This month Allan Liddle packs his mayflies and heads to Assynt
It’s a popular misconception amongst anglers that the summertime brings the “Dog Days”, an endless succession of hard, bright, hot and generally unproductive fishing days when it’s best to turn your back on the trout and seek out the golf clubs or lawnmower.
Well that might be the case if you’re set in your ways a little, afraid to experiment or, more importantly search out waters that can still produce quality daytime sport. Deeper, cooler waters fit this bill well and more often than not the residents are happy to chase the anglers’ flies, and if you’re really lucky they’re even happy to come to the surface and chase some ‘dries'.
We all know that evenings and early mornings can still produce quality top of the water sport in the height of summer, but heading out in the times of the ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ (or Scotsman as this case may certainly be) can still produce if you pick your waters and timings well. Scotland certainly has an abundance of lochs that fit the bill well when it comes to deeper cooler water, but this is relative and a real rule of thumb. Higher small, infrequently visited or even cooled by a big wind lochs are all capable of producing sport when least expected and what makes this even better is the fact that the ‘surprise effect’ it produces makes its mark and lasts long in the angler's memory. Almost makes it twice as rewarding sometimes.
All this general where to go stuff is well and good, but it needs something else to help the fish respond, especially if you’re on the hunt for surface, or near surface sport, something obvious; a hatch. Fish certainly won’t come up for nothing and while I could wax lyrical about Buzzer or Sedge feeders, I’m going to be a bit more specific and note just two species of fly I hope to encounter when the mercury hits the high points as I feel these offer the chance of something a little special. One species waterborne, the other terrestrial and whilst they may overlap generally they tend to follow one another, certainly in our more Northern climes. Big mouthfuls don’t often go unnoticed by wild trout, especially when they’re of the size of our Mayflies (Danica) or the (hopefully) abundant falls of Heather flies.
It’s all about timing, Mayflies in July, Heather flies in August, it’s also (as I’ve said already) about location and just to help a little more I’m going to narrow this down a little more for you to a little bit of North West Scotland that features high on the agenda of many wild anglers not just for the quality of sport, but also for the drop dead gorgeous rugged stunning backdrop and surrounding scenery, Assynt, where I was lucky enough this year to catch that very Mayfly / Heather fly rare overlap I was hoping for.
Becoming well known and well trod amongst visiting anglers the abundance of scattered, broken hill lochs throughout the county offer some of Scotland’s finest wild trout fishing, but in keeping with this piece I’m going to stick to the bigger, somewhat overlooked (comparatively speaking with the rest of Assynt these days) East end waters. Urigill, Borralan, Cama and Veyatie together with the enigmatic Fionn and a host of scattered small hill lochs, burns and streams all combine to make up the Upper Kirkaig system, which is certainly very important and almost unique due to the vastness of the water on offer, the higher ph thanks to the abundant limestone outcrops Assynt’s famous for, the varying character and size of the waters throughout and the fact that no migratory fish can enter the system (thanks to the impassable Kirkaig falls). This is a system that would take an angler years to master and a lifetime to enjoy, in fact you don’t get the feeling you’re fishing on these lochs, you get the feeling you’re ‘exploring’ them, and the further into the ‘wilds’ you go the greater this feeling becomes.
This year was a ‘rock splitting’ hot summer in our northern parts which may not have done much to help our migratory fish or running water residents and it also had some effect on our lochs, but it also meant that we enjoyed big settled spells where the fish could pick off surface flies at their ease. Spring may have set us back somewhat with the prolonged winter running well into April, but the fish haven’t been slow to try and make up for lost time, feeding hard well into even the hottest of days.
Still this shouldn’t prove too much of a surprise when the larder contains such mouthfuls as a waterborne insect that takes a size eight hook to imitate correctly.
