I was lucky enough to be invited along by my old pal Sam on his family’s annual fishing holiday. This year the Harris clan were heading to Torridon in the north west of Scotland. With a small spate river on the doorstep, a fantastic trout loch 10 minutes away, the pub a five minute cycle down the road and all overlooked by Liathach, one of the most famous mountain ridges in Scotland – it’s fair to say I was excited. Throw in some Harris shenanigans, Stockley mischief,  excellent food, gallons and gallons of wine and a seriously wet forecast – it was shaping up to be another top week. A late arrival on Saturday meant we weren’t fishing until Monday so we all took the chance to relax before what promised to be a pretty hectic week. Sam’s mum, Jane, did a cracking three meat roast on the Sunday and his dad (Del Boy) almost cracked into his 3lt bottle of Glenmorangie but wisely he managed to hold off!

The next morning, with blurry heads, Sam, Del Boy and I scraped ourselves out of bed for a 6am start to find three stags standing right at the front door. The river had risen a bit but was by no means in spate and after an hour or two we headed back for breakfast fishless. We had lined up three days fishing on Loch Damph, the glen over. Del Boy and I were on the morning session that day while Sam waited for our good friend Teddy to arrive. Alistair Holmes was our Ghillie for the week and teamed up with traditional wets on floating lines we headed west from the mooring point on our first drift. It was a slow morning and without touching a fish we headed to the other end of the loch. As we passed the bothy on the north bank the loch opened out, and only then did we appreciate just how vast it was. With smolt farms at either end of the loch the trout grow big and it wasn’t long before we started to see huge fish leaping around. Frustratingly, there was nothing we could do to connect with them, so Alistair took us on the final drift of the morning over to the Straits.

I soon had a lovely 2lb sea trout on a bibio just minutes after Alistair had told us how few he had seen recently. I was soon in again with a 2lb trout which felt more like a 4lb fish! Derrick was next to strike lucky with a couple of fish at about 1lb each before we both saw a flash towards my flies near the surface, grabbing the first dropper. It was off like a rocket, stripping line and jumping several times. With two more strong runs I was down to my backing and winding furiously as it ran back at the boat. After about 20 minutes I had landed the biggest wild trout of my life, estimated by Alistair at  6 or 7lbs on a size 12 bibio. I could not believe my eyes – what a morning!

The following day, heavy rain and strong winds prevailed as Teddy, Sam and I took the boat out on the loch. Derrick and the girls took the more comfortable option, fishing the Thrail which was now at a good height. The rain had eased off by the time we got to the loch but the chop was massive. Within 10 minutes we were all soaked and I think the three of us spent the first hour of the morning in a tangle. The loch was too choppy to get to the top so we stayed at the bottom end all morning and unfortunately didn’t touch a thing. The afternoon session was Del Boy and I, and having managed a Salmon from the Thrail that morning he was after a biggy to make his day.

The wind had died down a bit so we headed for the straits where we had seen some action the previous day. I had soon managed a couple of smaller fish although even they put up some scrap. These fish are strong! Soon enough Del Boy was in. The initial swirl was small and as Derrick sped up his retrieve the fish took the middle fly making him think it was foul hooked. The fish stayed deep and Alistair had a wry smile on his face – I think he knew what was coming next. It jumped clean out of the water and made a run for the far side. The loch was still choppy and the boat was moving very fast, making it hard to get the fish close. Alistair did well to avoid some rocks, missing with his first attempt with the net before successfully bagging what he believed to be a fish of over 10lb. What a fight and what a fish. It had taken a size 10 black Pennell with a green tail and was certainly not foul hooked! It was smiles all round and we soon headed for the pub. Well done Derrick, what a day… a 7lb Salmon and a personal best brownie!

