Loch Poll an Droighinn

On the afternoon of Friday 7th June I headed off to Loch Poll an Droighinn. I walked up the croft road towards Lexy's Loch, but when I reached the first gate beside a cottage, I crossed the fence and headed up a track (shown on the OS map) to a ruined cottage, then I continued up and over to Loch Poll an Droighinn. The forecast was for the wind to move to the NE, so I worked up the East side - but found that the wind had actually a strong westerly component, making casting difficult. So I worked along the North bank, where casting is awkward due to the rising ground behind. I lost a good fish, then landed another which was just short of a pound on a small lure - a longshank 12 with a black body and wing, a silver rib and a red throat and tail. I moved round to the West bank, and the wind dropped and fly life became obvious. I switched to a size 12 Olive spider - and caught 4 trout in quick succession - all around the 3 to a pound mark (plus a tiddler). All trout were safely released from the debarbed hooks. Then it got colder, the fly life disappeared, as also did the trout! I gave up around 9pm. There was a black throated diver on the loch, and a second one flew in. Then later they seemed to disappear. I returned down the steep incline to Lexy's Loch and the croft road.

On Saturday 19/5/18 I headed for Loch Poll an Droighinn. It was mild, but with a strong SW wind, and I fished from 11am to 4pm. The wind made casting impractical from the north and east banks, so I restricted most of my fishing to the west bank. I landed a sizeable (almost a pound?) trout on a longshank teal red and silver, and I lost a similar one when it leapt and cast off the debarbed hook. However I didn't get any offers from the smaller fish that usually inhabit this loch. There was a solitary great northern diver on the loch.
On 22/5/18 I headed off in mid afternoon back to Loch Poll an Droighinn. It was overcast with a strong east wind, so I fished the south and east banks. Once again I landed a lovely trout in the pound class, and later a much smaller trout. The great northern diver had gone, but a pair of black-throated divers flew in, and they seemed as interested in me as I was in them. Indeed they came so close that I had to stop casting in their direction. Following advice from a local, I looked over to the small un-named loch to the north-east, but I didn't risk my flies in the shallow reedy water. I then dropped back down to Lexy's loch - report elsewhere.

Visited PM on 29 May 2017 (after fishing Lexy's AM). This, for me, is a beautiful loch with so many places to fish. Well worth the climb. I lost count of the fish caught - well over 20, all returned. Unfortunately smaller than I hoped being 6 - 8oz, however, I only fished the southern end. Perhaps (with hindsight) I should have gone further northwards where it widens and maybe found larger fish. I experimented with numerous flies and they all worked. These fish were not fussy.

On 15/6/2016 I decided to head up to Loch Poll an Droighinn. Its a bit of a climb for a Septuagenarian, so I avoided the steep route directly up from Lexy’s Loch, and instead headed up on a diagonal from further back on the road – on a track marked on the OS map which leads to an old ruined cottage. It was a cool day with a strong N wind. I arrived at the loch around 5pm and fished right round the loch until 9:30pm. My most successful fly was a Black Pennnel which landed 4 fish, with a Teal Red and Silver taking the fifth. The sizes ranged from about ¼ pound to 1 pound, with the average being around the ½ pound mark.

Wednesday 12th September 2012 was another very windy day. In the afternoon I headed up to Loch Lexy, then followed the fence up from its north bank to Loch Poll an Droighinn. In my previous visit last year there was an easterly wind, so I fished the east bank with considerable success. This year it was a strong NW wind, so I headed up to the NW corner , and worked back down southwards. To my surprise, I saw no moving fish, and nothing looked near my flies. So I hiked back up to the north end where there was some shelter - but no sign of fish. I finally tried the NE corner (where I caught most of my fish last year), and although casting was difficult, I landed one trout of about 6oz (safely returned).

Well worth the climb up from Lexy's Loch. I fished it for about an hour and a half in late evening in early September 2011. There were plenty of fish moving, but nothing taking my flies until I switched to a size 12 long shank Teal and Silver with a red throat - probably a minnow pattern. This took 6 fish, ranging from about 4 to 16 oz, with most around the 8 oz mark. Don't bother with waders.

Fished for a couple of hours and caught (and returned) about 20 trout all around the half pound mark with a couple at about 3/4lb. This loch is much better than Lexy's loch which tends to be a bit dour although i think the fish in Lexy's are bigger on average. The fish all came to a black zulu. There doesnt seem to be the same fishing pressure on this loch as there is on Lexy's probably because it is higher and more remote and the result is that the trout are much more keen to come to the fly. Recommended.