Well after much excitement the day finally arrived to start the long trek north to Islay. I know how much of a pain in the arse it is to get there as one of the Whisky brands I work for is based on the island-A pain in the arse it maybe but well worth it. After a long, tiring but entertaining journey by car and ferry we finally arrived at Skerrols House and we were welcomed by David Wood (Woody) who runs the trips. Within 15 mins of our arrival our guide for the week had dragged himself up the shore of Loch Skerrols to meet us-Glen Pointon. Prior to the visit Woody had told me about Glen and how knowledgeable and passionate about fishing he is, he also mentioned he was a mix of auf wiedersehen pet and those old J R Hartley yellow pages adverts - this should be fun I thought!!
Something to warm us up on the ferry
The Paps Of Jura
I have always enjoyed the social side of fly fishing as I have regularly taken weekend still water trips to N Yorks and have been lucky enough to have a weeks fishing in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast. A lot of my non fishing friends assume it is a solitary sport, which it can be if you choose (and that is nice sometimes) but I get a lot of enjoyment from the social side of the sport. Having never fished rivers I was used to standing on a lake bank or in a boat having a laugh and chatting to who I was fishing with. With fishing Lochs either by wading or boat then this trip was well up my street and the banter in the day and evenings I could see being very good.
The week started off with me joining Glen on the boat that first evening. So after scoffing curry and chips washed down with a nice Rioja {a mighty fine combination} I got my warm gear on and me and Glen (chin and mouth literally covered in curry sauce) headed off to the jetty and sat in the boat and set up. Glen rowed us out over a small weed bed on the loch where he thought the trout would be holding up and feeding off small beetles/snails. He wasnt wrong and it wasnt long before we saw the odd fish rising too. He tied on his LTD Sedge and we passed the weed bed and set a drift to fish over it. Glen was giving me lots of instructions and telling me about the fish on Islay all to help me catch my 1st true wild brown trout. After a couple of passes and missed takes (the light was fading fast) I finally hooked and caught my first wild brown trout and an Islay one at that - Magic Stuff and a great end to an exhausting day.
The next morning after bacon butties we all tackled up and set off to the shore of Loch Finlaggan. Woody and Glen had told us stories of this place with days of nearly a fish a chuck and we could see lots of small splashy rises in the shallows on our walk down to the shore-The excitement kicked in even more. We started fishing our way around the Loch and within 10 mins we all knew it was going to be a tough day. It went from rising fish to flat calm in minutes and that prompted us to switch to wets or a duo of LTD Sedge and Bibio.
Wayne, Harrison, Glen, Fred, Pete, John, Woody - Finlaggan Loch
We stuck it out for a few hours and when Mr Chirpy (Pete) piped up with "there's no f'ing fish in here, this is w&nk" we decided to call it a day, head back and warm up. We cracked open a magnum of champagne, wine and whisky that night and the stories and banter flowed - what a boss night that was!!
Wayne and Glen after a few
Next,we had a days fishing remote hill lochs for Pike on the fly and days at Skerrols and Finlaggan again and the fishing improved somewhat with us all catching.
The day that still sticks in my mind was one where Fred and myself were taken out on the boat on Skerrols. The wind was blowing quite hard so we ventured further down the Loch to shelter from the wind and it was there that we had 2 hours of what Glen describes as "class dry fly action". There where a series of small bays running down one side of the loch with lots of natural features created by broken branches and small fallen trees. We could see lots of small splashy rises right close into the shore and we started to catch - not massive fish but the sport was good. We soon discovered that there was a drop off about 6 foot from the shore and that was where the bigger fish were feeding. We had many passes along a bay where we had loads of fun fishing on single and double dries. We must have had about 20 fish between us and I was lucky enough to have my first double hook up on the dry. A boss day with sound company!!
A windy day on Skerrols
My double hook up on the dries at Robbo's Bay
A welcome fish on a tough day
One afternoon I decided to take myself off for a wade on my own and put into practice all I picked up from the weeks trip. I waded at the shore nearest to the house and in a couple of hours managed to pick up some nice fish for our tea and another double hook up, this time on the wets - Kate Maclaren & Bibio.
A nice couple of hours work and a double hook-up on the wets
My first pike on the fly
Glen doing a better job than me posing for a pic
Proper Boss!!
Me and Harrison wading around Skerrols (i am standing in a drop off and H is 6ft odd!! haha)
We decided to hold a comp on the last day and Woody would hold it on each trip. It was a really tough day and with the banter on the radio being minimal i knew everyone else was struggling. I had managed to pick up 3 small fish after about an hour in the shallows and to say I wasnt feeling confident was an understatement. Once the hooter sounded for the end of the comp we weighed in and we all waited nervously - some more than others. I ended up winning with 3 fish at a total of 8oz - this taught me never give up and be bloody grateful of every fish that you catch.
Our last morning was spent visiting the many distilleries on the island and some general sightseeing.
All in all it was a quality week and I knew I would be booking back on for later in the year to have a dabble at Salmon and Sea Trout fishing.
The River Laggan-will i get a chance to fish this in Sept 2012 for my first Salmon??
Tim
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