South Uist Fishing Reports - from The Anglers' Retreat
As at Weds 6 July 26
April/May 26
And we are off! First day of the 26 season was with Mark James on U Kildonan. Bright sunshine, flat calm and hot but despite this we managed 7 to 1.75lb, 3 of which were caught on dry flies during a hatch. We missed a further 10.
Next up was East Bee with Mark James and MarkFreeman. I haven't fished Bee much in the last few years due to low water and weed issue, but water levels are good across the island at the moment due to the huge amount of rain we had in the first 2 weeks of April. First drift - the hole, and Mark James hooks this monster that put up a hell of a scrap 6.25lb beauty! We then had a great day with a further 11 inc 4@ 2lb and 2 @1.5lb, to top the day off our last drift was the hole again and Mark Freeman caught a lovely 3.5lb fish. Great day - fish it quickly before the weed becomes a problem.
Grogarry proved more challenging with just 7 small fish, again in quite difficult sunny conditions. N Olaphat did its usual and produced 21 nice fish and great sport. The sun then came out for 2 days with flat calm conditions so Stilligary and Bornish did not fish well with just a few small fish each. Caravan was a wash out despite decent conditions although they both lost/ moved big fish. The final day for Mark James was Mid Ollay, first on this season we moved about 35 and landed 18 best 1.75lb in a freezing cold NE blustery wind, great fun.
As predicted last week was also very cold and bright with northerly winds, fishing was really hard on some days. The best fishing was on Stilligary where Callum and George Thompson were casting to rising fish and managed 14 with the best at 2.5lb. Colin Poton and John Watson matched it the following day. The week started very well for George who landed a superb 4.5lb brownie on the second drift of the day on E Bee, he following this with a hard fighting 2.5lb fish and we ended the day with 5. N Olaphat was below par with 11 to the boat, but they raised a further 25. Mid Ollay fished well for George and Callum with 12; Callum had some good bank sport inc a 2.5lber. Three days later Colin and John only managed 3 on there as conditions deteriated.Druidibeg Skipport produced 29 small fish for Callum and George. Colin and John had 5 to 1.5lb on Grogarry, but only 1 from Hallan which is now unfishable from the boat. On E Bee Colin had a fine 2.5lb fish on the second cast but nothing after that, They all worked incredibly hard but conditions across the island were tough. E Bee is now very low and will be unfishable soon due to weed as the level drops. No rain now for nearly a month.
Last week was by far the most challenging i have experianced here, with a 'feels like' temp still in the 6-8deg region and biting northerly winds, in bright sun, and with stirred lochs, the fish were just not in the mood anywhere. John Archibald battled on and managed some fish everyday, all around 1/2lb mark. His last day on Stilligary, which was not stirred, we saw olives hatching and between us managed 12 best 2lb. It was fun watching the Sand Martins feeding on the loch and they clearly showed the hatch areas so we followed them and had success each time casting to rising fish.
The better weather promised last week didin't materialise and guests Simon Barnes, Rich Knight, Paul Dixon and Nick West battled on regardless and produced some good returns. Paul and Nick started well with 35 on both sides of Druidibeg and followed this with 14 on Stilligarry, 2 on Grogarry, 16 on Dun a Cille, 15 on Mid Ollay including a lovely 3lber, and 4 on U Kildonan, they had a number of 2lb fish and did really well given the windy and cold conditions. Simon and Rick started well with 12 on Mid Ollay and 12 on Stilligary but the weather got the better of them on Grogarry and Bornish (where a moved to Caslub produced some good sport to 2lb). Even N Olaphat only produced 13 in a howling gale. Tough week allround and while the south basked in 25+deg we had gloves and 4 layers on!!
Last week was a right mix of weather and fishing fortunes. Graham North and Duncan Brown enjoyed great sport on East Ollay with 10 nice fish, Altebrug (10), 16 cracking fish on Mid Ollay inc a 2.5lber and a wonderful 4.5lb fish on W Ollay and much excitement on Dun a Cille (19) which is fishing very well this season. Niall Morrison and Tony Ronan had mixed fortunes but had good days on Mid Ollay (6), Caslub (8) and a memerable day on Dun a Cille in wild conditions which produced 19. We still hav'nt seen the sort of weather that the mainland has but next week looks good.
June 26
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With a marginal uplift in the weather last week the fishing improved, especially during brighter and warmer conditions. Regulars
Martin Bamforth and Colin West had mixed fortunes but managed 16 on E Ollay, 7 on Mid Ollay in foul weather, 19 on Druidibeg Skipport and 12 on U Kildonan but their days on Bornish and Stilligary were very poor for no apparent reason.
Colin Campbell and Gerry Bannister faired better and had a total of 129 fish for the week. Good days were had on Drudibeg Skip with 35, U Kildonan 20, best 2lb, W Olaphat 19, 25 on N Olaphat and a super day on Mid Ollay with 18 to the boat but around 40 moved/ lost inc some big fish. Their only duff day was on Bornish which is being tempremental at the moment. There is a total lack of fly life everywhere at the moment and fishing is being hampered by low temperature and variable wind. We need a summer!
It's getting very boring now but for the last 2 weeks the weather has yet again made life very difficult for the anglers. Long term regular Reuben Girling was joined by 2nd time this year returner Mark Freeman and his pal Dave Ingham and John Nolan who has also been coming for years. Between them they had some notable days but also some poor ones. Reuben and I sarted well with 28 on Druidibeg Drimore and 13 on N Olpahat which are both always reliable, Upper Bornish with only 2 in a gale less so but 7 on U Kildonan whilst still stirred was ok. We tried SUAC Loch Lasgair one am and moved 8 fish but only landing 3 to 1.5lb, nice 1/2 day loch though.
I took Mark and Dave on Druidibeg Drimore as well and they had 13 (should have been loads more). Mid Ollay was poor with only one fish.....but what a fish 3.5lb and it fell to Dave to get the best fish of the week. West Olaphat and Bayhead were medioce but their best day was on U Kildonan which produced 8 good fish to 2lb. John Nolan predominantly fished the bank and had a few fish in most lochs he tried. For all of them it was challenging
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Last week Mark Eversleigh and Dave Campbell came up from London for their first trip to the Uists. They got the full experience with yet another week of poor weather and high winds. Despite this they did well with a dozen each on Druidibeg and West Olaphat (great quality fish this year). They had a 3 loch day and had just 2 on Caslub but 6 on Lasgair and 14 on Dun Mhor. A Salmon and big seatrout were caught on Tuesday in Roag so we ventured out on Fada on Thursday, sadly it was empty so we went to Bayhead and had a fun afternoon catching 8 good sized fish. They really enjoyed a couple of half days bank fishing a couple of local lochs and moved over 20 fish and caught a few around 2lb.
Colin Biggs was also in for part of the week to fish the sea pools and banks but also enjoyed a half day on Druidibeg catching 8.
I'm now taking a break and the next report will be on 9 Aug.
Aug 26
Sep 26
Best catches to Date
6.5 lb Brownie - E Bee - Mark James
4.25lb Brown - E Bee - George Thompson
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