Fishing Diary

	Highland Fishing Diary
	Epona Cottage, Waternish, Isle of Skye, IV55 8GQ (44), 01470 592717



		Mid Oct 2007 - First piking trip of the winter just for one day up in the highlands. The weather was the best thing about the day, absolutley gin clear views and warming sunshine. I expected a few more runs than the one I got in the early afternoon. The fish turned out to be a small jack pike that took a liking to a small dead rainbow trout presented on a float legering rig close in in about 10 ft of water. I couldn't muster another bite and on the drive home I was pondering where to go on my first weekend trip of the winter. yyyy	No picture
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		End of season Oct 2007 - Bit of confusion as to the actual date of the last day on the rivers meant I missed the last 2 weeks of the season having thought the salmon fishing ended on the last day of Sept. I was quite busy with work in any event but would have still probably fished a couple of days. Anyway all in all a good game season both on the brown/sea trout front and for the salmon. I was on the river less than last season - especially the local streams - and I think that's partly why I didn't catch as many sea trout. The fishing on the Snizort has been a highlight with an excellent catch of returned salmon this season - easily the best in many a yr. It shows what proactive river management can achieve when coupled with conservation minded angling.	No picture
		Wednesday 19th September 2007 - I finally cracked it and had two salmon off the Sligachan River on a receeding spate coinciding with a morning high tide. Brilliant stuff! Just when I thought I wouldn't get a salmon this season after getting one last season. How wrong I was and that shows you should always have faith! I took both the fish in a noted pool on the lower river and they fell for a orange shrimp fly (I will find the name!) fished on a sink tip. The spate was falling and the river was actually quite low, you could wade across it safely in places which means it is low for the Sligachan! The first grilse was around 5lb and fought like hell and gave the new rod a thorough test. I was ecstatic when I finally tailed the fish and was happy to see it recover and swim off upstream. I took one a little later on about 3lb to the same tactic and like the first it was released. All in all a memorable day and it mattered little that I couldn't get a beat on the Snizort that day as it was fully booked. Sadly I had no means of recording the catch but I'm not in the habit of forgetting about the few salmon I've been lucky to catch!	No picture sorry!
		Fri 14th September 2007 - Had the day off as I was heading off over to Drams in the Field music festival later that day so had the morning and early afternoon on the Kilmartin River near Staffin. The river was in great nick, perfect spate conditions so I was pretty confident of a salmon. However that didn't prove correct as I moved nothing, fishing a number of good pools on the middle river. I took a few brown trout which will attack any fly even if it's bigger than them! It was tough going with the strong upstream wind but never mind I'll be back!	No picture
		Wednesday 12th September 2007 - Afternoon out on the boat making the most of a very calm spell. Got over to the marks round Geary but had best fishing off Score Bay for mackerel. Plenty of fish still there and we had some quality sized fish too which makes a change. Also took a few nice pollock trolling and to feathers. Saw my first Basking Shark off the boat, an amazing experience. Rounded the day off with a lobster and a huge brown crab in the creels.	No picture
		Sat 8th September 2007 - Penultimate boat competition and as suspected it was hard going for all concerned. On the face of it, conditions wise it was reasoable with a decent ripple for most of the day. I took one small fish early on in Armishader Bay but that was it for me and Louie. We tried most of the drifts and the closest we came was a fish of around a pound missing Louie's fly twice and one I lost in the creek in the last 15 mins. Only 3 fish over 10 inches were successfully landed and it was Ginger and George who won it having caught the biggest of the three. Top lads, they shared the whiskey they won with the rest of us who failed miserably, in the boat house after the weigh in!	No picture
		Friday 7th September 2007 - Been very busy with work (which is good) and I have been thwarted at every opportunity to get on the river when a spate finally emerges. The Snizort is fishing amazingly well, as are other rivers, with nearly 100 salmon banked already this season off the Snizer - I have managed one brief half day on there and have been busy every time a spate comes along so I'm very frustrated by it all! I have a free day today and the spate from this week has gone, typical! Lets hope the Cuillin Hills final on the Storr Lochs fishes well tomorrow and here's hoping for a deluge next week but looking at Met Check it appears not to be.	No picture
