Exploring a new salmon river.

Despite fishing on Lewis for about 30 years there are still lots of places that I haven't had the chance to visit and this is a salmon river that is new to me. I set out to explore and see what it looked like and to investigate likely spots for catching a salmon.

[@rangerwhite5165]

Stunning. And you'll never lose a fly up a tree!!

[@caorach3354]

Getting hooked up in the heather is another matter however 🙂

[@garykeany5521]

Get yourself a Guideline Bullet single hand line. Very easy line to roll cast or spey cast and can turn over big flies and tube flies as well.

[@Hambleton77]

Love your style fishing this beautiful river. I have fished many like it on the North coast of Scotland. Every pot and hole is worth a cast, great video, TY for sharing.

[@caorach3354]

Thank you Ross, glad you enjoyed it. It will soon be time to get out for another cast I think so can't wait to get going.

[@stuartbowdin6671]

A good old fashioned roll cast or a snake roll would eleviate the catching of the high bank. Looks a great little river.

[@caorach3354]

I'm very lazy about my casting in part because I rarely encounter a tree or obstruction so there are many important skill that I lack. This probably needs fixed, but I'm maybe too set in my ways to bother 🙂

[@user-it4du4zv9g]

What a beautiful landscape and river system …looked very very fishy …Brown trout clearly like the place …thanks very much mate …loved it ❤️👍

[@caorach3354]

Yes the brownies seem to like it more than the salmon did. Nice river though and it is hard to get fish from a river you don't know so it would take me a few visits to get a feeling for it.

[@tonyjones5530]

Looked a fantastic river Philip and well worth another visit, great scenery too.

[@caorach3354]

Hopefully I will get to go back at some point and maybe get a fish. A very varied river.

[@norman5202]

Philip that was an amazing river you are so lucky to be able to fish it. It reminded me of some rivers I used to fish in the west coast of Ireland. Tight lines for 2024.

[@caorach3354]

I hope you will have a great season Norman, I find the access to these rivers, despite the mountaineering, is much easier than in Ireland but they are very similar in nature.

[@billytheghillie]

What a beautiful place , you are so blessed with all that around you. Lovely way to spend a day exploring new waters, im so jealous, wish i was with you.

[@caorach3354]

I am very lucky to get to fish in these places and I love the day out even if the fish aren't playing along. You should get on the ferry and come over, plenty fishing for everyone.

[@MrNialllynch]

Hi Philip, I love watching your videos. Lovely, gentle narratives, and great footage. That looks like a cracking river - some lovely pools and glides. Best of luck for forthcoming season. Niall (West of Ireland)

[@caorach3354]

Thank you Niall, tight lines for 2024 and let's hope there are a few more salmon about.

[@Rocky-hs9ei]

STUNNING indeed...

[@bilbocrackers3246]

Looks absolutely ideal ...like Donegal!!

[@caorach3354]

It is funny that I prefer it to Donegal as I think the access is easier and there are a lot less trees. If there's a tree then I'll hook it!

[@richardfleming4850]

Good adventure. What a beautiful river. And I’d take those browns any day!

[@caorach3354]

It was a great day out Richard, and although I had no success the Super Stoat did well on this river last season. There are clearly a lot of trout in there and perhaps there's even a few decent ones as well but I have a theory that when you are catching trout then you are doing something wrong for salmon.

[@oldsmugglerflyfishing]

Beautiful place

[@douglasweston126]

Hi - I have just discovered your channel. I use to go trout fishing in my youth, loved it - then I emigrated to Australia back in 1972 - I still fish with my boys, but not very often for trout. Love your chat, the scenery is amazing - I mean what's not to like. AND nothing like a nice cup of tea and more importantly the banana !! What I would say is - could you maybe briefly just show the fish to the camera a bit more, so we can have a nice look at them. We dont see that kind of fish over here in Australia. Hope you continue on with the channel, am thoroughly enjoying the whole experience. Cheers Doug (from Down under)

[@caorach3354]

You make a good point Doug, usually I'm keen to get the fish back asap plus they are mostly small trout so I usually try to just show a quick flash of them as they go back.

