This winter I’ve promised to wean myself off Etive, at least a little bit, and try some other overnight locations. However I love camping and fishing here over the colder months and it will definitely still feature prominently! This early November trip on Etive won’t be the only one 🙂
I kicked off down near Ardchattan, as I often do. This used to be a good spot for rays but thornies seem to have thinned out quite a bit in recent years.
Spurdog were still about however, although these were the usual small specimens typical of Etive. All came to either ledgered mackerel or mackerel baited hokkais.
I also caught a few spurry dinners in the shape of small whiting. Hardly exciting, but enough to keep me amused for a while.
Eventually tiring of the wee fish, I did my usual and reversed course from Ardchattan, heading right up the loch to get sorted out for the night.
Upper Loch Etive
Up past the narrows there were a few light showers and a fabulous rainbow framing the mountains around Glen Etive. It’s one of my favourite views for a reason!
I played around with sabikis close inshore for a few drifts but only picked up a couple of whiting and some teeny little gurnard.
Out on deeper water I dropped anchor and proceeded to up my total of small spurdog and LSD. Still no rays though.
Last thing before heading ashore for the evening was to test my 3.5 hp Mariner as an auxiliary. I’ve had the thing for 6 months, so it’s high time I checked it’s capabilities. Running at 5 mph against the (light) tide and 6.5 mph with it, I was pleasantly surprised, as I expected a little less. Hopefully I never have to use it as an aux, but it’s useful to know what it can do!
Running ashore at one of my usual spots I set up camp as the light faded. By early November the longer nights are getting really noticeable now, despite the evenings on Etive staying quite mild.
As usual I had the place to myself, with the nearest (and only) light showing at Gualachulain at the very head of the loch.
With coffee sorted and dinner cooking over my campfire on the beach, I sorted out some shore gear for a cast or two. I usually take in a shore rod to give myself the option when I’m boat camping.
This beach is pretty variable – sometimes plenty of spurdogs, sometimes none at all. Tonight was one of the latter, with a complete no show apart from hungry shrimps and crabs.
By now I was more interested in dinner than fishing, so wasn’t bothered by the absence of anything with fins. Chilli chicken with chorizo is a favourite for me – easy to cook, hot and filling.
Finishing my evening with a whisky fortified hot chocolate (my “winter” treat) I snuggled down in a warm sleeping bag and drifted off.
A Grey Dawn
I awoke in the early dawn to a heavy burst of rain drumming against the tent so just turned over and went back to sleep for a while. When I did finally poke my snout out Etive was looking a little grey but it was at least dry.
I decided to be good and hammer out a shore bait before I started on breakfast – ’twas a close run thing though.
Mackerel chucked out on mission impossible, I rekindled my fire. A strong coffee worked wonders on my enthusiasm, as did the sound and smell of bacon being fried within an inch of its life.
Heavy showers drifted in and out, so I added and shed layers for a couple of hours as I munched rolls, drank coffee and caught nothing whatsoever.
Time marched on and the rain became more persistent, so I hauled the longliner ashore and made ready to leave.
Once afloat the rain fell steadily as I knocked out a few tiddlers. I was trying a few new marks but encountered little of interest.
The skies cleared after an hour or two and I relaxed in calm surroundings for a little while. Not for long though, as a pronounced little swell started up from way down the loch. I could see the source all right – there was clearly a decent blow coming up from Taynuilt and gradually heading in my direction.
It took a while but eventually the wind caught up with me and I decided to head back closer to home. With only small fish around it didn’t seem worth hanging around and I was planning an early finish anyway.
Last Chance Saloon
Bouncing back through the Bonawe Narrows, I took the lazy option and tied up to one of the mooring buoys just off Kelly’s pier. These do throw up spurs and rays at times, although they aren’t my favourite spot by a long chalk.
Today was even slower than usual, with only a couple of doggies to show for my efforts. Even the cormorant didn’t seem to think it worth his while to go fishing!
I finished up as planned in mid-afternoon, just as the spurdog announced their presence with a half eaten whiting. The bites didn’t look chunky enough to be interesting, so called it a day and powered a couple of hundred yards further ashore to the shingle.
A good effort in dismal conditions, well done.
Hi Ash – probably better than what was forecast! Some rain and some wind but not at the same time, and just a little too warm to justify a tent stove. Hoping to get out this weekend and it’s guaranteed to be colder this time. Just got to decide where!
Good effort in those conditions Doug, even if the spurs had other ideas on the evening.
You seem to be frequenting that spot more often now – has the work on the north bank had much of an impact on your old haunts?
Hi Liam, Just co-incidence really, although the Glen Etive road was closed late November for drainage work (re-opened now). I also damaged a knee back in June which ruled out some of the rougher ground for several months.
I’ve thought about Etive several times over the past few weeks, but it can be tricky to line conditions up. Days of calm, sub-zero weather like we had recently can be beautiful but means the upper loch freezes over. Weather like we’ve had over Christmas can mean the high access road gets blocked with snow whilst the loch itself has nothing but miserable rainy conditions.
As of November there isn’t anything affecting access along the north shore, and I don’t expect anything to hit the areas I fish (maybe some noise from tree felling). The beach at Barrs was deserted although rather spoiled by a large stone jetty – it’s still OK as a camping spot. At some point they’ll use this to extract felled timber but it won’t affect the other places I go to.
Cheers,
Doug