Lochs of Cape Wrath

Morning all,

Just wondering if any of you have ever fished the Northern Lochs of Cape Wrath in Sutherland, Scotland. Have been reading about the limestone lochs there for some time. After seeing Paul Young fish there on his TV show on Sunday I'm convinced its somewhere I have to fish. The trout are not plentiful, but are all truly wild, and average over 3lbs a piece. One or two fish a day and you're doing well but 4/5 lbers are not uncommon.

I'm thinking of a last minute get away in the next couple of weeks, or some time next June.

Any info greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Richard

Want someone to share the fuel and accomodation Rich?

Now that really sounds like a challenge. Wild fish in wild waters.

Hi Ron,

would be good to have some company up there. With two of us fishing it would deffinately improve our chances of hitting into one of these fish. I hear the Salmon fishing up there is pretty hot too. However I've not heard back from the hotel yet that controls the fishing. Once I've got details from them I'll let you know what the score is.

I've finally bought that House up North I was telling you about so should be up North for a lot more fishing next year. Will be nice to have a base to fish from up there.

cheers,

Richard,
I know them pretty well, having fished them for the last 5 years with some success. An absolutely magical place, but be warned, once you've been there, you'll go back again & again!

I've got to hit the road in a few minutes & will be away for a few days. However I'll try & put a few lines together when I return. If you've not heard from me by early next week, just remind me.
In the interim, you could ring the hotel - 01971511212 & ask for Michelle (the owner) - she'll give you the SP on availability, form etc.

Just to whet your appetite - in a week's hard fishing this August I managed 20 fish with an average of 2lb.

Hi Richard,

Good to hear from you. Any info you do have is greatly appreciated. I spoke to Michelle, she informed me the season was over. In fact she wasn't very helpful at all. I think October is an interim period for them as they recover from one season and get ready for the next. She said she'd discuss seasons and bookings in November. I may well book up for next year once I've spoken to her then.

Regards,

Rich

Richard,
Home briefly between business trips, so a bit of a brain dump re Cape Wrath:
There's 4 lochs to be fished, namely Boralaidh, Caladail, Croispol & Lanlish. Of these I've only fished the former two. All are crystal clear & very rich in food items. Croispol (boat only - one, I think) is noted for quantity rather than quality: fish (I am told) average around the 1lb mark with occasional captures up to 2lb. Lanlish (bank-only) is the place to fish if you're after a real biggy (8's have been caught in recent years & 5-6's are still possible), but they are few & far between & it can be extremely hard going. One of the regulars once told me that on average he'd expect a take every 3 days! That's a take, not necessarily a fish!
Boralaidh (just at the back of the hotel) is a relatively deep loch (max ~ 120') with a large island & a couple of areas of shallows. It can be fished from boat (there's 2) or bank (primarily the western). Like many scottish lochs there's a shallow margin plunging over into deeper water & its this 'fringe' where many of the fish come from. The fish probably average about 1lb to 1-4, but you've a good chance of fish up to 2-3lb. Their colouration is very light & silvery, more akin to seatrout than 'proper' brownies. What's more, they fight like dingbats - a 1lb fish hooked from the boat will power around for absolutely ages before succumbing. Really good fun
A reasonable day on Boralaidh should see you with half a dozen to a dozen fish.
I tend to fish Boralaidh primarily from the boat, as this opens up some otherwise inaccessible shallows off the nose of the island, although the taking areas tend to be where the shallows drop off into the deeper stuff. Traditional patterns work well (e.g. Invicta, Soldier Palmer, GRHE etc), as do a variety of buzzers, sedge & similar patterns.
Whilst there's an enormous amount of shrimp in the water (just turn over a stone), I've not had much success on shrimp patterns - maybe I just need to persevere.
You may on occasion see shoals of charr on the top. I am assured they are catchable on fly, although I've not done so myself.

.. to be continued ..

... part the second .... (cos the board wouldn't let me post it as one message!)

