by Scott Bennett

Created on: February 07, 2007   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

Fishing marks (places to fish) vary greatly.
Some provide fantastic fishing for one or two species some for many. Some have great sport and poor views, some have great views and poor sport.
Lochaline is a truly special venue in that it combines stunning, remote, scenery with fantastic sea fishing.
On the west coast of Scotland Lochaline is a ferry port for boats crossing the Sound of Mull. It is also home to a silica mine which produces microchip standard sand. In spite of these activities Lochaline is a gorgeous place to spend time. As you sit waiting for a run you can stare out across the sound to Mull as mists roll in and out or the sun beats down.

The main mark in Lochaline is the logging pier used to load trees onto boats. The drop off here is 98 metres. It takes some work to reel in even without a fish on.
There is such a massive range of species available here that an exhaustive list would be exhausting. This writer has witnessed various dogfish, congas, ling, cuckoo wrasse, pollack and plenty of bait in the form of mackerel.
The star reason for fishing there is that it is one of the few places in the world where you can land a common skate from the shore. Needless to say if you ever become lucky enough to do so you should take great care not to injure this fantastic but sadly now rare fish.
The town has two great places to stay, the Lochaline dive centre (www.lochalinedivecentre.co.uk)and the hotel. It also has a truly fantastic restaurant in The Whitehouse (http://www.thewhitehouserestaurant.co.uk/)which is fully signed up to the locally sourced food agenda. No less a man than Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall named it as one of his top five seafood resturants in The Observer in 2006 (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0, 1823502,00.html)
For the non-fishing obsessed tourist Tobermory on Mull, with it's fantastic painted houses, is easy to reach; as are Glencoe for walking and Fort William for another fantastic restaurant experience at the Crannog.
All in all it's a fantastic place to spend time even if you don't fish. Just remember it's remote (30 miles of single track road to get there with logging trucks hurtling at you) but all the more special for it.

Learn more about this author, Scott Bennett.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.