Sea pooling for silver

Details: Published on Thursday, 02 August 2012 14:39; Written by Robert MacDougall-Davis

As a young boy I can vividly remember peering out through the misted windows of our small cottage, peat smoke billowing around the room, eagerly awaiting my father’s return and his silver harvest from the pools. Those childhood days have gone but the overwhelming childhood excitement, the magic of the pools and, most importantly, the sea trout remain.

Sea trout spend much of their time foraging in the many inlets and saltwater lagoons that can be found in abundance along North Uist’s varied coastline. On the northern and western flanks of the island lie a string of sandy points, islands, brackish lagoons and sea pools. Clear nutrient starved water is swept across the Atlantic by the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic drift to the west coast of Scotland, giving the sea pools of North Uist crystal clear water, which carries that azure tint so epitomising those parts. The gin clear water, white shell sand and vibrant sea weed oranges and purples all conspire to create a dreamlike setting in which to go in search of sea trout. There are few places on earth so beautiful!

Sea pools, tidal races and brackish lagoons
Most pools are connected to one another or to the open sea by narrow channels or tidal races that flow or ebb in correspondence with the tide. As the ebbing tide drains, sand bars and mini reefs of rocks, quilted with bladder rack, start to appear, the outline of pools becomes visible and a few fish start to show, raising the heartbeat of any angler in the vicinity! What is left is a network of isolated pools and narrow channels, some of which are totally isolated from the sea and others which remain partially connected.

There are a variety of sea pools around North Uist, each having their own particular charm. Kirkibost, Ardheisker and Kyle boast particularly clear water and white sand, while the brackish lagoons of Geirreann Mill and Vallay carry an orange tinge in places, as peaty water fuses with the Atlantic.

What is truly magical about fishing in these pools is the splendid isolation and the feeling that you are quite simply a part of the changing tidal landscape. As the water level falls, the pools spring to life and a whole host of different sea weeds and creatures are revealed. Divers and, occasionally, sea eagles pass overhead, while redshanks and curlews probe for tit bits on the increasingly exposed lug worm studded sandy flats. Crabs, shrimps and hordes of tiny crustaceans scuttle around under your feet and sometimes otters and even the odd seal put in an appearance. From time to time, the occassional school of sand-eels shoots past, often pursued by a shoal of ravenous sea trout. If you’re wading in fast water, it’s not uncommon to encounter sea trout seeking shelter in the current cushions either side of you. Sometimes, while in search of a tasty bite, they even delve around in the sand clouds that swirl between your boots.

Life in the pools
The abundance of trout-filled freshwater lochs with feeder burns running down to the sea provides a large source of sea trout for the coastal waters around North Uist. The sea pools, and indeed much of the rocky inlets and brackish lagoons, represent an extremely rich feeding ground for sea trout all year round. Not only do these areas present a glut of tasty morsels, they also provide sea trout with an area of relative oceanic shelter, in which they can feed voraciously. The majority of pools are fringed by white sandy banks and rafts of bladder wrack that swish in the current like beaded dreadlocks. The profusion of life in the pools really has to be seen to be believed. The local sea trout predominantly feast on Gammarus shrimps, sand-eels and tiny crabs. However, like most trout, they are often partial to anything that looks like a potential food item. During the different stages of the tide, sea trout root out their prey in the various beds, reefs and floating clusters of bladder wrack, saw wrack and chord weed. Like freshwater trout fishing, observing and understanding their foraging patterns is the key to successful sea pooling.

Strangely enough, it is only female trout that venture from freshwater into the salt, making all sea trout (with a few isolated exceptions) female. So why is it that only female trout go to sea? The answer is probably related to the differing competitive abilities of male and female trout, although there is still no definitive biological explanation.

It really is quite remarkable that sea trout, like other salmonids, are able to bridge the gap between fresh and salt water. The secret that allows them to have one fin in the fresh and one in the salt lies in their extraordinarily adaptable breathing apparatus. Unlike many other freshwater fish, Salmonids have gills which can tolerate the drastic change from fresh water into saltwater. In order to appreciate why they are able to do this, one has to look back at their evolutionary history. The evidence suggests that Salmonids originated in the oceans, before conquering the relatively safe spawning grounds of inland river systems at the end of the last glaciation. What this wonderful adaptation means is that, like salmon, sea trout can exploit the plethora of food available in the sea, while their young remain in the more benign freshwater environment. Thank goodness that this is the case, because, in my view, catching sea trout that are nailing prey in their natural feeding environment is one of the most heart-stopping forms of fishing that I have encountered.

