Pitlochry dam beat River Tummel.....ever caught an otter?

The beat from the dam, you can fish down to the 2nd bridge

Another day on the River Tummel in the quest for a fresh bar of silver but well aware that a coloured fish would do just as well, not being greedy you know. Despite yesterdays blank on East Haugh I was still optimistic for a good days fishing albeit the temperature forecast was for a very warm afternoon.

Part of the fish ladder

The Pitlochry Angling club have this beat and their website indicated that on average a couple of fish per day were being caught and one day one of the locals had 8 in one session, wow. 2 fish being caught in a day has to be put into perspective. The beat allows 6 day tickets for the beat, 3 starting on each side of the river. At 5pm local club anglers will join in so you will probably get about 10 or so anglers fishing each day in peak season. So here your expectations are to catch a salmon every 5 fishing outings as an average which if you look at the Fishpal website, catches for many beats around Scotland the average is more like 1 in 10 outings and more, makes you wonder why we do it?
This beat holds fish as they are moving up to the fish ladder at the dam to go into Loch Faskally and beyond.

The top of the Pitlochry bank beat

According to the website blog most catches seem to be in either the early morning or in the evening with few being caught during the day. So today was an early start and I was on the water for 6am and I was not the first. My permit was to fish the Pitlochry bank up until noon when all anglers have to change over banks and you can then fish until 5pm.

The rock jutting out on the left was my otter catch

When I walked onto the bank the river looked at a good level for fly fishing. The first arrival was already fishing away down river so I walked up towards the dam to start at the top of the beat. There was no-one on the other bank. As I started fishing I using the local favourite Ally's shrimp. Out in the fast water a salmon rose, after seeing zilch yesterday I had only been here 5 minutes. As it turned out there were many fish showing throughout the day, if I said a couple of dozen I would still be short. Amazing that just downriver yesterday I saw none.
After a few casts I looked downriver and saw that the 1st guy was into a fish. I was moving after each cast and reached a prominent rock that can hold fish. As the fly came round to its stop I started to bring line in when the fly caught and the line tightened but I was sure it wasn't a salmon but I didn't think it was snagged on a rock either, maybe a trout. Another pull on the line and I felt the hook come loose. Immediately beside where the fly would be a head appeared out of the water and stared at me, an otter. I can only assume that I had snagged the hook on its coat. For a short time it gave me its not impressed stare then disappeared never to be seen again. A first for me, I regularly see otters close up but I have never snagged on one before.

The dam from Portnacraig

Looking downriver the 1st guy was clambering over the large rock down at the pedestrian bridge and then disappeared round the back, into another fish, well done.
Permit holder number 3 arrived on our bank and after a brief chat he informed me that he should just go home as the guy with 2 already was the same one that caught the 8 the other day.
As it turned out the 2 fish were his lot for the day and only 1 more fish would be caught today, needless to say not by me.
The 3 others were now on the Portnacraig bank, one looked a regular fisherman but the other 2 were spinning. One of the guys handed his rod to a woman for a spin. She immediately shouted she had a fish on, no disrespect but it looked like it was the 1st time she had handled a rod and I thought if she has I'm giving this up. As it was she had snagged on one of the many rocks which at this water level was always a possibility unless it was a light lure.

Top of beat Portnacraig bank

I had a good morning lots of fish showing but downriver they were on the wrong side of the water for my fly casting and they would not react to any lures.
As it turned out the afternoon fish were now showing in the middle channel, again out with my fly range and even the ace fisherman couldn't reach them he was also spinning. The heat was now intense, without doubt the hottest day of the year and the sun-cream was being plastered on. When you fish the Portnacraig bank you get all the tourists watching you so don't muck up your casting. I should be sitting with them enjoying a cold lager without all this gear on.

