Durness Loch Flies

[np01]

Planning a trip to Durness the weekend after next. Any advice on what flies to try would be greatly appreciated. Read an article a couple of months back by Stan Headley in one of the mags. He was fishing Lanlish with a Humungus and did very well out of it??? I definitely wouldn't describe myself as a purist in terms of Loch style patterns (Fished Watten in May and failed with dabblers and loch Ordies etc but had 5 on a Scarlet Cruncher and a couple more on buzzers - go figure!) so happy to try any and every suggestion. Thanks in advance for any advice

[Malcolm]

I've spent a lot of time there but have not been there since Jack Watson left about 4 years ago or so. Rumour has it that it's not as good now. I seldom fish anything but dryfly or nymph so my catches reflect this and someone else may have different preferences.

The four lochs are very different:

Lanlish is very very difficult. It fishes best through the night and big lures are best. The fish are generally big. I fish this rarely as it is so dour. I've never once caught a fish under two pounds but have caught very few.

Borlaidh is gorgeous. In bright sun on the west side from the high bank you can look down 30 feet on masses of waving weed. It has huge fish which are seldom caught and lots of medium sized fish from 1lb- 3 lb. One of the most memorable fishing experiences I ever had on any loch was to see the char rising on the east bank in late evening being attacked from time to time by the massive trout. An astonishing spectacle that I have never seen repeated anywhere. Best Flies for me have been natural deer hair beetle and amber hopper.

Caladail. Probably the favourite of most people. I've had most success on very small flies in fact I usually don't change from small CDC buzzers sizes 16 and 18. This is one of the very few waters where I almost always outfish my regular fishing compadres so I'd try these first.

Croispol. I haven't done at all well on this water over the years but the others tend to do very well on intermediate lines and small traditional wets.

Malcolm 

[np01]

Thanks Malcolm. I seem to remember the article Stan Headley wrote was saying the same thing about Lanlish, i.e. 3am-7am is best and thereafter the only excitement is the odd stray golf ball! Wonder if it might not be a better idea to switch to Watten?

[np01]

Thanks. From what I can make out of the Durness lochs we're going to need confidence in spadefuls! I'd picked up a few Caithness loch flies and was thinking that these would be a good place to start - dabblers, half hogs, bumbles etc. Although it seems to me that in the absence of confidence or experience then you need to be prepared for a slow start and just patiently keep changing the flies till you can figure it out - which to be honest is a massive part of the satisfaction in the first place! 

[Fishtales]

I can't add very much to what others have said. Not all the fish are monsters though I did get ripped down to the backing and more by a fish on Lanlish that I never saw, it threw the hook in a weed bed I fished with just four flies. My HillLoch Nymph #12-14, my DryFly #12-14, my Draft Excluder Dry Fly #12-14LS and an Iron Blue Dun on the middle dropper #12 ; all in the Fly Database.

Here are a few pictures to whet the appetite

http://www.ftscotland.co.uk/gallery/wrath/wrath_thumbnails.html

[np01]

I think we're now going to try and combine a couple of days on Watten and a day on Borralie. The friend I'm fishing with is even less experienced than me and doesn't fancy three days of casting practice! Saying that, last time we went to Watten he managed only one bandie in three days - How does that saying go again, triumph of hope over experience? Thanks again for your advice. Will let you know how we get on

Regards

Nick