The A to Z of Where to Fish For Wild Brown Trout in the Lochs of Scotland, Perthshire
Back to the Where to Fish A - Z Guide
Rivers | Lochs | Reservoirs
Perthshire
Bruce Sandison's book 'Angling Lines' contains information about permits, access, best fishing spots, best flies, safe wading and boating, it's a must read for anglers looking to visit Perthshire. Click HERE to read the review.
Butterstone Loch | Loch A Mhuilin | Loch Ba | Loch Bhac | Loch Eigheach Loch Earn | Fingask Loch | Loch Ericht | Loch Faskally | Loch Freuchie | Loch Kinardochy | Loch Laidon | Loch Lubnaig | Loch Rannoch| Loch Tay | Loch Tummel | Loch Venacher | Loch Voil
Butterstone Loch near Dunkeld is an exceptionally picturesque fishery with so much wild life to enjoy even if you were not fishing. Stocked with rainbows, blues and its own brown trout the fish average about two and a half pounds with double figure browns, blues and rainbows taken. Boats cost £23 for one person (oap £15); £38 for two rods (£24 oap); £50 for three rods (oap £36) for day sessions 9am until 5pm with a 6 fish limit. There is a wheelyboat at Butterstone. Butterstone has 1 Wheelie Boat. Contact Adrian Haldane on 01350 724238 or on his mobile 07710 771715.
Click here for the Jim Boyd Reports Section
Loch A Mhuilin in Glenquaich, wild brown trout fishing on a secluded hill loch with one boat. Permits cost £32 per day for two rods. Call 01738 451600.
Loch Ba offers free fishing for wild brown trout in spectacular surroundings. Located on the A82 just a few miles south of Glencoe, Ba is part of a group of lochs that straddle the road with Ba to the west of the road and Lochan na Stainge and Lochan na Ashlaise to the west. The trout are not big on average but they are plentiful, take well and fight hard. You can fly fish, spin or use bait, traditional fly patterns do well including black pennel, Greenwells, March brown, iron blue dun and olives or anything that looks like a sedge, heather moth or daddy when in season.
Loch Bhac a Pitlochry AC water 6 miles from Pitlochry holding brown trout and rainbows, fishing is fly only. Boat and bank fishing available 6 fish limit per boat or 3 fish bank, minimum size limit 10". Permits cost £7.50 bank and £20 per day for a boat. Permits from the Tourist Information Office in Pitlochry, call 01796 472215.
Loch Eigheach this small hydro electric dam loch can give some excellent sport. I've had fish up to a pound here. Located a mile or so down stream from loch Laidon it shouldn't be ignored when exploring Rannoch Moor.
Loch Earn there are brown trout and ferox to an excellent standard and a few escapee rainbows that have reconditioned and grown on to as much as 10lbs plus in this beautiful and productive loch. At 6.5 miles long, up to a mile wide and 287 feet at its deepest it is formidable but as with most big lochs the fish are in close to the shore. If you are more than 30 yards out in a boat you are wasting your time. The fish feed in the shallows and along the drop off into deeper water, match your drift to the terrain, low flat shores mean more extensive shallows, steep banks mean the drop off could be just a few yard off shore. Cast close to the shore especially in the evening when you will see fish moving in inches of water.
Traditional flies are all you need, plus Kate Mclaren, gosling, Invicta and mini Muddlers are also recommended fished on a floating or intermediate line after April. Drummond Estate has been stocking the loch since the early 1990s with terrific results. Last year they put in 10,000 fish of 12ozs to 4lbs and fish in the 3 to 5lb category are fairly common, the average is about a pound. The record stands at 26lbs 10ozs caught in 2005 by Archie Somerville. Permits are £8 per day, £20 per week with reductions for juniors, boats are 15 foot long with 4hp outboards and cost £21 for 4 hours to £13 for 8 hours, contact Drummond Estate, 01567 830400.
Fingask Loch a small loch on the Lunan Burn a mile from Blairgowrie offers fishing with good access for disabled persons, a wheelyboat is available. Call 01250 875402.
Loch Ericht wild brown trout, ferox and char, permits from the Loch Ericht Hotel. call 01528 522257 or from the Mains Hotel, call 01540 673206.
Loch Faskally formed when the river Tummel was dammed for a Hydro Electric scheme Faskally has a good head of trout as well as pike and perch. 5,500 salmon pass through the fish pass each year and most fish taken on the loch are taken by trawling. Pitlochry Boating Station, Clunie Bridge Road has 17 boats for hire on the loch, call 01796 472919. There are stock brown trout in the loch to 3 to 4lbs with some specimens up to 8lb.