Fisherman wading near Pornacraig steps

By now 3 of the 6 people fishing had gone for the day, too hot. The fish were still showing well but nothing had been caught now for over 6 hours.
For me another hour in the sun was enough for the day. Again no fish but again I really enjoyed the day. Big flies, little flies nothing worked for me. But that otter will live long in the memory. Checked the blog and nothing recorded by the evening guys either.
There is plenty of water that can be released from the dam with water levels potentially rising very quickly so anglers must be wary. I have attached an earlier photo which shows the water exploding out the dam.

East Haugh Beat River Tummel

The river from the back road

Salmon fishing today on the East Haugh beat of the River Tummel in glorious Perthshire. 
I have fished this stretch a few times for the brown trout but it is only my second visit for salmon. The Tummel is a fast running river and I find this river in particular and also this beat very difficult for wading. Maybe I am too much of a scardy cat now but fast water and a very boulder strewn riverbed mean I don't wade out too far and never without a wading stick.

An example of the boulders you wade on in the water

I ate a full hotel breakfast and made the short drive to the river where I parked at the single track drive in just off the A9. I decided that most of the day would be fly fishing only as I had a reasonable walk up and down the beat and I didn't want to be carrying two rods plus the wading stick. Kitted out I carefully crossed the railway line, very fast trains so very definitely stop and look. You can see a fair way down the line in each direction so no need for the listening bit.

Looking towards Poltreigh

This brings you to the beat hut which is normally shut but today it was open with a small 2 man tent set up nearby. This surprised me, poachers I thought but it turned out it was 2 guys staying for a few days and they said they had bought their permits from the named beat owner so there. One was spinning away from where I was going but the other one, beer in hand, showed me a picture on his mobile of a salmon he had caught about 6am this morning, spinning. The only salmon that they had seen in 3 days.
I walked up to the northern end of the beat and fished my way down. There was a guy mid river at the end of the West Haugh beat who said he had caught 2 today.
Optimistic I started at Poltreigh and made my way down the beat casting a yellow and black tube fly to no avail. I even fished the sections not normally productive, just in case.

Home Stream where I caught my broonie

Down at the Home Stream section my hopes rose, I got a solid thud through the rod, the rod bent a little and out came a brown trout about a 1lb in weight. A nice wild fish but not what I was looking for.

Looking upriver at Peg Legs

On I went through the Cut and up to The Ferry Stream. A few fly changes on the way but still no success. Taking care as the boulders at the edge were slippy with algae, just another little obstacle.
I fished back to the hut which was I could see that the door was closed but just as I got there the guys arrived back from a shopping trip to Pitlochry but more a trip to visit the local pubs, we had a good chat and a few laughs but I don't think that they will be doing much more fishing tonight.
A last hour was spent spinning in the deep pool at Peg Legs where the salmon had been caught earlier in the day but no success.

The calm water at Peg Legs the hut on the right

At the pool the slow water had a swirling foaming eddy where the brown trout were feeding away on the trapped insects. One that rose would have been a specimen fish all right. Sods law I had no fly rod with me. I did try spinning to no avail as they were only interested in the early evening hatch.

Looking down the calm towards The Cut

However, I had a very nice day out, had an osprey for company at one point but it could not see any fish either and stayed up in the sky. The weather stayed reasonable, rain threatened a few times but passed over. Apart from the photo I never saw a live salmon nor felt one touch my rod. That's fishing for you and I will return.

Loch Rannoch Stunning views

I was on day 2 of my fishing trip and another bucket list tick when I fished this stunning loch. I had cycled in this area but never fished it. A days permit bought on-line from the Pitlochry site cost £8 which is reasonable. The weather forecast was good so with a good Scottish breakfast inside me off I went.

The 1st bay looking south

Loch Rannoch is a big water about 10 miles long and about 1 across. There is not a great deal of fishing information on-line, most recommend fishing by boat with the hope of getting a monster deep lying ferox trout. But I was fishing the bank so it was a case of stopping and trying my luck. Brown trout was my quarry but it is a known pike water so would try to spin for them as well.
I went across the bridge at Kinloch Rannoch to start on the south shore and head west. Just over the bridge a few pike guys were settled down playing their waiting game, not really for me.

