South Uist Fishing Reports - from The Anglers' Retreat
As at 14 July 24
March/ April 24
And we're off! Went bank fishing last Sunday and had 3 nice conditioned fish to 1.25lb in 2hrs. V windy and cold conditions have followed but hope to get out over Easter. No guests. Fishing improved with the weather and some noticable fish caught in the last week of April.
May 24
My first guests of the season were regulars John Watson and Colin Poton and Callum and George Thomson. Despite plenty of sunshine iit was chilly for most of the week with strong winds but the fishing was very good considering. Colin and John surpassed all previous visits with 119 trout for the week. Highlights were Mid Ollay (40!), North Olaphat (30), Hallan (27 to 2lb), Stilligary (16), Grogarry (4 but lost missed loads). Thanks to Ali OHenley for the majority of the ghillieing.
Callum and George also had a good week with the highlights Mid Ollay (12) Grogarry a 3lb Silver fish that looked like a seatrout but may have been one of the silver varients, North Olaphat (16), Stilligary (5 in a gale) and East Olaphat (5 all around 2lb). There are lots of stories of other big catches so things have definately picked up and fish are taking on the surface. Water levels are very low already as we have not had the rain the mainland has experienced. East Bee is already virtually unfishable and all others 1-2ft down.
Last week was very strange, conditions were good but for some reason all lochs fished poorly and catches were down for everyone. Despite this Tony Ronan had a good week starting with 11 on Mid Ollay with 3 at 2lb in very variable low wind. Stilligary followed with 10 to 2.25lb. We had a bright sunny and flat calm day on Langavat/ Caslub for only 8 including a seatrout on Caslub. He managed 14 split between Frasers and West Olaphat and 18 on the estate Drimsdale Druidibeg boat again in difficult conditions. We need some steady weather.
Last week was very challenging for regulars Simon Barnes, David Ogg, Jon Carney and Ralph Barnett. 2 days of bright sun and no wind follwed by 2 days of gales to 40mph then 2 days of 7degree northerly! They persisted and the highlights were 16/18 on N Olaphat,9 on Dun a Cille, 30 on Druidibeg 3/6 on Grogarry. The fish just were not playing due to the variable conditions.
This week has started with a bang with one of my best days on West Ollay I have ever had with Kevin Gibson and Willie Wilson from Kenny Irvings party which also included Charles Laurie. We had 10 fish but 7 were over 2 lb, best was 3.25lb, they also dropped a bigger one. The rest of the week was very mixed however as we continue to be plagued with a chilly NW wind. Fishing was good when the sun was showing and the temperature lifted but all lochs across the estate fished poor in dull colder conditions. Their best days were N Olaphat (30 - reliable as every). I had a superb day on Mid Ollay, with Willie and Charles who between them had 24 with Charles catching 3 lovely fish over 2lb, Kenny and Kevin joined us at 1430 after a poor morning on U Kildonan and managed 16 in just 3 hrs. Druidibeg estate boats (35 & 22), W Olaphat (9), Grogarry (3 best 2lb), Bornish (2), Upper Kildonan(1), Upper Bornish (11), Stilligary (7 best 2lb), Hallan (3 best 2lb). They fished hard and had some good sport in the evening after dinner.
This coming week will be tricky 30+mph wind and a feel like temp of 7 deg forecast everyday!
June 24
.Is this the first week of June or January?.. its hard to tell!
30mph everyday and feels like temperature of 6 degrees. Despite this Martin Bamforth and Colin West battled on and had some good days. 16 on Mid Ollay inc 3 over 2lb, 11 on Bayhead and 5 on N Olphat. I introduced them to Caslub and despite 7 seasons in one day they had 14 best 1.75lb (great loch to fish in a East/ West wind). Their final day was on West Ollay in bad conditions, I took them through to the smaller adjoined loch and the had 3 best 4lb, had to leave early due to hypothermia!
Also in the house that week were Graham North and Duncan Brown, they had 15 on Druidibeg, 13 on Upper Bornish, 1 on Hallan, 7 on N Olaphat and an excellent 16 on Mid Ollay in 3 hrs (best 3lb) having been blown off Upper Kildonan. Loch choices this week were all about avoiding machair due to the wind.
This last week has seen a continuation of poor weather with fishing that has been off, lots of fish showing but coming short or splashing at the bob fly. Nevertheless Ted Edger and David Pugh enjoyed their week despite being blown off Grogarry on their first day. West Ollay continues to fish well and they had 5 to 2lb, 6 on Caslub in a flat calm morning before we moved to Dun Mhor and had great sport landing 26 in 3hrs and many more missed (another great club loch now with a Lomond boat on it). Mid Ollay produced 9 to 2lb, Dun a Cille 13 to 2lb and West Olaphat a poor 6 in good conditions.