		Wednesday 29th August 2007 - Penultimate bank competition for Portree AA and despite having no chance of winning this season's series of matches I still went to soak in the lovely surroundings. The weather was OK when I arrived though as soon as i tackled up and stepped out of the car the wind became a howler and the rain set in. The bank I had walked 20mins to get to to fish ended up being unfishable so I had to head somewhere else sheltered. I managed one small trout of about 5 oz and then caught nothing else. The rains and wind got the better of me so I headed off early leaving a couple of hardy souls still thrashing the water with their teams of flies. I got back in time for Celtic V Moscow, I should have stayed out in the rain!	No picture
		Sunday 26th August 2007 - Monthly pike fishing outing, this time up at Loch Gowan. Turned out to be a nice day in the highlands weatherwise with a nice breeze from the east keeping the midges at bay. We all caught plenty of pike this time around and the alarms were sounding pretty regularly which is better than sitting it out all day wondering if there are any pike at all. We landed nothing spectacular size wise, all the 10 or so pike were jacks with the biggest possibly nudging 4lb. Lovely clean and beautifully marked fish though. All fell to a variety of baits but sardine seemed the most effective. My two fish fell to a small herring and a lamprey section. Dougie won the match with four fish from the weed beds. Well done mate!	No picture
		Wednesday 22nd August 2007 - Last of the monthly Storr Lochs boat competitions and I fished with George Bruce for this individuals match. The conditions were not ideal - probably an understatement that - dense fog hanging over the loch with visibility down to the end of your nose and totally flat calm with kamikaze midges attacking from every conceivable angle. All the fishers struggled and we did well to catch 4 small brown trout. Ian won the match with one solitary brown trout of about 1lb so well done to him.	No picture
		Monday 20th August 2007 - Day off and had intended to maybe fish the Snizort but as I suspected the spate over the weekend was all too brief and had run off so there was little point fishing the river. So instead I took one of the club boats out on the Storr Lochs in the evening. A strong and cold northerly wind made it pretty difficult and no fish were rising at all; when I lost a reasonable trout in the creek I kind of guessed that would be my only chance gone. Not so as I managed to catch a nice wild brownie over on one of the drifts on the far shoreline. I took it on a teal and black and it put up a hell of a fight for a fish of about 12oz!
		Tuesday 14th and Thursday 16th August 2007 - Was away working in Torrin all week doing a bit of re-wiring with my dad. I knew we would be close to Loch na Sguabaidh and it's short length of river that empties into Loch Slapin. A perfect spot for some sea trout I thought so before any tools were loaded in the van, the rod, reel and flies went in! Luckily we had some rain but really the tide comes in so far up the river that you can probably fish it in low water as I suspect the sea trout come in anyway before moving back out as the tide ebbs back. On the first evening I had a small finnock of about 6 oz which was practically my last cast. I went back for a couple of hours on the Thursday and started right in the brack and had a mackerel! I thought it was a good sea trout and was actually slightly dissapointed! The mackerel swam away to fight another day. I then headed up to a nice sweeping pool as dusk drew in and started to catch. I had a sea trout straight away about 12oz on a teal blue and silver double and then proceeded to lose an absolute beauty which snapped me when it surged off downstream. I was really fuming. Anyway I gave the pool a rest and had another sea trout just into the dark about 10 oz. I had no head torch so had to head back, but it was an excellent evenings fishing, there's something about sea trout fishing that just makes you keep going back for more!
		Sat 11th August 2007 - Another few hrs out o the boat, this time taking my brother, Sophie and Dom out as Dom was leaving Skye and I said we'd go out, catch some fish and cook them later with a few beers. We started trolling and to be fair it is tricky to do if you're not really a regular fisher. So we got snagged a few times, lost a bit of tackle and more importantly had an empty fish crate after an hour. I wasn't convinced there were no fish so I had a go and caught a pollock of about 4lb straight away! luck y'see! anyway I gave them the rods back but again we caught nothing so we changed to feathers just to prove that there were fish and yes they were there, lots of small pollock and coalie. We headed back in with one nice pollock which was enough for tea and then went in the loch and lowered the feathers in and started catching lots of mackerel. Finished off by lifting the creels and had one lobster that was undersized so that went back. The pollock fillets were done with parsley sauce and we grilled the mackerel and washed them down with some cool beers an enjoyable end to the day.
