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NORTH WEST SUTHERLAND
This is a wonderful, rugged, attractive area of the northern highlands, offering a wide variety of trout lochs, some good sea-trout and salmon rivers and several larger inland lochs with salmon and sea-trout fishing available. The lovely, but short Laxford river is almost completely private, but Loch Stack at its head has fishing available through the local hotels and through the estate. This loch has had a remarkable history. In the sixties it was rightly regarded as a leading (if not the leading) sea-trout fishery in Scotland. Together with Loch More, it produced wonderful catches of large sea-trout in July, August and September. It also carried salmon and grilse. In the seventies and eighties, the loch lost most of its sea-trout stocks and salmon became more prominent in its catches. This change in Stack has continued and today, while sea-trout still run the Laxford and the two lochs and are showing some signs of recovery, these waters are still only a shadow of their former selves as sea-trout fisheries but are highly regarded as fine salmon and grilse waters.
This whole area of Sutherland is richly endowed with trout lochs. They lie in every fold of the
hills. It is impossible to characterise in a few words what a fine wild fishing resource
Sutherland has in the north-west. Travelling down through Scourie, Kylestrome and on to
Lochinver, you will find a vast resource of loch trout fishing available. Those who love the
hills and who relish the finest 'interlaken' scenery in Scotland, will discover that good hill
lochs like Fionn above Lochinver, and the fine array of lochs around Scourie and Elphin, and
indeed other waters richly spread throughout this rich area, are memorable places to cast a
fly. Fine mountain scenery abounds, unmatched for its wildness and splendour. There are
glimpses of the deeply fjorded sea coast. All in all, north western Sutherland is a place of
excellent wild trout which may not be huge (although some are) but are plentiful, sporting and
entirely in tune with this precious region of the north west highlands. Access is good and a
wide range of lochs are available through the Assynt Angling Club and most good local hotels
in Lochinver, Scourie and Inchnadamph can offer an array of trout fishing and often sea-trout
and salmon fishing also.
The Inver flows from Loch Assynt to the sea at Lochinver. This is a good summer salmon and sea-trout water and the loch above produces these fish and brown trout. Just south of Lochinver is the interesting river Kirkaig with its fine lower beats and its impassible falls. Fishings on these waters are usually arranged through Lochinver hotels. Trout loch days are rented through hotels and through the tourist offices there and estates also rent loch fishing by the day.
South of the Lochinver, on a fine promontory lie the two small rivers - the Garvie and the Oscaig - which link together several sea-trout lochs near Achiltibuie, waters associated with the beautifully named Summer Isles Hotel and the Polly estates, fished in a wonderful area of land and seascapes with great atmosphere. Inland from these waters lie many trout lochs in the Inverpolly area and many of these lochs are accessible through Inverpolly Estates. Lochs here are of the greatest scenic and romantic appeal like Loch Sionascaig. Those who have fished here and in the neighbouring waters in Inverpolly National Nature Reserve (not far north of Ullapool) rave about its setting and sport.
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