FISHING
South Uist has some of the finest and most exceptional wild fishing in Europe. Wild brown trout, sea trout and salmon are readily available. There are no course fish on South Uist. With over 800 lochs and lochans on both South Uist and Benbecula, what better way is there to while away the hours amongst some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. All fishing in South Uist is fly fishing, except in sea fords where spinning and bait is allowed.
The unique shell sand alkaline machair lochs on the west side create the ideal growing conditions for our quality brown trout and sea trout which are universally regarded as some of the best fishing you can experience.
In contrast, the middle and east coast of the islands have a rugged peaceful beauty of moor and hills leading to sheltered skerries, perfect for wild brown trout. The peaty and acidic moorland hill lochs, lower in nutrients, cultivate a smaller but sportier fish. The hard won fish in the hills of South Uist are a challenge for even the experienced angler.
Machair Fishing
The machair lochs lie on the west side of South Uist, nestling below the mountains of the east and behind the Atlantic sand dunes to the west.
Machair land is limited to small areas of land on the west coasts of Scotland and Ireland and the soil has a high shell content of up to 90% crushed shell. The lochs that sit on the machair are alkaline and sustain a rich food supply for the salmon, sea trout and brown trout that inhabit them.
A network of drainage ditches, rivers and burns connects the lochs to the sea and, though the system was built to protect the low lying grazing land from flooding, it allows the migratory fish to reach a greater than expected number of lochs.
Their close proximity to the sea makes many of the South Uist lochs brackish and this adds to the unique experience of machair fishing.
Though popular with anglers for the salmon and sea trout that grow up to 10lbs in weight, the lochs also yield brown trout at weights of up to 5lbs. However, average sizes for fish caught are closer to half the weight of the largest the lochs yield each year.
Hill Fishing
The hill lochs make up by far the greatest number of fishing lochs on the islands. There are hundreds of lochs and lochans dotted over the three islands of Eriskay, Benbecula and South Uist that are included in the hill loch permit.
The islands of Benbecula and South Uist offer the widest choice of fishing and ample opportunity to move from one loch to another for a change of scenery or better fishing.
Set on the higher peat land among the rising land to the east of the islands, the lochs are darker and the fish generally smaller than in the machair lochs. However, the occasional large fish is caught in the hills and the fish are well known for being serious fighters when hooked.
Though some of the lochs are easily accessible from the road, many require a good walk into the hills of South Uist, or the rolling land on the east of Benbecula. If you want to walk into the hills for an hour or three to fish a loch with only the deer and eagles for company then this is the place for you.
Brown Trout
The finest brown trout fishing is in the machair lochs on the flat pasture land on the west coast. These unique lochs are based on a shell sand bottom and are thus alkaline with superlative feeding.
The lochs are shallow, rarely over six feet deep, and much of the best fishing water is even shallower. Drifting a boat across these lochs is a unique experience.
All fish are wild fish – and there are no stocked fish on the island. Fishing pressure is light, and given a high percentage of returned fish, the trout population is self sustaining; enabled by some very high quality spawning burns.
The lochs are shallow, rarely over six feet deep, and much of the best fishing water is even shallower. Drifting a boat across these lochs is a unique experience.
All fish are wild fish – and there are no stocked fish on the island. Fishing pressure is light, and given a high percentage of returned fish, the trout population is self sustaining; enabled by some very high quality spawning burns.
Sea Trout
Whilst the salmon runs here are modest in comparison with some other fisheries in the Outer Hebrides, the Sea Trout runs have held up extremely well and can justifiably be considered as some of the finest sea trout fishing in Europe.
Salmon
July and August represent the ideal time to mix and match Brown Trout fishing with Salmon fishing when there tends to be very little pressure on the lochs.
All fishing on South Uist is owned by the community company Storas Uibhist. Please contactStoras Uibhist for more information on 01878 700 101 or email – fishing@storasuibhist.com
Bag Limits
We do not have specific bag limits here in South Uist but we kindly request that anglers only kill those fish they require for the table.
As with any fishing, the weather here is totally unpredictable and will vary day by day so it is very difficult to state the best fishing times.
Salmon and Sea Trout season opens on February 1st, this being said there are only intermittant runs at this time of year.
Brown Trout season opens on March 15th, again weather is unpredictable, could be very wild or very calm. The cream of the Brown Trout fishing is in May and June and the days can be light up to 10.30pm at the end of June. Brown Trout season ends on Sept 30th.
The first runs of Sea Trout and Salmon arrive in July.