		Sun 5th August 2007 - A much nicer day and I took Jez out fishing with me on the boat. Jez was up on holiday and loves fishing so I said I'd let him come out with me to check the creels and catch some fish. The wind was really light and from the SW so for the first time in a bit we got right over to fish Castle Rock. We started in Loch Greshornish as the tide was going out; not ideal for mackerel and we got a few but not that many which is kind of what I expected. We headed off to the point at Score Bay usually a good spot for mackerel but we got nothing but to be fair didn't give it long. So with that we headed to guaranteed fish catching marks. Straight away we were getting small pollock, coalie, raindow and ballan wrasse on feathers. Unfortunately Jez lost a really nice pollock just as I went to hand it in! Anyway we caught some good fish upto about 4lb. We then headed to another big fish mark and it was my turn with an 8lb pollock caught trolling. Jez got in the act with some nice pollock too and we rounded the evening off near the head of Loch Greshornish where again we caught a couple of nice fish. We spent about 10 minutes surrounded by porpoise which is a real priviledge! And, to end the day I had a lobster! A great day and I'm glad Jez enjoyed it and saw how good the inshore fishing is up here.

		Sat 4th August 2007 - Booked a beat on the River Snizort due to the excellent spate running. First time I've fished this river and fish will have been running, but unfortunately I didn't catch a salmon. Four fish came off the river that day apparently which shows what good shape this river is in. The strong gusting wind made life difficult and apart from a few pulls which I suspect may have been from decent brown trout I struggled a bit. I've ordered a sink tip line and a heavier intermediate to hopefully get my fly down to cover the fish better. It's all a learning curve though and at least now, I realise how nice this river is to fish.
		Wed 1st August 2007 - With the lack of rain it's a case of taking the opportunities that arise so I went back to the Sligachan River, thankfully the wind was manageable this time. The previous day's spate was nearly gone so I headed right to the mouth and worked my way back upstream as the tide flooded in. There were plenty of sea trout moving up and at one point they were crashing all around me, one or two fish pushing 2lb. Anyway, I failed to connect with a biggie despite a couple of near misses and half hearted pulls. Very annoying! I took two wee fish around the 6oz mark though and I could only buy a bite on a size 14 Teal Blue and Silver single due to the lower water levels. Once again a cracking night though even if a bit infuriating!
		Tue 31st July 2007 - Finally a good downpour and a spring tide so with that I headed off to the Sligachan River for 7pm. The river's catchment area is the Cuillin Mountain range and the spate was really heavy, visibly rising whilst you were fishing. The main problem was the howling wind which threatened to blow you over. I gave in at one point as fly fishing was nigh on impossible on this exposed river; it's pretty annoying when you know fish will be running but you struggle to cover them in any way shape or form. Spinning would have been a better idea. Anyway I moved and fished the road side bank just on the edge of the tide and amazingly caught a lovely sea trout of about 10oz on a teal blue and silver double; not a big fish but it's a reasonable sea trout/finnock that, and the effort, soaking and swearing was made worthwhile!
		Mon 30th July 2007 - Fairly nice evening wind wise so lifted the creels in and didn't get much and more importantly no lobsters this time. Never mind. They have been repositioned and hopefully I will do better later this week. The mackerel have it seems arrived en masse in Loch Greshornish though as I had a fish box full in no time across from the slipway. They were all pretty small though. I had 20 mins with baited feathers round the islands and thought I'd got a nice pollock or ling but it turned out to be two big mackerel tangled together! At least I have plenty of pike and creel bait and a few will be grilled tonight.	No picture!
		Wed 25th July 2007 - Monthly Storr Lochs bank competition and again I got there a bit late on account of work, but it didn't matter! A gusting wind made it tricky especially casting right handed off the road side bank and the closest I came to a fish was at about 9pm when I lost a real beauty. The fish came to a Blue Zulu just on the lift off and jumped about so much it threw the hook. On returning to the weigh in at 10:30pm I then realised everyone was in the same boat as not one fish was caught. Strange, as with a southerly blow you'd have thought conditions were good.	No picture!
