August Update.

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And Even Wetter

Usually up here in the Western Wilderness, you can ignore the weather forecasts, especially Heather the Weather on BBC. Maybe its cos we are so remote, I don't know - we just look West ( or wherever the wind is coming from ) and see what is about to hit us - that's the only way to be sure. This weekend however they got it right for once - heavy rain was forecast, and sure enough on Sat morning, heavy rain arrived, in abundance.

Waterproofs on, rods on the rod racks on the car, a lot of optimism, and Cammy and I set off for the Top Beat of the River. When we got there, it wasn't too bad, in fact the river was just about at a perfect height. Starting at the Half Crown pool, we worked our way down - after about his third cast, Cammy had a "thump", but sadly that was all. Over the next hour or so, we worked our way down through half Crown, into the Corner Pool. quickly through the Pump ( must take down a few alders on the bank here in the winter ), and into the lovely glide at the top of the Folly Pool. Result - absolutely Zilcho !. The only thing that did happen however was that in that hour, the river rose about 3 feet, and we watched as fish after fish swam through on the way to the Loch or upper river, at a fair rate of knots. Wet, cold, and with wellies full of water, nothing else to do but call it a day, and that's just what we did.

Sunday however was a different kettle of fish ( pun intended ! ). The sun was shining, there wasn't any wind to speak of, and the birds were singing ( honest ! ). Time for a family outing, and after lunch, we packed up the sea gear and headed for Carnach our boat - even Teresa came. With the tide quickly going out, getting in to the pier was a bit tricky, with the help of Davy "Catchalot" Holt however, we managed to tie up without too much trouble. ( Davy had just come in after taking that Hugh Fernleigh Whittingstall ( wonder if his friends call him Shuggie ? ) chap from TV ( River Cottage ?? ) out skate fishing, and they had caught and released three, all over 100 lb. - Incidentally, there must be something going on at the big house as other celebs are in Lochaline, including Monty Don from Gardeners World, and Sarah Raven ( daughter of the owner of Ardtornish ), also I think from Gardener's World.

Anyway, back to the plot - no such delights for us, as we chugged steadily round Ardtornish Point, to Ardtornish Bay, and set about catching dinner. The fish finder was going fairly crazy, and in places, the water started to "boil" as Mackerel chased schools of sprats or whatever. Cameron went first, and was soon into fish on the feathers, Rachel had a go, and with a little help, also got fish, then all this activity got Teresa all excited, and she grabbed my rod ( pun not intended ) and had a go herself.

Here she is with Rachel and a view of the Ardtornish castle ruins.

After catching enough for Tea, we started to put them back, then Cammy said "I think its something big Dad !" Expecting several large mackerel, we were all surprised when up came several mackerel, but also a lovely Pollack.

On the way back, Cammy wanted to tell the world - it was after all not his first, but definitely his biggest Lithe ( local name for pollack ). Rachel was however just a wee bit more excited as this was her first ever fishing trip, and, albeit only mackerel, her first ever fish.

Here she is, back home, proud as Punch !

Returning to Game fishing, prospects look good with the river now settled down, and we have a nice SW breeze. Rain is forecast about mid week ( we'll see if they are right again ! ), and hope is therefore high. I have plenty fishers on river and loch, but with a few spaces, and some luck I will manage out myself.

Wet and Wetterer

Its been a few days, and very busy days at that. The River is holding a perfect height as its raining just about every day now. Also both the Rivers and main lochs are full of fresh salmon and sea trout. Quite a few fish are now being caught, and once I get the Ardtornish returns it is hoped that we may reach 15 for the week.

Meanwhile, up at Tearnait at the weekend, I took up a party of gentlefolk from Englandshire on a days outing to see how it was fishing. Above is Maisie ( note the wellies !! ) braving a force 7 westerly just prior to the heavens opening.

And this is her brother Ben - a picture of concentration as he retrieved his flies between the gusts. As you have probably guessed, it was a fairly wild day. Despite this, all had good fun, and the total basket for the few hours we fished was over 30. here's one basket, the biggest about 1.5lb

The biggest of these fish was not actually caught from Tearnait, but in the very small pool as the River Rannoch leaved the loch. Butchers and Soldier Palmers were the flies of the day, but Ben caught most of this basket on a red bodied mini muddler.

meanwhile, back to the River. Cameron and I went out on Sat to fish the Top beat. Quiet to start with, but once I worked out that the fish were in the margins due to relatively high water, we started to have some success. 2 lovely grilse for the afternoon - both returned quickly.

