Fishing trips throughout Scotland

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An early season brown on the River Don

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Big Trout in Scotland are common, and elusive. However with the right techniques and approach, they can be caught. This article will hopefully help you plan for success and when the moment comes, avoid fluffing your (fly) lines.

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A 62cm wild brown trout caught on a dry fly on the River Tweed in April

The best time to target Big trout in Scotland

April, September are commonly the best times to catch good trout. Equally, early morning and late evening are highly effective times in the summers months.

What tackle to use?

Firstly, I’m not a huge fan of using heavy tackle. In fact many of the big trout I have caught in Scotland have been on #2 weight and #4 weight rods. The important fact is to use tackle you feel comfortable with and will enable you to deliver the goods when the moment comes.

Equally important as tackle, is the quality of tippet material you choose. When fishing for trout on the River Tweed, we use 9ft # 4 weight rods, and 6x Rio Superstrong tippet and Fulling Mill Masterclass for dry fly fishing. This low diameter allows us to fish with size 16 and 18 flies. In fact, we use this tippet for nymphing and Euronymphing too. Conversely, for streamer fishing we use 10lb Maxima Ultragreen or Chameleon (dependant on the water colour).

In addition, when nymphing with dry dropper, step up to a # 6 weight rod. This can then double up as your streamer rod. Lastly 10ft or 11ft 2/3 weight is perfect for Euronymphing. Believe me, I’ve taken many salmon on this set up. It’s all about how you play a fish and manoeuvre it into slack water.

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This River Tay Wild Brown Trout took a Dry Olive

The different techniques for big trout in Scotland

Streamer fishing

Streamer fishing is highly effective on trout that predate on small fish. Moreover, when the smolt run is on, you can target big trout that are fixated on hoovering up smolts en route to the sea. Furthermore, fish that have switched off from feeding on flies and nymphs in late spring, can be tempted with streamers. Cast upstream into deep pools and a fast erratic retrieve is most effective.

Big trout in Scotland on the Dry Fly

To begin with, dry fly fishing is best in the early season. Huge trout, seem to lose their inhibitions and go on the feed heavy to a well presented dry during a hatch. Taking care when wading not to disturb the pool, and stealth is critical here. The balance here is in getting close enough to a trout to make an honest cast, without spooking the fish. Meanwhile, Im always amazed how many anglers do not degrease their tippet. Fly line shows up in the meniscus to a trout and can trigger warning bells.

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A decent River Don trout caught using CDC dry spiders on a 7ft 2 weight Sage Dart rod

We use fullers earth with a small dap of biodegradable cover washing up liquid added. The tiniest amount will clean the last 12 inches of tippet and allow it to hide under the meniscus. Saliva is good too, providing you’ve not just eaten a pie of packet of crisps!

Lastly, we use a furled leader, hand made by Edenmade nets. The ideal length is 6ft, with a 6ft tippet added to the business end

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A 3lb Tweed Brown Trout on a dry fly in early April

Nymphing, dry dropper and Euronymphing

When all else fails and the fish are not showing on the surface, get the nymphing rod out! For a comprehensive guide to how to create the perfect set up for Euronymphing follow the link. Equally when you have insufficient flow or need to cast further to reach fish, the dry dropper technique is deadly.

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River Tay a Sage ESN rod and a box of trout and grayling nymphs

Landing, photographing and releasing big trout

Finally, if you are successful and land that trophy brown trout, you need a good photo. But also, you don’t want to faff about too much and handle the fish badly. Remember your hands are covered in bacteria, so the minimum handling the better. If you do need to do a quick grip and grin, wash your hands thoroughly in the river water, and keep your hands wet. All the time, keep the fish somewhere where it can get oxygen.

Remember not to squeeze the trout. Cup the fish gently, get the shot and drop it back in the net. You can then lower the net to let it swim away. Please avoid letting the fish slip through your hands to release it, again, you are simply covering the fish in bacteria. I see so many anglers doing this, and I cringe every time…please respect the fish folks.

Lastly, the trout below was landed in slack water and quickly photographed lying in the net and then released. At no point, did I need to touch the fish. Its not the way we do it every time, it just shows, it can be done.