Bay 2 looking north note some snow on hills

The first bay I stopped at looked perfect. The water was gin clear. There were old camp fires so probably used by some pike guys. I waded out for a distance. cast all round and waded down the water but never saw or touched a fish. I tried spinning for 10 minutes but the bay was too shallow and rocky which the lures kept snagging on. Still the views were stunning, absolute peace and tranquillity I was in heaven.

The rocky bay

I moved a couple of miles to another glorious bay and started again. It looked an even better spot that the first but exactly the same fishing outcome but even better views looking east with Schiehallion's top peaking over the top of the smaller hills. The wading was trickier in this bay as although the water was still crystal clear there were many large boulders that needed careful manoeuvring up and/or around.
Decided to move over to the other side of the loch. At the most southern part of the loch a pair of golden eagles flew over from Rannoch moor area, circled about then went up in a thermal to disappear, just breathtaking. I found what I considered to be a cracking looking bay to fish just past Bridge of Gaur. Again more evidence of fires and the parking areas were trampled. Sadly there was litter lying about despite an empty council rubbish bin less than 10 metres away. I cannot understand people who will take the time to travel to lovely spots like this and leave their litter and mess. No wonder the Loch Lomond park area are trying to ban irregular camping to clamp down on the rubbish.
Rant over I waded into the water. For over an hour a great insect hatch was on but I only saw one fish rise and it was way to far out. I couldn't believe it. I fished up and down the bay, dries and wets but nothing was moving or taking. Unbelievable. A nice chop on the water it should have been perfect. It was great wading with an excellent sandy bottom and no rocks here. Still the views were stunning and I spotted a red throated diver on the water. Quite a while since I saw one of them so another bonus.

Schiehallion peaking above the hills

Decided to go up to Rannoch Station for a snack, always worth a visit, remote and rugged and great baking.
Back to the same spot for another bash. An hour of fly followed by an hour of pike spinning still saw nothing move in the water. A local came down who told me that the trout here were notorious for not rising to feed whilst snow remained in large quantity on the hills. This bay I was fishing had magnificent views of the snow clad Glencoe hills. An old wives tale or not it was true for today.
As I was having my final casts I noticed some shapes on the hills opposite. Had they been there all the time? No they moved. At the car I got out the binos to confirm a red deer herd about 40 strong. Great to watch. Just as I was packing up some German tourists arrived in a camper-van. Being a friendly native I pointed the deer out to them and his originally broken English became a lot more fluent. Excited they were but I was not expecting his next question which was 'Are they farmed'? They were more happy when I told them they were wild. Got waves as I left the parking area.

Red Deer herd

Overall not a fish caught and only one sighted but paradoxically I had a great day. The views were stunning at every part I fished. The traffic, particularly on the south side was non existent. Peace and tranquillity. The wildlife was a bonus. I was on a high for my drive back to the hotel.
Just needed the fish!!

Perfect bay looking towards Glencoe

Perfect bay looking towards outward activity centre (I think)

Loch Ceann a'Bhaigh South Uist

It was planned early in the year that my good lady and myself would go to South Uist for a weeks holiday which would incorporate some fishing for myself. She would indulge in her outdoor artistic work whilst I fished. All the best of intentions but the weather in the West of Scotland has been awful for most of April, May & June so far. I fished last week in Loch Rannoch (see post) where the snow was still on the hills, June dammit.

The narrow gap looked a nice spot

The slightly choppy ferry crossing from Uig in Skye to Lochmaddy in North Uist indicated that the high winds were not going anywhere and so it proved. For he whole week there were constant 25-30 mph westerly winds with regular gusts well exceeding that to make the fishing a no go this trip. Speaking to some guys who had taken a weeks holiday and paid to fish the estate waters their days on the waters were endurance tests with little fun and few fish. There was no insect life in the air so no rising fish. I was told that the trout were still deep lying and the only real option was to get down into the depths and make very fast retrieves, not my ideal fishing.

