Orkney
Orkney is one of the UK's top wild brown trout fishing destinations, offering a variety of top quality trout fishing with easy access. Trout fishing is part of the local culture, and visiting anglers are warmly welcomed.
The Orkney Islands are located just 15 miles or so north of Caithness, off the north-east tip of mainland Scotland. They can be reached by air from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness, and by road in 4-5 hours from Inverness, including the ferry crossing.
As in Caithness, the season is short, running from May 1st to September 30th only. Strictly speaking, no permits are required to bank fish on most of Orkney's lochs, and any legal method is permitted. However almost all the lochs in the Orkney Islands are managed by the Orkney Trout Fishing Association (OTFA), and we encourage all visiting anglers to join.
For just £30/year, visitors can join OTFA, entitling them to use their facilities (car parking, launches, shelters, toilets etc), while also supporting their excellent fishery management & conservation work, which includes stocking of trout fry in remote lochs in the islands, which have no natural spawning burns.
OTFA maintain an excellent website, which facilitates online membership and provides all the information you could need to fish here, including detailed descriptions of each of the main lochs, fly choices etc.
There are no rivers on Orkney, so there is no salmon fishing, but there is some good sea trout fishing to be found. Sea trout are abundant around the coast, particularly on the east sides of Mainland and Hoy. While they will run freshwater burns to spawn in the autumn, they spend most of their adult life in the saltwater, and it is in coastal bays, tidal lagoons and channels where local and visiting anglers target them.
The principal lochs on Orkney Mainland are Harray, Boardhouse, Hundland, Swannay, Stenness, Skaill and Kirbister.
Each offers varied conditions, and most have huge populations of hard fighting brown trout in the ½ lb to 1½ lb size range and occasional bigger fish up to 4 lb. Providing weather conditions are not extreme, excellent sport can be expected.
The main lochs offer some excellent bank fishing, particularly on Harray, Hundland and Boardhouse and there is also limited boat hire available on these lochs.
Harray and Swannay in particular, are extremely hazardous with shallow bays and points and submerged skerries.
Visiting anglers new to these lochs, are highly recommended to engage the services of one of the excellent local fishing guides, who also have their own boats. Guides will not only know the best boat drifts and hazards to avoid, but they will also offer advice on tactics and best flies.
Trout fishing is not restricted to Orkney Mainland. There are also lochs managed by OTFA on Stronsay, Westray, Sanday & Hoy.
Banner Image & some slide show images (the good ones) © Colin Riach
More Intel for the Orkney Islands (HiFly Fishing members only)
NB: You must be logged in to access these parts of the site. 'TroutFisher' members can access all brown trout & sea trout fishing content, 'SalmonFisher' members can access all salmon fishing and sea trout fishing content. 'GameFisher' members can access all content. If you are not logged in, or that content is not viewable within your subscription, you will be returned to the Home page.