I am writing this first blog to record a fishing trip to Sutherland in May 2017.
Normally I would be fishing in the Highlands with members of my Edinburgh based angling club but this year I will be going to Bermuda for the America’s Cup which takes place at the same time as the angling club’s trip. My usual local angling companion was also unable to accompany me as he was recovering from surgery and, as I am addicted to wild trout fishing and the Highlands, I decided to go on my own.
Wanting to explore parts of Sutherland that I had not visited before I decided to hire a camper van and use this as my base.
Day 1
After a slow journey from Perth I arrived at Arbriach in the late morning to pick up the motorhome Matilda. Coleen, from Northern Ireland, greeted me and showed me how things worked. With over 100,000 miles on the clock the van was showing a bit of age but seemed perfectly OK for my purposes. I was concerned that I might find it difficult to drive with my injured shoulder as it had a manual gearbox but the gear lever was almost waist height and I found it easy to change gear. After stashing all my bags and fishing equipment aboard I set off to Ullapool. It was a slow journey on account of the commercial vehicles and the few stretches of dual carriageway. I shopped for essential supplies at Tesco’s and headed off to the Inchnadamph Hotel to purchase a fishing permit from The Assynt Angling Group.
The hotel looked interesting and I made a mental note to check the tariff online for future reference. There were two men at reception talking to the receptionist who both turned out to be members of the A A Group, indeed one was on the committee. They were enthusiastic anglers and urged me to try this loch and that loch, pointing them out to me on a framed Ordnance Survey map on the wall nearby. A good start, I thought.
I pressed on to Lochinver where I knew there to be a couple of campsites and reached there about 5.30pm. A nice little fishing port with a bank, Post Office general store and a couple of pubs and restaurants. On the way in I spotted a sign for campsites and retraced my steps and started off down a narrow road in the direction indicated which was towards Stoer. The lane was quite busy with cars, caravans and motor homes which made progress difficult as there were few passing places and there were ewes with their lambs nonchalantly crossing and recrossing the lane. I eventually came to a split in the road with signs denoting campsites pointing in both directions. The one to the left said “No dogs” so I went to the right. The road seemed to go on for ever swinging left to right, up and down but eventually we arrived at Clachtoll Beach.
The girl at reception, a Yorkshire lass from Leeds, was most helpful and gave me, a confessed beginner, a thorough introduction to the site. I went for a serviced site, which had a power supply and a water connection. This meant I could power up my iPad and telephone. She explained that there was WiFi but “it was rubbish”. She was right – if you were within about 20 yards of the router you could get it but otherwise nothing. There was no signal for my telephone either.
I went back into Lochinver and had fish & chips at the pub and a pint and returned to the campsite, bedded down for the night and slept like a baby.
Day 2
The day started dull and showery. I decided to fish the nearest loch to the campsite which I calculated I could easily walk to. This was Maiden Loch which according to Bruce Sandison ” offered exciting bank fishing”. The loch is an irregular shape with many inlets and rocky islands and although is good for bank fishing, the terrain is quite challenging in places. I put my full weatherproofs on and set of up the hill to the loch in a slight drizzle. I started in a shallow bay with three wet flies and almost immediately started catching small trout not more than six or seven inches long. There seemed to be no favourite fly as I caught them on all three which were a Bibio, a Diawl Bach and a Peach Muddler. Later on I put on a dry fly and caught a few also but then things got quiet and I returned to my wet set-up and finally hooked a better fish of probably about 8 or 9 inches which I estimated to be about 1lb. By early afternoon I was pretty tired and wet and decided to call it a day. I hung my wet things out in the van as best I could and made myself a salad before settling down for the night exhausted.
Day 3
A cold start, but dry, and I set off for Loch Beannach well wrapped up. The access point for the loch was about five miles east of Lochinver on the main road to Ullapool. The directions in the guide, Trout Fishing in Assynt, were not very clear and I had difficulty in finding the correct path. I ended up on the wrong side of the deer fence but eventually discovered the correct path which was through very boggy ground. (Heaven knows what it would be like after a lot of rain). The sun beat down and I got hotter and hotter and after about half an hour of difficult terrain the loch appeared – and what a loch. ” A beautiful and sprawling loch, festooned with tree covered islands” as the guide says, and indeed it is. Dries were the order of the day as the breeze was light and the sunshine bright. I started with a gingery coloured gnat and it immediately was taken, so quickly I was left gazing at the splash having missed the strike altogether. Plenty of small fish followed until about 3 o’clock when the wind changed direction and everything went dead. The journey back on the correct path was much easier and once safely back in the van I made myself some tea and hung my wet clothing on the nearby gate.
In the evening I went into Lochinver as I was curious about the famous pie shop and thought I would give it a try. The restaurant is actually called the Lochinver Larder and specialises in home made pies, both savoury and sweet. The place was very busy and I had not booked a table. However, I was shown to the area where take-away meals were collected and told to make myself comfortable as there were three or four tables and chairs for the take-away customers. I ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and grilled sea bass on a bed of mashed potatoes and wild garlic with asparagus tips. Truly delicious! I followed this with a rhubarb pie and custard which nicely completed one of the best restaurant meals I have possibly ever had.
