Rain at Last !!

After what seemed like an eternity - well actually nearly 9 weeks, the rains have arrived in Morvern. The river is not quite in full spate, but as seen at the tail of the Middle Pool above, plenty of water to allow the fish to make their way up from the sea.

With this in mind, Sat evening seemed a good bet. Conditions were nearly perfect, but there was an East wind which tends to keep fish down. The water was still a bit warm, but at least it was not as hot as a bath as it sometimes is.

I hit the bank at about 2030, and as usual headed for the points on the South side of the loch, where the sea trout and salmon seem to like the sandy bays. Very quiet for the first hour though I did catch a couple of wee fish which I reckon were smolt, oh and a beautifully marked little Brownie.

As the sun dipped below the hills, and it got gloomier ( never really gets dark here at this time of year ) some activity , but fairly far out. As the evening progressed however you could almost track the fish as they headed inshore. - the occasional leap, but more often than not, a big "V" as the fish came in just below the surface.

On the top went a "stimulator", on the middle a black pennel, and on the point a silver stoat. The wind got up, and it was time to start stripping in fast to make the top fly work - and work it did as within 30 mins I had sea trout of 3 and 5lb. Hunger and tiredness got the better of me about 11pm, and time to go home.

This morning I walked along the bottom of the river with the dogs, just at high tide. I'm pleased to say that within the space of half an hour I counted about 2o fish going upstream from the sea pool. With luck this should now be happening with every tide, and after the desert recent conditions, we should at last be able to get some sport.

Things have also been busy with the sea fishing, and 2 parties last week filled the fish boxes with mackerel. More fun though was the booking I took at short notice from a father and son staying at Ardtornish. Plenty of mackerel again, but as we drifted over the slate wreck near Ardness Point, they started to get into the big Pollack. Young Mikey did best, and here he is with what he says is his biggest ever - estimated at about 6/7 lb.

Today I'm going out to the boat to give it a good clean - a bit like a crime scene at the moment after all these fish - tonight, the big pool at Claggan beckons I think - still to land my first salmon this year from the river !