Stewart Yates shows us the varied fishing that is available in Assynt
Assnyt is a small parish in the far Northwest Highlands. It hides between a horseshoe of improbable mountains and a typically rugged and rocky west coast shoreline which is studded with emerald jewels of white coral sand beaches. It is a place of intangible, timeless beauty where you instinctively feel that you are standing on the very bones of this Earth, the most ancient of rocks that are unchanged since their creation. You can time-travel here and cast your fly three million millennia into the past.
I always describe this place as the far Northwest Highlands. We are a good five hours solid driving from Edinburgh or Glasgow and those cities are usually at least the same for the majority of the population of the UK. So why bother? I mean in the same amount of travelling time you could have flown to Canada, Iceland, pretty much anywhere in Russia, you could even be three-quarters of the way to New Zealand by the time you reach Ullapool from London if the traffic is bad. But if you catch the right time of year, with the right conditions, the right techniques and the right mind-set you could have the best week's fishing of your life. Ever.
Where to start? Okay, let's go with the 'King of Fish' - the Atlantic salmon. Yes, yes, yes, I know how this fishing is on its knees right now and many feel that mandatory C&R is an unfair penalty inflicted on already responsible fishers but I'm not going there as it is a different discussion completely.
Focussed on mainly two rivers, the Inver and the Kirkaig the fishing is superb. And I mean the fishing. These rivers are some of the most picturesque you can ever hope to find and there are some good early season deals to be had. The lower probability of catching, for me, actually increases the fun because you know that if you do get one, it really is something special.
Let's stick with the moving water and move to my personal favourite locations – the wee burns. This type of fishing, with #3 gear or below is rapidly gaining well deserved attention. The wild, tumbling streams we have here will provide you with a lifetime's exploration and entertainment. They epitomise the 'size isn't everything' mantra, with the average being somewhere around the four-inch mark. But you will literally lose hours in what seems like minutes as you methodically work your way upstream picking pockets between tumbling, racing rapids or stealthily kneeling your way through the swishing deer grass, willing your polaroids to penetrate those whisky coloured waters.
And then we come to the 'Main Attraction', the lochs themselves. They bring anglers from across the globe, and quite rightly so. Many believe that the big lochs are the places to pursue the big fish but let me assure you, almost every one of the three hundred-plus lochs within the boundaries of Assynt has the potential to astound you with a FOAL (Fish Of A Lifetime).
How do we fish the lochs from a boat or from shore? The simple answer is that it's up to you (and the weather!) Boats provide the opportunity to access different parts of the loch quickly or as a means of transport to cut the walk-in to more remote waters. For those with limited mobility, the many easily accessible boats are superb, giving easy access to some very beautiful and remote waters. Traditional wet fly seems to be on the decline, although with a good wave a dragged muddler or dabbler is hard to beat. When conditions are on for the dry, even in the rain, this seems to be the tactic of choice for most these days and I am no exception. Another method that I will deploy whenever possible is dapping. Some of my best days have been sharing a boat with one or two clients and having one of us always on the dapp. I can categorically state that this definitely increases the average size of fish to the boat although it may not increase the number of fish caught. The acrobatics of a determined trout after a dancing daddy longlegs is really something to behold.
Last, but most definitely in no sense least, please let me tell you about the saltwater fly fishing we have here. I only came to this area of fly fishing four years ago and I struggle to convey the rush I experienced on my third trip out – with two nice pollock, one of two and one of three pounds under my belt from the first two trips, plus plenty of three-quarter-pound coalie. I had my then five-year-old son with me and one of my neighbour's kids who I was getting interested in fly fishing with me, it was a beautifully calm sunny summer's evening and we had got a few wee fish already and then I hooked into another fish that I knew was a special one and much larger too.
The fish weighed in at a smidge under seven pounds and it turns out that there's actually quite a lot of them if you know where to look.
So that is a little taster of the fishing we have in Assynt, it is varied and interesting and means there is always an alternative if the weather plays a part.
Is it worth the drive? I think so.
Contact Stewart for more information on fishing in Assynt by clicking HERE
