A Fishing Holiday
I try and arrange a couple of holidays each year in the north west of Scotland, based at the Inverlodge Hotel, Lochinver in Sutherland. It is a trout (and salmon) fisherman's dream location with fruitful rivers and hundreds of lochs set in a ruggedly magnificent landscape.
It's worth the eight hour drive from Lancashire, arduous though it can be on the A9 between Perth and Inverness. On two occasions I broke the journey and stayed at a convenient hotel in Stirling but it was a fretful experience, being time lost from the holiday. I'd rather complete the journey in one day and have an extra day for fishing.
Paradise
This year I found the most inviting and convenient trout fishing venue, set along the main road from Ullapool to Lochinver, the A837, and just a few miles from the hotel. This road runs for many miles parallel to the mighty Loch Assynt which is one of the most spectacular lochs in Scotland.
A new car park (well sign posted) and purpose built pathway has been opened by the Culag Community Woodland Trust on the Little Assynt Estate. On the first morning that I walked the path, it being the rutting season, I could hear a stag roaring out his challenges off the slopes of the towering Quinag mountain close by.
Aided by a variety of organisations, e.g. Scottish Natural Heritage, Caithness & Sutherland Enterprise and the Forestry Commission, the Little Assynt Estate has been opened to the public by the Culag Community Woodlands Trust with the express intention of bringing the wild moors, lochs and hills within easy reach of the public.
The car park and pathway give access to two breath-taking lochs containing lots of feisty brown trout with bellies the colour of farm butter and red and black spots of such intensity on the bodies to make the heart ache. And these are good sized lochs of many acres each not little man-made “puddles” of two or three acres.
The Fishing
There are two lochs where fishing is permitted, Loch Leitir Easaidh and Loch na h-Innse Froaich. Do not let the strange Gaelic names put you off: the lochs are so easy to find along the sculptured pathway. No more than half a mile from the car park.
At each loch there is a little fishing centre comprising a public convenience, a shelter and a jetty complete with rowing boat. This sounds very civilised and so it is. The shelters are built in traditional style with stone walls, a wooden frame for the roof which is then adorned with natural heather sods. They are warm, cosy and rain-proof. The toilets are compost toilets powered by solar panels and small turbines. The whole thing is modern and exquisite, cutting edge and traditional in a combination that is effective and so attractive.
Fishing is available for anyone and, additionally, the fishing is purpose-build to accommodate the less able. The pathways are smooth with little gradient. It is wheelchair friendly. There are a couple of special lay-bys along the way and the facilities and boats are designed to accommodate both the able bodied and the not so able (as long as there is an accompanying able bodied adult to assist).
Rods and Flies
A rod of nine or nine and half foot capable of throwing a five or six weight line is all that is required. Floating double tapered lines are best suited unless the wind is really severe and a tippet of 3lbs breaking strain will suffice. Most of the trout are small and a fit, one pound fish will test the equipment. Trout up to four pounds are occasionally caught in these lochs but these are rare and infrequent.
I find it is worth starting with a small dry fly but be ready to strike quickly. The trout tend to take and then reject more quickly than it takes to write the words. The next best option is to try traditional wet flies, with the bushier kind of flies that create a wake on the dropper and a Butcher or Black Pennel on the end. There are many rocky outcrops giving on to deeper water and a Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear or a nymph pattern can be deadly and tempt bigger fish.
It is important to move around stealthily and keep noise to a minimum. These fish survive attacks from predators by being alert and the less they see and hear of the angler the more chance he has of catching a few. Many fish cruise the margins of these lochs and long casting is not required unless, perhaps, a larger trout shows itself further out. Too much disturbance puts the fish down and it is advantageous to keep on the move cautiously around the water's edge.
A Trout with Attitude
How unlike some of the stocked fisheries where rainbows can develop a laid back attitude to the presence of humans. Last week I approached a little promontory at the side of a local reservoir. A mere six feet away and only a foot under the surface, a four pound rainbow trout held in the current and sucked in food as it floated past him. He looked up at me several times but drifted only a few feet further away from which position he continued to feed with some indifference, disdain even, for my presence. I fished from that spot for nearly twenty minutes but he refused to be intimidated on his own patch.
Contacts
The two lochs may be fished by the public. Intending fishermen should contact: Peter Hendrich, The Cottage, Culag Square, Lochinver, Sutherland. Telephone: 01571 844076. Phone either before 11.00a.m. or in the evenings. Leave a message if no reply.
Loch Assynt Visitors Centre in Lochinver village.
Inverlodge Hotel, Lochinver, Sutherland IV27 4LU Tel: 01571 84496
There could not be a finer place to fish and to get a genuine taste of the wilderness but with civilisation, i.e. shelter and toilets, adjoining and only minutes from the main road.
