South Uist Fishing Reports - from The Anglers' Retreat
As at Thurs 3 July 25
March/ April 25
For my first day out in 2025 I took a couple of mates out on E Bee on 20 March. I was not expecting anything but we had one to the boat on a drift and while transiting to the sluice end we disturbed a big fish in the narrows. On the way back I pulled in so they could fish the narrow channel, then all hell broke loose on the bank! !n 10 min one of my friends caught trout of 4, 4.75, 3.5 and 2.5lb almost on consecutive casts... amazing.
Our friends Neil & Nicky Stevens had their first taste of boat fishing on Stilligary at the end of the month and managed 4 to the boat but raised/ missed loads, mostly to Nicky's dapped fly. Encouraging.
May 25
My first fishing guest of the year was Andrew Farr who started on West Ollay (tough start), we moved to Dun Mhor in the afternoon and managed a few fish to get him in the groove. This was followed by Mid Ollay which was not on top form but still produced 6 trout and many more moved and missed. His final day was on Stilligary which yielded10 with 3 x 2lbers and another good fished lost plus at least another 12 moved/ missed in a strong, cold, north wind.
Regulars Colin Poton/John Watson and Callum/George Thomson in last week and it was a tricky one due to strong sunshine and light winds. Day one saw 11 of Mid Ollay and 6 to 2.5lb off Hallan to Callum. Stilligary produced a fantastic 20 but N Olaphat disappointed with only 14. Another good day on Hallan followed with 15 to Colin and John but Bornish was tough with only 5 to 1.75lb. West Ollay on a bright day had predictable results Nil but Mid Ollay produced another good 15. Grogarry was painful with only 1 and a move to Dun Mhor only produced another 3 on a bright day and East Ollay the same with 3 but a move to Bayhead saved the day for Colin and John who had 12 including a finnock. Final day on U. Kildonan was slow but yielded 10 but at Hallan only 3 for Callum and George. More bright sun this week means it will be challenging. On the bright side the lochs have plenty of water except E Bee which will now be unfishable
The last 2 weeks have ben really tough due to the constant bright weather. Tony Ronan did well though with 23 on Druidibeg Skipport, 6 on Mid Ollay to 2lb, 2 on Hallan, 10 on N Olaphat. Bornish proved impossible and Dun A Cille not much better in the searing heat.
Last week Simon Barnes and Sam Macdonald suffered a similar fate but still managed a few and missed a few more: N Olaphat 15, Mid Ollay 6, Stilligary 7 to 2lb and fishing well, just 2 on Hallan which is now v low and weedy, Grogarry 1 but moved to Dun Mhor for 2 hrs and had 27! Finally Dun a Cille produced 8. Also in the house and on their first visit to the OH was Gus Greenlees and two pals Guy and Steve. Between them they had U Kildonan 6, Druidibeg Skipport 13, West Olaphat1, Grogarry 1, Dun a Cille 6 and finally Stilligary 9 and moved alot more.
Only 3 days fishing in the final week of May. Regulars Duncan Brown and Graham North started on MId Ollay and managed a few with Ali O Henley on a difficult day. I ghillied for the next 2 days and we had 6 on Stilligary moving a few good ones in the middle and finally North Olavat was its usual consistant self with 23 beautiful yellow bellies all in excellent condition.
Phil and Andrew Maclachlin started with me on Grogarry but it was obviously churned so I moved to Dun Mhor and we had alot of fun with 27 to the boat. Ali took them out on Hallan on a difficult day and managed 6. Their final day was on Dun a Cille and they had 19 with Ali. 80% over a lb in what they both described as one of their best fishing days ever, thanks Ali.
Its been a very unusual May; 3 weeks of blistering sunshine then 2 days of strong wind which churned the machair. Nowhere fished well until we got the cloud. Its more variable now so fishing should pick up in June.
June 25
.Martin Bamforth and Colin West started June with 3 days of howling gales to 59mph and heavy rain. Despite this we battled on and managed 11 to 2lb on Mid Ollay, 6 on E Olaphat and 6 on Druidibeg Drimore in awful conditions. Machair lochs well and truly stirred so back on Druidibeg at the Skipport side and had 23 and on North Olaphat we had 13 inc a beautiful 2lber. Machair clear for the last day on Bornish but it had a stiff chilly NW andind and we managed 6 best 2.75lb for Martin.
