Stalking the wild brown trout of the Isle of Islay, Scotland

by Todd Oishi

When I reflect on my time spent fly fishing in Scotland last month, images of single-malt whisky, castles, kilts and bag-pipes instantly comes to mind. Fishing in a part of the world where fly fishing is an important part of their culture and heritage left me somewhat envious of the lifestyle and sense of community that our Scottish counterparts enjoy.

My two week-long adventure, which began in central Scotland and concluded on a small island just off the southwestern coast of Scotland, was truly a trip of a life-time that surpassed all of my expectations. Although the opportunity to revisit Loch Leven (the Mecca of brown trout fishermen throughout the world) was high on my list of "things to do while in Scotland", it was my time spent fishing in the picturesque lochs of the Isle of Islay for wild brown trout that proved to be the greatest challenge and provided some of my fondest memories....…

The Isle of Islay is a small island (approximately 600 square kilometers in size) that is situated just off the southwestern coast of Scotland, lying only 25 miles north of the northernmost coast of Ireland, which can be seen on a clear day. Islay is a popular tourist destination that is famous for its immense beauty, wildlife viewing and bird watching, and producing world-class whisky (eight active distilleries). The pristine lochs of Islay are blessed with healthy populations of hard-fighting, wild brown trout that attract fly fishers from all over the United Kingdom and Europe to these waters to test their angling skills - and luck. 

The brown trout of Islay are wild fish that generally average between eight to twelve inches in length, with the island's larger trout inhabiting the lochs where the stickleback are found in their greatest numbers (the primary food source of the larger trout). Retention of fish that are caught is a way of life for the local anglers, and is strongly encouraged by the local angling authorities, as the lochs have an over-abundance of naturally reproducing trout, whose growth rates are stunted as a result of over-population and competition for food.

Bank angling is an enjoyable and popular method for angling on the lochs, as boat access is quite limited due to the size and remoteness of many of these waters. Although many of Islay's lochs are situated right alongside the roadways, some of the more productive lochs lie tucked away behind the rolling hills that are dotted with sheep and cattle, as well as the occasional deer.

Accessing these lochs often requires fairly strenuous hikes over open grasslands and through peat bogs. The majority of these lochs are situated on private lands, with access controlled by the estates that have ownership or title to the surrounding properties. Day permits are issued by the estate offices, but are only provided to a limited number of anglers in order to ensure a quality angling experience.

Although accessing some of the more remote lochs

required a fair amount of effort, they often possessed larger populations of scrappy, little brown trout that were comparable in size to those found in the more easily accessed waters. The colouration and markings of these trout were absolutely stunning and always a welcomed sight for this weary traveler.  

The solitude and serenity that was experienced when fishing the remote lochs always made the journey well worth the effort - regardless of how much effort that was involved. In these special and sacred places the distant past and present day embrace one another, as remnants of ancient civilizations stand silently, serving as a timeless testimony of the triumphs and hardships that they endured. 

The gentle sloping hills and dense peat that surrounds the lochs often concealed a series of small streams, which are commonly referred to as "burns" by the Scots. The burns provide an ideal spawning area and nursery for immature brown trout and stickleback. During heavy downpours the flow rates of the burns increase, which attracts both the stickleback and trout to areas where the burns deposit fresh water and nutrients into the lochs.

The importance of fishing the burns had been stressed to us by local fly fishers who were always willing to help ensure that we had a quality experience while fishing their waters. We followed their recommendations on locations and patterns, and targeted the burns, which we found to be especially productive when working the surrounding waters with short casts from the bank, or while wading deeply and casting our flies tight against the banks. To our surprise we often encountered brown trout foraging for food in water that was so shallow that it was barely able to cover their backs.

The brown trout seemed to be drawn to the structure of weed beds and the rocky shorelines, where they feed upon aquatic and terrestrial insects that became dislodged or washed into the deeper water as a result of the pounding waves and undertow that is created. At times, the dark colouration of the larger lochs masked what lay beneath their surface, which made locating structure and fish quite challenging - while in comparison - the shallow nature of the smaller lochs and their gentle sloping shoals made the task of locating trout a fairly simple process.

