Durness Stravaig

Last week I went on my long awaited Durness Stravaig with a few mates.

I went up on the Saturday with auld Johnny Weir [he’s 80 you know] and recently retired local tackle dealer, while my two mates Scott and Tam came up on the Monday. We had booked a week at the Old Kyle Cottage on the Kyle of Durness.

The cottage is an ideal location for having a bash at the famous limestone lochs as well as a few other lochs and of course the sea too.

Johnny and I arrived on Saturday afternoon and got settled in. We didn’t do any fishing but went out for a walk along the sea front but didn’t linger too long as the rain came sweeping into the Kyle.

Sunday morning after breakfast I went for a walker round the Kyle coastal path to Durness taking many pics and then back to the cottage.

After lunch I walked up to Loch Meadaidh where I spent a couple of hours fishing and taking in the wonderful views, Oh I caught a few small brown trout which seemed to like my Connemara Black point flee.

Back at the cottage after dinner Johnny and I chucked a few spinners into the sea but had no luck and soon gave up and settled in for the night.

On Monday morning my two mates arrived. Later in the afternoon we fished Borallie but to no avail. We went up later in the evening and I caught one small trout on the Kate and tempted a few other small fish to my flies but no other trout were caught.

We booked a boat on Caladail on the Tuesday Auld Johnny didn’t fancy it as the wind was rather strong so I went out with Scott on the boat while Tam went solo.

We had a couple of drifts but the wind was hellish and I never really felt as if I fished it properly. We moored up on the island and had a few cast around it but couldn’t tempt anything. We then had another drift and rowed ashore by one of the dykes and sat around a while. Then we started fishing from the shore that was when Scott hooked and landed his magnificent Caladail brown trout which was fooled by a Mallard and Claret.

We fished on but no further trout were fooled.

Johnny headed back south on Wednesday morning he was going to have a further few days at his Caravan at the Tummell Valley site. Tam Scott and I had a drive around with Tam and Scott looking out for some good sea fishing spots.

In the afternoon I went for a walk up over the hill at the back of the cottage and visited some of the archaeological sites around Borallie. I never fished on the Wednesday but Tam and Scott fished the Kyle and had some bass and a few small sea trout.

On Thursday Tam and Scott went sea fishing. I got dropped off at Balnakeil and walked down to Croispol. I fished along the east shore and then walked down to the old ruined school and sat up on a grassy knoll and had lunch. It was then I noticed another fisher taking out a boat and fishing the shore that I had just fished. I sat around a while just taking in the magnificent views then decided to walk over to Botallie. I fished the entire length of the west shore where I met three anglers. I got talking and it turned out one of them was a fishing guide who had too Austrian guest with him. I had an interesting chat with him and fished on I caught one half pounder which I lost at my feet, had a few takes and also got some half-hearted splashes at my flies. After fishing the west shore I walked back to the cottage. I then had dinner and watched Tam and Scott fish the estuary for a bit I then headed back up to Borallie where I caught a nice trout which was fooled once again by the Kate.

On Friday Tam and I went out on the boat at Borallie but had no success but I bet the otter we encountered didn’t blank!

In the evening Scott and I went over to Caladail for a couple of hours but no trout were encountered.

On Saturday we came home.

I had a fantastic time in an area of Scotland that I think is wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed my walks around the coast and in an around and up over the hills etc. The fishing was difficult to say the least. The accommodation was first class. The weather was mixed but that is to be expected in that part of the country. I wouldn’t rush back to fish the limestone lochs as they are just too difficult and you need a lot of patience but I will be back there for a holiday with the fishing a secondary notion. I just love the feel of the place and the pace of life up there.