I first attempted kayaking along the Morvern coast a couple of years ago, but was blown off before I started. Only accessible by sea or a long hike across a mountainous interior, it isn’t an easy place to explore. However, this time the tides were small and the forecast looked kind. It seemed as good a time as any to try again!
I parked up alongside the road near Kingairloch and proceeded to haul my gear down to the bouldery beach. Not far really, but I was certainly wheezing by the time everything was down at the waters edge.
Once clear of Kingairloch and the boats working at the fish farm I started paddling, staying close inshore. The sea was calm with no obvious tidal flow and I made steady progress.
One reason for hugging the shoreline was to try a spot of trolling as I kayaked, so I dropped a 20g silver Toby over the side and let it run 40 or 50 yards behind the yak. Only a few hundred yards further on and I hooked my first fish, a mackerel. Bait or dinner, depending on how the day went!
I carried on, adding another mackerel as I went, as well as the odd clump of seaweed. Sea conditions stayed stubbornly nice and calm, and even the clouds started to break.
Glensanda
Rounding a small point, Glensanda loomed into view – the largest granite quarry in Europe, complete with airstrip and berthing facilities. Quite a contrast with the deserted and lonely shoreline either side of it! To be fair, it probably doesn’t have a much greater impact than the average windfarm and at least provides jobs in exchange. I paddled on past and soon left it behind.
I tucked in close under the same pink granite cliffs that fed the quarry and tried my luck for pollack. Success of a sort quickly followed, as I began catching plenty of fish – just a bit on the small side.
Brunch on the Beach
Tiring of wee pollack, and in dire need of something to munch, I bypassed the bay at Camas Chronaig and headed down another mile. Here I hauled ashore on a pretty stony beach, rather like an overfed orange seal flopping out the ocean.
I spent an hour or so here, brewing a coffee or two and generally lazing about. Just along the shoreline I sussed out a nice spot to pitch a tent, in case I couldn’t get set up at my main target.
I sent the DJI up on a recon mission and you can see that’s not too shabby a spot.
It did get a little blustery here for a while, but that was just an excuse to brew another coffee…
Eignaig – and a warning!
Eventually I stirred myself enough to paddle a few hundred metres along the shoreline, first to collect water from the burn, and then to explore the bothy at Eignaig.
This is a private bothy, operated by the estate at Ardtornish, so it was locked up and safe from wandering kayakers.
Complete with dire warnings about the local wildlife… (and it’s own mooring, should you be interested in negotiating a stay)
My own target was a small headland just a few hundred metres further south. The chart suggested access to deeper water, and I thought it might be possible to pop a tent on a grassy patch on top. The chart was right enough, but the aerial photography was a little optimistic – I guess you could get a very small tent in, but it didn’t look too comfortable.
Time for Some Fishing
I just pulled the kayak ashore and dug out my shore gear, using the mackerel I’d caught earlier as bait. Casting south in the general direction of Lismore, even my usual limp wristed chuck managed to hit 60-70 feet of water.
I lazed in the sun for a little while (the photos don’t do it justice – it was definitely a warm day!), munching a roll and gulping some water. Eventually I figured out that I may as well try spinning as well as bottom fishing, given the effort required to get here.
Metals proved pretty successful with the local population of small pollack and I amassed a fair score of unimpressive specimens.
Bait fishing was less successful, although the crabs were probably happy enough. I did eventually tease out a doggie (quelle surprise!) but little else showed any interest.
As the sun gradually faded a few coalies put in an appearance, followed by a couple of mackerel just as I was thinking of packing up.
Walking back to my kayak I stumbled across this evidence that otters also fancy this spot – a half eaten sea urchin shell on top of the point.
I sorted out my gear and launched the kayak again, this time just for the short trip back to Eignaig. I’d loaded a fair bit of driftwood aboard too, as I needed something to cook dinner on!
Campfire Hunger
A cooking fire was top priority, as I needed it to burn down to embers before I could really use it. Accordingly I got one underway before setting up my ageing (but comfortable) Vango Banshee. I’d been on the go since before 4 in the morning and the combination of driving, paddling and fishing was rapidly catching up on me, not to mention a rumbling stomach.
I cooked a couple of mackerel for starters (that sounds greedy, but they were small and I was REALLY hungry) and then slung a rib-eye on for the main course.
Coupled with corn on the cob and new potatoes it hit the spot nicely, especially when washed down by (rather warm) lager. Honestly, probably anything would have worked, as by this point I was really tired! Definitely time to hit the sack.
I did crawl out the tent around 2 in the morning, just to check the kayak was still there. Happily, it was, although I’m not sure quite what I’ve done if a minor tsunamai had actually carried it away. The midges were ready and waiting for me, and it felt like another hour before the itching subsided.
Wakey, Wakey
Happily, they had largely buggered off by the time I emerged properly next morning and I’d breakfast in relative peace.
Bacon and egg roll consumed, it was time to get afloat again and work my way back to my starting point.
To some extent this was a mirror image of yesterday, but I took some time out to explore Camas Chronaig. This has camping potential, but is a very shallow bay with some very grumpy seals.
Further on and wee pollack were still in evidence south of Glensanda. I caught a few small specimens easily enough, but there was no sign of anything decent.
