 2nd March 2023 I made my way out for the first cast of the season at trout. It was a cold day with an easterly wind and so the prospects weren't looking too good. However I managed to get a cup of tea, some lunch, a good walk and, to my shock, I also moved a few trout though I didn't manage to get any of them onto the bank. All told a very successful day for the first day out chasing trout in 2023.