Kyle of Tongue & Durness

I spent a couple of days in the NW of Scotland this week. Its a rugged and remote place which has good Sea Trout and some Bass fishing.

There are some pristine beaches that will throw up Turbot and Flounders.

As expected I was too early for the Bass so focused on the Sea Trout. I met one other local angler on my visit who took this picture of my first fish of the trip.

The weather was mixed with strong Northerly winds which took out the beach options I had. I fished the Kyle and Naver estuary as well as a trip over to Durness. The estuary fishing  unsurprisingly is focused on short tidal windows 2/3 hour sessions.

When the weather allowed it I had some sessions on the beaches on the more sheltered bays I could find. This is where I hooked played and lost a beast of a fish on my first night. The water quality is great and I lost count of the amount of fish I saw following my  lures when the light and waves allowed me to see into the water.

Tactics due to the weather were long casting lures to cover the water some of which I have painted one side white to dampen the flash and provide a more natural look.I also added some mother of pearl glitz and with the action of the lure moving this it got a lot of attention. They dont look much but apart from the pencil bait second from the left they are proven ST catchers with a Danish background and have a great action, compact profile and cast for mile on my 8 strand braid.

Sea Trout can be difficult at times and I switched lure profiles, colours and  added a teaser on the dropper when the weed allowed me to.You need to be sensible especially at the Kyle on an incoming tide and its not advisable without intimate knowledge of the tides/heights

To target Sea Trout you need permission. This  can be obtained from the Ben Loyal Hotel in Tongue for the Kyle, the Store in Bettyhill for the Naver and Martin Mackay in Durness for the Kyle of Durness. The tickets cost buttons. I took one fish for my supper which was superb so if you visit make sure you keep yourself on the right side of the law.

The bottom Kyle is heavly corrugated with some deep ruts, this little chap got out there eventually.Peter the angler pictured above explained that the fish sit in these ruts as the tide drops. Some of them are pretty deep in points but overall its a shallow area.

I'm not great with a camera but if thats your thing and apart from the landscape you have a lot of opportunity