Which are the best lochs for brown trout fishing in Scotland?

I think that it is generally agreed that the best rivers for brown trout fishing in Scotland are; Tweed, Spey, (parts of Tay), Annan and of course the Don. But which are the best lochs for wild brown trout?

In the past – perhaps 30 or 50 years ago – there were very good lochs throughout all parts of Scotland where you could expect to take many good trout with every visit. However, today most of the lochs in the central region of Scotland are populated almost exclusively with rainbow trout. Although I have had some great days on lakes like Menteith, Butterstone, Glencorse and Frandy, I am not a fan of rainbow trout. The fact that these fish are not indigenous to Scotland and that they are artificially fed in their developing years, detracts from their appeal. For me, I want to catch totally natural, wild fish - the size of the fish is not so important. It means much more to me to know that I have made a fly and put it onto the water with sufficient skill to deceive a naturally feeding wild fish.

So, today you must go north if you want to find the best still water fly fishing for wild brown trout. These are my recommendations;

Loch Leven

Loch Assynt and the lakes of limestone above Inchnadamph

The lakes of limestone in Cape Wrath – in particular; caladail and borralie

The lakes of Orkney – in particular; Harray, Boardhouse and Swanney

Certainly there are thousands of other lakes throughout Scotland where you can find very good sport, but in my opinion, if you want to find the best, you must be prepared to travel. Click here for more information.

Cooking Pike Recipe

Here’s a great recipe for baked stuffed pike. In my experience it seems to work best with a fish of about 3-5lbs.

1. clean and descale your fish, then remove the backbone but leave on the head and tail
2. cook about one cup of wild rice, then put it to one side to cool down
3. dice one large onion, 2 cloves of garlic and one medium sized skinned cucumber
4. salt the chopped cucumber and leave for about 15-20 minutes.
5. fry off the onion, garlic and cucumber in a couple of knobs of butter – take to translucent rather than brown
6. coarsely chop up 2 or 3 hard-boiled eggs, some capers, some olives, curly parsley, chives and fresh thyme
7. combine the rice, fried onion mix and chopped ingredients, then add a couple of spoonfuls of crème fraiche and season with salt and plenty of pepper
8. stuff the cavity of the cleaned pike with the savoury stuffing mix and stitch or tie the fish closed
9. place the stuffed fish onto a lightly buttered baking dish and put into a preheated oven at 200ºC
10. after 5 minutes, turn the fish and put it back into the oven for another 5 minutes
11. add half a cup of water and half a cup of white wine and turn the oven down to 175ºC
12. cook for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the fish is firm, but not hard, to the touch

Enjoy!!!

Who would you like to fish with and who is banished to a peat bog?

I see that Silvio is up to his old tricks again – this time with an 18 year old belly dancer!

It does make me laugh when you compare the British reaction of indignation and outrage with the Italian response of male admiration and female resignation. Anyway, while musing on the strange experience it would be to spend some “quality” time with that great Italian icon, I got to thinking in whose company I would most like to spend a day on the river and, conversely who would I most like to see up to their waist in a Sutherland peat bog in winter wearing a T-shirt. Here are my selections…

Those I would love to fish with but probably never will…

Paul Young (Hooked on Fishing)       

knowledgeable, a good and experienced fisherman and seems like an all-round top chap

Gareth Edwards (Rugby Icon)          

comes across as a totally genuine character – see the October issue of Trout & Salmon

Gordon Brown

well-read and he really needs cheering up

Rob Brydon

would be a brilliant laugh in the hut at lunchtime

Kate Middleton

well connected for an invitation onto the Dee           

Those I would love to fish with but certainly never will…

Norman Stone

(legendary ghillie on the Kinchurdy beat of the River Spey)

good friend and best ghillie there ever was

Mr Crabtree               

the storybook character that fuelled my childhood inspiration to fish

Those I would like to see banished to the peat bog…

The heads of all UK banks

for institutionalising fraud, trickery, deceit, incompetence and greed

Robson Green

far too noisy

Simon Cowell

pointless

Harriet Harman

tells more lies than any fisherman I know

Vladimir Putin

downright scary