TroutQuest Fly Fishing Holidays, Instruction & Guiding - Loch Eye

Loch Eye

TroutQuest has a lease of one boat on Loch Eye, located near Fearn between the Cromarty and Dornoch Firths. We are usually able to arrange additional boats for rental if required. Loch Eye is Easter Ross' finest wild brown trout fishery and one of the very best lochs in the Highlands. It lies in rolling farmland and its setting and character are very similar to Caithness lochs such as Watten. The season for Loch Eye is from the first Monday in April until 30th September each year.

Loch Eye is a relatively large, shallow, eutrophic (nutrient-rich) loch. It lies at an elevation of just 15m above sea level, and is approximately 158 hectares (390 acres) in size, with an average depth of just 1 to 2m. Bank fishing is not permitted on Loch Eye, and neither is the use of petrol or electric motors. With an east-west length of some 2.4 km (1.5 miles), this can be a large water to cover by oars alone.

The loch is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as in winter the loch acts as an important roosting site for internationally important numbers of waterfowl. In summer months, visiting ospreys are seen regularly throughout the day while fishing as well as the occasional otter.

The loch has extensive subsurface and partial marginal aquatic vegetation which reaches its maximum coverage in mid-summer. In periods of prolonged sunny & hot weather, the loch can be affected by algae, hence the very best fishing is from April through to July, but this loch is well worth a visit at any time, though there is no fishing on Sundays.

The shallow weedy conditions are ideal for insect life and the loch has huge hatches of all the important aquatic insect groups throughout the season: buzzer and olives all season, and sedges from late June onwards. Brown trout are present in large numbers, and the rises that accompany the huge fly hatches can be spectacular. While there are preferred drifts (!), trout can be caught just about anywhere on the loch, and an average bag for a day's fishing would include several fish between 1 and 2 lbs, with larger fish up to 4 lbs caught occasionally.

Pricing for boat hire including up to 2 permits is £30/day in 2008.

A superbly conditioned 3lb brownie from Loch Eye

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