I tend to look to these parts from the beginning of the ‘Wimbledon Fortnight’ when the beginnings of the main Assynt Mayfly hatches begin in earnest, allowing a little for the fish to become ‘acclimatised’ and lock them into the ‘prey image’ (which doesn’t take long) meaning any hatch in early to mid July tends to ring the dinner bell. Rolling waves and big surface flies makes for spectacular fishing, but for me so does light ripple, or better still flat calm (yes we do really get these in the far North) where you can stalk each fish individually and pick them off as you intercept their feeding path with a well placed ‘ginked up’ mouthful.
The lime faults this area is so famed for certainly help both the quality of the water which in turn helps create the perfect habitat for our Northern Danicas. And although the aforementioned waters have some serious depth (all but Borralan hit depths reaching or vastly exceeding 100 feet) it’s not all like this. Shallow, sandy weedy bays abound, perfect habitat for the mayfly, add some settled weather and a bit of heat and ‘Hey Presto.’ Now admittedly this all sounds a little ‘perfect’ and I just in case I’m painting a false picture here let me also just add a wee bit of warning, although some years may see bountiful hatches (I’ve had to wipe the adults off the boat seat in the past), other times offer scant rewards and you have to work a good bit harder to find what you’re looking for. That said even modest activity tends to grab the trout’s attention on these lochs.
Borralan is often a bit overlooked due to its roadside location, but to do so is denying the chance to explore a cracking wee loch, but with limited time on my last visit (flying overnight weekend visit Saturday through to Sunday) I left this aside for a wee ‘after the evening meal’ foray where I knew the fish would come out and hunt down the Danica Spinners or late hatching adults in the fading light and falling breeze, dropping my two big dries in front of fish cruising the ever widening wind channels. Exciting stuff as the light fades and the fish become more focussed, and although no ‘Rod Benders’ were encountered the sport was still fantastic.
But I’m getting a wee bit ahead of myself, I should really have described the day session on neighbouring Urigill first where we spend a cracking day amongst the weeds on the loch’s ‘top end’ (I always class the areas where the water runs in as the ‘top’ of a loch, and the bit where the main exit is as the ‘bottom’, in this case top equals east for those map lovers among us. Crystal clear water, bright unrelenting sun and very very light winds may sound like a recipe for hard sport (recipe for disaster for many, especially lovers of the traditional ‘Broadside Drift’ and ‘Short Line’) but if you’re keen to adapt then you might just enjoy the surface dry feeding sport we had. Spotting fish, sneaking up either on the oars, or cutting engine at distance (not my favourite but still effective, especially if you’re on your own and don’t have the luxury of one angler ‘Ghillying’ the other as we had, my fishing buddy Graham had launched his foray from his float tube for this one) and picking fish off one by one. Great stuff and as the day progressed a small, but steady trickle of the first (albeit localised) Heather flies made a welcome appearance just to add to the fishing spice on the day. In fact whilst most fish were happy to take my Maylfly imitations, the couple of bits where I encountered the Heather flies had feeding fish that had already ‘switched’ and simply wouldn’t look at my initial offerings, before a switch to my wee ‘Red Leg Hoppers’ produced the desired (and instant) response. Fantastic as all this was we beat a retreat late afternoon for a wee break, some welcome food, even more welcome cold beer and the promise of the aforementioned evening’s sport still to come and nipped back down the hill to the cracking wee Altnacalageah Inn, our destination for the night.
Having stayed there before I thought I knew exactly what to expect when we arrived, however things (and owners) have changed a wee bit in the ten plus years since I last visited. For one the Inn and accommodation (Altnacealgach Motel which is in fact right next door) are run together (ok still separate ownership but all bookings etc are via the pub making life a lot easier). There’s also a bunkhouse for the thrifty minded trout angler (like us), where you can either simply book a bunk, or for a wee fishing party, the whole room (sleeps six). Perfect, with its own wee kitchen and en-suite WC / shower what more could the visiting angler want? Well how about a cracking wee pub next door where you can recount all your angling tales over a beer or two, sit down to lunch or evening meal, or take advantage of a cracking breakfast for those who don’t fancy taking advantage of the accommodation’s self catering facilities? Yup got that.
