I guess the title says it all. Just a brief but rewarding overnight foray messing around on the lonelier parts of Loch Etive. My forecast suggested strong winds to start with, easing by late afternoon. So it was late in the day before I launched from the head of the loch, armed with my old Avon SIB and a mix of spinning, boat and shore gear.
The forecasts were certainly right about the breeze! By the half-way point both the waves and the wind were lively, to say the least. The photos don’t do it justice but there was a mass of whitecaps covering the loch.
I eventually ducked into the safety of the old quarry at Barrs and offloaded my gear. Dragging the SIB above the HW mark I humped the kit another 50 metres to my camp/fishing mark.
Comfy Camp
With less than an hour of daylight left I quickly cast out chunky mackerel baits on the shore rods. Next up was scrounging firewood from the rocky shoreline and pitching the tent.
My One Tigris tepee was well sheltered amongst the trees and the wind was dropping now. I’d taken a tent stove in with me but I reckoned it was too warm to bother with, and set up a decent fire instead.
I’d treated myself to venison steaks for dinner, so I got them on the go over the campfire. A few sausages on the fire forks and baked potatoes completed the picture.
I didn’t completely neglect my fishing either, and had a couple more casts, lobbing mackerel into the darkness. This provided a small doggie and an equally small spurdog before I gave up for the evening.
Surface Feeders
Next morning was fine and calm and I unzipped the tent door just as the sun threatened to rise.
Rubbing my eyes in the semi-dark I could see large splashes just off the rocks. At first I thought these were just seals or perhaps otters, but then realised there were fish on the surface.
Fumbling into action, I rigged up my spinning rod as quickly as I could and added a small jig. Given the water here is 80 feet plus, I wasn’t actually carrying any surface lures and this was the best I could do.
A few casts later and I hooked into a decent fish and quickly realised it was a pollack. Nicely hooked in the jaw and safely landed on a bed of wrack, this specimen was quickly measured and released. 58cm suggests somewhere around 4lbs, and I was happy with that.
As the light strengthened and a seal or two appeared, the surface splashes died away. I reverted to casting mackerel baited shore rods again and gathered a few more sticks for my fire
The stillness was quite a contrast to the strong winds of yesterday, and it was pretty mild too.
I’d lugged the tent stove along and set it up expecting a chilly night, but it was actually too warm to need it and I concentrated on the campfire instead.
My usual outdoor breakfast of bacon, eggs and coffee was soon sizzling away on the grill.
It was a beautiful morning – calm and sunny but also quite dry underfoot, which is pretty unusual for the Highlands in autumn! However, by late morning I decided it was time to get out on the water for a bit and see if the pollack were still hungry.
I’d left the shore rods to fish by themselves as I broke camp and loaded up the SIB. This last gasp effort rewarded me with a bonus thornback, my first for a while from this far up the loch. Happy with that, I headed out for another crack at the pollack.
SIB’ing
Tying on a lead head/shad combination I started casting in the deep water around the rocky shoreline. They were clearly in a feeding mood this morning. First up was a fine fish of 62cm
Followed by another trio – two at 63cm and the other a bit smaller. The three larger fish were around the 5lb+ mark which is as good as I’ve had from around here. However, by now my SIB drifting faster than I’d like in the breeze so I packed in the spinning and chugged further up Etive.
Stopping ashore at a favourite spot, I lobbed out the shore rods again. Just a quick cast whilst I sorted out a coffee and enjoyed the last of the sunshine.
Coffee produced a final doggie before I hit the water again and made my way back towards the River Etive. By then we were back to choppy water and heavy showers, so I reckoned I timed my exit just about right!
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