The forecast had predicted better weather for the next day and sure enough, despite high winds, the mountain tops overlooking the house were clear so Eleanor and I set off to bag the two Munros on Liathach. We drove five minutes east, parking at the path end, and headed straight up the well built track onto the ridge leading to the first Munro – Spidean a’ Choire Lèith. The wind had eased off and views over to Beinn Eighe were fantastic. Next up were the pinnacles on the ridge before the second top – Mullach an Rathain. Taking sound advice from a couple of mates, I persuaded Eleanor that the best way was over the top, avoiding the eroded paths either side. With some encouragement from me we had soon traversed the fairly easy but very exposed scramble over the three tops. From here the walk over the ridge was easy and the views breath taking. With Ben Alligin in the West, An Teallach to the North, the Fannichs in the East and Ben Wyvis to the South we were in no hurry to get off the hill. From the second top we waved to Jane and Derrick who were sitting in the house having lunch and could clearly see us through a pair of binos! Unbelievable!

We soon headed down a badly eroded corrie to the path and were back at the house in no time. What a fantastic ridge and door to door we managed it in less than 7 hours! I spent the afternoon chucking everything I had at the river Thrail. It had dropped down a bit and Alistair told us that the fish drop back into the river Torridon with the water, so I wasn’t feeling very hopeful. Starting small I fished the pools hard, eventually giving up when the riffled hitch that had worked for Derrick didn’t produce any action. However, I couldn’t complain too much as the Liathach ridge was now covered with cloud and the first drops of rain had started falling. The others had spent the afternoon in the boozer and by the time I joined them for dinner it was carnage! Teddy missed tea and was sent to sleep in the jeep after noising up some locals, Del Boy was knocking glasses over left right and centre while Sam had forgotten he was in a restaurant and was using language that would get me removed from Google if I put it in this blog! A sober Jane had the pleasure of driving the 7 of us squeezed into Del Boy’s jeep back to the house in torrential rain – Torridon, we can only apologise.

Aching legs and sore heads ventured out into midgy hell the next morning. Del boy, Will and I fished the loch in the morning while everyone else hit the river. The loch had risen but there was a slight breeze and with a strong sun I didn’t think it would be a great day however Alistair remained positive. We headed straight to the top of the loch where Alistair thought there might be a chance of a grilse near to the stream inlet. Will managed his first ever trout that morning, a nice fish of about 1lb. Apart from that there was nothing doing. The team failed to hook a fish in the Thrail and by the time I arrived it had dropped right back. With nought doing there either, I headed back to the loch in time to pipe the team in. Again they had no fish! We all headed for a final pint with Alistair in the pub and he told us about the glory days of huge sea trout in Loch Damph and Loch Maree where he had worked for a season. As well as being a ghille he was also the stalker on the nearby estate and for a while did a stint with the Mountain Rescue and the retained Fire Service in Torridon. A few pints later and he was telling us about the raven he taught to talk, and his pet fox, Sally which he had brought up from a cub so as an adult she was totally tame towards humans. He could call her from the pub and she would come over, lie on her belly to be tickled, before entering the pub with Alistair to greet the locals. Unbelievable. What a chap Alistair is, we will definitely be returning to fish with him again.

The following day’s weather was even better, and with a sea boat booked, we headed to Gairloch for a couple of hours fishing. Eleanor caught the first fish but never did get that first round she had promised us! After catching a couple of smaller Mackerel we started trolling rubber worms and soon enough Abbie, Jane and Victoria were all into decent Pollock, the best being Abbie’s at about 5lb. Well done team.  Home for a last tea and final session before the holiday was over. Disappointed we didn’t catch any more Salmon but chuffed with the massive trout and epic mountains, we headed back to Inverness for an unsuccessful evening wildfowling on what turned out to be a lovely evening.

Torridon, in my opinion, is one of the best places in Scotland. The hills are so dramatic – they just appear out of nowhere and, with unforgettable trout, it’s a hard place to beat. I can’t thank Jane, Derrick and the rest of the Harris crew enough.

Unfortunately all good things come to an end and it’s back to work for me. What a month: distilleries, sea trout, huge brown trout, massive hills, eagles, otters, perfect beaches, mobile cinemas and most importantly brilliant company in a brilliant country.