[@laurieharper1526]

What a gorgeous place.

[@caorach3354]

It is a very interesting and varied river and new to me so that's part of the fun.

[@escobar8133]

Excellent video of a stunning part of the world. I fished there for the day last season. Walked almost to the top of the river and fished all the pools down to first pool in your video. It was some walk and plan on heading out there again in the next week or two. Managed a couple of decent sized trout and hope to come across a salmon this year. Im thinking it might be the best place on the island to encounter a spring fish but what a place to spend the day. Have you done much salmon fishing further south on the island Philip?

[@caorach3354]

I tend to fish in the more northerly part just because I stay in Shawbost but occasionally I might head further south. I don't know if you saw my last video just a few days back of this river but I have no doubt that I saw a spring fish, though with it being quite far away etc. it doesn't show up well on the camera or KZbin. So I have no doubt that there are fish there. In bed with covid at the minute so no fishing for a while.

[@robhowardphotography6439]

Very nice Philip. I think I know which river it is, was going to have a wee look on it myself this season ! I'd definitely end up in the drink clambering up and down those steep banks though. 🤣😂👍

[@caorach3354]

It is a nice river and well worth a look. They also tend to get a few early spring salmon so it is well worth a cast before the main season gets going.

[@philipstrachan6212]

You're an engaging fishing partner. I like your optimism.

[@caorach3354]

I have every reason to be optimistic as the river looked in great order and there were certainly fish there, it was just that I failed to catch them :-) The truth is that I'm the world's best angler for the simple reason that I go out to enjoy myself and whether I catch I fish or not I always manage to enjoy myself so it means all my days out are a great success. You meet a lot of anglers with a much lower success rate :-)

[@wappietamtam6546]

Why not try to cast a D loop like with a double hand rod, you can do the same with a one hand. It’s a stunning landscape, real beautiful.

[@user-gn4wn3cs6m]

Nice video Philip. River looks very interesting and should hold some good salmon and I suppose sea trout? Landscape and scenery wonderful advert for nature and encourage us to get out into the wild.😊

[@caorach3354]

That's what it is all about, and you can't beat a bit of exploring.

[@user-jn7hv7jr9p]

@@caorach3354 ​​⁠ Exactly! Some years ago Bob and I walked Glen Lyon in Scotland - just stopping long enough to explore the pools and flick the odd fly. We were ‘lost’ in our activity and only realised the day was drawing to a close when we noticed the deer heading down through the forest. By the time we found the car and got back to civilization, everywhere was closed. I’d intended to buy provisions on our way back. We managed a cup of tea but went hungry. Not even a banana between us! 😂

[@davidbratby5134]

Another interesting presentation. Thank you. Perhaps (for a few dollars more) you'd enjoy better bankside access on a beautifully manicured stretch of the river Test. You'd certainly enjoy better weather, but it just wouldn't be the same Philip would it?

[@laurieharper1526]

I live half a mile from the Test and I'd rather fish where Philip is any day of the week. The Test, beautiful though some of it is, is very tame by comparison and also (sadly) full of stocked rainbows.

[@caorach3354]

I am sure the river test is a lovely place but it isn't for me at all and the mountaineering was part of the fun.

[@philwebb606]

The pool with the big rock to the right looked such a good spot

[@caorach3354]

It's a new river to me but you are right, that pool down to the big stone looks the best spot.

[@bertifrasilmeye995]

Hi, If I were to cast, it maybe be a sausage roll...seriously a seasoned man on that river might be saying " you got to get it down" I am just surmising. Atb.

[@seayak]

What is the access situation to this river (or others in Lewis)? Does one have to book a beat as on the mainland? As a Canadian I am unfamiliar with the rules and conventions in Scotland. This one looks like a lovely spot to fish for resident brown trout, with flies and tackle appropriate to that pursuit, but if I had booked an expensive salmon beat, I would certainly want to do what you are doing which is the down-and-across presentation with a salmon fly in hopes of a hookup...