Finding the fish was always the greatest challenge, but once they were located, a floating, MidgeTip or intermediate-sinking line was basically all that was required to effectively cover the water, as the trout were typically found in shallower water or in slightly deeper water with their attention focused on the water's surface.

We were told that if the trout refused a slower presentation that using extremely fast retrieves often entices the browns to strike, as they are extremely aggressive by nature, and tend to be very opportunistic in this environment. This theory was confirmed time after time, as the trout after trout intercepted my flies while they were pulled through the water at speeds that seemed far too fast for a conventional presentation. Armed with this new revelation (and a few cans of Red Bull) our angling success-rate increased dramatically.

We quickly discouvered that Islay's brown trout were very light-sensitive creatures that rose freely during low-light conditions  and while the clouds blocked the sun, but dropped to slightly greater depths as soon as the rays of the sun caressed the water. During sunny and flat-calm conditions we prospected for trout in deeper water with faster sinking lines, while using Snatchers, Sedge Hogs, Kate McKlarens, Clan Chiefs and several other traditional mini-lures.

Exploring the potential of  "local" patterns always fascinates me whenever I travel to fish the waters of a foreign country. The experimentation often provides an assortment of new fly patterns, tactics and techniques to add to my fly fishing arsenal. The true thrill and satisfaction comes when I successfully deceive trout in my favourite stillwaters here in British Columbia - with a pattern that originated from the bin of a fly shop halfway around the world. This is an event that never ceases to amaze me.

As our trip drew nearer to its conclusion, we learned the hard way that not all rental vehicles are intended for travel in the more remote areas. They also seem to lack the necessary clearance to successfully navigate the island's secondary roadways that possess rocks that have developed an obvious liking for oil pans...

I suppose that one of the most memorable trout that fell for the charms of my fly was a feisty, wee brownie in Loch Finlaggan that accepted my offering on my final cast of the trip (fifteen seconds left in my session). It took the fly hard and fought admirably. I savoured every second of the battle and its eventual release, as I knew in my heart that this would be my last encounter with Islay's remarkably beautiful, little brown trout.

Stalking Islay's wild brown trout while standing within the shadows of ancient ruins, and traversing pathways that were once traveled by the island's earliest settlers - and perhaps even Vikings - left me humbled and in a constant state of wonder. Catching a fish or two somewhere along the journey gradually became less important and was purely a bonus....…

Islay Scotland Report by Todd Oishi.doc 1664.5 kb

 Johnnie Walker, part of the Diageo brand, sponsors of Port Ellen Angling Club

Inver outing

The last club event of the year was the was held on Saturday 20th of September with 17 rods on the day weighing in 22 fish. Overall not the levels that were expected as conditions seemed really good but a good time was had all the same.

Thanks to Graham Rainey for the following pictures....

Dod ends season with win at Kinnabus

Gordon "Dod" Dunbar took the silverware in the final competition and 3rd Club Championship meeting of the season at Loch Kinnabus to bring the season to a successful end for him.

David Morris was runner-up on the day which should make it very interesting when the final weight are added up to find the overall champion for the season!

*Donnie takes top rod at Kinnabus

Top rod at the Club Championship meeting at Kinnabus on Saturday 9th August was Donnie McNicol.

The day provided good weather and looked ideal for fishing with overcast skies and just enough wind but some struggled to get the fish to take their flies with many saying they had plenty following but just not taking the fly.

Couillabus Quaich (Menteith Quallifying)

David Morris came out on top to wn the Couillabus Quaich and secure his place on the P.E.A.C team to travel to the Lake of Menteith in 2009 for the Scottish Championships. Joining David will be Gordon Dunbar (2nd), Callumn McCaffer (3rd) and Jim MacDougal (4th) who will go as the team reserve.

David was already eligible for the team as he was last years reserve but this didnt hold him back on the day when he held of the challenge of 14 anglers to win the Couillabus Quaich on what turned out to be a fine day for fishing.

Colin leads the way at Ardtalla outing!!  see fishing reports for more on this topic

******2007 COMPETITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED ******* PICTURES *******

*** UPDATED 2008 competition dates on club news now !! *** check for changes from original dates******

Simply click on the links on the right to access the info that you want.