		Sun 22nd July 2007 - Annual pike competition on Loch Luichart and I retained the trophy I won last year with the only fish of the day coming mid afternoon. The fish went 7lb and came on a herring jack on a sunk float paternoster. I had another fish which I lost at the net which was maybe a bit bigger - this one was partial to a popped up lamprey section it seems. The midges were a nightmare and for the second year the fishing was pretty difficult with one fish settling it.
		Sun 15th July 2007 - As I was away down in York for the races my folks brought the pots in and the first lobsters of the season were caught. Apparently it was a great day as the sea was really calm and so a great day for spotting wildlife. Six basking sharks at very close proximity and dwarfing the boat apparently, as well as porpoise and eagles! Just another usual outing it seems!
		Sat 7th July 2007 - A hellish night weatherwise on the Storr Lochs for the Ewen Macrae Cup as the gusty swirling wind made finding a suitable drift virtually impossible. 12 fishers did battle with the elements and 11 fish were weighed in. It was a very close finish between me and george and george and donnie, but our 3 fish edged it weighing 10oz more at 2lb 12oz. I took my 2 fish in the creek, one on a dunkeld, the other on a cochy-y-bonddu. George got his on the same drift, on a loch ordie i think. We threw a few back too, i had a couple just under the 10" limit too. We were very suprised we won and in the end went home that bit happier but as always great craic during and after the match.
		Thurs 5th July 2007 - A nice calm evening but pretty drizzly and wet. Took the boat out at 7:30pm for a couple of hrs to bring the creels in; a good few nice brown crabs and prawns were had. Sea was too calm to drift for mackerel so I had to settle for trolling feathers instead. Had a few mackerel but again pretty difficult! I probably need to spend a whole day and get right out. Tried a bit of bait fishing near the reefs round Eilean Mor, took a few small pollock and coalie, most of which i put back, but nothing bigger and still chasing the elusive ling.
		Mon 2nd July 2007 - First proper attempt at catching some sea trout this season and with the first real rainfall we've had I headed off to the lower reaches of the Varragil River. There were certainly fish coming up on the high tide, some reasonable fish too. It was hard work though and I never expect a pushover where sea trout are concerned. I had one small finnock (a small sea trout) and a salmon parr. Louie was fishing the bridge and birch pools and had 3 finnock. Still, promising to see the fish moving. Now we just need more rain more often til the end of the season (what a killjoy!). It's ok if it's sunny and dry on a Sunday though!
		Sat 30th June 2007 - There's been some fishing done this week! Today no exception as it was The Chairman's Cup on the Storr Lochs. About 10 fishers and this was a singles match not pairs. I fished alongside Louie in boat 10 and as usual it was a pleasure to fish with him. There was a good mayfly hatch on and the fish were everywhere. There was little wind though which made it difficult despite the numbers of trout feeding. I caught three plump trout for 1lb 9oz all falling to the killer fly, the Loch Ordie. We caught a good number of smaller fish too that went back. I came 4th and Davy Urquart won it with 4 lovely fish for just shy of 4lb.
		Fri 29th June 2007 - Took Clive out on the boat again as they were going back on the Saturday. A bit rougher this time but we fished the reefs round Clinigin Rocks and caught plenty of pollock. I had a few fish but was well put in my place by Clive who just seemed to have the knack tonight! He took 6 nice fish and was going to freeze them and take back to Derbyshire to enjoy. Had a dozen prawns from the pots once again very tasty indeed. Glad he had a great time and a nice stay at Epona Cottage. You can come out fishing with me anytime bud!
		Wed 27th June 2007 - Bank match on the Storr Lochs. I think the phrase 'grueller' was made for this, blustery wind, cold and raining. I think one 10" + fish was caught by the hardy fishers, I managed one trout but it wasn't much bigger than the Loch Ordie! One of them nights where you are glad to get home!	No picture!
