Loch trout in Scotland

Loch Charn

last week I enjoyed a relaxing week away North of the border in Scotland south of Oban at kilninver.  Readers of my blog may have noted we stopped there last year .  Anyway for various reasons we ended up back there this year.   We stayed in a converted Kirk, It wasnt a fishing holiday but rather a holiday with the opportunity to do a little fishing ,  We visited the same place last year I can recomend it. 

As we were on holiday heres a tourist type photo to prove it. This is Inveraray Castle. Whilst the family enjoyed the Castle, myself and my labrador explored the estate and particularly the view of the estate river I still dont know its name ,  I am a habitual bridge leaner how many of you anglers can cross a bridge without a gaze into the depths below .  There were trout there after a few minutes watching its strange how they suddenly become visible.  Its also strange how they remain invisible to non angling companions. 

This year I fished the Little loch Charn which is about a half hour walk up into the hills behind the house we were stopping in its a delightful place and the walk up to it is accompanied by The attention of the resident hoodies, not the inner city type but the crows that seem to follow you up the path... The heather lines the route and the buzzards circle in the sky. The lichen grown thickly on everything and in close up its like a miniature forest.

Loch Charn is a pretty little hill loch that remains invisible till you are pretty much on top of it.  It didnt disspoint though,  its clear peaty waters looked very trouty and I soon found the dinghy which was handily moored in a little cut away section of bank.

This hill loch proved to have nice shallow margins but shelved away very quickly as the short anchor rope in the dinghy proved...  The fish were small but well marked .  They were among the edges of the reed and water lily beds.  They came to the top dropper it needed a small black bushy fly. No doubt taken for a terrestrial .

The fish are dark and very hard fighting for their size. The takes were never shy and the fight was acrobatic.   Its a very different type of fishing for me,  I am used to small rivers and fast water.  At least since I have been fishing this year with spiders I can knot a decent dropper and am now have had a few trips loch fishing , but I am not yet an expert on this style of fishing I also doubt I ever will become one. I visited this loch a couple of times. Once the kids walked up to it with me , my ever faithfull labrador just about went into meltdown at the sight of me rowing out into the lake .

 A few of the fish that were caught over a couple of trips ,  there were many but these few are a fair sample all similer sizes the only difference was the colours, strange how these loch fish vary so much even within a real small area.