Bank fishing is more poular than boat fishing on our lochs as they are very easy to bank fish from and a lot of the trout are found in the margins. The cost of bank fishing is £7.50 for a full day.

Boats. Kinnabus and Glenastle lochs will have boats on them throughout the season and this season we hope to have a boat on the School loch too. Permits for boats and bank fishing are available from Iain Laurie's of Islay, Charlotte st, Port Ellen 01496 302264  Hire of a boat for a full day costs £20. All boats are fully kitted out with lifejackets and oars. No outboards are available from the club but guests are welcome to use electric outboards if they wish.

All our lochs are on land farmed and managed by R.S.P.B. who the club have a good relationship with and we ask that while fishing on any of our lochs that you obey the countryside code and respect the land, animals and wildlife that you are having the pleasure of experiencing.

All pictures will be on the loch pages to avoid overloading this page with all the photos, this page will just include text.

This page is to provide you with some useful info' on some of the lochs we have, simply browse down this page or click on the links on the right to take you to the loch you want. Any report is welcome, big or small, to enhance these pages, just send them to     Fishing 

Graham Young, Morayshire

 

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Had a long weekend on Islay from the19-22nd Sept, fished quite a few lochs caught and returned plenty of fish to 1.1/4llb. The Gihllie loch producing some cracking sport as was Kinnabus. The Corr loch will hold great memories for me well worth a visit. Local anglers are very knowledgeable and helpfull should you require their assistance To do ourselves justice we need to spend more time on the Island, perhaps all season!! Graham

 

Float Tubing on Kinnabus, School Loch and Gillie Loch.

G.Campbell

A 9.30 start and myself and 2 visitors from up north, Graham and Henry went 2 the Oa for some float tubing.
We parked at the club hut at Kinnabus and headed to the loch in fine weather, slightly overcast and southerly breeze on top of the water. The plan was to fish here till we had got enough of it and then head up to the School loch so Graham went to the first, more northerly bay and Henry and myself went to the south bay. We were not long in the water when Henry was into a fish and I followed soon after. Henry had moved south to the middle of the bay and I had just started casting in toward some rocks when a joyous shout alerted me to Henry landing a lovely looking trout that looked well over the lb even from my distance, good stuff. Shortly after that, Henry had another and suggested that I move toward him as the fish were coming on there but I was immediately into fish myself and they just kept coming!    8 - 10 fish in the next half hour or so and all but 1 were over 1/2lb, a good average for this loch and Henry had the same if not more....OK...more 


A nice Kinnabus trout.

It went a bit quiet so I headed down to meet Graham who was now in the north bay in the direction of the School loch, he too had some descent fish and we both tubed down to the shore where Graham done a spot of bank fishing while we waited for Henry who was now making his way toward us.


Graham bank fishing with Henry en route

After watching a couple of incredibly calm deer we went the short walk to the School loch. A good loch on its day but today proved to be dour  although I must admit that I was the only one to blank 
although I did let the visitors fish the better side of the loch 
Nothing great hooked here then and Graham and Henry headed over the hill to fish the Gillie loch, a nice wee loch too, if it plays the game, and I would find out how they got on when I met them at the car park on the road nearer to this loch as I was going back to bring the car round. On the way back I fished Kinnabus again for about an hour and catching another half dozen nice fish, 3 of them on the infamous corrie killer, one that Henry had tied and kindly given me to try.

I packed up into the car and headed round to meet the guys from the gillie loch just as they were coming off it. After watching them painfully walk the 1/2 mile of moorland to the car, they arrived to tell me they had a good time and hooked plenty of quality troot, brilliant 

G Campbell, Loch Dhomhnuill

Went out for an early fishing jaunt with the father-in-law today to Loch Dhomhnuill, or as we call it here, Duich Loch. It sits between the high road and the low road on the south of Islay, about 6 miles north of Port Ellen.