This week started with heavy rain and 8 fish to 1.5lb on W Olaphat for Reuben Girling. Ted Edger and Dave Pugh had a tough day on Grogary with 3 to a 1lb. Just one 2lb fish to Dave on West Ollay on a bright day followed. Reuben and Guy Wardle had 13 on Mid Ollay to 1.5 lb and Ted and Dave went with me to Caravan, the first time I have ever taken guests there. Our first two encounters of the fabled big fish in there resulted in two smashed leaders but Ted managed 2 beautiful 3lbers and Dave had a 2lb fish and 1 at1lb. A tricky loch to ghillie and requires a strong southerly wind to fish. Ted and Dave had 18 on Mid Ollay with me best 2lb. Bornish proved too much for Reuben and Guy as the wind got up to 30mph and the fish turned off but on North Olpahat we manged 23 to 1.5lb. On their final day Reuben and Guy had 4 on Stilligary with me inc 2 lovely 2lb fish to Reuben, Ted and Dave had 7 on U. Kildonan to 1.5lb. Thanks to Dave Christie for ghillieing the other boat. The coming week looks good weatherwise but as loch weed up fishing areas in some lochs are much reduced.
Busy week last week and it started with a bang for Mark James on Caravan loch when his 8lb leader was destroyed by a monster just 50m from the boat station, he made amends later with a lovely 4.25lb fish and a tremendous fight. Reuben Girling was in the boat with him and managed a lovely 2 lb fish as well. Mark had 13 on Mid Ollay to 2.5lb, 23 on N Olaphat and 4 on West Ollay where he lost a big one but managed 2 x 2.5lb fish and had more when he returned in the evening. The rest of the time he fished with Reuben and they had 7 to 2lb on Grogarry, 5 to 2.75lb on Bornish. Returner Bill Hayes and newby Mark Jones also had a good week with 34 on Druidibeg Drimore end, 15 on Mill to 1.5lb, 8 on East Ollay, 7 on Bayhead and a rather good night bank fishing on a local loch.
The final week of June saw regulars Julian Williams and Bob Aves come up, their week started well with 25 on N Olaphat but deteriating weather meant the rest of the week was a battle with the wind. That said they had 6 nice fish on Mid Ollayand a fun day on Schoolhouse and the sea pools catching finnock but their highlight was another fabulous day on Caravan where Julian had 2 cracking 4lb fish, plus a 2.5lber landed 10 seconds before I netted a similar fish which Bob had on, they also had a couple more at 1.5lb.
Rob Disbury and Alex Fisher were also over for the first time and had 2 cracking days with me on two different parts of Druidibeg (24/32), 8 on Upper Kildonan and 6 on Mill after being blown off Grogarry. They caught on all days but it was a baptism of fire for them.
I'm now off for a well earned break
July 25
Aug 24
First guests after our break were David Lonsdale and Dave Martell. They endured some pretty bad weather but had some memorable days as well, chief of these was without doubt the best day on Roag I have ever had in terms of numbers of Salmon and Seatrout showing. David managed his first Salmon, a 3.5lb Grilse, a 5.25lb Seatrout and a couple of others in the 2.5lb region, Dave managed one on 2.5lb but both missed more and must have seen 50 fish moving. Two good days on Druidibeg estate sides produced 54 trout and a lovely 3lb Seatrout to David besides Dun Raghhaill. Machair lochs were badly churned but N Olpahat and Dun Mhor saved the days with 14 on both. By the time we fished Fada on Saturday the heavy rain had pushed up the spawning burns twice and all the fish have run up the system.
No guests this week so I ghillied Ian Jones and his friends Gerald, Dave and Alan. We started on N Olaphat in a howling gale and heavy rain and between bank and boat they still managed a dozen trout before it got too dismal. Druidibeg club followed and we had a great day with over 30 caught between boat and bank mostly at the southern end. On Fada during strong winds Dave Lythgoe had a lovely 5lb Salmon around the burn mouth and Gerald sadly lost a nice seatrout in the west bay. Last day was on Dun a Cille were they had 22 by lunch and only 6 afterwards when the temperature dropped and cloud/ rain came in.
