Is it just me that dreams about “that” idyllic fly fishing day; the sun is shining, you have the most tranquil, scenic location all to yourself, there are flies on the water, and fish in the water and you can take your time, fishing at your own pace.
Past Memories
I think I can count on the fingers of one hand how often this has happened to me, and I could afford to lose part of my hand and still have a finger to spare. I still recall the day I visited Loch Arkaig with my wife and son back in I think 2011 maybe? We drove in to the glen and there was not a soul about, the sun was scorching, the midges were no problem and it looked for all the world like the Italian Riviera or some Swiss Alpine valley that no one but us had discovered. I fished and yes, it wasn’t the easiest but I got a couple of small wild Browns to the net but as a day it was perfect.
Such days come along only rarely, but one of mine arrived on Friday, my last day in the North West Highlands fishing from Scourie Hotel. My planets, for once all aligned. I had asked for a beat called “Lower Duart”. The Loch seems to be known as Loch Duart and on a map it is shown as a single long loch, called Loch Duartmor, that is crossed by a road bridge on the upper half. In point of fact it is really two lochs joined by two short burns, One that is between 6 and 12 feet across, the other that is akin to the breadth of a very small river, that is only 30-40 metres long.
Sunrise at Stack
As my day ended on Thursday the sun had come out, and a glorious evening turned into a mild night and a spectacular clear dawn that I got up sharp to catch, on the banks of Loch Stack, somewhere else I need to fish someday.
Getting there and back without hitting a deer was something of a challenge, they were everywhere at 6 in the morning and the sound of rutting Stags was clear across the glen that Loch Stack nestles in.
After breakfast I headed to Duart and got set up with the first of two boats needed for the days fishing.
Duart
The upper loch is very weedy and hard to fish thoroughly but there was a clear deep channel reminiscent of a highland Salmon River with bed rock and deep dark water. I had been told not to miss trying a cast just the other side of the bridge. I decided to throw a fly under the bridge in the deeper water. As I did a couple of Tasmanian tourists appeared on the bridge and started talking to me. We were talking about the fishing, Tasmanian fishing and Scotland generally. I had a fairly sudden sharp pull but read it as only that, a pull….. until a few casts later I suddenly realised I had no point fly….I had been clean snapped off!
After saying farewell to the tourists I sorted my leader and allowed the boat to drift under the bridge, the drift was fast as there was quite a brisk current and I was out the other side and heading for the weeds in a few seconds. I decided to row the boat to the side get out and fish this area from the bank and as the water was tending to hold the flies up with the current I thought I should try a sinking poly-leader to get it them deeper. No more offers were forthcoming and boarding the boat once more I drifted to the bottom of the upper loch. The sun was scorching, there was only the barest breeze which took me to the bottom of the loch with barely a paddle.
After tying up the boat I set about getting some gear together in my rucksack, to tackle the walk to the second half. I made a bit of a schoolboy error in mooring between the two burns, and following what appeared to be a track towards the lower loch, only to find that if I wanted to get to where the second boat was moored I would either need to wade through shin deep water for about 12 feet or try straddling some precarious looking rocks. with my gear to get across without getting wet. Despite the ground being hard to walk over I decided to do the right thing and head back tot he boat, move it to the right hand side of the smaller burn and walk along the north bank.
A Red Dragonfly- there were loads of them at Duart 
The Lower Duart Loch, less weedy than the upper loch 
Upper Duart is a lot more weedy than the Lower loch 
Lower Duart Falls: I saw no fish trying to climb the falls but some were seen the day before. 
The road crosses the Loch
It took time and was hot work in the conditions but made sense and though it still involved working my way down an uneven track I made it and was soon afloat on the lower loch. It was weedy in places too but less so that upper Duart and I allowed the breeze to carry me about half way down the loch before it ceased entirely and I was becalmed.
The odd fish rose here and there but covering them got me no response. Being so bright was far from ideal but really it was simply glorious to be here on one of the nicest days of the year I suspect, in the NW highlands. It was 22 degrees C without a cloud in the sky! IN LATE SEPTEMBER!!!!
Casting down the edge of some weed my top fly, a Heather Fly Snatcher was nailed as soon as it hit the water and a rather nice 3/4-1lb Brownie was netted. A little further down the loch I got a second in the same way. It was interesting that both were in the middle of the loch, the edges were producing nothing.
I reached the bottom of this loch with the aid of oars, fishing spots along the way but really I figured it was too bright and too hot for fishing with the sun high in the sky so decided once again to take to foot to visit the small river and falls that lead to the sea and allow salmon and sea trout to enter this loch.
A short 100metre or so walk over some lumpy and very soggy ground ( in places) and I found the beautiful series of falls that migratory fish need to negotiate to get into the loch. I took a bit time to get a few photos with my camera and even had a wee cast in the pool, getting one pull and hooking a small brown trout that I let come off as I had not brought my net along and couldn’t get near the edge.
After a pleasant hour I wandered back along the short river to the boat. It really was a stunning spot and I was the only person there.
As the sun started to cast longer shadows I began my drift back up the loch. The wind had rather conveniently turned 180 degrees and took me from the bottom to the top slowly allowing me to fish small pockets in the weed with two wet flies and a black Gnat dry on the point. Only on one occasion did I cover a rising fish that took my fly- the dry. Others I covered went unanswered but I did get one other fish again in the middle near weeds on the dry- this time a small Sea Trout. More coloured than the one early in the week, it nevertheless still had a pink blush to it’s flank and put up a huge fight more than its size would let you think wa spossible. It took me two goes to get it to the net but was in fine fettle and swam off strongly when unhooked.
I just had the best time here and it was a real chore to get out the boat and head back up top.
I fished a few more spots as the sun came near to setting and did finally hook a fish near the top loch boat mooring but it never felt well hooked and did manage to get off. I was pleased with the four fish around a pound each, it was not a bad result for such a bright day and it was a very memorable one. The day was crowned by the spectacular sunset on the way to the Scourie Hotel for dinner. A great end to a thoroughly enjoyable, if pretty exhausting trip. I pushed myself harder than I thought I was capable of at times with the hikes ( though that was in no small part steroid assisted by my visit to the hospital before I left for the north).
I hope I am about to return another time though doubt I would be so lucky with the conditions overall. A first class trip.