The past week has been a continuation of the same theme, high winds and cold conditions when fishing was only good during rare respites.Reuben Girling had his usual 2 week stay with his wife Pam and despite being 83 managed to fish most days, his highlights was 7 on Dun Mhor and a fabulous 3lb fish from W Ollay. Mark James fished hard during his stay and managed 14 on Mid Ollay (fishing very well), 8 on N Olavat on a difficult day,16 on Dun Mhor 10 of which were from a productive evening session and 11 on Stilligary best 2lb. John Nolan also fished and did well on Frasers from a boat with 8 having had 4 on East Ollay in the morning and he had 5 on N Olaphat with Mark. Tough week with no choice but to fish club lochs although Grogarry and Stilligary are still ok. Bornish and Upper Kildonan had not been fish for a month because they are constantly churned.
The final week of June saw the arrival of Jullian Williams and Gareth Richards and today they managed 7 on West Olaphat and 4 on East Olaphat in near perfect conditions, lots of fish coming short. This was followed by a customary great day on Druidibeg with 40 (a rather unfair 30/10 split - sorry Gareth!) and loads missed. Same again for N Olaphat with 25. They also had a great day on Bayhead(6) / Dun Mhor (10) + 10 from bank the next day when they were blown off Grogarry after catching 3 small fish. Caslub also fished well again with 9 best 2lb. It was another difficult week in high winds but they both fished very well. Generally the machair lochs are fishing poorly as this poor weather continues and they are perminently churned especially Bornish and U. Kildonan.
Please note E Bee is now unfishable due to low water/ weed. The estate is aware and plan to take remedial action.
July 23
We have been away on holiday for the first 2 weeks of July and my next guests don't arrive till 28 July but I can report that the Salmoan and Seatrout are in in numbers.
Sep 23
Since 28 Aug the fishing across the Uists has been challenging with lots of bright, sunny and calm weather. Even with very large tides the migatory lochs have few fish in them and catches of larger fish have been sporadic. However, yesterday it was reported that there were lots of fish jumping in Roag and Fada so that may be about to change.
Nigel Swann on his first visit to the Uists had 2 finnock on his first day on Fada but Castle the following day was a different story. On the first drift he hooked a large fish, possibly a Salmon from the way it was fighting, before it came off after 2 mins. Hugely disappointed his spirits were lifted in the afternoon when he landed a lovely 4.5lb Seatrout after a great aerial battle. The day was topped off with 12 brownies to 1.5lb. Roag was poor and we moved to Druidibeg for the afternoon and caught 13 to 1.25lb. On Mill he doubled up with Andy Ellis and between them they had 9 brownies to 1.5lb and saw may good seatrout.On his last day we went to Druidibeg Club on a flat calm day and had great fun fishing dry with foam body daddies and managed 15.
Clive Lunn and Iain Whitehorn enjoy migratory lochs but had a tough time of it only managing 7 finnock and 3 seatrout across all lochs in 9 days. They were entertained by some browns on Fada (29), Kildonans (10), Druidibeg (22), Bayhead (7) and West Ollay (4) best 1lb. Weather played a big part in their trip.
Weather!...Yet again a party had to endure 3 days hot, bright and flat calm, 3 days of gales and a day of torrential rain. Julian Williams, Gareth Williams, Mark Matheson and Bob Aves fought hard in such conditions and had some sucess. Highlights were 2 good days on N Olaphat (19/22), a 3.5lb seatrout for Bob on Roag, 12 on E/W Olaphat, 7 on Bayhead and 10 on Dun a Cille. Julian and Gareth could have had a excellent day on Grogarry had they managed to hook all the large fish that came short, Gareth lost a 3lber after it went aerial. Castle and Schoolhouse had fish in them but not taking despite plenty of water in the system and high tides.
John Watson and Colin Poton suffered 3 days of gales, 3 sunny and flat calm and 1 torrential rain during their stay but still managed 9 on E/W Olaphat (all 1-1.75lb) and 22 on Druidibeg Club and a lovely 2.5lb seatrout on Castle after we moved there because Roag was exceptionally high. They had a day washed out and managed 22 on N Olaphat for their last day.
They were my last fisherman of the season and I'd like to thank everyone who came across to share our hospitality and the world class fishing; albeit this season was blighted by unusual spring and autumn weather. Don't be put off by this especially as the rest of the UK suffered the same fate.
Best catches to Date
4lb 14oz Brownie - West Ollay - Simon Barnes
5lb Salmon - Fada - Alan Craig
8lb 4oz Seatrout - Druidibeg Club - Scott Clydesdale (Background Photo)
44 trout - North Olaphat -Tony Connor/ Mark Hamilton
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