Caladail is probably the loch that most anglers concentrate on. Other than one slightly deeper area near the dam, its about 8' deep throughout, has several substantial weedbeds, & a small island at the western end. Despite appearances, there's no bank fishing to speak of, but fishing is from the three boats. The relatively consistent depth means that, unlike Boralaidh, fish can pretty much be caught anywhere, although at any one time there do seem to be favoured areas. The relatively shallow water leads to an amazingly prolific population of bugs & beasties - I have never, ever, anywhere seen such intense buzzer & sedge hatches, particularly after dark. Fish probably average around 2lb, but there are undoubtedly larger fish present. My biggest is 4-3, & I know of fish of 6+ in recent years. In contrast to Boralaidh, these are brilliantly coloured fish, truly georgeous. Incidentally, I spoke to a chap a year or so back who'd had a 6lb fish the previous year. He had it scale-read - the fish was 5 years old!
A reasonable day on Caladail should see you with 4 or 5 fish, although it could easily be none! My best (IIRC) is around 12, but I had to work damned hard for that - this loch takes no prisoners!
The clear water has several consequences, Firstly, as you drift across Caladail you'll very rarely see a fish, even though you can quite clearly see bottom for some distance. This can be quite disconcerting as you get the sense of a 'fish-exclusion zone' around the boat. Obviously the fish have seen/sensed the boat & just moved off to the side. Secondly, your boat handling, casting & all movement must be as neat & quiet as possible - they don't take kindly to sloppy casting. Many anglers use electric outboards to keep disturbance to a minimum (you can take your own or the hotel will hire them)
Patterns: Trad patterns will work, sometimes very well. However, I tend to stick with a selection of buzzers & sedges & have had great results with Shipmans, CDC & Elk, Half-Hogs & similar. Daddies can often pull a fish up on dour days (& they can be frequent!) There's also reasonable olive hatches, so a few suitable patterns should be taken.
I generally use the first day or two to try out a variety of tactics, really to suss out what the fish are doing, where they are etc, so I'd alternate between subsurface pulling tactics, inch-retrieve nymphs (just keep pace with the drift) & top-water dries etc.

I've usually fished in July, when the amazing buzzer hatches are probably at their peak. This year I went in August with the intention of seeing the fish better-keyed on the sedge hatches - all worked to plan & I had the majority of my fish on CDC & Elk.

... to be continued ) ...

& finally ....

All the lochs can be night-fished, & this is what many of the hard-cases (me included!) do. Not for the faint-hearted though - you really do need to be confident of your abilities, particularly casting & boat-handling.

One thing to be aware of is that Cape Wrath is a long way north & can have some 'interesting' weather
For a start, it can get extremely windy & preclude your getting out on the lochs. Two or three years ago I lost 4 days of a week's fishing because it was simply not possible to safely get a boat out. Further, the wind was so strong that even bank fishing was just impossible.
Also, the wind direction can be all over the place. I recall one drift in particular when I'd set the boat perfectly & was bearing down on a particular feature when, in the space of only 2 minutes, the wind dropped & did a complete 180 - all of a sudden the drogue was out the front of the boat & I was headed back exactly the way I came!

As for the salmon fishing - I can't tell you much because I'm not really a salmon angler! However, there's 2 rivers - Dionnard (small) & Grudy (smaller) - both of which take a reasonable run of grilse to around 6-7lb and seatrout. Predicably for a small river, extra water is absolutely essential. If there is none, you almost certainly won't see or catch anything.

Fishing aside, the scenery up there is just tremendous, absolutely jaw-droppingly so. Take the road from Ullapool up to Durness, take your time over it, get out of the car regularly & just soak it up - magnificent stuff

On a final point (otherwise I'll witter on for ever!), whilst it is perfectly permissible to take fish, the vast majority of anglers don't. Somehow it just doesn't seem right to clonk fish of this calibre - pop 'em back & give someone else the pleasure of catching them

Anything else I can help you with, just ask - & maybe I'll see you up there next year

cheers

Hi Richard,

This is a great response!!! thanks so much for taking the time to write this all down. You've confirmed a lot of what I've read and heard elsewhere. Quality fish that have to be earned.

I'll be looking to book a few days next July I think.

Thanks again for all your help.

Regards,

Richard