Here's Cameron at the top of Folly Pool casting well, but with no luck yet - wont be long though as he has fairly come on.

Finally, I took some of the party who were at Tearnait out sea fishing on Tuesday - great fun as they got plenty of mackerel, quite a few Pollock, some ling, and a few coalies. - More than enough for the fish pie they were planning to have on Wed. Tides, not quite right for the best fishing, but with over 60 fish in total, all had fun.

I have fishers on the River tonight, and on Arienas tomorrow. With luck I will manage out myself on Sat so will speak soon.

Fighting Midges.

I have just returned from the River after taking 2 pleasant Gents from France fishing - Basson & John. The sun has been shining some of the time, there has not been a breath of wind, and when the sun went behind the clouds the dreaded Midges arrived. Normally I can just about cope, but today I must admit they even defeated me. Deet, Jungle Formula, Avon Skin So Soft, you name it, I tried it every6thing was just like a red rag to a bull !!

Never mind, at least the fishing was good. Today Basson and John fished Acharn beat, then Claggan. Acharn runs from the falls at Uillin all the way down to the Suspension Bridge Pool, some 2.5 miles making it the longest beat on the River. It is however on the upper part of the river, before Arienas empties, and it therefore fills up quickly, and also drains quickly. Even after the rain we have been having therefore, it was quite low, and any fish to be found were in the pools.

This is the Suspension Bridge Pool today, and if you consider that the water was up to the top of the far bank yesterday, you will appreciate how quickly it drops.

Despite never fishing for Salmon before, the lads quickly adapted their trout styles to suit the river, and soon had one or two "thumps". Low water meant small flies however, and a change to a size 12 Assassin quickly brought results for Basson, seen here with a nice wee grilse , maybe not the freshest of fish, but a good fighter on the 6 weight rod that he was using.

As is the policy here, the fish was returned to fight another day.

After Acharn, we moved down to Claggan Beat, part of which is the famous Big Pool. This is on the main part of the river benefiting from the run off from Arienas, and as a result had plenty of water. With fish jumping all over the place, it also held plenty of fish. A couple of hours later however, after one or two knocks, nothing had been hooked, and the midges were f#####g murder !. The lads had had enough, and frankly so had I !!

Good news however, talking with Simon the Estate Stalker, I learnt that there had been quite a few fish, mostly fresh, netted in the past couple of days. With my 2 on Saturday, the total is at least 8 in 4 days fishing. News from elsewhere on the West Coast is also good with most rivers reporting excellent runs of Grilse - hopefully this is the start of the return to what things were.

Finally - heard today that a Brown Trout of 11lb has come off Arienas - from Big Fish Bay on a Loch Ordie in a slight breeze. This is the biggest this year so far, and if I was a betting man, I would say that amongst all the big Brownies in the loch, there has to be one over 20lb.!

Fresh fish are now coming into the system with every tide, and with luck ( if I'm not dragged shopping ) I'll be getting out again soon - watch this space.

Double Whammy

Just checked and the one I did on Sunday has appeared mysteriously !

Just off to take some Gents on the River - more later

Happy days are here again

Don't know what happened to the update I did on Sunday - must be lost in the ether somewhere I guess so I'd better repeat.

Since last published note, it has rained and rained. As a result the river is high. On Saturday however it was just perfect and I managed to get the rods out myself for a change. Top beat first ( my favourite as it has everything, holding pools, fast glides, and very fishy water throughout ). Water was a bit coloured, and on went the "Sandy Special" - designed and tied by my mate Sandy Davidson from Aberdeen as seen on the Spey recently. Starting at the Half Crown pool near the mouth of Arienas, I had one or two thumps, and netted a nice sea trout of about 3lb. Nothing on the first run down to the Pump, then Folly, so back up to the top I went.

This time I took off the fast sinking leader and put on an intermediate. Obviously did the trick as at the rock near the top of the Half Crown pool, just as the fly was starting to swing round nicely a nice grilse took very hard. Didn't seem too big, but once it got into the current, it felt much bigger. 5 mins and about 40 yards later, I managed to net it at the tail of the pool - only about 5lb, but a real bar of silver with sea lice on its flanks.

