Our resident fishing expert Gareth Richards starts off his Outer Hebrides island-hopping fishing crusade on the Isle of Barra.
Five hours after boarding the ferry in the Oban, I arrived in Castlebay which is guarded by the 15th century Kisimul Castle. The main fishing target in Barra would be some hard-fighting Pollock with wild brown trout fishing in the lochs thrown in for good measure.
Day one
After waking up at around 6.30am to the very loud call of the endangered corncrake, with clear skies and very little wind I decided to head down to the west side of the island near Tangasdale beach. On the way down I passed by Loch St Clair which has some very good brown trout in it. Arriving at the beach I can see that the tide is rising with maybe two hours until high water - perfect for getting a few pollock from the rocks.
Pollock fishing in the Hebrides is pretty simple - just find some rocks and reasonably deep water and you can almost bet they’ll be there. From Tangusdale beach I head south looking for a good rock mark. Having found it, I set up my eight-foot spinning rod and rig up with an artificial soft plastic lure on a jig-head. Almost from the first cast I’m bringing in fish with an average size of 2-3lb, with a few bigger specimens thrown in for good measure. After an hour or two, almost on high water I decide to try for a wrasse and I’m not disappointed. As almost as soon as I drop my lure down in between the rocks, I’m into a lovely looking Ballan. I decide to call it a day and head back for a late breakfast. As I’m walking back up the hill to my digs, I can almost hear the trout calling my name.
Day 2
We spent most of the day sightseeing around the island, visiting the castle and watching the plane land on the beach, (the only scheduled beach landing in the world and a must see for anyone visiting Barra) followed by a lovely lunch in the airport cafe - a must for any visitor. With the tourist stuff done, my mind turned back to fishing, and as the sun started to drop in the west, I took my fly rod with me to Loch St Clair. On went three traditional Scottish loch flies - Dropper was a muddler, second was a Loch Ordie and the point was a goat’s toe. There was a slight breeze and the midges were out in force, unfortunately the local trout were not. Even though I got a few rises, I couldn’t connect with the fish. But that’s fishing - it just means I need to go back again next year.
So that’s it for the jewel of the Hebrides and I’m off to Uist.
Part 2 of Gareth's blog is now available to read - this includes his road trip to Eriskay, South Uist, Benbecula and North Uist.
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