About the area

As anybody who has visited the far north will tell you, this area is one of the most outstanding and beautiful places you could ever wish to see. However, this nor any of the photographs, websites, or TV programmes does anything to truly prepare you for the true wonder when you arrive here on our soil for the first, second, or hundredth time.

The only way to experience this area of Scotland is to get out and see it for yourself. The whether you love scenary, untainted sandy beaches, mountains, sunsets, starry skies, wildlife, fresh air, long walks, sport, history, or any one of another million things, the far north has it all in abundance.

Modern Sutherland is born out of the social and agricultural reforms of the Highland clearances in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These produced a unique wilderness landscape in many ways frozen in time.

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Fishing the lochs

The Forsinard Hotel is located in the middle of a vast area of blanket bog which spreads either side of the Sutherland / Caithness border in far northern Scotland. Blanket bog is a globally threatened habitat and the 'flow' country (as this area is called) is one of the largest remaining areas of such habitat in the world.

Parts of the flow country have been affected by afforestation over the past decades but much of the Forsinard area has been acquired by the RSPB who are starting to reverse the trend. The flora and fauna that can be encountered during a visit to Forsinard are nearly as exciting as the fishing. During visits to our lochs you may have close encounters with such rare birds as black throated divers and ospreys, and the lucky few may even see the otters.

Through all the changes over the past decades one thing has remained constant - quality fishing in a variety of lochs for excellent wild brown trout. Among our lochs you will find those ideal for the beginner - packed full of small trout eager to take the fly. Others give the opportunity to catch good baskets of larger fish averaging about a pound. Yet more lochs provide that special opportunity to catch the fish of a lifetime and many fish of over 4lbs have come to the fly in recent years.

Those used to fishing in the upland areas of the Scottish west coast may find our lochs a little different. Often lying in dips in the shallow relief, the Forsinard lochs are often just a small extension of the water table and are quite shallow! None of the lochs are huge and anglers will be able to give each loch full justice in a day's fishing whether from the bank or in one of our excellent boats.

Wading is safe in many lochs but the inexperienced should be aware that several of our lochs are classic 'dubh' (black) lochs which although shallow overall have steep sided banks. Virtually all our waters are heavily stained with peat and the dubh lochs can certainly be off-putting to the uninitiated at first having the basic colour of a pint of Guiness! Please do not try and drink any of our lochs as the real thing is available in the bar.

Quality fishing can be expected throughout the season but many experienced anglers relish the long and prolific mayfly hatches which many of the lochs receive in late June and July. Some of the lochs are quite fertile and other common food items are snails, leeches, corixa and freshwater shrimp. Buzzer hatches and claret olives are numerous on some lochs and good sedge hatches can be had on virtually all the lochs. Trout fry have been spooned from some of the big trout but the shrew found in the gullet of a 3lb Cross Loch fish must take some beating (and imitation)!

Many of the tried and tested classic loch flies work well at Forsinard and patterns such as Kate McLaren, Black Pennel, Zulu, Bibio, Loch Ordy, Invicta, Butcher, and Soldier Palmer should all be included in a Forsinard fly box. As with all areas of fishing things do not stand still and anglers are having increasing success with dry flies, emergers, and 'matching the hatch'. Claret patterns are very useful during claret olive hatches and mayfly imitations are very useful in season. Do not forget to bring a selection of nymphs and buzzers and if anyone has the patience we receive some massive hatches of caenis on some of our lochs!

Most of the lochs lie in the hills west and east of the road running down Strath Halladale. Forestry tracks lead anglers close to many lochs and even the farthest are no more than an hour away from the hotel by road. From the parking places walks to the lochs themselves vary from five to forty five mins with most being in the 10-20 minute range. Although short, these walks are across open bog land and can be strenuous. For the longer walks we recommend that maps and compasses are taken.

All of our lochs are listed below. Please click on each one to read a brief description of the loch, what the best tactics on each loch are, best flies to use, and favourite fishing areas. Each loch has been allocated a grading to help you plan your fishing: B - Beginner; C - Challenging; E - Expert.

There is no formal allocation of lochs to hotel guests as we prefer them to decide amongst themselves at breakfast using the benefit of their combined experiences and our own advice. We have only one guideline and that is for guests to fish lochs in the B or C categories on their first day. We want you to catch fish and our E lochs, you will not be surprised to read, can not provide that guarantee!

Although only Forsinard Hotel lochs are covered here we can arrange fishing in numerous other local lochs given advance notice. Just ask for details during your stay. Salmon fishing can also be arranged.

1	Loch Leir	B
2	Loch Sletill	C
3	Loch Talaheel	B
4	Loch na Cloiche	B
5	Loch Ealach Mor	B
6	Loch Garbh	B
7	Loch Grassie	B
8	Loch Caise	B
9	Loch Caol	C
10	Loch Skyline	E
11	Loch nan Clach Geala	E
12	Cross Lochs	E
13	Loch nam Breac	B
14	Loch Crocach	C

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