		Tue 26th June 2007 - Again, took one of the guests out sea fishing, this time on the boat on Loch Snizort. Went out at about 7pm til 10pm on an outgoing tide. Clive managed a lovely pollock near 6lb on a mackerel coloured shad and we had about another half dozen or so pollock round the 2-3lb (a couple of small schoolies too) mark on trolled jelly worms. Not a bad night for spotting wildlife as it was pretty calm - we saw a few porpoise and three sea eagles along with the usual array of puffins and razorbills.	No picture!
		Sun 24th June 2007 - Took one of our guests staying at Epona Cottage to fish at Neist Point. First trip to the point for me this season and the news i'd heard was correct as the mackerel were shoaling just off the rocks. We had nearly 50 between us on feathers, we took so many as I need some bait for my pots. We also had a Ling and a few pollock and coalie to boot and luckily we saw a couple of minkie whales too. Very enjoybale stuff.
		Fri 22nd June 2007 - Storr Lochs boat competition called the 'All Nighter'. Fished with George Bruce from 6-midnight and we had great fishing. We managed 12 trout and threw a fair number of smaller samples back. The basket weighed over 6lb and won us the trophy. Great crack with the lads from Inverness afterwards, it was just a shame I had to drive! Virtually all my 5 fish came on the Estate drift on Loch Ordie - top dropper. I had a couple on Pearly Invicta and Teal and Black too. George had three nice fish off the point of the creek in the last 15 mins, well done that man!
		Thurs 21st June 2007 - Took the boat out to fetch the creels in. 15 nice prawns and a couple of mackerel for tea. Still struggling to find mackerel in large shoals.
		Sat 17th June 2007 - Boat competition on the Storr Lochs - all very civilised with a BBQ at lochside with plenty of drams and beer to go around. Plenty of banter but on the whole I struggled - the engine shear pin went so i was under oar power which makes covering the drifts pretty difficult. Had a few wee trout but all under the 10" barrier. James Colven won it with a nice basket of fish and generally the numbers caught were up on the previous year.	No picture!
		Sat 10th June 2007 - First time out since car accident so went out on the boat and managed a few mackerel from Loch Greshornish, but it was too rough with the northerly wind to get out any further. Had 15 prawns from the 9 creels, very tasty.
		Sun May 20th 2007 - A decent day weather wise and despite hangover me and my dad made it out to sea mid afternoon. A little windy but the breeze was off the big cliffs so we could tuck inshore and get right round to Score Bay. We had brilliant fishing and the new black/fire tail jelly worms worked a treat trolling. We had 6 decent fish round the point at Greshornish and then headed to the scree and got two near double figure pollock on back to back trolls. We then had enough pollock so tried for mackerel off Score Bay and although I wasn't sure if they'd put in an appearance yet I had two out on feathers. We didn't give it that long as I needed to check the creels. Did a bit better with 3 large prawns and loads of crabs that were too small! An excellent evenings fishing.
		Tues 15th May 2007 - Took Martin and Carey out in the boat as they were over from Boston, USA for a few days. We only got out for the evening and the weather meant we could only fish the small islands at the head of Loch Greshornish which limited our chances somewhat. It was hard work and Carey caught a nice pollock around 5lb. Well done to her, a natural! Martin will just have to suffer the mickey taking! Pulled the 5 pots out for the first time this year and had nothing much - one large prawn and one decent brown crab which were cooked up along with the pollock when we got home.
		Sat 12th May 2007 - First heat of the Cuillin Hills boat competition on the Storr Lochs. Pairs match so me and Louis took on the other 11 teams on a bright and windy day. Conditions looked excellent but the cooler north wind kept the fist down a bit. I took two nice fish though, one a native brown trout of about 10 oz and the other a stockie brown trout of 1lb 4oz. Had 4 smaller samples too which went back. Every fish on a Loch Ordie, top dropper. Louis took a nice trout of about 12 oz too which meant we finished second, just touched off by Alastair's boat but we made it through to the final and that's what counts!
		Sat 5th May 2007 - Quality couple of days over near Inverness with Ginger and George from Portree Angling Association. We fished the boat competition on the Saturday on Loch Meig and between us caught 4 lovely brown trout for just shy of 6lb. My two fish went 3lb 13oz and came on a small black viva style fly and a claret bumble. We came 4th out of 14 teams overall so we were pleased with our performance. Top weight fish went to a local boy and the brownie he took on a goats toe weighed in just shy of 5lb. cracking fish. All in all excellent stuff, great company and plenty of drams afloat and at the pub after the match!
