[Iain Cameron]

A wee report from last weekend's flying flyfishing trip to Sutherland, up beyond Loch Shin.

Well, not so much flying, more getting up at daft o'clock (0300), and driving north & west. I remember the drive in the dark as a slightly surreal, hallucinatory experience as the caffeine from early coffees battled it out with the dark and lack of sleep.

Arrived at designated spot around 0900, meeting up with Allan Dryflee and Graeme Broontroot. Cracked on with the long walk in to a series of lochs & burns that Allan had planned. En route, we were eyeballed by this stag:



The walk in was around 6 miles total (and the walk out the same, surprisingly!) with some tramping about in between. More walking than I"m used to, but worth it to see the wee burns, and wee Allan burning up a few fish too.

Wee Burn:


Wee Bam


I fairly quickly followed suit, and caught my first wee Sutherland wee trout


The scenery was just stunning; rugged, rocky, rough, with water everywhere. We found ourselves at the top end of the a loch, wondering where the fishes were. Timing was good though, as a spattering of sedges and olives soon had the lake rippling nicely. We proceeded to catch many feisty wee browns - no monsters, my best went to about 12 inches or so - but great fun.
And just looking around made it all worthwhile:



The walkout took a while - we were all drained by the end - so a hearty meal back at the wonderfully idiosyncratic Crask Inn was very welcome. A couple of pints with the rest of the crowd (including Henry "Waterboys"), then a bit of banter to finish the evening. I had to turn in around midnight - just zombied with tiredness.

First time up in Sutherland - shame!!! Won't be the last, and thanks to the crowd from the scottish-snglers.net forum for the invite.

cheers
iain

[Iain Goolager]

Love the pictures, great post on such a dismal day.

Iain

[Jim Eddie]

Aye

Some bonnie pictures there Iain 

 

Jim

[Noel Kelly]

Agreed that's a nice report and those pics are excellent Glad you enjoyed it, great way to finish off the trout season.

[Allan Liddle]

Cheers Iain

Worked out the approx total hiked last Sat, you and Graham about 16 miles and me, thanks to my wee jaunt to the top loch, about 17.  Legs just about recovering now.

This was on top of a wee stroll of around eight miles on the upper section of a river near here accounting for some nice fish up to 2lb 4oz and a stiff climb back to the car.  Might have to look at a better car park next time so i've not got a lung bursting 3/4 mile hike, especially when you reach the upper most section and find a road right next to it. 

Sunday and it was much easier with a wee bit of tubing around loch 'aGrahama and a few fish keen to hit the Hogs.  ended my trip to the Sutherland Wilds with a last wee stroll to another loch again with the tube, to find it full of eager hard fighting 'Standard Scottish' 2 - 3 to the pound fish and some spectacular takes amongst them.
Yesterday and Autumn certainly arrived, so perhaps another wee Surtherland jaunt might be on the cards before the 6th to take advantage of the spate streams and running troots?

Glad you enjoyed it Iain, and big thanks for joining us, all welcome if anyone fancies a wee tast of 'extreme wild trouting' next year.

Cheers

Allan


The Road In

Stream and Loch

Surroundings

Friday's Best 2lb 4oz

[Loxiafan]

Cracking river trout there Allan  Very inspiring stuff guys, real 'rough' fishing too, well done.

Lindsay

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff guys ..... and lots of nice photos

Best wishes
Mike

[Marc Fauvet]

wow, what a gorgeous place...
hey, what's with all this "wee' business ? 

cheers,
marc

[Iain Cameron]

Glad you enjoyed it Iain, and big thanks for joining us, all welcome if anyone fancies a wee tast of 'extreme wild trouting' next year.

thanks Allan - it was a brilliant wee trip. Pretty exhausting, but that was fault of last minute planning on my part. Can I steal your photos? ta, in advance...

I don't think i'll make sutherland again before end of this season, but will try squeeze in one last fling at brownies before sept 30th

cheers
iain

[Iain Cameron]

hey, what's with all this "wee' business ?  

hi Marc,

'wee' is the scottish word for small.
It's also used as a diminutive to convey affection or, in my usage, some kind of opposite or irony. So, a wee burn (small stream) really means a stream that is physically small, but also conveys that it is a charming place, full of character etc

The phrase "I'd had a wee drink that night" literally means I had a small drink, e.g. literally a dram. But the meaning is more likely to have been intended to show that the "wee drink" was 8 pints, a few whiskies, a kebab, and possibly included an evening of lost clothing/keys/personal items, possibly arguing and fighting (not me), amorous adventures and possibly sneaking home at silly o'clock. Just in time to get up again and go fishing...

hope that helps!

[Mike Barrio]

hi Marc,

'wee' is the scottish word for small.
It's also used as a diminutive to convey affection or, in my usage, some kind of opposite or irony. So, a wee burn (small stream) really means a stream that is physically small, but also conveys that it is a charming place, full of character etc

The phrase "I'd had a wee drink that night" literally means I had a small drink, e.g. literally a dram. But the meaning is more likely to have been intended to show that the "wee drink" 8 pints, a few whiskies, a kebab, and possibly included an evening of lost clothing/keys/personal items, possibly arguing and fighting (not me), amorous adventures and possibly sneaking home at silly o'clock. Just in time to get and go fishing...

hope that helps!

Excellent post ....... First class ....... You should be a writer Iain

Cheers
Mike

[Allan Liddle]

Thanks Iain and feel free with the pics.

Notice you missed the 'wee bam' bit out on the 'wee dictionary description.' 

BTW Broonie season dosen't close 'till 6th October (Scottish Law Limit) on many waters (float tubing venue included  or Lochindorb, most of Sutherland etc) so you might just get the chance to sneak in a last 'wee' foray yet?

Cheers

Allan

[Dutchfly]

I love fishing in Sutherland It makes me a wee sad that I can't fly over more often to fish there.
Thanks for the report, Iain

Jeroen

[Noel Kelly]

Great pics Allan  I love the way you target big running browns in these "wee"burns always makes me think of places back home that would fit the bill nicely and I doubt anyone is targeting them.
The first pic of Iain and graham, that looks suspiciously like a road to me....could ye not drive it and save some of the slog?

[Marc Fauvet]

hope that helps!

sure does, mate. specially considering i knew all that already...   
what peaked my interest most was the number of times the term was used. being a cryptologist, me thinks it's a secret code or something we're not anywhere near to learn ! 

cheers,
marc

[Iain Cameron]

...that looks suspiciously like a road to me....could ye not drive it and save some of the slog?

It would have been mostly passable in a land rover or similar beast. the walk was character building though....

[Iain Cameron]

what peaked my interest most was the number of times the term was used. being a cryptologist, me thinks it's a secret code or something we're not anywhere near to learn ! 

Ah, it's just that I need to wee a lot... drink too much coffee....

[Mike Barrio]

Coffee is good

[Allan Liddle]

It would have been mostly passable in a land rover or similar beast. the walk was character building though....

Ah Noel you know you're not allowed to drive just anywhere you like, certainly not on this road, helps keep it all 'pristine.'
The odd stalkers vehicle for the more financially secure no problem, but poor torn arsed troot fishers have to use Shank's Pony i'm afraid.

But makes the challenge more real, the wilderness more wild, the experience much more rewarding.

Ok that's what i tell myself when doing this, but in reality?  Step out the car right onto the water better?  Ever wondered why i go to Orkney as much?