I regularly visit the Lochaber sea lochs over the winter months as they offer sheltered water for fishing and boating, together with some beautiful camping spots. The fish are mainly small but are just icing on the cake if you’re seeking a quiet night beside the campfire.
Late February saw me trail my Orkney Longliner over to Etive for a solo camp and fish. I wanted to mix a bit of boat fishing with a few casts off the shore in the evening so took a fair collection of gear. Add in a hot tent, firewood, food and camera gear and I’d a fairly crowded boat despite going solo!
Click above for my video of this trip!
I kicked off well down the loch trying for spurs. Just conventional bottom fishing with mackerel baits and usually a pretty reliable approach. However, although a couple of small fish put in appearance things were pretty quiet.
Eventually tiring of waiting for more action I upped anchor and headed up Etive to another favourite mark. Same result 🙁
Nightfall
A final move added a couple more little spurdogs but nothing else seemed interested. Whilst I wasn’t expecting anything sizeable, the lack of quantity and variety was disappointing. However, with the winter sun dropping towards the horizon it was soon time to forget the fishing and get set up for the night.
Heading through the Bonawe narrows I worked towards the deserted shoreline north of Barrs. I chose a campsite I’ve used many times before, providing a great tent pitch alongside a decent mooring with deep water for a spot of shore fishing.
With my tent set up and darkness falling, I chucked out a mackerel bait on my beachcaster and settled down to watch the stars. It was a clear night and the snow capping Ben Cruachan reflected nicely in the moonlight.
In the end I caught nothing before the cold encouraged me back to the warmth of my tent. At this time of year a little tent stove is a great morale booster, providing both heat and a cheerful flame as you cook dinner. In this case I’d a simple one-pot chicken and pasta dish, but plenty of it 🙂 Perfect for a chilly night!
Fine Morning
Next morning dawned cold and clear and I cast out again before firing up the tent stove for coffee and a bacon roll.
There was no rush and I doubled down on both coffee and shore fishing for most of the morning. Rather to my surprise I even caught another spurdog!
Eventually I stirred myself to pack away the stove and tent and stow everything on the boat. Etive was completely still so I just made a few very slow drifts rather than drop anchor. I managed a half-hearted hour or so before hitting the other bank for a wee break 🙂
In my defence, I did lob out another shore bait to feed the crabs before settling down with another coffee. The day was simply magnificent, snow capped munros providing a fabulous backdrop to a mirror-smooth Etive. Completely silent too, with nobody else around for miles and barely a murmur from the wildlife.
Alas, all good things come to an end and I eventually meandered my way back to Taynuilt to defrost the car. However this was a brilliant little camp and great way to beat off the winter blues!
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Wondered where you’d gotten to Doug, blogs been quiet a while!
Great read as usual in one of the best parts of the world. Camped up towards Ardmaddy over the early May bank holiday, first trip to Etive in about 5 years, was great to be back.
Hi Liam,
Just busy with other things for the last wee while and the blog’s taken a bit of a back seat. Still got a couple more posts to get it up to date as I’ve squeezed a little more fishing in recently! I hope you’d a good time on Etive – at least early May should be relatively bug free and there should be some hint of green appearing after the winter.
Cheers, Doug