		Monday 30th April 2007 - Piking at a local loch on my way back from Ken. Managed two pike in the morning but struggled in the heat and calm conditions. Biggest fish 6.5lb one on a herring tail the other on a herring head.	No picture!
		Thurs 26th-29th April 2007 - First trip to Loch Ken in Dumfries and Galloway. Lovely weather and good company with Robbie from HPAC and some lads from the PAAS. Robbie had a 21lb pike on the Wednesday and I was gutted I didn't see it! I ended up catching 16 pike up to 8.5lb. Those caught on bait all fell to smelt on simple running legers with no pop up. The others came using shallow diving plugs. All in all a brilliant few days piking, shame I didn't get a real biggie but I'll be back!	No picture!
		Mon 23rd April 2007 - Had a go on the Varragil River near Portree from 7pm-9pm. Very good spate running, not heard of this river having spring salmon but had a go anyway mainly to have a practice at my casting and using new partridge rod. This is a lovely river to fish and i never had a bite and spent a good while watching a small falls for 30mins to see if fish we're running. but no, maybe the Snizort is our only early season river? I don't know.	No picture!
		Sun 22nd April 2007 - Pike fishing competition. Horrible weather near Achnasheen meant a grueller for all concerned. We all blanked in the end and apart from 3 missed runs early for Joel and Dougie, it was all very quiet. Strange, as this loch is usually a banker for at least a few jack pike if nothing else.
		Sat 21st April 2007 - Fished my first boat competition with Portree Angling Association. This was an individual match but fished in boats in pairs. It's a qualifier match and top 6 go on to represent Portree AA on Loch Watten (Caithness) or Loch Meig (near Achilty). About a dozen brave souls set out on Loch Leathen in Atlantic conditions, several times we took a fair bit of water onboard! Anyway we survived and me and George both caught fish, I squeezed in to fish Meig with a brown trout of 12oz on a Claret Bumble; George got two similar size on Kate McLaren's I think. I also put two smaller samples back too. Match was won by Ginger with 4 fish for an impressive 4lb + (one fish round 2lb mark), he had two on at once as well!
		Tues 17th April 2007 - Fished Loch Niarsco near Bernisdale. Larger hill loch and fished 7pm til 9pm and had about 8 wild wee brown trout on a variety of flies like Black Zulu, Bibio and Invicta.	No picture!
		Weds 4th April 2007 - Boat fishing at sea round Ascrib Islands and Geary. Caught 10 pollock, released 3 all caught trolling eels. Biggest fish approximately 3.5lb smallest about 1.5lb. Lovely flat calm sunny day, saw loads of seals and one sighting of sea eagle.	No picture!
		Sun 1st April 2007 - Fished on my way back from competition. Rough nights kip in car but rewarded with a lovely day and a cracking pike weighing in at 14lb 12oz on popped up herring tail.
		Sat 31st March 2007 - Highland Pike Angling Club competition near Aviemore on a flat calm warm day. Not the best conditions and maybe the pike were at their spawning grounds. Maybe we are just rubbish at fishing as we all blanked.	No picture!
		Sun 25th March 2007 - Another nice calm day so got the boat out on Loch Snizort. Set off to the Ascrib marks and failed there so headed off to the Castle and found the pollock. Decided to head back across to the islands to catch the tide running out and caught some nice pollock. A great day and it was a bonus to see some porpoise round Clinigin Rocks and two otters.	No picture!
		Sat 24th March 2007 - First fly fishing trip of season. Was planning to do the walk in towards the lochs near Ramasaig but found I couldn't take the dog on the hill so instead fished nearby Loch Eishort. Very windy, sunny but cold. Managed to fish most of the loch and had one wee brownie of about 6oz yet again caught on the bob, this time a Black Zulu. Walked up to Loch Vorvin to try again and catch a fish up there. Still weedy even in March and no sign of fish again. May have been there in 70s/80s but not now, great view though.	No picture!

This site was last updated 12/16/07