The 30 seconds of blue sky makes it look good!!

I had the OS map all highlighted with the smallish waters I wanted to fish in between tourist stuff with the wife, frustration. I probably could have fished but the good lady could not have done her outdoor work.
However, on my last night I decided to give it a bash. Although this water was not on my list we had walked some of the area the other day. I noted that I could bank fish reasonably well here. My only concern was that it had a salmon farm further up and as I had not seen any fish move, was it barren water? 
I parked my car in a small lay-by and as soon as I got out I was having second thoughts. The wind was howling through at a rate of knots but I was here so half an hour anyway. The wind conditions dictated the bank I was fishing from as it was blowing left to right, my right handed casting meant the dangerous hooks were being blown away from me. Kitted up so at least I was not cold I put the rod together. I heeded the advice and put on my sinking line and a bibio up top with a small black pennel on my only dropper, in this wind only 2 flies.
Beside the car parking area the loch narrowed for a stretch with 2 foam lines right down the middle with the waves looking like the sea. The edges were heavily weeded, green slimy stuff but the middle looked deep water. Trying to cast straight was impossible as the wind immediately took the line at right angles. To get out to the middle I had to resort to casting from the water itself rather than casting through the air and this did work better, better being a relative term. I was moving with every cast but was having to clean the weeds from the hooks regularly.

Back to the grey/windy reality, looking up to the salmon farm

Still not seen a fish yet I managed to find deeper water with some shelter at my back which eased casting. I changed flies and went with an orange dunkeld, more of a sea trout fly to act more as an attractor. Within 3 casts a good tug from the dark waters and a decent fighting brownie surfaced and tried somersault its way off the hook but I got it in, weighed 3/4lb it will do, back to fight another day.

The 1st broonie nice fish

Sadly I was now back in the stormy winds again, this is not really a lot of fun. I heard barking which surprised me as I am a reasonable way away from crofts but wind does make the sound travel. More barking closer this time and then the rod bent, another fish was on. Just as I raised the rod I heard a splash close beside me and 2 rather large red deer, one stag and one hind, leapt the burn beside racing across the moor towards the hills. Thank god I had not been in their path as it would have been a nasty accident in the making. I got the trout in, smaller than the first and released safely. I then heard an owner calling and 3 dogs appeared on a hillock then careered back towards the road. No doubt them that spooked the deer.
The rain was now on and the wind was worsening so I called it a day. I had been out a couple of hours got 2 fish so better than blanking. Considering the estate boat guys were only catching about 4 in a full day I was content.
On the way back I passed this mud patch with this print in it. I know otters a very common up here, was this a print, the rear one shows 5 clear nails? I will pretend it was as it makes for a better story.

Otter or not?

Time for a beer or a dram and warm up.
I will be back for a full weeks fishing soon.

River Aline

Today was to be the highlight of the trip, fishing for salmon and sea trout on the River Aline. When I booked our party onto the river I spoke to the ghillie who in fairness said that if the weather was in our favour then this would be one of the prime times to fish the river. The river is deemed to be a spate river which means that it needs rain to make it run/fish well. Of course it had not rained for weeks so the river was almost bone dry and as such no fish were running and hence no fishing for us.
The bridge into the estate, photograph below, shows the imposing Ardtornish lookout tower where you can see that the current owners have built their home on top of the tower. I'm sure the views looking down Loch Aline will be stunning but they didn't invite us in so I cannot say for sure.

The river has declined from its heyday and as such the Ardtornish Estate are trying to bring it back to its prime. One of the initiatives is its own salmon hatchery which functions by stripping eggs from a salmon caught in the river, growing them on and releasing the fry back into the river. Most of these will die through natural wastage but those that survive will return to their place of birth in the future thus creating the circle of life and ultimately more fish running the system.
The picture below is taken from the bridge looking upstream. This was taken about a month later and would have been ok for fishing, when we were there the water flow was a trickle.

