My 2024 trip was to revisit the Lochs on the East of Loch Ness as when I was last there in 2019 I missed a few Lochs to fish. As happens when fishing we are at the mercy of the weather, and due to very high winds and torrential rain all fishing from boats was cancelled.
So it’s relax and rest for 3 days. In my 2019 fishing report I mention the story about the British Aluminium Factory on the edge of Loch Ness, this story has fascinated me as it’s difficult to find out more information about it. The following paragraph is from that 2019 report.
“Whilst I was driving down the Loch Road to meet my Gillie early one morning, I came across a small plaque on a concrete pillar donated to the people or Foyers for their support in the WW11 effort by Alcon Aluminium factory. So when I was on the Loch with Alex I ask the question what’s all that about, his answer, 13miles up Loch Ness on east side, hidden by cliffs and trees in 1896 an Aluminium factory was built on the Loch edge with its own small harbour, with crane for loading the Aluminium slabs and ingots on to the ships, and rail track, production started in 1908 and the Bauxite material to make the alloy came from British Ghana and the water to drive the turbines came from the Foyers water falls, cascading 145ft drop. The material was sent down the loch through the canals to the midland factories where it was used to build parts for the WW11 war effort, Aeroplanes. Spitfire, Hurricane, Wellington, etc. This factory was bombed by the Germans twice but never hit, Alcoa built schools, houses, around the site to house the 600 workers employed there, it closed in 1965 now owned by Scottish Hydro as a spares base.)This was the all instigated by an Austrian scientist who found a way to separate materials to form alloy by using electricity”.
Elaine is into a book so I am off in the car to find this illusive factory or what is left of it, and the pier. It’s in Lower Foyers on the edge of the Loch. I find it with ease, drive through the gates, and park up to see if I can find somebody to talk to. I eventually find a guy tweaking his motor boat engine, it appears he owns the yard I am in and he owns the very private pier, after I explain my ATA history he is very helpful. Help yourself to the pier what is left of it. Its 300yds up there, then come back and I tell you what I know. The original pier was made of wood and part of it still stands, he now has a concrete one for a few fishing boats all very private. If I understand correctly this site was one of the first sites outside the US to produce alloy, from seven Austrian turbines driven by the force of the 145ft drop of water from the Foyer Water Fall and the material Bauxite supplied from Ghana. In the factory there is still one last Austrian Turbine, and the tractor that took the Alloy material from the factory to the pier. The rail tracks have long gone, but these two items are still there after 130 years since first installed. My Granddaughter works for Scottish Electric, I’ve given her the job to find a contact name so as to view inside the factory. And the factory looks in pristine condition from the outside built of rock stone blocks. There were in fact 2 other sites in Scotland on a bigger scale, but this was the last one to close.
So enough of my rambles back to fishing my next visit is to Lairg to collect Walter, the old ghillie from Altnaharra now retired and the boat engine, for a day fishing Loch Shin. Loch Shin is a formidable Loch 17 miles long, ½ mile wide, 150ft deep on a grey dark wet very depressing day on a boat, so we decide to change the venue to Loch Migdale which I have never fished, 2miles long, ¾ wide, 12ft deep, and sheltered. It lies in the hills above the Dornoch Firth, we collect the boat key from another Scottish character Kenney from KOSAA (Kyle of Sutherland Anglers Association), the water bailiff for many Lochs and the Dornoch Firth. You cannot leave this guy without a blether (Scottish word for gossip) and he has a white painted shed alongside the Bonar-Bridge old ferry crossing. It was interesting to see all the Salmon fishing men in chest high waders waiting for the Salmon as the tide comes in, I counted 6 in the water, when we returned the key later day no fish had been caught.
Loch Migdale
Loch Migdale
On Loch Migdale I caught 18 many lost due to me striking too slow. My specials were no good here, they only took the traditional small flies, but they took my small dressed flies on size 10 & 12, as this Loch is surrounded by farm land its reputed to have a good insect life. It was wet and windy, and as only down a track by a Loch in Scotland could this happen, we are sitting on the back of the car quietly having our lunch, when there was a hell of a gurgle of power and 4 litre light blue BMW 5M series rushes by, brakes hard and reversed up, a guy opened his window and a bearded man shouts at the top of his voice, ‘Hey Jimmy it’s yourself and the boy’! Walter looked at me and we both look blank, what the hell!
He shouts again Loch Meadie approx. 10 years ago I was with my Dad, we got lost on the Loch, he is still in his car in the road, and it’s pouring with rain, and you helped us back. By which time it’s coming back to me, so we have a chat for 30 mins, he is still in the car parked in the road he is old his dad is 96, and then he was gone and we went back in the boat. Heavy rain comes again and we call it a day, another eventful day. We take the key back to Martin and then take Walter back to Lairg as he still does not drive, then back to Tain. On the way back I ask Walter did you recognise the bearded guy. He smiles and said yes he stayed at the hotel and didn’t need my services as he had fished many Lochs, but as we know you get much disorientated looking at the banks from a boat on a Loch. As he found out he was like so many they think they know it all.