Fed, watered and well rested we made our farewells and headed to our last destination for our rapid ‘Assynt Adventure’, Loch Cama. Back in the day when the Altnacealgach was a famous and well known angling hotel (before sadly being destroyed in a fire in the early eighties) this water was regarded at the probably the ‘Premier Location’ in the hotel’s riparian ownership, and I once noted in the catch return books (sadly no longer in the Inn but retained by a previous owner) that something in the region of six to ten thousand fish would come out of the loch in any given season. Ok all pre, between or early post war years when our Highlands were still in the midst of the Estate Halcyon Days and visiting popularity was still very high, but nonetheless still illustrates how impressive the fishing could be up here.
The loch was approached primarily by boat, and these were to be found in one of two locations depending on what area you intended to fish, upper or lower loch. Nowadays it’s a bit simpler, clamp on a quality engine, make sure you’ve enough fuel and away you go.
Cama tends to fish in two distinct ‘halfs’: the ‘open bowl like end’ where you can drift amongst the much shallower weedy island strewn waters (as it’s so productive and the bit you first encounter this is where most anglers like to fish). Or the deeper rocky boulder strewn ‘Western End’ where clinging to the shore offers the best sport as the middle depth plummets to excess of one hundred and fifty feet. Anyway we were blessed with a nice wee wind and fish still keen to chase big surface offerings all day until, sadly, it was time for that dreaded last cast and head homeward bound.
In all fishing was as excellent as hoped for, new people met, and some favourite waters reacquainted, can’t wait to do it all again.
Accommodation: The afore mentioned Altnacealgach Motel and Altnacealgach Inn offers excellent accommodation either in self catering form, or in conjunction with B&B / Evening Mealvia the Inn. Full details on their website www.altmotel.co.uk or call 01854 666260
Fishing: Fishing on Cama, Urigill and Veyatie as well as salmon fishing on the nearby small spate stream the Kanaird, contact the Ledmore Estate. Excellent boats and quality outboards available. Full details on their website www.ledmoreestate.co.uk or call 01854 666232
Fishing on Borralan available via the Alt.
Fishing in the general Assynt area’s well covered via the Assynt Angling Association and the Assynt Crofters Trust, full details on www.assyntangling.co.uk or www.assyntanglinginfo.org.uk
Flies:
General Scottish Wild Trout patterns apply including Zulu, Kate McLaren, Loch Ordie, Soldier Palmer, Clan Chief, Wickhams, Dabblers, Hedgehogs (deadly), Silver Invicta, Peter Ross, Connemara Black, Pennell, Blae and Black, Dunkeld. Certainly not anything close to an extensive list, more somewhere to start from.
Mayfly feeders:
I love to use a couple of simple patterns, one an adaptation of a fly by Bob Wyatt called the Veyatie Black, the other a quick and easy Deer Hair Mayfly (itself an adaptation of Bob’s excellent Deer Hair Sedge)
Veyatie Black:
Hook; Partridge ‘A’ Wet Medium, Size 8 to 10
Thread; Black Uni 6/0 or 8/0
Tail; Golden Pheasant Crest
Rib; Fine Sliver Tinsel
Body; Black / Claret Seal Fur Sub Mix (60 black: 40 claret)
Hackle; Grizzle Palmered
Head Hackle; Greenwell Hen (Bob’s original uses Pheasant flank feather, but I prefer the Hen Hackle)
Deer Hair Mayfly:
Hook; Partridge ‘A’ Wet Medium, Size 8 to 10
Thread; Black Uni 6/0 or 8/0
Tail; Golden Pheasant Crest
Rib; Fine Silver Wire
Body; Medium Olive Rabbit / Hare / Seal / Green Glister Mix
Wing; Roe Deer Hair (Natural or Yellow Waspi Fly)
More from Allan at Scottish Anglers