Near Perfect Conditions

At last !! - I have been away for a couple of days on other business, and watching the news, I was beginning to think that it was no longer the West Coast of Scotland that was famous for rain. Feel sorry for those in Sheffield etc, but we really have been crying out for rain here - even had to water the lawn last week ! On my return last night from Glasgow I was pleased to see that there was at last water in the main river which is now eminently fishable.

better than that, I walked the dogs by the lower river ( Bottom Beat ) this morning, and was very pleased to see a fair head of Grilse awaiting the tide at the river mouth. Very few have been fishing the river as it has been so low. I heard through the grapevine however that a good Grilse of about 6lb was taken out of larches on Thursday night by a guest on Ardtornish. - Still awaiting reports from when I was away but will advise as soon as.

Its still raining, though not too much at the moment. Further rain is forecast for the rest of the week, so unlike Tony Blair's lot - things really can only get better !!!

Now fairly well booked up for July, though there are still days available - bring your waterproofs though - thankfully I think you will need them.

Evening Rises

The rains finally arrived yesterday, well, in a manner of speaking - it was hot as hell till about mid-day, then the thunder started, and the heavens opened. Not for long, but enough to freshen up the atmosphere. I took a trip down the coast to Fuinary, and had an hour's fun with the Pollack and mackerel. - about 6 of each, but I'm afraid to say, I took the little spinning rod with me. Still good fun though on fine tackle.

The evening saw the weather settle down so I packed the dogs and a rod into the back of the pick up, and headed off to Tearnait. 45 minutes after leaving Ardtornish Estate yard, and I was there, hot, sweaty, bitten by midges and clegs, but it was worth it.

The sun was beginning to fall behind the hills, there was a gentle breeze, and fish were showing everywhere. I set up the little 5 weight smuggler rod, put on tiny Butcher, Black Pennel, and Soldier Palmer, and started to work my way round the loch. Big fish were showing in the middle, but as I was fishing the banks, I had to make do with lots of the smaller ones. Near 2300, and over 20 fish later ( biggest just over 1lb ), and the wind dropped - midge time big style.

Time to give up and walk home, but on the way I stopped at the bottom of the Loch to meet with Justin Livesey and friends who are walking and fishing, using the Bothy at Tearnait as a base. They had only just started fishing and no luck so far and I left them to the midges as I just had to keep moving to keep them at bay.

On the way back, I stopped at Ivy Bridge just around midnight. The River has come up a wee bit, and I watched one or two fish make their way up to the first pool. No sign of seals thankfully - long may this continue.

Time for the shades !

As I watch the weather forecast for the UK, and even the one for here recently, can you really trust these Met guys ? Everywhere else in the UK and Europe has had oodles of rain, and even here when I was 20 miles away at Strontian, it was raining. Here ? - forget going to the Med for a holiday and tan, just come to Lochaline.

Needless to say this has had a bad effect on particularly the river, and although they have tried, Mr Tullet's party have had to battle against low water, brilliant sun and the ubiquitous midges. Even on Arienas, no wind, and warm water have made things difficult as the fish have gone deeper ( a lot now probably in the "Glory Hole" where the depth is up to 100 ft+ ). Despite this a reasonable sea trout was caught along with about 20 Brownies.

The hikes up to the hill lochs have fared much better, and you can almost guarantee having a wing up there. The tally for the part for Tearnait was over 50 brown trout. At least the lads touched fish.

I'll try the loch myself tomorrow tonight, but as usual at this time of year - very late - I will get on the water about 10pm and take it from there - although lying deep, the fish should come up at night to feed on the abundant fly life.

Still a few rod days available on the Spey in week beginning 23 July - normal price £85 per rod day - special offer for Internet bookings of £70 per rod/day - just send me a mail, or go on the the comments part of this if interested.

Me - I'm off down the coast to one of my favourite marks for pollack

Sat Update

Well its Saturday, and guess what I slept in !! - a big sorry to Doug Masson + friend who turned up at the house and caught me unawares. As I write they are fishing the river. Unfortunately however the expected rain has not materialised, and the River is on its bones . With luck they may tempt something in the bigger holding pools, esp Larches which they were due to fish this afternoon.

Mr Strachan ( spelt it right this time ) had a good day on thursday - 8 brownies ( nothing too big ), and a sea trout of over 2lb. I hope he had a good journey home today.

Mr Tulloch and party are fishing all of the rivers and lochs next week, and as I asked them to, I hope they have done a couple of rain dances. It keeps threatening to rain, but only a few drops so far. There are fish waiting to come in, but the bad news is that Sammy Seal has shown his ugly face again - lets hope the fish are quicker than he is. Ho Hum, at least there will be fish in the lochs.

It was the wife's birthday a couple of days ago, and I'm still in the bad books, not for forgetting, but for ordering the pressies too late - looks like I'm cooking again tonight - she's sure to get fed up of spag bol sometime !

Sunny Days

Left Mr Starchan this morning is he chugged away into the horizon of Arienas. Its a sunny day, but there is a good breeze, today from the East. The loch has dropped to what is about its normal height after a brief flurry of rain. This means however that the main part of the river will also start dropping. Forecast is for heavy rain tomorrow, which if it arrives should help.

My walk with the dogs this morning along the river showed about 15 fish milling round the river mouth, some of them quite sizeable - bring on the rain !

Bad news on the Puppy front - Cameron accidentally trod on Tara and the vet says she has a tiny fracture - the bandages ( 3 so far ) lasted about two days each so its now total rest, and only out for the necessary - never mind I am sure once she mends she will be back to being a Whirling Dervish !!

I'm now about to surf and look for a new boat.

Back Home

Fishing the Green bank Pool
Now back after what was a fairly good week on the Spey. The River was very high when we arrived, dropped a little, then rose again after rain. Fishing good, and apres fish with BBQ's outside the hut enjoyable. The stretch of river produced over 20 fish for the week, and a couple were over 20lb - all fresh run sea liced fish. A couple of grilse were also netted, and as last year they were very small - one hardly reaching 3lb !. This seems to be a trend on the Spey which can only be indicative of falling food levels when these lovely fish are at sea.

Now looking forward to July. - 2 places still left on the school and one or two days fishing still available if anyone interested.

While I have been away, Son in law John has been looking after things. Dr Hardy and friend had a good week here but were hampered by the weather later in the week. The sun came out, the River dropped, and there was little or no wind. They caught a few nioce trout, mainly in Arienas and the Hill Lochs.

On the River meantime, although levels were falling, a few grilse were showing themselves, and a salmon of over 10lb was active in larches pool. Rob, one of our guesta had a nice sea troput of just under 3lb from the Corner pool on the Top Beat.

Now waiting for rain again as the fish are starting to pile up at the river mouth.

My Quality Time

Its Sat 2 June, its raining outside, and believe it or not I am praying that it stops, not so much here, but on the East Coast. Upper Easter Elchies on the Spey was, when I checked with the Ghillie on Friday, running at about 3ft above level. This is not good news, especially for someone who hates to spin. With luck however it will drop to a more fishable height before too long.

Not a lot of activity here, and a couple of hot bright days have kept the fish down. The River is also down ( but will certainly be up by Monday if the forecast of rain and more rain is correct ). I cast a fly for an hour or so on Wed, and in the middle of a mayfly hatch ( yes its started ), changed to dry fly and picked up a couple about 1lb. I gave up however when the wind dropped completely.

Off to start packing all the salmon gear - will speak in about 10 days or so - hopefully with tales of fish from the Spey.

Finally - the Whirling Dervish that is Tara the Pup is getting bigger and faster - she has also taken a liking to the Wife's bedding plants !! - not a good idea !