Next I am off North to the Hill Lochs of Kinbrace and the wild card hotel, The Bridge at Helmsdale. This is my type of Hotel, old world, at I.00pm you thought it would be open, but no I peer through the dirty windows, looks closed I say to Elaine. Ring them she said, sounds like a plan and he answers, give me 30mins doing some shopping. We drive in through the gates and he gets out of his to meet us a small scruffy man in his slippers, he so laid back it’s untrue. We enter the reception through the tradesman entrance and you are greeted by a stuffed huge dog otter, on the other side a Scottish Wild Cat with a pheasant in its mouth, birds of prey, Falcon, Salmon, Trout cases everywhere and the model boats both merchant, destroyers, schooners etc. Our room was on the ground floor and it was massive. Open fireplace in the reception/come lounge, very welcoming and a pleasant shock, to what a first glance were expecting.
This is my last fishing venue but with the ghillie Paul who I have used before. I leave the locations up to Paul as it depends on the weather conditions at the time. My drive up the single track road for ¾ hour, his instructions are very basic as the road gets narrow you go through 2 farm yards and then you see the Argo- cat parked on the verge.
Narrow Single Track Road – 37 Miles + Argo-cat with Outboard
This year I am fishing the Achentoul Forest Estate of 26000 acres. It’s run as a business, this Argo-cat there is the oldest and we have the use of it for the day for 2 crates of Tenants Larger, good to have friends on the estate. So we load up all equipment and food. I am fishing the Arichlinie Hill Loch, about ¾ hour in the cat across the moor or 2 squares on the OS map 17, very rough ground and after all the rain very boggy. The Loch is about 1.5 miles long, 0.5 miles wide and 15/20ft deep. Breezy day the odd shower patches of sun, all told a nice day. I fished my 10ft, 8w, rod with a new Rio mainstream WF8F dry line with a Maxima Chameleon 6w tippet with 3 fly’s, we motored and rowed all over the Loch and was rewarded with 20 landed fish the best 2lb, some 1.5lb and a few 1lb, a very good bag for a hill Loch.
Boats on Loch Arichlinie
Now flies, as I have been recovering from eye problems, all mine were on size 10 and Tony Mitchell tied some on 12 for me. After we had landed 10 trout, I then fished for 1 hour on a set of 3 different flies and repeated every hour, may seem a bit petty but how otherwise can you tell if your creation work. The findings were small size 10 black with JC red head hen pheasant tail, or golden yellow hackle. With silver body or blue tinsel were the best.
My special creations of goose biots nymph also caught on dayglow green, so for this loch it was so different to Loch Migdale. As for wild life not a lot, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Golden Plover, Sand Martin, Sand Piper, Wild Duck, Wagtails, Golden Eye Ducks and Curlew.
Another observation I have never seen before is a mayfly hatch on these hill Lochs. We put on a Green Drake on an 8, but to no avail but a nice welcoming site, all the same.
Trout from Loch Arichlinie
Towards the end of the day I was watching an osprey circling above Paul is shouting fish on! The Osprey comes down on the water and flies of with it, my fish unhooked himself, what a sight, seen on TV but never in real life close up. The security around the nest site you won’t believe. Trembler alarms, camera, scanner’s even an early warning system to detect drones, I was very privileged to be shown about, on the very strict understanding location is not disclosed.
Now back to base and get ready for day 2. This is a short drive over the railway line (ring Inverness to get the ok to cross the line first) to the Ruathair Loch its 2 miles by 3 miles and 30ft deep, now in a 4×4 pick up.
Loch Ruathair
Lunch on Loch Ruathair
Wind Getting up on Loch Ruathair
Very similar fly set up and the same results. On an area on the East of the Loch there are many large boulders underwater due to the heavy rain. We used the oars to wind our way through and were rewarded with a 2.2lb trout, and in this area there were 3 to 4 lb swimming about. The water was so clear as you brought the line in by the boat in 4ft of water you could see all 3 flies very clearly. Total on this Loch 14.
2.2lb Trout from Loch Ruathair
Back to base after a fabulous few days, when I started the return journey the trip read 804, now we start our return journey.
I often repeat this warning never go on these moors without a guide or the proper equipment it can be very dangerous,
Total mileage 1560.
Total fish landed 52 (fish lost, lost count)
Best fish 2.2lb
Andrew Ayres,
FDG, WFD, G&CFD, Ludlow FD, Grayling Society, member.
June 2024.
Worcester Fly Dressers 