On arrival at the loch there was not a breath of wind and the midges were wild! this was only 9am and they were at their morming best. We soaked ourselves in our chosen midge repelent and set onto the loch amongst lots of rising fish although all of them looking small.
This was my first trip to this loch and we had heard lots of stories about large fish being taken out of here and the odd sea trout at the back end of the year so hopes were high. I set upwith dries first and fished them static for a wee while to see if any of the risers would be tempted but apart from the swirl and splash here and there, nothing ended up on the curled steel.
I moved up the north bank of the loch to the west and passed a farm implement from times long gone that had possibly been taken closer to the lochs edge that originally intended....nice bit of ironmongery for its day though I would have thought.

I was not getting any joy with the dries and the rises had almost ceased so I put on the sink-tip and 3 wets. After 3 or 4 casts I had a tug and a take, nothing great but at least the blank was off. The wee 5oz trout fought well above its weight and was a mixture of blue and red spots, my first fish for a while as I have not been able to get onto a loch for a while so it put a smile on my face and was returned healthy.

For the next 2-3 hours this was repeated about 10-12 times, all about the same size but more traditionaly red spotted with a golden brown tinge. During this time we had witnessed 2 cracking trout rising in the deep center of the loch, way out of our reach, and they looked well over 2lb, it would have been out if I was on my own thats for sure!
Bruce had 2 fish at this point including a nice wee sea trout which he was really chuffed with and it was good to know that they were definetly here.
So after some light refreshments we went back onto the loch and pretty much repeated the mornings session with the exception of the sea trout.
Red arsed pictric peter and a golden olive bumble done the buissness for me while Bruce done well with black spiders and bibio, so a bit of a mixed fly box for this loch. So it was a good trip to the loch which had interested me for a while now and another one that I can tick off my "must fish" list and I will definetly go back.....me and the tube.....the float tube 

Gordon Dunbar, Kinnabus

Went up to Loch Kinnabus last Friday and fished from 5 o.clock till about half past 8 ,started off with dry fly and took 5 fish in the first 7 casts and lost another 2 ,thinking great it could be a night of fantastic sport but this soon turned to despair as it started raining quite heavily and a strong easterly wind putting the fish down ,so after about 20 minutes without a touch changed to a slime lone and diawl bachs which started to take fish almost immediately never changed my flies for the rest of the night and by the time i stopped fishing had caught 26 trout in the 6oz to the 9oz range ,all in all a good night,s sport on this highly underated loch which over the season has been producing some better fish than in the last few years so hopefully this trend continues for the remainder of the season and on into next year

                                                                            G Dunbar

Graham McIntosh, 12th June 08

While on a trip to Islay, the highlight of Graham's trip was ........"a trout weighing 15.5 ozs which I took from Upper Glenastle Loch on the 12th June after I joined the club when I was over.  The fish was taken from the bay next to where the boat is moored.  The fly used was a size 10 gold head with a green palmered body and black tail."

***** Picture on LOCH GLENASTLE page ****

Gordon Dunbar 22/6/08

Arrived at Kinnibus to fish from the boat for a couple of hours but the wind put paid to that so decided just to fish from the bank fished for about an hour and a half and took 17 fish up to half a pound ,great sport and the flies that were catching were a claret hopper and a claret sedgehog.

Successful Islay Trip

During our fishing week (31/5/08 to 6/6/08) on Islay (14th consecutive year)
we had a day (5 June) on your lochs. All week the weather was bright,
virtually windless and quite warm. We left the car in the quarry and walked
over to the School Loch first where we all caught our first fish. Jim
Campbell actually caught and released one about 1lb 4oz (picture available).
We then tried Gillie Loch and found the fish out in the deeper water rising
to black and olive CDC - a good few fish up to 12oz. Finally we finished off
on Kinnabus and again had about 30 fish up to 12oz. Flies for the day were
Black and Olive CDC, Green Peter, Blue Zulu, Doobry, Clan Chief, Bibio,
Pearly Invicta and JJ Olive. During the week we also fished Skerrolls, Gorm
(3 days), Finlaggan and Ballygrant - similar flies and conditions. Looking
forward already to our 2009 trip!