Strawberries
Bypassing the quarry, my final stop was at the old ruins of Airigh Shamhraidh. At one time this must have been quite a landmark, with several large buildings and thick stone walls.
Completely deserted nowadays, this is a fine place to stop, although the beach is pretty rocky. The ruins were covered in wild strawberries and I made the most of them, scoffing dozens in the morning sunshine. Delicious!
Afloat again, I trolled a bit further and picked up another mackerel and mini-pollack on my way back to Kingairloch.
As I got closer to home the tide worked against me a little – pretty much the first time I’d noticed it this trip. Tired arms meant the last few hundred yards were covered pretty slowly!
Ashore at last, I was still faced with the final challenge of carrying and dragging my gear back up to the car. A little easier than I feared, but hard going on a warm day.
I really enjoyed this little adventure. New territory to explore, and stretching myself a little in the kayak. Easy fishing and a fine spot for the night, cooking good food over an open fire. Even a warm beer tasted good in these surroundings 🙂
Looks like great fun Doug. That mark may have been fishless this time but certainly looks like it has potential.
I actually bought a perception last year after reading some of your exploits in the wilds. Yet to drop it in anywhere as remote as this. Hoping the weather plays ball for me in September when I’m due to come up – if so it’ll be coming with!
Hi Liam,
You do need really good weather (or a lot more skill and stamina than I have) to try this area in a SOT kayak – and the Perception is considered a semi-touring kayak compared to many other fishing kayaks. I have used a “proper” sea kayak before on a multi-day trip (suitably supervised!) and it was much easier to work with when paddling, but would have been very hard to fish from. I have a very old YT video/photolog on this one – British Columbia – it’s completely fish-free, but the first few minutes shows Desolation Sound in BC and the experience that tipped me over the edge, kayak speaking! More locally, Etive has great camping but limited fishing, whilst Sunart has decent camping and sometimes decent fishing. In really calm weather then Skye is worth considering – perhaps camp on Harlosh Island and fish the edges of Bracadale. September can be brilliant if you get lucky with the weather!
Cheers,
Doug
Thanks for the info Doug. Definitely need fair weather – I turn green in the slightest swell when sat stationary anyway, although to be fair I mainly bought it as an option for finding those more secluded areas to fish from the shore/camp. See how the weather fairs in September – plenty of backup shore marks if getting the kayak in the water isn’t feasible 🙂
Hi Liam – I think we both seem to prefer the kayak as a means to explore the shoreline as much as actually fish from. I’m happy to spin or do some lightweight bottom fishing for a while, but I do prefer to get ashore and stretch my legs a bit. I do enjoy the kayak but I don’t really use it that much!
Hi Doug
You’ve gone and done all my research for me 🙂
I thought crossing the Glen Sanda terminal might be an issue but it seems you had no problems.
I’ve launched from the shoreline up in Loch A Choire, there are 2 or 3 places with much easier access than humping down the hill! Many years ago I launched from the village as well, but in recent years they have restricted access, I guess because too many camper vans were parking up in their front gardens 🙁
You can also launch from the other side of the bay, at the N end of Rubha na h-Airde Uinnsinn, where there is a decent bit of hard standing to park up. I’ve always caught more around there after dark, with some decent spurs and thornbacks.
I was camping over in Knoydart again last weekend, launching from Corran and fishing in Loch Hourn. I took an ex-colleague along who is getting into kayak fishing, and it was his first time on the west coast. It was actually a bit blustery but he was very happy with a few spurs and doggies, while the dogfish and mackerel curry went down very well at the end of the day. I caught the best spur which was bigger than my my previous PB of 12lb12oz, I didn’t get a weight on it but I’m guessing about 14lb.
The weekend before I was up at Rosehearty and caught haddock from the kayak for the first time. They were thin on the ground and the drift was a bit fast even with the drogue out. The 20mph wind 3 miles out meant the drift was up to 2mph and paddling back upwind I was only making 2mph over the ground, so it was a long time paddling back to start each drift. Just drifting further out was becoming too tempting so I had call time out, but I managed 9 of them, mostly around 1 to 1-1/2lb but a couple of them ran to 2lb, and very tasty they were.
Hi Paul,
Glensanda isn’t a problem at all, unless you arrive at the same time as a bulk carrier… There is also a workboat that ferries people and gear to and from the mainland, and it might not be keeping the closest lookout that far from civilisation. The quarry is relatively unobtrusive given its size, and the noise didn’t seem to carry down the coast either.
I should have a video of this one up on YT next week some time, but the shoreline seems broadly similar to the rest of Linnhe – rocky beaches into moderate depths of water plus some tricky to access rock marks. I enjoyed it and I guess kayakers are pretty much the only group who explore the area. Next time I get there I’ll try along the village track as you suggest, although the little hill wasn’t much of a problem – the cobbles and rocks on the beach were much harder going!
Funnily enough I’ll probably be over to the Kylerhea area with the Longliner tomorrow. Looking to launch around Dornie and head south, although probably not as far as Loch Hourn. Nice to know there are some fish to catch!
I think Trevor would say that late May into June is the best time for numbers of haddock. After that they seem to thin out in numbers (although they are plumper and better eating fish). You should also be able to get them in slightly shallower water in July, perhaps 1.5 miles rather than 3 miles out.
Cheers,
Doug