Lewis & Harris
Lewis and Harris is a single island in the Outer Hebrides, the largest outside of the British mainland. The northern two-thirds is called (the Isle of) Lewis and the southern third (the Isle of) Harris, with the boundary being the 'pinch point' between two sea lochs: Loch Reasort to the west and Loch Seaforth to the east.
Harris is the more mountainous part of the island, while Lewis is flatter with mountains only in two southern areas: to the north of Loch Reasort; and to the east of Loch Seaforth.
The island is famed for its fieldsports heritage, and there are numerous salmon & sea trout fisheries; the cream of them in the more mountainous areas in the south of Lewis and the north of Harris.
As in West Sutherland, the river systems are made up of 'chains' of interconnected river and lochs. Water run-off is rapid and river levels rise and fall very quickly, providing short windows of opportunity for salmon & sea trout to run the rivers & streams. The rivers rarely have holding pools, and salmon run straight through to the lochs for refuge. It is these lochs therefore, that generally offer the best fishing for anglers.
Fishing opportunities on Lewis & Harris are inexorably linked to land ownership. The island is a patchwork of estates which fall into two categories.
The mountainous areas of south Lewis and north Harris are largely occupied by sporting estates, which often host a Victorian or sometimes a modern lodge, whose guests have access to all the estate’s fishing during their stay. Amongst these are Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, Grimersta and Garynahine, renowned in fly fishing circles.
Other estates such as Stornoway, Pairc and Carloway are community owned, with crofting and farming being the predominant land use. While the quality of the salmon & sea trout fishing may not be quite at the same level, it is often easier to come by for the visiting angler, and brown trout fishing is much more accessible. Indeed, bank fishing for brown trout is generally free on community owned estates.
The locations and extents of some of the main sporting estates in south Lewis & north Harris, are shown on this graphic, but all of the sporting estates and the community owned estates are included on the HiFly map.
As so much of the top salmon fishing, such as on the Grimersta/Langavat, Blackwater, Voshimid, Laxay and Fhorsa systems, is tied directly to estates & accommodation lets, we have chosen to list most of the Salmon Fisheries by sporting estate directories rather than river system.
There are also however, directories for salmon systems where booking accommodation is not a requirement, such as on the Creed and Steisavat systems.
Most salmon systems will also feature runs of sea trout, but there are also saltwater fisheries located around the coast, outside of the big sporting estates, accessible to visiting anglers. These include the Tong and Steinish sea pools near Stornoway, and the Luskentyre sea pools in Harris.
The Trout Fisheries section for Lewis & Harris comprises listings for trout fisheries accessible to visiting anglers through angling clubs, community owned estates & a few privately owned estates with open access. These include lochs controlled by Stornoway Angling Association, Galson and Stornoway estates and the lochs of Great Bernera.
Although all trout lochs appear on the map, lochs owned by estates, where the primary focus is on migratory fish, do not appear as listings in the trout fishery directory.
Religion in Lewis and Harris is dominated by Presbyterian 'free churches', and adherence to the Sabbath is strictly observed on Harris, where there is no trout fishing permitted on Sundays. Lewis has a similar tradition, but observance of the Sabbath has become more relaxed in the past 20 years. Trout fishing is tolerated, but local advice is, that anglers should be discrete and fish out of sight of public roads.
More Intel for Lewis & Harris (HiFly Fishing members only)
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