Instead of fishing the Aberdeenshire Don at the end of April I am due to travel north to Lochinver with a view to fish the lochs of Assynt. Will that part of the world still be too cold for good sport or will there be flies & bugs about to tempt the wee Trout?
Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks,
Rod.

That is very early for Assynt and the surrounding hill lochs. For many years I used to spend the middle week of June at the Inchnadamph Hotel and to me that seemed the ideal time. Fish were well mended and usually too early for the midges.

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[I]"I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel."[/I] Roderick L Haig-Brown

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It is very early- but I have had good sport in early May around Altnaharra- a place not noted for its tropical springs-so you might get lucky.Places like Little Loch Awe and Borralan should warm up quicker than the high altitude waters. But I'd still leave it till a month later !

I always started fishing around the begining of April but it always depends on how cold it is. Sometimes mid March produced results but you had to persevere. I found drop-offs and weed and lily beds quite productive as there isn't much hatching at that time of year. Try fishing weighted nymphs on a long leader twitched back. Also largeish dark flies like pennells and spiders fished a few feet down work well. Fish everything slow as the water is so cold and nothing really moves fast. The last time I fished the first day of the season, March 15th, there was snow on the ground and parts of the loch were frozen but I still got a cracking brownie from a shallow weedy part. Upon gutting it later I found snails and an undigested newt in it's stomach!!!

Regards

Stuart

Far too early, biggest and best early season browns are found in Loch Eye.

There are plenty of low lying lochs in Assynt so if its cold high up head to one of the lochs that are near the road just before it drops down to lochinver.There are a few lower lochs on the crofters land also.Plus one of the roadside lochs had bigger than average trout in it despite it proximity to the road I climbed in scotland for 20 years and that time of year weather wise can be heatwave or bloody midwinter Even if you dont catch just wandering around these places is a magical experience with fish a bonus and dont forget to try even the wee puddles as i got a big shock when i did last year.We head up on 22nd of may for our week and thats 2 weeks earlier than our usual .ENJOY
mick

Can be the same in mid June! On successive days I was badly sunburnt in the hills, the next I fished in snow and the hotel provided us with hot water bottles!

__________________
[I]"I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel."[/I] Roderick L Haig-Brown

[url]www.wildfly.net[/url]

[url]http://www.gameanglinginstructors.co.uk/[/url]

I've often fished Assynt in the first week of May and had some terrific sport. Assynt like anywhere else can have really mild spells early in the year so you'll have to hope for that. I find the fishing in Sutherland very temperature dependant, I spent a week in late June there in 2007 where the temperature in the whole week averaged around 12 deg. The fishing was awful. Good luck.

Don't believe the doom and gloom!
I have fished shallow moorland lochs in east/central Sutherland many times in April and had good sport. In Assynt in April I would avoid the deep craggy waters hidden away under crags in the hills and instead head for shallow waters in open country. These type of waters (which are like the ones in east Sutherland) respond quickly to warm days and can fish very well early season. The fish will often come into water less than a foot deep, even on sunny days, to take advantage of insect activity. It is the shallow water that warms first


Andy

I've fished the Sutherland lochs for a week in May for the past 20 years and, like others have said, have had snow and sunburn in the same week.
You get some good hatches of olives during milder conditions and some great rises but it can be slow if it's cold.