Day 4
In the morning, after a general tidy up, I walked up to the Maiden Loch to give the far Eastern side a try. However having made the long walk and having tried several different wet and dry flies to no avail I decided to walk back and have some lunch. On the way I met another angler, George. From east of Edinburgh. He had also had a poor morning and had resorted to spinning and had picked up two small brownies. In the afternoon I took the van into Lochinver, stopping on the way to have a go at Lochen Sgeireach, which is the water supply for the village of Achmelvich. This loch is close to the road but completely hidden behind a rocky ridge and is a short scramble before actually seeing the water. It looked interesting but I fished there to no avail, trying almost everything in my bag. I guessed it was just one of those days when the fish were just not feeding, possible due to the changeable weather. The wind never settled into a permanent direction as one minute it was at my back and the next in my face. However, I felt that Loch Sgeireach had a lot of potential and I made a promise to give it another go at a later date. So into Lochinver in the evening and another wonderful meal at the Lochinver Larder.
Day 5
After checking out of the campsite at Clachtoll Beach I made my way towards Kylescu stopping on the way at Loch an Gainmhich. The loch looked bare and dour. I turned around and decided I would do the climb to the Red Corrie Loch, Loch a Choire Dheirg. The book said the walk was “Moderate” and it would take about an hour. It was an exhausting climb and took me at least an hour and forty minutes. It was obviously a young person who wrote the book! However, it was well worth it as the view was amazing and the loch itself, surrounded by the slopes of Glas Bheinn was truly beautiful. I duly tackled up and got ready to fish just the sun clouded over and a strong squall arrived practically knocking me off my feet. I waited for the squall to pass and although I could see sunshine over the sea about five miles away, the buffeting wind continued and after about half an hour I decided to return to the van. The return trip, down the steep sides of the Corrie, was if anything, more testing than the ascent and I was very glad to see the van slowly getting closer. Of course the sun had come out by then and the wind at ground level was merely a breeze so I decided to check out Kylescu. Kylescu lies at the head of Loch a’ Chairn Bhain, a sea loch of considerable size. It is a very pretty spot and has a delightful hotel and seafood restaurant. I made a mental note to visit again some time and to stay a few nights in the hotel.
I then made my way toward Oykel Bridge for some food at the Altnacealgach Inn on Loch Borrolan which I remembered from a previous visit. However the Inn appears to have changed hands and a lady informed me that food was not available, except on request from the guests staying at the motel. Luckily I had food in the van and I found a convenient lay-by near Loch Craggie where I cooked up some bacon & eggs and settled down for the night.
Day 6
Awoke at 5.30 to a beautiful sunny morning but shortly afterwards the mist rolled in and it didn’t clear again until about 8.30.
I motored back to Loch Borrolan and started fishing dries at the shallow eastern end of the loch working my way round the northern side towards the Inn. I caught plenty of “3 to the lb” but nothing bigger than 6 or 7 inches. A change to traditional Scottish Loch wet flies when the breeze got up produced much the same result but it was very relaxing, unhurriedly fishing in such beautiful surroundings. At about 11 o’clock I decided to move on to the Cam Loch which was on the route to Ullapool, my destination for the night. Cam Loch is more sheltered and I set up a single dry fly, a ginger coloured spider and set off hopefully. I caught small fish all around the loch, changing to a black spent gnat after the spider became chewed up. I continued to catch the odd small trout but hunger got the better of me and I decided to return to the van for some lunch. No sooner having got back to shelter, the sky darkened and a huge thunderstorm arrived and it really chucked it down. There were two boats on the loch and a young man fishing from an inflatable tube. One by one the bedraggled and soaked anglers made their way up the slope and back to their cars. I couldn’t help feeling a little smug, sitting warm and dry in the van, sipping a nice hot cup of tea!
The thunderstorm rolled round and round for about an hour so I headed for Ullapool to sort out the camp site and to book a place in the Seafarer Inn fish restaurant. This busy pub is a real gem and serves the most delicious seafood at very reasonable prices and I always look forward to eating there. On my way by foot into town from the car park I passed the Caledonian Hotel which looked rather nice and, on an impulse, stopped and asked if they had a single room. They had so I booked a room, unpacked a few things and ran a large bath. Such luxury! I soaked for about half an hour, consuming a miniature bottle of 12 year old that I had in my bag.
The Seafarer Inn was packed with a very rowdy Friday-night crowd and I was lucky to squeeze on to a small table, do a bit of people-watching and consume a large plateful of North Sea Hake washed down with a pint of the local brew.
Day 7
Very much refreshed after a comfortable night in a proper bed followed by a full Scottish breakfast, I set off for Inverness to return the van. As I was leaving the petrol station on the outskirts of Ullapool, having filled up the van, I almost ran into a young girl who was standing at the exit thumbing for a lift. I stopped and asked her where she was heading. She was on her way to Inverness where she was going to work as a waitress for the remainder of the summer. It seems she had just come back from backpacking around New Zealand and was not due to resume her work as a physiotherapist in London until the Autumn. She was excellent company and we had an enjoyable journey to Inverness, where I dropped her off in the centre of town before making my way back to Arbriach.
Reflections on the trip.
Would I do a similar camper van trip again? The answer is probably “yes” but with some reservations. The two berth van was fine for one but there was precious little space for all the usual clobber one has on a fishing expedition. It would certainly not work with more than one person, a much larger van would be necessary. Staying in a campsite, rather than wild-camping worked much better than I had anticipated. Angling is a solitary occupation but after a day on one’s own, some socialising was must and I found the fellow campers were excellent company.
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