Working my way down the rest of the beat I got into another, about a similar size near the head of Folly pool. Much calmer water here, and the fight was not too long. Result a similar size fish of about 5/6lb. This time though I was surprised to see that it was a bit off colour - must have spent some time in the brackish water waiting for the rain that has now arrived.

Evening saw me on the middle beat, and not so lucky as I guess the tide was not right ( only about 1mile from sea loch ). Managed to get a few finnock though, and a very nice sea trout of about 4lb from larches pool.

As I write its still raining, and as I walked the dogs this morning, the river was very very high - Rain due to stop later today and with luck I will hit the river tomorrow.

Grilse Arrival

Well - its still raining, and as I speak the River is holding a good height and is eminently fishable. To some it looks to be in full spate, but with the vagaries of the river system, whilst the top of the River ( White and Black Rivers) are thundering down about 4 ft above what they have been for some time, with Loch Arienas acting as a header tank ( did I tell you that the White & Black Rivers combined actually flow backwards into Arienas when in full spate ), the lower river where the best pools are to be found, reaches a level and more or less stays there.

Anyway, I braved firstly a foul upstream wind, then midges then rain and fished the River yesterday afternoon on the Top Beat, then on the Middle Beat in the evening. As stated, the River was at a perfect height, a tad coloured, but eminently fishable. I had the 13ft double hander rigged up ( with regret as in the wind the single hander would have been less cumbersome) and fished all day with a fly designed and tied by my mate Sandy Davidson from Aberdeen - the Sandy Special - a yellow/black fox fur creation with a silver body ( bit like a bloody butcher with yellow in ).

I wont bore you with poetic prose or wax lyrical about the esoteric qualities of casting and fly presentation though - suffice it to say that the fish are now indeed in the river in numbers, and I netted two lovely grilse, peas in a pod about 5/6 lb. Both were taken on the top Beat in Half Crown and Corner pools respectively. Also as is usual in fairly high water, both were taken in the margins as they were hugging the nearside bank.

A couple of hours in the evening on Middle beat produced a couple of nice sea trout, but sadly no salmon. I think the reason for this is that being only a mile from the sea, the fish had passed through this beat as it was low tide at the time. Nice sea trout though - here's the one I kept about 3lb

Moving backwards a bit - I took the kids/grand kids ( definitely a bad move for my sanity and my wallet !! ) and my son in law John to the Moy show on Friday. I was so looking forward to this as I had missed the Scone show whilst in hospital, and was a wee bit disappointed. There appeared to be fewer trade stands than normal, certainly fewer gun and fishing stands, and I therefore did not get the things I wanted ( new scope for stalking rifle and decent bipod for same ). Ran into some old friends though - Mr Bennet from Scottish field ( remember his mate with the 9lb sea trout ), Ken who used to be the local Policeman and who is now suffering from culture shock near Inverness where he is based, Peter Anderson who never seems to age and one or two old worthies that I come across either on the bank, up the hill or at the shows.

We had a reasonable time, Kids drained the wallet etc - I was though was sadly disappointed when I picked up a sea reel at one of the stands - The owner said worth £160 give it to you for £130 - no sale as I have seen this reel for sale in a reputable dealers for £65 !!! You get some bargains at the shows. Unfortunately you also get some rip off merchants.

Teresa is taking the kids away for a couple of days - now what shall I do with myself ? - no guesses necessary !

Perfect Conditions

Weather here has been superb - in otherwords, lots of RAIN !!!. River is now at its perfect height, and fish are arriving in numbers.

Yesterday I was out in the boat just as the tide was coming in and the fish finder was going crazy - looking into the water at the mouth of the sea loch I could see salmon in numbers making their way towards the river. More rain is forecast, and as soon as I get rid of other business, I will be hitting the river. Shoukld manage with the 11 ft rod, but will take 13ft double hander just in case.

Suggested flies :_

Munro Killer
Willie Gun
Thunder & Lightning
Yellow Torrish
Orang, Yellow and Copper Allies
Silver & Thunder Stoats

No reports of fish from Ardtornish guests yet as factor is away. River and main lochs will however have a good head of fresh fish. Some spaces available on River next week, but going fast !!