Action packed
Fishing on the pools can, at times, be frenetic sport. On a recent trip I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time on the right tide and I am still recovering from what happened next. On my third cast there was a solid and determined pull. I lifted the rod and was into what was clearly a good fish. On feeling the hook, the fish took off on a searing run to the far side of the pool, pumping through the current before ploughing straight into a flotilla of chord weed. Desperately trying to turn the battle my way, I tightened and tried to heave the sea trout back out of the weed. A dull pulsing reverberated and shuddered through the rod; I was still in with a chance. Abruptly the line pinged skywards as tensile fluorocarbon cut through the remaining weed fronds with the ease of cheese-cutter. Now trailing a tassel of chord weed the fish was off again, zigzagging this way and that before embarking on a determined and deliberate run that only large sea trout are capable of. Closer to me now, the fish wheeled round and round in large circles, its scales flashing in the flow with the stunning silver-turquoise hue that so epitomises these beauties. There was one more charge and after a few nerve-racking moments, a glistening bar of pure silver lay beached on the sand.

Immediately I got my line out again. Almost like mackerel, sea trout move around in shoals up and down pools and races with the changing tide. It really pays to get fishing again quickly once you have caught or had interest from a fish. I carried on down the pool and hit into two more beauties and a handful of hard fighting finnock. On reaching the tail of the pool I noticed a slight break in the surface, which I hoped to be the dorsal fin of a sea trout. A quick cast and an immediate but slow retrieve clearly caught the attention of something, because a bow wave rapidly caught up with my fly. The fish brushed my fly twice and came right up to my waders before taking one look at me and bolting back into the deeper water of the pool. Dismayed, I cast in its path and, to my amazement, the fish turned and absolutely hammered into my fly and tore off, taking me deep into backing.

Pound for pound, these fish have to be some of the hardest fighting fish I have ever come across, knocking spots off most of their salmonid counterparts, though I concede that they may be on a par with the truly wild Kiwi rainbows and browns. Woe betide the sea trout angler who tries to play these fish quickly. The secret to landing these pocket rockets is to take your time and above all stay in good contact throughout the fight. I have heard it said that sea trout have soft mouths but, in my experience, their mouths are really quite similar to other Salmonids and I don’t tend to lose many fish during the fight, whether in fresh or saltwater.

While there’s no doubt about their fighting ability, detecting a take from these power houses is not always easy. Sometimes you get a nip, a tug or you get hit by what feels like a race horse whacking into your fly. However, taps, tweaks and gentle plucks are frequent and just as likely to be from large fish. On my last outing I had a fish follow my fly, just touching and nipping my fly, sending what felt like a series of electric bolts shooting down the line and into the rod. On feeling a nip or tap, the best thing to do is to carry on retrieving with long slow strips, while lifting the tip up slightly to raise the flies in the water; this can stimulate a decisive take right under your feet from an otherwise inquisitive sea trout.

The fish in the pools average the 2-3lb mark, although mature fish of 4-6lb are frequently caught and larger specimens do lurk beneath the ripples. So, I imagine you are wondering how on earth to hook into these silver beauties.

Tactics, tides and timing
Although experience on the pools will result in more fish, anyone on their maiden pool expedition still has a good chance of hitting silver. The best way to approach sea pooling is to deploy the same skill base and knowledge that you have already accrued from fishing rivers and lochs, albeit with a few alterations at the business end of things. Keep your eyes peeled for any surface disturbance, such as bow-waves, dark shadows under the water or even leaping fish. Above all take some polarised glasses, because you can often spot a cruising fish in time to single it out with a deft cast. A lot of this fishing requires careful and adrenaline packed stalking for sighted fish. It is well worth remembering to approach the water with extreme care. Large fish will often lie barely covered in very shallow water typically between 1 and 4 feet deep. While you are searching for fish, long, diagonal casts 45 degrees to the edge of the pool are a good speculative bet. As with standard still water tactics, cast across the current or wave rather than straight down to avoid lining fish that will invariably face into the flow or ripple. Above all, don’t be intimidated by fishing in the sea. Too many fly anglers are daunted by the prospect of saltwater fishing, but once you’ve been a few times you’ll be hooked.

Luckily, when sea pooling for silver, there is no need to fork out on new equipment, because a standard loch outfit (9-10ft 6 or 7 weight) will come up trumps. Personally, I plum for a fast action 9’6 #6 weight, which allows me to throw out large shrimp and crab patterns as well as a team of small singles and doubles. A reel with a good drag system is essential, because you can expect some of these fish to fire straight into backing, leaping and pirouetting as they go. A floating line will cover 80% of the fishing but, when it’s blowing a real hooley, I find a switch to an intermediate sink tip (i.e. 444 SL int. 15ft ghost tip) can be productive too. This way the flies dip just below the troughs of the waves, as opposed to piercing through the bottom of them, and the sea trout seem to be more confident taking that fraction deeper.