Brian Turner             Pictures on loch pages - Gillie loch,
Jim Campbell            Kinnabus and School loch
Keith Orr
Charles Waldie               

Loch Gorm 5/6/08

After just a year short of my big 40, I finally got to loch Gorm thanks to a phone call from my Colin Robertson who was going to head up and asked if I wanted to join him, obviously I jumped at the chance and I am so glad that I eventually went there.
We were to leave at 4.30pm and in Port Ellen there was not a breath of wind and the sky was overcast, this was looking good because Gorm is very rarely calm so the signs were that it would be a nice gentle breeze and that was how it turned out. Purely out of over eagerness to get to the loch, we parked at the "wrong side", the breeze was coming straight at us but there was plenty areas to fish on the walk round to the other side. Before we set off, 3 Australians had come of the loch and told us that it was dour and that the flies had to be "ripped" in! but they were on a boat and we were going to be bank fishing so that just went right over my head.
Off we went and after about 5 minutes of walking I couldn't wait any more for my first cast on Gorm so I was going to be over the left shoulder but that was good enough. The water was low and I had waded out around 25m into the loch (this would usually be about 40-45m if the levels were at its normal). I had started with a 2 fly cast consisting of a green tailed Katie and a ke-he which brought a lot of attention but no takes so I knew I had to change, so I decided to take the Katie off and replace it with an olive bumble and after 3 or 4  casts I was into a fish, my first on Gorm, and it was a typical Islay fighter of no great size but that was me happy now, although I wasn't going to object to any more that came along.
As I was getting a lift to the loch I failed to transfer my net from my car to Colins and this proved costly as although I had 5 fish for the evening, I could have had at least twice that, but I cannot for the life of me land a fish in the water without a net, but at least they were there and it was a great night. Colin got a good catch too with one about 14oz.
The loch was very low as I said and one of the islands on the loch is now the end a peninsula with a long broad sandbank as its body, the shoreline is a 15m border of black stone and golden sand!

Pictures on Other Islay Lochs page

Good day on Glenastle

Having got some flies that i had not fished before, I made for  glenastle on the morning of 12/4/08 hoping to land one or two fish. After an hour without touching anything i had 8 fish in the bag, 3 of which were at least 8oz. After a lull of 20 min's, i got another 6  so that made me  fish for another 10 min's. The flies that  worked well were  goats toe and malard blue and silver.

Neil Carmichael

Ardtalla outing 20/4/08

Sunday 20th April was the date for the club's first official gathering of the year and the estate welcomed 13 members on the day. Some of the regular faces were unable to make it due to other commitments but those who arrived at Tallant Cottage were happy to see the argo-cat arriving with Tam to carry them to the second loch, Loch Carn a Mhaoil, this being the furthest we would reach this year as Loch nan Clach was unavailable this year. Five anglers decided to just take the short walk to the closer Tallant Loch, a much smaller, deep peaty loch that does not allow you to enter the water because of its depth and structure. The other eight went along to the much bigger and more wader friendly second loch, the early arrivals gaining top positions on a restricted loch due to the easterly wind and a bit more weed this year than before!

There was not a lot of action on the second loch and the best rod on this loch was Peter Bartlett who hooked 3 trout at a total weight of 8 3/4 oz, Gavin Campbell, Bill Barclay and Ted Burkenshaw all avoiding a blank with one fish each. The overall winner on the day though came from the smaller loch with Colin Tocher weighing in 2 fish totalling 10 1/2 oz, there was no mention of what flies were working !. No other rods had any luck here though. So no big fish and no big bags either probably due to the cold easterly wind keeping the fish deeper in the loch where on a warmer day could have possibly been more within range and weed free with a floating line. Regardless of the lack of trout everyone had a great day out and the club would like to thank Ardtalla Estate for welcoming us on the day and thanks to Tam for his argo-cat services.

Pictures on Other Islay Lochs page

First day of the season on Glenastle

After waiting for what felt like forever, the start of the season had arrived and I decided to go to Glenastle as it was supposed to be the most likely place to get a fish on the earlier part of the season. The weather was slightly better than the same date last year, so there was not the need for the same amount of layers as then which meant that casting should be more enjoyable with less restriction. The winds were down to 15mph at the most, the light showers that came were few and far between and the temperature was about 8 - 9 C.

