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Experience the best of wild trout fishing at the Reay Lochs in west Caithness as featured in Trout & Salmon magazine 2002. These lochs are managed with considerable care by Lesley Crawford and Harpers Tackle, Thurso. The Reay Lochs enjoy a secluded setting 200 feet above sea level to the south east of the village of Reay in Caithness. They comprise two shallow spring fed moorland waters lying over a rich limestone base and they have been affording quality wild trout fishing to the visitor periodically over the last one hundred years. The lochs are the haunt of black throated divers, otters, short eared owls and hen harriers and they offer a tranquil escape for both the visiting and local angler. The Trout of the Reay Lochs are descended from some of the oldest strains of wild trout in the UK. The fish you are likely to catch show either Leven characteristics i.e. have a silvery appearance and leap like sea trout when caught or have more Ferox characteristics i.e. deep gold in colour with a faint green sheen on upper flank and these fight deep and hard when caught. Occasionally a type of trout known as the 'Parr Marked Trout' is taken and this is recognised by grey fingerprint markings along the lower flank. All the fish show excellent sporting qualities coming in at an average weight of between 3/4 to 1lb though at certain times of the year much larger can be caught. We have no bag limits as such but ask you exercise voluntary restraint/catch & release and return any undersized fish below 10" and/or in the latter half of the season return any larger trout which are ripe with spawn so that fish numbers are maintained. |
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