26 June 2018, 19:38
caorachHebridean Spring fishing
For many people Atlantic salmon are seen as the pinnacle of fly fishing and while there is no question that they can be fun I generally consider myself a trout angler and it is a shame to come to Lewis and not wander the moorland to some of the more remote trout lochs. Many of these lochs never see an angler and, indeed, many of them only contain small trout. However, there are quite a few that can produce very large trout and getting a 4lb or 6lb wild brown trout from a remote loch that you've scouted yourself and walked for many miles to reach is quite an achievement in my view. There is a perception that many of our moorland lochs are dark holes with water stained to the colour of tea by the peat that surrounds them and this is, of course, true of many of them. However, there are also a goodly number that have perfectly clear water and the one pictured below is just such a loch. There is probably about 3 feet of water at the bottom of the big stone and even in the photo you can easily see the stones on the bed of the loch 
One good thing about clear water is that it makes good tea and I love sitting on the bank, watching the world go by and drinking my tea.
This particular loch can produce a good hatch of flies but this Spring everything was very late and the fish simply appeared not to be feeding. Any that I did catch were thin, it is hard to tell from this photo but this fish (quickly returned after the photo) was probably less than 1.5lb but it should have been a 2.5lb fish and when it first jumped, going by length, I thought I was into something decent:
Having more than 1000 lochs at my disposal makes for fantastic fishing as part of the attraction is getting up in the morning, spreading the maps out and picking a loch for the day. It is possible to walk for miles to some remote spot, it is possible to fish right by the road and, with suitable tyres, it is possible to take the car to the loch if the loch won't come to the car:
Early in the Spring the moor is still looking quite dead and the green has still to come on the trees on the islands but it is often at this time of year that the biggest brown trout are caught. In a matter of a few minutes I hooked and lost two decent trout on this loch, they weren't huge, but they might have been 2lb+ fish which is a decent wild brown trout:
Even on the most remote parts of the moor there is often evidence of human habitation in the distant past. This old building is a shieling and is where the local people would have had their summer pasture for their cattle. It now makes a good shelter for the wandering angler, and a good spot to set up the stove to make lunch:
Lewis has all the benefits of modern society and technology but people are often loath to abandon a good idea that simply works. This is a "Norse Mill" which is said to have come to the islands with the Vikings but, probably, actually came from China. There are Norse Mills in Ireland that date to about 600AD but no one actually knows when they arrived on Lewis, what we do know is that there are still people alive to remember using them to mill their grain so they may well have been used here for about 1400 years. The mill is driven by water but has a horizontal water wheel rather than the more commonly seen vertical ones. This one has been restored for visitors but it is common to see them, and the old mill stones, on burns running out of lochs when fishing:
Even in a late Spring part of the attraction of being on an island stuck out into the Atlantic is the wild seascapes and fantastic beaches, this tiny little beach is close to where I stay and wasn't too dramatic on the day I took this photo but when there is a big storm coming the waves can break over the cliffs giving some impressive views if you are brave enough to go and look:
There is almost infinite variation in trout lochs and a few pictures give some idea, to be honest pictures work much better than words in such an interesting landscape:
As well as the trout I couldn't resist a quick run out after the mythical Lewis Spring salmon. They are a pretty rare beast, making catching one all the more rewarding and exciting. This year I thought my chances were very low indeed, apart from anything else I had one last year so statistics weren't on my side, however that didn't stop me having a wonderful day out on the river. As it was I didn't get a fish but to be honest that hardly matters:
I appreciate that there isn't much narrative in this little report but I was on Lewis (mostly) for lambing and to do other stuff about the croft but as this is one of the premier world hunting/fishing destinations and the trout fishing, in particular, is a little less well known it seemed fun to share some photos. If you are visiting us for woodcock/snipe/grouse/stags/salmon don't overlook our trout as it can offer a true wild fishing experience that is rare anywhere else these days. I also took photos of moss and lichen, these have a rather limited appeal :-)