Generally its been a week of very high winds and loads of rain, all lochs are nearly full and the spawning burns have been in constant flood. Ghillies are reporting lots of Salmon and big Seatrout being caught, Ian Kennady says its the best he has seen in 30yrs!. Machair lochs have been unfishable however.
Simon Barnes (Simba Rods), Alan Craig and Douglas/ Ian Lowe just had a very challenging week with constant high winds but persevered and did quite well considering conditions. Best days were an incredible 35 on Bayhead, 30 &17 on N Olaphat, 31 on Druidibeg, 17 seatrout to 3.25/ 4.5lb on Fada (loads& bigger lost/ missed), 10 Seatrout on Roag in 58mph wind, 2 nice brownies to 2.25lb on West Ollay from the bank and a big one lost, 20 on East Ollay, 8 on Caslub and 10 seatrout from Castle best 3lb.
Last week Jim Gray and pals Bob, Jon and Roy endured the worst week of weather i have experienced here in 8yrs, everyday wind was above 42mph and heavy rain storms. They persevered but clearly had a difficult time despite there being a fair number of migatory fish in the system. Only 2 small seatrout and 32 brownies for the week but the highlight for me was watching total beginner Roy beat his friends on the last day on Druidibeg.
Full winter levels on all lochs now and I am confident that East Bee will again be fishable. Coming week looks good and finally the machair lochs will be fishable. Despite the weather, some very good Salmon and Seatrout were caught last week in what seems to be a bumper year.
Long time South Uist visitors Clive Lunn and Iain Whitehead had a difficult start to their trip with vv high water levels. The Roag burn burst ists banks and every loch at full winter height. Roag was a wash out on day one but they had 3 seatrout to 2.75lb on Fada the following day.. Another 2 seatrout to 2lb and a 3.5lb grilse followed on Schoolhouse. Castle produced a 2lber plus lots of brownies. Out day on West Ollay was largerly unprodutive until Iain had a loely 3.5lb fish and Clive lost a fish of 5lb plus. We had an outstanding day on Bharp with 16 finnock and 6 seatrout best 2lb and on Bayhead they had 2 finnock and 23 brownies which averaged over a pound each!
Sep 24
Clive and Iain's final two days on Roag and Fada were tough; water levels have dropped 4ft and most of the fish have dissappeared with just the very occasional one showing. They managed 2 seatrout around the 2lb mark and a couple smaller.
Jonathon and Jane Mclean came for a few days and learnt how to fish loch style managing 25 trout on their final day from Castle/ Dun Mhor.
Migatory lochs are back to low levels and with no rain forecast for at least a week fish should start to build up again with each tide. Machair and mid lochs remain full.
Last week was a bit of an ordeal for Chris Ward and Stewart Todd. It started well with 25 brownies from a combination of Bayhead and Dun Mhor when the weather was warmer with less wind. Mon -Weds it got much colder with wind over 50mph and feels like temp of 6deg which put the trout right off, to add insult the migatory lochs are larger empty now due to the amount of rain we have had in the last month. Dun a Cille fishds ok on Thurs with 9 to the boat during periods when the wind/ chill reduced and on their final day they had 30 on East Ollay best 2lb on a much better day.
This mad weather is doing my head in! For the final week of my season guests John Phillips and Garry Evans had to endure the opposite end of the weather spectrum with 5 days of hot, bright sunshine and flat calm. I managed to salvage their week with 13 on N Olaphat and 17 on Dun Mhor and a nice 2lber on Upper Kildonan but I take my hat off to them for enduring each day. Ar least the banter was great and they got a tan!
The weather is about to change so fishing for the remainder of the trout season should be ok. The migratory lochs are now starting to fill up with late fish again as we have had no rain for a couple of weeks, visitors should focus their efforts on these. A nice 10 seatrout came off Fada 2 days ago.
Thanks everyone of making the effort to come up in 2024, hopefully see you all again in 2025 along with some new faces.
Those thinking of making the journey should not be put off by my tales of woe concerning the weather, it has been a odd year weatherwise across the whole country and hopefully the jet stream with be less erratic next year.
Best catches to Date
4lb Brownie - West Ollay - Martin Bamforth
3.5lb Salmon - Fada - Clive Lunn
5lb 8oz Seatrout - Druidibeg Club - David Marsden
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