Tuesday, 10 September 2013

End Of Summer


Well, summer is truly done and dusted as the weather has really started to change over the last couple of weeks.

I'm just back from the Isle of Skye again, where it was wet and windy for most of the week.

This meant that the rivers all got a good spate, though it made it difficult to fish due to the shear volume and height of the water and what felt like gale force winds at times...

Having said that I was not deterred.


This nice Sea Trout was caught on the Hamara River and had obviously been in the river a while, as it wasn't the streak of silver you find when they come in off the tide. It had started to change to a darker purple/brown colour and it was released safely ready for spawning.


Here is the video.


A native Skye Brownie.

I've recently bought myself a Rollei Chestmount for my iPhone so I can capture some of the action from my fishing trips in HD video, which I will add to my YouTube channel for you all to see in future posts.

Tight lines!










Saturday, 17 August 2013

Residual Feelings

Unfortunately today's story is about "the one that got away".

I spent 8 hours fishing at the river Gryffe yesterday, which for the most part can be quite technical in areas due to a lot of tree cover and close banks (as you can see from the photos).        

                   

I managed to catch quite a few smaller brownies (I'm sure it was around 8), the river is really teaming with juvenile trout. But it's the fish I hooked into about halfway through my day that has left me feeling a bit scunnered!

It was a good fish and I presume to be a Brownie, as I got a good look at it as it was thrashing about on top of the water. But alas it won and escaped and left me reeling (ahem)...

This is where he lives

Never mind though, that's why it's called "fishing" and not "catching". I will be back for a second round before the seasons ends - next time then...








Tuesday, 13 August 2013

Back To The Grind

Since returning from Isle of Skye at the end of July there, my fishing outings have been pretty sparse.

I live and work in the city of Glasgow and unless you like put & take fisheries or long distance travel, it's a pain to get anywhere that has relatively good sport.

My option is 9 times out of 10 the long distance travel option to get a good river - as I have a thing about trout fisheries being like the equivalent of adults playing snap - it's fun to do it with the kids, but it gets really boring as there's little skill involved.


One of my usual haunts is a small river called the Calder which runs through Lochwinnoch about 20 miles outside of Glasgow. It's about 6 miles long and is largely ignored, I suspect because people who mostly go to Lochwinnoch to fish spend their time at the Castle Semple Loch which is mainly coarse fishing for Pike.

This means that I'm usually fishing the river on my own.... Great!


I don't think that I'll break any world records with this little guy in the picture, but as I said it's good sport. I have had a few around the 1 pound mark at this river, which is about average for most of the brown trout in the smaller rivers in Scotland and they do give a good fight for their small stature.

I have a planned trip on Friday this week to another favourite river called the Gryffe, which runs partly through the village of Bridge of Weir. I know this river well as I grew up in Bridge of Weir and fished it as a teenager. Hopefully I'll be posting a picture of the little guys much bigger brother/cousin - so watch this space.

I am also really, really excited about going back to Skye in the first week of September. Word on the street is the Salmon numbers this year have been impressive and the first proper runs have started during mid August - so again I will report back on this trip.



Thursday, 25 July 2013

Sea Trout Isle of Skye


I've just got back from the Isle of Skye after spending nearly 2 weeks up there visiting family with my girlfriend, which we do quite regularly. Obviously for me it's a chance to get some serious fishing in especially now the the Salmon & Sea Trout are in full flow.

My goal on this trip was to catch specifically Sea Trout. I'd scoped out a few areas during my last trip up to Skye in May - but did little fishing as the weather was truly rotten (it was hail & rain for a whole week).

Luckily this time it was +25 degrees the whole time we where up, perfect for a spot of night fishing.

My first Sea Trout I actually caught during the day about 2pm on the River Ose, one of the lesser fished rivers on the Island due to its remote north westerly location - but trust me there's plenty of fish in it and worth the trip


It was around 2 pounds and caught in a brilliant corner pool about a half mile from the main road, if there is such a thing on Skye. I new this was a place that I wanted to get some time on as it is a perfect resting spot for running fish - which have a clear run up from the estuary even without a spate.

I nailed it on the good old fashioned Butcher Fly on the dropper - a really important fly to have in your box for Trout fishing in general.

My first proper outing and 1 in the bag - good result. I also had a couple of brownies around the 1 pound mark on my Mallard & Claret tail point fly, these where returned unharmed.

My next area of interest was about a half mile from my girlfriends Mum & Dads house in Glen Dale, Dunvegan. There is a cracking sea estuary that the River Hamara leads into which at first glance a lot of anglers would turn there nose up to.

After a reckie down at the estuary on the first night in Skye, falling down a hole by the river side and spotting an otter, it was clear the fish where gathering in the bay as the movement was very busy indeed.

Now usually I would always recommend waders - but due to the hot weather and gravel based sea bed in the bay, it was a no shoes and shorts job for getting into the water. Also with it being a full moon it was very easy to see where to wade safely.

After fishing for nearly 3 hours with fish jumping straight out the water all around me and several fly changes later, it wasn't until 11:30pm that I managed to hit a fish. It was around the 1 and a half pound mark. It was caught on a bit of a try and see fly for when it comes to Sea Trout fishing in the sea - but a killer trout fly none the less the Elk Hair Caddis. Yes, I was surprised too, but it just goes to show that you need to be prepared to adapt to strike fish sometimes.

I fished this same spot again the last night before we left to come back to sunny Glasgow, again wading in my shorts. Again it was proving difficult to catch the fish and again it was very busy activity wise. Surprisingly all I caught was small Pollack - which was both amusing and frustrating.


All of a sudden, bang straight into a fish which was giving my 4Wt rod a good testing. It was a Cock Sea Trout about 3 pounds and caught on a Soldier Palmer which I bought while I was on Skye a while back. A 3 pound Skye Sea Trout, on a Skye tied fly, while fishing at night in my shorts up to my knees in the water with no shoes on. My GF thinks I'm mad, but I had the best night ever.

So that was it for me this time round on my trip to the Isle of Skye fishing wise, a great success as I managed to achieve my goal and had a great time catching one of fishings most enigmatic and acrobatic fish. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings!