[pcknshvl]

Hey All,

Lucky me, I'm taking some of my current unemployment time to plan a trip to Scotland at the end of April--and how can I go there and not fish?

While I'm working on contacting ghillies (guides) and figuring out where to get the daily passes from, my question is more about flies and tactics--in other words, what can I expect? I can find patterns to tie, but what size, etc., given the time of year? And yes, I'm sure I'll buy a few when I'm there!

I'll be bringing my 8wt scandi, with a variety of heads. Fishing on the Spey, of course!

Any words of wisdom or informed experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!


Tom

 

[Robert Engleheart]

Tom, lots of stuff there, here's 2 to start. Let us know how you do. It's on my bucket list. My dad learned to fish on the Wylie and Nadder, two lesser chalk streams next to the Avon. I met a chap who is an officer of the Salisbury Anglers club and ended up with an invite to fish them. To fish the stream my dad learned on is the goal.
http://www.graysofkilsyth.com/fly-fishing-links.htm
http://www.wild-fishing-scotland.co.uk/

 

[D3Smartie]

The green Highlander one of my favorites for Atlantics although i have never fished outside of Canada for them.

 

[pcknshvl]

Wow! Those are nice ties... yours?

I'm noticing that black/yellow/red seem to be the Atlantic colors--the Willie Gunn and Munro's Killer both have these as the primary colors.

I also figure I can tie up some very fishable flies without getting too fancy!

Tom

 

[floatinghat]

Listen to the ghillie, I have fished the Carron beat on the Spey and the "town water" on the Ness. It is an awesome experience and one you won't forget.

 

[fredaevans]

One UK based fishing board I'd highly recommend is: http://www.flyforums.co.uk/ Not to worry about joining/posting your questions as there are several folks from the US that join in on a regular basis. As do some of their folks on our US based boards. Even though their talking about Atlantic's (trout, etc) much of what you learn is directly attributable to Steelhead Fishing. Actually some of my most successful flies have their roots in AS patterns.

Fred

 

[Jeremy Floyd]

Take a couple seal bombs in case you have trouble hooking up! (jk, and dont hide em in your shoe on the airline if you do)