On arrival at the loch I saw that there was only 2 other anglers had been as keen as me to get fishing on the first day, Dod Dunbar and Colin Tocher were fishing on the north bank of Glenastle, the easterly wind was stopping them from fishing on their more favoured south side. It was now 1.30pm and I thought that there would be more people here by now. It turned out that this would be the final total for the day as nobody else turned up here, Ian Lawrie did however make the trip to Kinnabus where he landed and returned 2 brown trout. I set up my new rod, a Greys greyflex 10' #6/7, and loaded it with a wakesaver sink tip fly line as getting under the surface was the obvious aim. As far as flies were concerned, I was only going to us 2 for the simple fact that I hadn't cast a line for 5 - 6 months and the wind was going to test the rustiness. A green and white shrimp on the point with a yellow hot spot P.T.N. on the dropper, and I set off.

Just to get into the swing of things, I went to Glenastle loch (the first of 2 lochs, the second being Lower Glenastle) and had a few casts to get the feel of the new rod, and I was very impressed. A couple of dozen casts later and I was closing in on Dod and Colin so I went to see how they were getting on. Dod had landed and returned 5 healthy trout between 6 - 9 oz and Colin had a few good offers but nothing taken. It was noticable that Dod had also opted for the slimeline where Colin was trying out his new Airflo ridgeline. So it was encouraging to say the least that fish were being caught and I headed off to Lower Glenastle, just a 2 minute walk away, the 2 lochs are joined by a small outflow of only about 40-50 yards. The water levels were at their peak as you would expect and the ground around the lochs and in the fields were soaked as a result of all the rain that we had put up with over the last few weeks.

I started fishing at the near end of the loch and had no intention of going very far down because I could see that the wind was having a much worse affect on the water the further west it blew along. After only a few short casts, and just as Dod was arriving through the gate behind me, I was into my first fish of the season. Not a monster by any stretch of the imagination but a fish, and that was all that mattered to me at the time, the blank was avoided! A wee 5 oz trout with plenty of heart as it leaped and danced on top of the water when it was being landed, then shot off healthily as it was returned. I didn't move because I had not covered any water at all yet from where I stood so I continued fanning around and slowly increasing the length of the casts. I was getting more and more pleased with the new rod and I was starting to reach greater distances with ease than I would have done before, and this was with a lot of fine tuning still to be done on my technique.

About half an hour later and just about to move on when I got a good solid take on the line. a nice wee bend on the rod and I knew it must have been a good enough fish, and so it turned out. A nicely coloured trout of about 1lb was landed on the bank and, after a couple of photos, was returned. Again the fish shot off in great health considering it was on the tail end of a long winter, hopefully a sign of good things to come in the season ahead.

Both fish that I caught were taken on a green hot spot P.T.N. and i think by the tail on this fly that all the small bites that I had were more than likely to have been on this one too. So that was it, first day done and leaving the lochs very happy indeed. The lower loch at Glenastle does not really provide much more than a 1/2lb trout at best so to get one of 1lb was a bonus on any day, never mind so early on! but hopefully this is a good omen for the future on this loch and might encourage more people to take the few extra yards walk to it knowing that there are good fish to be had there.

Gavin Campbell        15/3/08

Please send your reports, big or small, to......

gavin@portellenanglingclub.co.uk

The club's policies on competition fishing can be seen on our welcome page.

   Smirnoff Vodka, part of the Diageo brand, sponsors of Port Ellen Angling Club

The club outing to Jura on Saturday 11th July saw 17 rods catch 12 fish, the best of them being taken by club chairman  Duncan, which as far as I know was just over the lb, the club scales were not functioning due to some Dakar rally type driving while they were in the vehicle !

Pictures courtesy of Graham Rainey,  thanks 

Hugh Campbell Memorial Trophy

The Hugh Campbell Memorial Trophy was contested at Glenastle on Saturday 27th June with Kevin Morrison ending the day victorious, Kevin was presented the trophy by Elaine Campbell on behalf of Hugh's family.........

A total of 13 anglers fished the loch on the day and 35 fish were caught, the biggest of which was hooked by Neil Carmichael, a nice 9 3/4 oz trout.

Callum MacCaffer was runner-up and Willie Leask took 3rd place with Donnie Holyoake a close 4th. Conditions were very bright with a light breeze, not many fish showing on the surface and the second loch being much more productive than the first.

Some more pictures from the day..............