walking and fishing

[elmobobo]

I hope this is not too off topic. But, I'm taking my father to Scotland and the Isle of Skye for his birthday. We will be touring and golfing most of the time but will have time for other activities. My father is a big fly fisherman and I wanted to treat him to an morning of stream fishing. I'm trying to combine a nice hike (maybe an hour- he's turning 70) followed by a remote fishing stream would be ideal. Any suggestions would be a appreciated. Thank you for your time. Russ

[Myth]

Caberfeidh or Paul are your men on Skye... but I've spent quite a lot of time low level walking over there, often with a rod.

On Skye itself the "rivers" are actually almost all spate streams - there is really very little head of fish, other than spate run salmon, and the local brownies in the more remote streams are very small.

There is however a very active Trout Association which has the fishing on many fine loch/ans - notably the two larger lochs just north of Portree on Trotternish. WELL worth a cast or three... and very reasonable... but no real "walks" nearby that I know of!

[Caberfeidh]

Ahem... there are many fine lochs for trout fishing on Skye, the rivers, as Myth says, are mostly sea-trout or salmon runs which only fish well after prolonged rain. The river at Sligachan is such, with permits available from the Sligachan Hotel at reasonable rates. However, brown trout fishing is best in lochs. The Storr Lochs are famous but I believe they are expensive (I may be wrong, never fished 'em). In the south part of Skye, where the MacDonald lands are, there is free fishing in some lochs. wet fly fishing is best, with pale flies - white, yellow or gold being best as they show up in the peat-stained water. There is a nice wee loch(Loch Dhughall) by the road near Tarskavaig ( off the Armadale road) with a sign saying that it is free bank fishing, boat permits available from the post office. I don't think the permits would be expensive for the boat.I fished there on a cold day last week, I caught nothing but my mate caught two nice frying-pan sized brownies. If your budget stretches, the house at Camasunary is available for rent for approx £500 per week with the fishing in a couple of lochs and a sea-trout stream. It sleeps eleven, so you could take some mates and split the cost. Most hill-lochs are free, or just a few pounds per day.

[Rekrab]

fishing is booooooooorrrrrrriiiinnnnnnggggg, puts me to sleeeeep.

MacKenzie

[Myth]

fishing... puts me to sleeeeep.

MacKenzie

EXACTLY....

After a hard days walking/cycling/canoeing/etc. take up thy rod, pester the fish and relax for an hour or three through the evening rise. Wind down, catch breakfast, and slide off to sleep doubly satisfied.

Works for me!


I forgot about flies - good point! I agree about wet flies - Kingfisher, Black spider, Bloody Butcher, Teal blue and silver and Greenwells glory (tied on gold foil) have all worked for me. All bar the spider feature something flashy, but I've found the spider on it's own attracts very little, but tied on point behind something flashy on a dropper it often scores... I think the fish look at the flashy fly, then take the spider. Fairly fast retrieve works best I've found, and keep moving: cast and step...
The other fly I've had strange success with on Skye is a LARGE dragonfly nymph larvae pattern fished slow and low across the front of reed beds. Can be overly exciting - I've lost flies to good fish who made it back into the reeds and broke the cast whilst doing this, and regularly hook up on reeds. But when it works it does so spectacularly.

[monty]

A group of four of us may be going to sky to do some walking and fishing on the weekend of the 10th July. Is it ok to camp out in tents and a campervan?

[Caberfeidh]

Too grippy to use a campsite??? There are some places where camping wild near the road is ok, just try to be unseen from any houses (or indeed the road). And don't have yer latrine anywhere near the water course. A lot of the campsites are only a fiver a night, surely not too much for toilets and showers?

[Caberfeidh]

On a recent trip I caught a few mackerel and a spacehopper. Anyone beat that?

[Can 0f Airy]

I've never fished before but I'm toying with getting a rod to catch some mackerel from the beach in the next few months. I once caught a fantastic mackerel with my hands one August.

[Caberfeidh]

Guddling for mackerel? Was it in a tin?

[Paul Webster]

On a recent trip I caught a few mackerel and a spacehopper.

Staffin has an annual fishing competition with a prize for most unusal catch. If you catch a spacehopper maybe it would be a contender?

[Caberfeidh]

I knew I should have gone for that minke whale...

[Alan S]

i was fishing the river tummel around 4 years ago at ballinluig,while wading out in the river i got to close to an island which was full of flying rats,sorry i mean seagulls which where going daft swooping down at me when on the back cast i caught me a nice young seagull.ive never seen anything as funny as this my mate thought i was into a record trout it was stripping line out no bother.it didnt take long to tire but determined not to lose my hooks i wasnt letting it go easy.after a good scrap with more than a few pecks on the hands it broke my line and flew away with my flies still attached
if anyone has seen a seagull with a kate mclaren and a bibio attached to it there mine

[Caberfeidh]

I once caught a duck on the River Tay, on a quiet summer evening across from the Kenmore Hotel. There were hundreds of people walking around, sitting on the river bank, strolling over the bridge, etc. The wretched duck squawked and quacked and splashed so loudly that everyone was staring, and no doubt cursing me for my cruelty. I let it go, but on a less well-attended time it may have been less fortunate - Crispy no. 27 with Peking Sauce.

[Myth]

Too grippy to use a campsite??? ... A lot of the campsites are only a fiver a night, surely not too much for toilets and showers?

Hmm. A common opinion in Highland Council too - although their rules were/are based on ignorance and self interest. All the campsites in Scotland I've stayed on cost MUCH more than £5 JUST for the campervan - the kids pup tent usually costs me between an EXTRA £5-£8, and then there's normally a head charge for the kids too

Most folks in UK just don't get campervans (unlike the French, Germans and Italians) - the whole point is that you are self-contained, and have the choice... we can never wait to get away in the summer and enjoy 'vanning on the continent (my family + van are over there right now!)
In UK I tend to use a campsite every three or four days - to empty/fill the tanks, and have a real shower (not much pressure in the van!) but even so begrudge the (normally) £30+ that it costs to park up! Our continental cousins have much better arrangements with "Bournes de Service" - coin operated stations where you can empty/fill tanks and sometime hook up electric, and "Aires de Service/Campingcar or Stellplatz", designated parking for campervans - sometimes carparks, sometimes pretty fields, where you can park up overnight for between free and maybe £5. They see these services as ways to attract 'vanners into the area to use local shops/restaurants/services (and we do- no storage and limited cooking...)

A group of four of us may be going to sky to do some walking and fishing on the weekend of the 10th July. Is it ok to camp out in tents and a campervan?

Back on-topic, there are several places on Skye that I've found where you can happily park up in a 'van away from the madding crowd - but Caberfeidh is right - remember to be unobtrusive, and don't block passing places/access. Pup tent residents may suffer from midge attacks, but definitely possible/allowed to stick them out (the Outdoor Access Code makes specific reference to your responsibilities related to camping). The campsites are however essential for emptying waste tanks!