I used to vary my retrieve a great deal but less so now. A long, steady retrieve seems to do the trick with most fish taking after the first few draws. That said, it is always worth stripping the line right up under your waders, especially on the fringes of tidal races, where fish will launch themselves out of nowhere.

I fish a team of three flies on an 18ft, 0.21mm seaguar fluorocarbon leader. To date I have yet to lose a sea trout because of other flies snagging in weed or due to a double hook-up, and I often catch fish on my droppers as well as on the tail fly. Sometimes a sea trout will pluck your bob fly then tap the second dropper, before smashing into the tail like the orient express!

Now, I used to be a bit of a fluorocarbon sceptic, but for these Uist sea trout it really does seem to make a difference. While there is no doubt that clear nylon works in the pools, my catch rates have been consistently higher since I switched to fluorocarbon in both bright and dull conditions.

Although a wide range of flies will do the trick, I like to keep it simple. Usually you will find me fishing a bushy Blue Zulu on the bob, a Teal Blue and Silver, Medicine Fly or Silver Invicta in the middle and either a small (size 10/12) double Silver Stoat or Ally's Shrimp on the tail. These flies are reliable and will catch you fish in most conditions. However, I admit that, on occasion, I look to the bench and substitute these more traditional patterns for imitative morsels such as sand-eel streamers, lifelike shrimps and even crab patterns originally tied to tempt bonefish. All of the above have brought me luck. Basically, anything in the mid-size range (8-12) with a little flash of silver, a bit of yellow or orange and particularly blue, all seem to attract in my sea pooling experience. One of the greatest secrets of successful fishing on the pools, and for that matter anywhere, is to follow your gut feeling and be prepared to use your initiative, think laterally and try a new tactic, fly or area, no matter how unconventional it may seem. Attention to extreme detail and a thorough preparation are also important. Yves Chaboussou, a Pyrenean serial fly fishing champion, once said, “It is often the tiniest details that are the difference between catching and not catching”. A fisherman who combines gut feelings, conventional wisdom, initiative, lateral thinking and attention to extreme detail is likely to be one of the 10% who catches 90% of all the fish. Remember, as with all fishing, confidence is king on the pools so, above all, use something that you have faith in.

The best fishing is undoubtedly during spring tides, although those who fish the neaps will tell you that they still catch some fine fish. As well as relatively high water during springs, the low water mark will also be particularly low and this is what sea pool fishers are really interested in. The consequence of the extra low tide is that the fish which have been trapped, or those which have chosen to stay in the pools, find themselves in relatively little water. This means that the sea trout are effectively concentrated in smaller areas making the task of finding fish really quite straightforward. During neaps there are likely to be the same number of fish along a given stretch of coastline, but at high tide they will be distributed throughout thousands of extra gallons of water. Basically, the bigger the spring and the lower the tide the better, and it is at these times when fishing can go bananas! One thing to bear in mind is that the timing of low and high water varies around the inlets and islands depending on which pools you target, but this problem can be quickly remedied by a quick chat with the locals. Once you’ve selected a tide to try your luck on, the next thing to think about is when to arrive.

Timing is of the essence when sea pooling. Fortunes can be totally transformed as the stages of the tide change. As a rule of thumb, the best fishing tends to be in the two hours leading up to and two hours following low water, with most fish accounted for prior to low tide. During this period sea trout are concentrated in the various races, static pools and side waters rather than being sparsely distributed over vast shallow flats and deeper water further out to sea. Although not always, the twenty minutes around slack water can be a bit of a dead time. This is probably because when they are not being swept and ushered around by the powerful flow, sand-eels and other prey items are able to find relative shelter in amongst the rocks and weed fronds. Often when the tide begins to turn and prey items become disorientated and vulnerable, the fishing can really take off. So, if low water falls at 14.00, I would make my way across the sands at around 11.30 and, depending on the fishing, do a hop skip and jump at around 16.30. Some pools remain cut off from the tide for longer, enabling you to carry on for quite some time.

If you arrive two hours before low tide, the water will probably be low enough for you to make your way out to the sea end of the pool system. It makes sense to start at the sea end because, as you work back down the pool, the tide will drop and you will inadvertently shepherd sea trout, who flee from any disturbance, into the tail of the pool. Despite being spooky, these fish will still take, even if they have glimpsed you earlier. Remember that these fish are actively feeding, unlike sea trout in fresh water, so after being disturbed their mind quickly returns to dining on the abundance of life that inhabits the pools.

As far as conditions go, bright sun is not ideal but it by no means ruins the fishing, especially since the development of good fluorocarbons. When the sun is relentless, fewer fish tend to show themselves but the fisher folk who do venture out into the pools and shallow runs may well be rewarded with silver. When fish fail to show in a given area, there is a tendency for most fisherman, myself included, to declare the river, loch or pool devoid of fish. However, when fishing the pools, everything can seem still and then, when you’re least expecting it, wham, as something solid makes a connection with your extended arm and your reel goes into overdrive.