[@caorach3354]

Access varies by river, some are free fishing, there is lots of great club water available at low cost, and the private owners are usually very helpful in making days available if they don't have guests. Most of the trout lochs are free fishing. No one fishes the rivers for trout as the lochs offer much better sport for that and the rivers only rarely hold good quality trout.

[@seayak]

Thanks very much for the prompt and informative response. It is interesting to hear what you have to say about trout fishing in the rivers as opposed to the lochs. That makes sense in light of the nature of your rivers, which seem to be relatively high gradient freestone streams, without much in the way of fertility that would provide food for resident trout. Do you get healthy runs of salmon and sea trout - i.e. can you have an exciting day on the right river at the right time when the fish are in, and when do the runs tend to occur?

[@caorach3354]

Atlantic salmon fishing is never a sure thing and certainly isn't about catching fish. Until very recently it was almost impossible to get fishing on Lewis and Harris as it was among the most exclusive and sought after Atlantic salmon fishing. The record here is 54 salmon to a single rod in a day. Of course there has been a decline in salmon stocks but our fisheries are still doing well. I try to represent real fishing, blank days as well as good ones, as many people forget that the big days or big fish you see on the internet might represent the best day out of many days fishing for that particular angler. Many Atlantic salmon anglers can go years, even on top quality waters, and fail to get their first fish and it is a sporting persuit because it isn't easy. If catching them was easy I'd certainly not be doing it. If you've seen my other videos you will know that sometimes I get fish, sometimes I don't. If you want some catching action this video might entertain you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZ6pmHlrp8mmis0si=D8YkkrJMVe0a8HHE

[@seayak]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I know fishing for Atlantics is tough - I don't need a reminder of this. I have also had many fishless days in pursuit of fall steelhead. My question was about the size of the salmon and sea trout runs - has anybody been monitoring this?. @@caorach3354

[@seayak]

You are not the only educated or experienced salmon angler in the world, so please don't be too preachy. Having said that, thanks for you videos, and for posting the good days with the bad days.

[@harrymcgeary2659]

Is this Ireland or Scotland ?

[@caorach3354]

Scotland, most of my videos are in Scotland.

[@BB1872]

Beautiful place to fish with not a salmon or sea trout in it due to sespit salmon farms ..

[@squeesmyth9025]

Is this river en route to clifden

[@caorach3354]

This is in the outer Hebrides.

[@alexanderfreyr4713]

thought for a while this was iceland

[@caorach3354]

I'd never thought of it that way but I guess it does look a bit like Iceland, and Iceland is a rather distant next door neighbour :-)

[@alexanderfreyr4713]

@@caorach3354 absolutely! well I live in Iceland and the first 2 min i was thinking to my self wait have i bin there, wait where is this 😂

[@davep2322]

switch rod territory

[@angusmacarthur8375]

Roll cast all day long.

[@SAMSUNGA-vu6os]

Well I saw not much fish😅

[@caorach3354]

I didn't see many myself, Atlantic salmon fishing is like that especially on a river you don't know. I think the challenge is a big part of the sport 🙂

[@bogbay]

Mad notion. Other bank or is it restricted access? Fantastic river. I mostly fish in a boat on the drift in west of Ireland loughs and have learned to cast with the left hand for when I'm on the engine and have a partner. Saves much grief. Takes a while to get muscle memory but oddly enough, it's usually a much cleaner/better cast, probably because I have to think about it a bit more while I'm doing it. Bonus is how useful it is in a situation like this on a small river

[@caorach3354]

You are right Paul, if I was a better caster then this would be no bother but if you've seen my other videos you will know that trees and obstructions are rare in my fishing so in a sense my lazy attitude to the casting is a product of the places I'm fishing. I could get on the far bank but the bridge was quite a distance away plus I was in the right place for some of the pools.