To allow me to indulge in my love of good food and fishing a few friends and I are thinking of heading to Knoydart this year to gorge ourselves on the fantastic food in the Old Forge and fish the Inverie River.

Anyone fished this river ??

Cheers
Stephen

A couple of my mates fish it for salmon every year and rave about it...that said think they go for the beer as much as the fishing. They go tail end around September.

If you are looking for accomodation then try the Druim bothy. No lecy but it has an outdoor flushing loo, log stack and running water. Only suitable if you like long walk though. I have also stayed in the bunkhouse just outside Inverie.

If the fishing is good best not to tell me...had my stag do there last year and it will be a while before I will be able to go back

Cheers Tex, unfortunatly I have just taken on a contract that will mean the most I can get is a long weekend

I've fished it a couple of times in early September, but it was about 20 years ago, so something of a distant memory now. I had three or four fish from it, as I recall. I could probably show still you the pools I got them in, but have no idea of the names.

It does hold up for a few days after rain, because of the loch at the head, but it's basically quite spatey in character. Having said that, I did also catch one fish and lost another, through my own carelessness, in low water.

It doesn't need much more than a 10' 7 or 8 weight rod; and in low water, as in so many other places, I think there's an advantage in adopting a stealthy approach and fishing a light line. I'm sure all the usual flies will work - whatever you have faith in - in sizes 6-12.

I've no idea how the fishing is organised now, or what it's like - my visits were just before the estate was broken up. I heard the fishing went through a thin patch - no doubt due to the fish farms, as with so many rivers along that coast. But I know someone who has fished the Carnach (?) at Camusrory, which is next door, and has done well in recent years, so perhaps things are looking up again.

It used to have a run of big sea trout - well into the teens of pounds - with many of the biggest fish coming early (June) as is so often the case. In fact, I believe that in the 1970s it was really more of a sea trout than a salmon fishery. They seemed to disappear when one of the previous owners set up a salmon ranching operation - perhaps unsurprisingly the numbers of sea trout declined and the salmon increased, particularly after they stopped netting the returning fish.

When it was all in single ownership, you used to have 2 rods on the Inverie, 2 rods on the Guserain and a boat on the loch, with the rivers split into two 2 rod beats. I've no idea what the score is as regards access to the Guserain now, but if you get a chance to fish it in spate, do take it. It rises and falls within a few hours of rain, but can be fun if you hit it right.

Yuo obviously know Knoydart, so I don't need to tell you how fantastic it is. But do please report back on the fishing if you go; I'd love to know what it's like these days.

And while you are there ask anyone in the Old Forge if they remember the man in the ill-fitting lycra wrestlers outfit