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Fish for truly wild brown trout, sea trout and the occasional salmon, on the island of South Uist. Stay with your ghillie, Wegg Kimbell, in his comfortable loch side home, situated on the shores of Loch Druidibeg a National Nature Reserve.

Early morning (and last light) is the time on the Machair lochs when the bigger fish come out of the deeper water to feed in the margins on the sand. If you can cope with knock on the door at 4.30 am, hot coffee and scones and then out fishing; you might just come across the brown trout of a lifetime, whilst the rest of the anglers on the island are still in their beds.

Notable trout bags in 2007 were; 5 fish for 12.5lbs – an average of 2.5lbs and another great day of 3 fish for 11.5lbs including 2 over 4lbs all from Grogarry.

Upper Kildonan produced 30 fish weighing 24lbs one memorable day, and Bornish produced 8 fish for 14lbs including a fish weighing 3.5lbs for the day.

A specimen brown trout was caught by one delighted angler from West Ollay it weighed 4.75lbs and was the largest of the season. The total brown trout catch for the season was 1,300 fish with many in the 2-4lb range.

And remember all the fish are wild – there is no stocking as such, and not a rainbow in sight! The finest of the lochs are on the machair, within the flat grassland on the west coast these lochs have a shell sand bottom, have a high alkalinity and provide superb feeding for the trout.

* On a cold wet day the bubbling of the Kelly’s kettle makes a welcome break.
You need to be prepared for a full range of weather on the islands – but you can always find some shelter even on the wildest day. And if you are lucky you might just find yourself sharing the loch with an otter.


Most of the fishing is from a drifting boat, but you are recommended to bring lightweight chest waders – they keep you dry in the boat – and there is some fantastic wading in the margins of the shallow lochs. On a warm summers evening (assuming the midges are away!) Wegg will bring salad and a bottle of white wine and barbecue your trout by the lochside. Many of the trout have deep pink flesh and are simply delicious. And then after supper a few more drifts in the last light can be extremely effective. But be under no illusions the fishing here is rarely easy.

This is fishing for the serious fisherman.

No one can fish all day – and remember they are very long days in May, June and July – but for those prepared to move mealtimes around to suit the fishing (rather than the other way round) you are guaranteed a memorable trip.

We fish for brown trout from mid March – and if we are lucky with the weather one can have fine brown trout fishing from mid April onwards. One must accept that the weather here is always a lottery, but it is often the very wildest days that produce the best bags.


Prime brown trout time is probably May and June into early July. The sea trout and salmon (nearly all grilse) come into the system on the second spring tide of July, and it is this early run that includes some of the biggest fish. Runs tend to be pretty consistent through August, September and October; all of course subject to water.


2007 season produced over 500 sea trout with good numbers over 5lbs with the largest of the season being 9.75lbs from Fada
* 2005 season saw 3 sea trout over 12lbs caught, 2 from Fada and 1 from Roag.
* July 2004 records include sea trout of 6lbs 8oz from Fada, and sea trout of 7lbs 8oz, 5lbs, 6lbs 8oz and 8lbs 8oz from Roag!
We are lucky in having very short rivers feeding the lochs, so the fish can get in at almost any height of water, catching them is another matter.
* One of our regular anglers caught 17 sea trout (all over 1lb 8oz – we record anything less as finnock) in one week in October for 58 lbs, the best over 7lbs.
* In September 2003 Ian Kennedy caught a 13lb 8oz sea trout from Kildonan – the largest sea trout from the system for many years.

Note also that the brown trout fishing picks up again in September as the fish pack on weight for spawning.

Wegg has been fishing on South Uist for over 20 years and knows the lochs well.
He has also fished extensively abroad, including Russia, Cuba, Tasmania, Slovenia and South Africa so has a clear idea of what the angler is looking for in a fishing holiday.


Kinloch stands in its own one acre garden of mature trees – a rarity in the more generally treeless Uist landscape; trout rise in the loch at the bottom of the garden, eagles work the hillsides and otters are not uncommon.
It has a large garage for storage, rod racks, a drying room and a chest freezer.

The house is extremely comfortable, has an open peat fire in the living room, a decent fishing library and a fly tying desk.

The food is straightforward home cooking, using local ingredients where possible.
For guests of The Totalflyfishing Company, Wegg will offer sole use of the house for 2 anglers and devote his time to them to ensure that they get the maximum out of their fishing holiday.

You are guaranteed a memorable experience, and some very fine fishing in a unique environment.


Prices 2008

For more information please contact:

The Total Fly Fishing Co.
Court Street Farmhouse
Court Street
Tisbury
Wiltshire
SP3 6LN

T: 01747 871 856
W: www.totalflyfishing.co.uk
E: info@totalflyfishing.co.uk

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