Loch Freuchie wild brown trout fishing on this shallow loch. Permits from the Amulree Country Hotel, call 01350 725218.
Loch Kinardochy near Tummel Bridge. An other Pitlochry AC water holding brown trout fishing is fly only. Bank fishing only, 10 fish limit per boat, minimum size limit 10". £15 per day for a boat. Permits from the Tourist Information Office in Pitlochry, call 01796 472215.
Loch Laidon brown trout and ferox on this large wild loch out on Rannoch Moor, permits from the Rannoch Station Hotel, have a look at the mounted fish in the bar. Laidon is renowned for the quality of the trout fishing in the wild. The B846 road ends at Rannoch Station, from there you walk across the railway line and down a track to the loch, there are 5 miles of loch ahead to explore, fishing the west bank you will be lucky (or unlucky) to you meet anyone at all. The next stop at the other end of Loch Laidon is Loch Ba and Glencoe. For permits and information contact the Rannoch Station Tea Room, try 0845 601 5929 for further information.
Loch Lubnaig salmon, brown trout, char, pike and perch. Permits from James Bayne Fishing Tackle, 76, Main St, Callander, FK17 8BD, call 01877 330218.
Loch Rannoch wild brown trout, ferox, char with the occasional salmon on this large deep loch. Bank fishing can be very rewarding, but keep moving this is a big loch and you have to look for fish they won't come to you. Study the shore line it will tell you how the the underwater terrain will be, I prefer the shallow bays where there is an in flow stream of which there are many. Look for ridges, submerged rocks and the 'drop off' into deep water which is often quite a distinct point going from a couple of feet deep to very deep in the space of a step or two - so watch out when wading. Boat fishing can be fantastic, my favourite area being towards the top end of the loch in the area that was flooded when the Hydro scheme was developed. Drifting around the little island over sandy shallows can be very good, I hooked and lost a terrific fish here and it still hurts when I think about it now. I was also smashed by a fish, my rod tip being hammered into the water, in the bay just round from the point where the burn runs into the loch just west of Finnart ( I think the burn was called Allt Madaig). One great drift is about 200 yards out from the row of cottages at Killchonan. I have had some great bags of fish from here. Bank and boat fishing. Fishing permits available from local shops and hotels. Boats for hire from Free Spirits at the Macdonald Loch Rannoch Marina.
Loch Tay brown trout fishing, and nowadays escapee rainbows of enormous proportions. Loch Tay offers both bank and boat fishing, float tubing is done with great caution as this is a large loch, 14 miles long, where the weather can change so quickly.
Ardeonaig Hotel 3 boats with outboards, call 01567 820400.
East Loch Angling Association control a sizeable part of the bank fishing for trout, salmon fishing is in the hands of riparian owners. Boats hire the Loch Tay Boating Centre includes a permit to fish for trout.
Kenmore brown trout bank permits for the loch, £5 from Kenmore Post Office, call 01887 830765.
Killin brown trout bank permits for the loch, £5 from News First, call 01567 820363
Loch Tay Lodge boat and bank permits. Boat £25 per day, bank £5. Call J Duncan Millar on 01887 830209.
Loch Tay Highland Lodges offers boat hire including fishing permit at £30 per day. Call 01567 820323.
Loch Tummel bank fishing on this loch made more famous for it's stunning views than for it's fishing. Known more for it's pike and perch population, Tummel does have some good trout. Fish close in near the drop off into deeper water or around inflow streams, always a handy spot when fishing a wild loch.
Loch Venacher has a good population of wild brown trout which is supplemented with a policy of stocking every year with pre-yearlings and some fish up to 2.5lbs. The average is about 1.25lbs with the best fish recently coming in at 4lbs 2ozs. Venacher supports a good mayfly hatch in June and a generally good fly life which makes for very good fly fishing. Fishing is from boat and bank, there are 30 recently refurbished boats with outboards for hire at £25 per 9.30 to 5.30 session Mon to Fri and £29 on Saturday and Sunday. Bank tickets cost £8 and £10 with concessions and junior (under 18s) reductions available. Permits from Trossachs Leisure, call 01877 330011.
Click here for the Jim Boyd Reports Section
Loch Voil salmon, brown trout, char, contact Catriona Oldham, Muirlaggan Farm, Balquhider, Scotland, FK19 8PB, call 384219.