River Aline looking upriver

A few of us walked the river and it looks a lovely place to fish. All of the river can be fished mainly from the bank with normal single handed rods. In places you can see where the estate have created rock dams but leaving a space for the salmon to come through thus controlling the runs. I'm sure it looks very different in a spate and much more fun.
The picture below, again taken from the bridge, looks down Loch Aline but in the foreground is the pool where the salmon will hold before making their way upriver. This pool is out of bounds to anglers.

Looking downriver to Loch Aline

Oh well off to a loch again.
As an aside, in the hotel bar that night, I was speaking to a farm worker who was out herding cattle that day alongside the river. He mentioned a large pool close to where we were where trapped salmon were leaping out of the water. They must be frustrated beasts. He wasn't for giving us the exact location which is fair enough. I wouldn't have wanted to fish these pools under these conditions but it would have been nice to see.
Another one of those, I will be back, situations.

Penwhapple May15

2 men in a boat looking back to the dam

This reservoir is one of my favourite fishing spots despite the introduction of wind turbines covering one side. If you fish with your back to them you can pretend they are not there as on the other banks you only spot a blade edge over the top of a hill.
This remote reservoir is a hidden gem as being in the middle of nowhere it is only lightly fished. This week was my first trip of the year and it only opened to visiting anglers this week due to the ongoing works to the dam and the carpark. I'm glad I had not driven down earlier in the year on the off chance.
As it is up on the hills the water usually has a good chop on the surface, if not sea going sized waves, depending on the wind strength. I prefer the bank fishing rather than a boat and with some of the waves I have seen here the ones on the boat anglers are either experienced, mad or both.

The horrible turbines

So to my surprise I climbed the 50 odd steps up from the carpark to discover the water was flat calm mirror status. I could see the ripples of good fish rising to sup the hatching insects stuck in the water trap just under the surface. A few sweary words were uttered as I intended to fish dries today but that would be difficult in this flat calm gin clear water.
A boat was just edging away from the hut, a few greetings exchanged, no idea who they were but nice and polite. No engine on the boat just the clanking of the younger one using the oars.
I walked down to where I wanted to start fishing and put on a pair of wet flies, a small Kate McLaren and a small Black Pennell. I cast out out and retrieved without success. Next cast I put out the line and looking over the water I decided to take a couple of pictures on the phone to show the guys later how calm it was. Photos taken and phone safely back in zipped pocket I lifted the line to recast to find I had a rainbow attached to the pennell fly. Once the line tightened it realised it had a hook in its mouth and shot out of the water like a rocket launched from a submarine, spinning and twisting it dislodged the hook. I could do nothing about it as I had too much slack line. What a surprise and a good fun start.

After 10 minutes the fish were rising steadily and as the wind rose slightly the chop appeared on the water, excellent conditions. Two guys appeared one chatty the other not and started fishing fairly close to me. This is a huge water and a bit ignorant of them but hey. Even more frustrating they both pulled in one quickly but thankfully then started to walk round away from me.
I changed to a two dry fly cast for about 90 minutes, changing flies regularly. The fish were still feeding away and although I was getting interest I could not match the hatch enough to catch any.

The slack line to the left that caught the fish

Two ospreys appeared overhead with a buzzard in tow, just for a look, they were showing really well but might have been a mating pair as they were showing off to each other and too high for serious fishing. My favourite bird so a bonus point for the day.
A change of tactic was required and back onto wets, a bibio on point and a variety of flies went onto dropper. Well, for the next two hours I had fun, I landed 3 rainbows all to the bibio, I lost another 3 and had well over a dozen good tugs at the flies. I had intended to release all my fish today but the one below took over 10 minutes to land and was bleeding by that time. It was a cracking rainbow weighing 4.5lb certainly bending my 6 weight rod in half as it fought. The fish here have always been good fighters for their size especially the blues. I was surprised that I didn't catch even a small brownie today only rainbows.

