Boats R Us – our plans for a boat-free holiday turned out to be anything but...

Fishing - or at least trying to fish - on Loch Awe

We're just back from a week staying in a cottage on the shores of Loch Awe in Argyll, Scotland.

Part of the aim of the holiday was a break from Ravensdale. Much as we love her, she has presented us with one problem after another lately and we thought it would do us good to get away for a while.

Having decided that we wanted to go away, I said I wanted to stay in the middle of nowhere and Phil said he wanted the opportunity to do some fishing.

We lived in Scotland for 16 years before selling our house to move onto a boat and both love the landscapes the country has to offer so decided a peaceful loch-side location would be an ideal getaway.

Tarbert in the sunshine

However, we ended up spending the best part of two days at Tarbert visiting friends with boats in the marina there and another day on a boat we hired in attempt to catch fish on Loch Awe.

Barr-beithe Upper - the cottage where we spent a week by Loch Awe

As we booked just four days before we went away, we got a very good deal with Blarghour Farm Cottages and got a three-bedroom cottage that could accommodate six people for the price we were expecting to pay for a property that sleeps two.

And the location was lovely.

It was 19 miles from the nearest shop with an amazing view of the loch. In fact, it had beautiful views from every single window.

The view over Loch Awe from the cottage

One of the beautiful sunsets we enjoyed during our stay

We were also very lucky with the weather. We had a couple of very hot sunny days – not what I’d been expecting of a holiday in Scotland J

A couple of days were overcast but dry and on the days it rained, it dried up at the time we wanted to go out and started again once we were safely back indoors.

The biggest disappointment was the lack of fish – or at least fish that were willing to allow us to catch them L

Phil wrapped up to protect him from the midges while fishing on Loch Awe

We both bought week-long fishing licences on our arrival, before discovering that the loch was practically surrounded by trees, making it virtually impossible to fly fish from the shore.

We tried fly fishing from the one clear area to which we had access on the shore below the cottage, but without success. We didn’t even see any fish rising. Phil also tried spinning, but still had no luck. Meanwhile I wandered around with my camera, snapping the beautiful scenery.

Loch Awe in Argyll

Another shot of Loch Awe

The sun sets over Loch Awe

Fly fishing on Loch Awe

It was during our first attempt at fishing at this location that we became reacquainted with the Highland biting midge (one thing I certainly haven’t missed since moving to Cumbria).

However, we had remembered to pack Smidge insect repellent, which made the biting beasties just about bearable.

Having decided we were wasting our time on fly fishing, we decided to hire a boat from Loch Awe Boats and had a lovely day pootling around the loch in the sunshine.

We tried trolling, fly fishing and spinning, but again without success.

The only fish we saw all day were shoals of tiny fish in the shallows as we took the boat out and brought it back in at the end of the day.

Phil trolling on Loch Awe

Despite the lack of fish, it was great to be out on the loch admiring and photographing the beautiful scenery, which made both of us a little bit homesick for the Highlands.

A beautiful sunny day on Loch Awe

Reflections on Loch Awe

We also enjoyed our visits to Tarbert. It is such a pretty harbour and bustling with life. 

Tarbert Harbour in Argyll

Colourful fishing boats at Tarbert

Another view of Tarbert Harbour

 

Tarbert fishing boats

The water was beautifully clean and the boats can get out to sea at any time of the day or night as there are no tidal restrictions on access to the harbour.

In fact, we were so impressed that we decided to find out a bit more about the possibility of taking Ravensdale there at some point in the future.

A fishing boat tied up on Loch Fyne at Inverary

We also spent a pleasant day out in Inverary, where we enjoyed a fish and chip lunch at The Inverary Inn and wandered around the shops. On the way back we stopped at much photographed Kilchurn Castle, where we took a few photos of our own.

Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe

A wider view of Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe

Another great feature of the cottage was that its location meant we could walk straight out into the hills behind it from which we had panoramic views of the 25-mile long loch.

Our love of hill-walking was the main reason we moved to Scotland from Wales in 2000 and it was great to be out in the hills again.

Walking in the hills above our holiday cottage

The impressive view of Loch Awe from the hills above

Another view of Loch Awe from our walk

Phil out walking in the hills

There was a good breeze during our walk so the midges weren’t a problem and it stayed dry while we were out.

We felt the first drops of rain as we were walking up the drive to the cottage on our way home .

And, as we got indoors, the heavens opened and there was an almighty downpour.

We are not normally so fortunate J

The week passed too quickly and I was sad that the holiday was over, but at least I no longer return home from a break knowing that I have to go back to the “real world” (as I used to call work) on Monday.

Life is one long holiday now and it’s good to be back on board Ravensdale.

And, as if to make sure we really knew we were back afloat, there was a good swell on our first night back to rock us to sleep :-)