The Kyle of Sutherland is a place dear to my heart
Northern Lines by Keith Williams
If I were granted just one more day of fishing in my lifetime, then I would surely opt for the tidal waters of the Kyle of Sutherland as the location. In part this choice would be driven by proximity, but mostly by sentiment. I am extremely fortunate to live a few yards away from the Kyle which means that during the months of June, July, August and September I can be fishing, tide permitting, within a few minutes of the mood taking me.
Several decades ago I captured my first sea trout and salmon on the ebb tides and, to this day, it has provided me with the largest salmon I have caught. It was these fish that ignited a parallel interest in fisheries science, many years of study, and ultimately led me to my present vocation. By any estimation, the Kyle has been interwoven into much of my adult life.
It is difficult to identify a similar fishery to the Kyle. Much of the accepted lore associated with salmon fishing on rivers like the Carron, Cassley, Oykel and Shin is of little account there. River fishers typically pray for rain to elevate water levels and provide optimum fishing conditions, whereas Kyle anglers typically wish for lengthy dry periods which limit migration from the estuary and results in good fishing. Likewise, most specialist sea trout anglers target these notoriously shy fish during the hours of darkness in rivers, and yet good baskets can be caught by habitues of the Kyle even on the brightest of summer days.
The quality of fish produced is without peer in my view. It is rare to catch a fish which is not bright silver before late August at the earliest, particularly in the Bonar Bridge area. My views of what a salmon or sea trout should look like have been formed by seeing many hundreds of pristine fish caught during countless tides.
Salmon fishing is considered by many to be a rarefied pastime and there can be no doubt that it can be tricky –and expensive – to procure good fishing, particularly in the summer months. Thanks to the stewardship of the Kyle of Sutherland Angling Association, however, access to the Kyle is nothing if not egalitarian. Day tickets are readily available and a prospective visitor could do worse than avail themselves of the information on the association’s website: www.kosaa.co.uk If there is anything to beat the sights and sounds of the estuary during the very early hours of a summer’s morning, then I have yet to find it. Trust me when I tell you that it is worth getting out of bed at 4am for.
Dr Keith Williams is the director of Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries.