The one that didn't get away

In my previous visits my experience is that the fish go off after 1pm for a siesta or whatever and catches are significantly reduced. This happened again today with the occasional fish breaking the surface, far fewer than earlier and further out beyond bank casting. The wind had also risen considerably as well as changing direction, now right into me which in turn made casting harder. This might also have contributed to the fish going down.
The 2 anglers reappeared and whist one stayed his distance the non speaking one again came and started fishing close by, what an ignorant prat. The friendly one came around for a chat but not a word from the space invader. I did catch and lose one during this period until I left at 3.30 but compared to the morning session it was night and day. Also a single osprey appeared much lower this time and I watched it dive down towards the water on the far bank but I don't think it caught anything, too far away to see clearly.
Another angler appeared for a chat so in total only 6 people fishing so far on a Saturday, unbelievably quiet.
So all in all I had a really enjoyable day, great fishing and scenery and for a tenner for a days sport, with a 4 fish kill if you want, a bargain.

Loch Arienas

I was so looking forward to visiting this loch in the heart of the Morven peninsula, as it is one not many people will have fished, including myself. We were on a 3 day fishing trip which was to be a day on this loch, a day fishing the River Aline for salmon and the final day on Loch Tearnait. The weather was more like high summer than early spring. 
Loch Arienas is a big water about 2 miles in length and 3/4 mile wide at its broadest.
You can bank fish some of it but wading is not recommended so we had arranged for two of the boats from the Ardtornish estate who own the water. We were surprised that the boats were not traditional standard loch boats but more of a flatter, broader design. These are probably very difficult to sink or capsize but they are not the most manoeuvrable boats we have been on.

The day was warm, the sky was clear and the water was like a mirror. The water was crystal clear, as good as I have seen. However, these are not good conditions for fishing for brown trout. We had fished from the bank for a couple of hours yesterday and caught some small brownies close in but we could see good fish rising further out.

Clear mirror water

Today was the exact opposite, we saw exactly 3 fish surface in a full day's fishing and needless to say we caught zilch between the 4 of us. After a couple of hours of nothing happening we fished the far bank and a large salmon breached the water between the 2 boats. Heart rates rose and we were energised again but that was it for the morning. We went up and down the loch but no fish were rising so all the fishing was under the water using intermediate and sinking lines. We tried conventional wet flies and even resorted to a couple of small lures and sea trout flies.
Apart from the salmon the main event of the day was the arrival of a seaplane which flew over the loch hugging below the cliffs of the ridge, what a view they would be having. It turned at the far end of the loch and flew back towards us. I said to Colin that it was going to buzz us but no it dropped right down and landed on the loch and motored up the other bank and turned. It sat for a minute or two then the engines roared and off it went back down the water and then up into the sky and gone. I have never witnessed that before when out fishing.

The Seaplane

Back to the sun bathing. At about 2ish a slight wind got up and a ripple appeared on the water, brill just what we wanted. Immediately a fish splashed close by followed by another shortly after, probably the same fish. But optimism again, dry flies on but despite changing every 15 minutes an hour went past with no hits and no more fish spotted. 
For the rest of the time we fished near the salmon fish-farm where we were told big trout had been caught but not today.
What a disappointment but all anglers know you get days like that.
I got even more pissed off when the guys in the other boat described a bird that had watched. From their description it was almost certainly a sea eagle, a bird I have never seen, was I jealous.

Looking to the West

The positives are it is a lovely place to fish, almost no noise, very tranquil, as you are in a remote spot. There are fish in here as the salmon proved, the record brown trout is almost 7lbs, so I will be back another day.
As we packed up we spotted 6 red deer, all young males grazing in a hollow close by. Almost certainly immature stags chased away by the king stag as the rutting season is imminent. It was ironic as we had spent a good part of the day studying the hills and ridges to see if we could spot any deer. There are plenty of deer fences covering these hills so there must be a lot of deer as well. If you are bank fishing there are a herd of Highland cattle that roam freely as you can tell from there droppings. No doubt they are docile beasts but as always take care.

Mirror image