Wind direction can be important, mainly because it can cause casting problems. So, before you choose your pool, make sure that the wind is not coming straight at you from where you intend to fish. A warm westerly wind usually coincides with the best fishing, although fish can be taken in all conditions apart from a flat calm, when your only chance is to stick to the tidal races and get your flies down a bit with an intermediate.

The best time of year to try your luck at the sea trout casino is from mid-June through to the end of the season, September and October often providing the greatest return. My favourite month is August. This is because of the reasonable weather, good fishing and the long orange evenings lit up by the glowing orb in the west as it drops below the silhouette of St Kilda.

The changing mood of the pools
It is worth bearing in mind that the mood of the pools can swing dramatically from a serene and placid place to a stormy and unforgiving fishing arena, where sand is whipped up off the dunes by powerful gusts and flung at anything and everything that ventures out onto the sands. So, go prepared and get local advice on areas where soft sands and fast rising tides can pose problems. Soft sand is really only a problem if the angler pushes on through it , and this should not happen if you backtrack as soon as you sense any softening beneath your feet – if in doubt, get out! Rising tides and anglers getting cut off also present little problem, as long as the angler can tear themselves away from fishing when the water really starts to flood the sands. In 1995, a fishing party, lead by an experienced fisherman, just couldn’t leave the action and ended up spending a cold, wet and windy night stranded on a tiny grass-clad island with only a couple of equally daft sheep for company! As long as you can always see your rehearsed exit path to dry land, then you have nothing to worry about.

The only other significant sea pooling hazard comes from a rather unusual source. The coastal waters of North Uist are home to the second most poisonous fish in Europe, the weaver fish. These little critters spend most of their time buried under the sand, with just an eye and a black-tipped spine poking out. The problem is that weaver fish are very partial to sea trout flies and a sting to the hand, or anywhere else for that matter, can be desperately painful. My dad was once stung by one of these fish as he tried to unhook one from a silver stoat. Like me, he was unaware of the paralysing ability of the weaver fish’s poison; it nearly brought an end to his day's fishing and could have been much worse. So if you hook one of these small, silver and yellow tailed sea scorpions, then don’t touch them. If you are unlucky enough to get stung, one of the local doctors recommends burning the affected area with a cigarette lighter or dousing it with boiling water ASAP! The high temperature denatures the poisonous protein.

Conservation and the future of the pools
While superb fishing remains in North Uist, this would not be the case if every sea trout were knocked on the head, and were it not for the constant efforts by numerous associations and organisations to regulate salmon farming. In recent years I have noticed more sea trout in the 2lb range and fewer sea-lice latched onto them. The apparent reduction in copepod parasites may well be due to the regulation and closure of salmon farms in the area. Let’s hope this trend continues. In my opinion, we all have a responsibility to our planet to follow the best conservation advice available at the time, even if it is transient and not always infallible. Current conservation policy suggests that very mature fish (with a high spawning potential) in the 5lb+ bracket should be released, as should all finnock and fish below the 2lb mark (which have yet to spawn for a second time). 2-3lb sea trout make excellent table fish and given that taking fish of this size is in line with current conservation policy, all parties should be happy. So, if you’re not chasing bonefish in the heat of the tropics, why not stalk a silver bounty on British shores? Oh, and if you find yourself in North Uist when the tides aren’t right for sea pooling for silver, then you can always follow the sea trout into freshwater, or go in search of machair gold, but that’s another story.

General information

Ferry: Caledonian MacBrayne operate daily sailings from Uig (Skye) to Lochmaddy (North Uist) or you can sail from Oban (mainland) to Lochboisdale (South Uist) and drive up and onto North Uist.

Plane: British Airways operate regular flights between Glasgow and Benbecula (North Uist).

Season: The season runs from 15th February – 31 October

Licences: Licenses can be purchased from North Uist estate at the Lochmaddy Hotel or Langass Lodge (A sea pool ticket also covers you to follow the fish inland and try your luck in the lochs).

Tide timetables: Accurate seven day advance tide timetables can be obtained from: easytide.ukho.gov.uk/Easytide/EasyTide/index.aspx(Loch maddy)

Robert MacDougall-Davis landed his first fish at the tender age of 4 and has been hooked on fishing ever since. Just graduated with a BSc in Environmental Biology from Oxford Brookes University, he spends the vast majority of his free time gazing over bridges dreaming about monster trout and trying to persuade his friends he is not totally mad.

Robert was awarded the top bioscience student prize by the UK Institute of Biology.

He was runner-up in the BBC wildlife travel writing awards in 2006 and enjoys fly fishing, football, tennis, fencing, hiking.