July, 2008
Wow, this fishing season seems to just fly bye.... I can't believe it's already July. I have had many, many good days fishing on my beloved small German stream and managed to catch a lot of good trout, both on nymphs and dry Goddard sedges.
In the meantime I went to Orkney with my wife for a family holiday and it was just fantastic. Those island are so beautiful and the light, because it is way up North, is just fantastic. It was midsummer night when we where there and enjoyed all kind of culture during the Saint Magnus festival. I did bring a fly rod with me...of course and had two great afternoons fishing the large shallow lakes.
First I fished Loch Harray, the largest lake on the mainland. It was windswept but I managed to find access to a sheltered shore, thanks to a kind lady who allowed me to park my car on her land. The day before I visited a nice tackle shop in the little town of Stromness and paid my membership of the Orkney Trout Fishing Association. I also bought a cloth badge of the association....I guess it will look cool on my fishing vest. Actually the fishing is free on Orkney but I guess it is always nice to support the local people who try work hard to keep the quality of the fishing up.
The owner of the tackle shop, (
W. S. Sinclair, Tackle Shop) supplied me with the right flies and a long leader with droppers. The owner looked at me if I was mad when I told him that I always fish with a single fly :-) "Oh no, you can't fish with a single fly my friend...you'll be wasting your time!" "Please take this leader."
At first, at the loch I only managed to hook up with some small trout, in the 7 to 8 inch league. But after a while, when I was wading a more muddy area with lots of water plants, I suddenly had a tremendous pull and the fly line just flew through the rings! Yes! That was a good fish and it was fighting like a demon. I decided to kill it and give it to the lady who allowed me to park my car on her land. I did not catch any good fish any more but I was happy, very happy. (You can see the trout at the photo gallery) I enjoyed the wildlife and took many photographs and in the evening, I drove through the amazing hills and saw the standing stones of "The Ring of Brodgar". A few days later I went back with my wife to visit this ancient place and made the photo below...
A couple of days later I fished an other one of the larger lakes on Orkney, loch Boardhouse. Again it was very windy but again I was allowed access to the shore which was a bit sheltered. It was a cold day (I was wearing six (!) layers of clothing) and there was no surface activity. I have been casting my flies for over two hours with no result and just when I was about to give up I saw (and heard) a splash on my right. Quickly I made a cast with my team of flies over the area and BENGG!! a good trout hooked itself. Again it was as strong as hell and offered me great sport. This one I returned to the water and decided that it was enough, time to go back to the rented cottage and my wife. During the week I also visited the Highland Park distillery...my absolute favorite whisky. Great buildings and a great whisky although I found the short tour and the tasting of just one very, very small glass of the standard 12 year old whisky a bit poor. I expected to learn more about the difference between the 12 year, 15 year, 18 year and so on... But apparently if you want to taste all of those you have to book in advance... Ah, sod it....I bought a fantastic bottle of 18 year old anyway :-))
I love Orkney!
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