Fishing

A STOCKED LOCH, WILD RIVERS, HILL LOCHANS AND PIKE AT GLEN PEAN

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Fishing at Glen Dessary

There are several quite different sorts of fishing on the Estate. A stocked loch a few minutes from the Lodge door, holding large rainbow and brown trout. Two private rivers, the Dessary and the Pean, holding small, wild brown trout for those who like to walk and search. Wild brown trout again in the high lochans, out on the hill ground and reached by Argocat. And pike at Glen Pean, in a lochan beyond the head of the glen. Whichever you choose, our chef will cook what you bring home.

The Lodge Loch

Stocked with large rainbow and brown trout, fly only

The Rivers

Wild brown trout on the Dessary and the Pean

The Lochans

Wild brown trout up on the hill, pike at Glen Pean

Catch and Eat

Our chef will prepare and cook your fish for dinner

The Lodge Loch

A few minutes from the door, the Lodge loch is stocked and it is stocked well: rainbow and brown trout that run to a good size, in water that fishes properly from the first cast. It is fly only, which keeps it civilised, and it suits everyone from a guest picking up a rod for the first time to an experienced angler wanting an hour before dinner. A small boat with an electric outboard sits on the bank, and it is worth taking out. The most fertile water lies in the corners that a bank cast will never quite reach, and the boat gets you there quietly.

Fly fishing the Lodge loch at Glen Dessary, with the Lodge on the hillside above

Guests’ Catches

A few of the fish our guests have taken from the Estate’s water. The loch is stocked well and fishes all the better for it, and the pike out at Glen Pean run to a proper size.

A guest rainbow trout in the landing net at the Lodge loch, Glen Dessary

Rainbow trout, taken on the Lodge loch

A guest with a large brown trout taken from the Lodge loch at Glen Dessary

Brown trout, and a good one, from the same water

A guest with a pike taken from Glen Pean lochan at Glen Dessary Estate

Pike, taken out at Glen Pean lochan

Send us a photograph of your own and we will add it here. Our chef will cook it first, if you would rather eat the evidence.

The chef at Glen Dessary preparing a guest's catch

Catch and Eat

There is a particular satisfaction in eating a fish you caught that morning, and our chef is glad to oblige. Bring your trout back to the Lodge and it will be prepared and cooked for dinner that evening, simply and properly, the way a good fish deserves. It is £150 a fish, so you decide on the bank how many are coming home with you and how many are going back in the water.

The Rivers

Two rivers run through the Estate: the Dessary, which flows below the Lodge, and the Pean. Both hold small, wild brown trout that rise freely to a dry fly through the summer. This is searching, walking fishing rather than a day in one spot. Unaccompanied fishing on the Dessary is free of charge to Lodge guests, and the Pean is fished accompanied. If you would like tuition, or simply want someone who knows the water, our fly fishing page covers the lessons and the river beats in detail.

Fly fishing the rivers at Glen Dessary Estate
Fishing the lochan at Glen Pean, Glen Dessary Estate, with mist on the hillside

Pike at Glen Pean

The pike lie out at Glen Pean, in a lochan beyond the head of the glen, and there is only one way to reach them: the Argocat takes you and the tackle over ground no ordinary vehicle would attempt, with a picnic from the Lodge kitchen packed in the back. There are rivers to stop at along the way, and trout can often be seen holding in the deep, clear pools before you have made a single cast.

At the lochan a small boat with an outboard goes out with you, for trolling a lure across the deeps or working the weed beds properly. It is a different sort of fishing altogether from a morning on the Lodge loch, and on the right day it is very good sport indeed. Half a day, up to five rods.

The High Lochans

Higher up, scattered across the hill ground, lie a handful of small lochans holding wild brown trout. They sit in country that would be a long walk in and out carrying tackle, so the Argocat takes you, rods strapped along the side and a picnic from the Lodge kitchen in the back.

It is fishing from the bank in complete quiet, usually without another soul within miles, and on a warm afternoon the trout come freely to a dry fly. It runs as a half-day trip in the same way as the run out to Glen Pean for the pike, and whatever you bring back can go to the chef for dinner. If you have never cast a fly before, our fly fishing lessons are the place to start.

Two hill lochans among rock and moor grass on the Glen Dessary Estate, seen from the air

Fishing Prices

Lodge loch fishingstocked rainbow and brown trout, fly only Please ask
Fly fishing lessonsguided, per group of up to 3 guests, loch or river £350
Argo Adventure to the Lochanshalf day, up to 5 rods, with picnic £650
Catch and eatour chef prepares and cooks your fish, per fish £150
Unaccompanied river fishingon the River Dessary, for Lodge guests Free of charge

All fishing is subject to availability and to water conditions on the day. Prices include VAT.

A note on access

All the water at Glen Dessary is private. Fishing is for guests of the Estate only, and we do not issue permits or day tickets to the public. If you would like to fish here, you would be very welcome to book a stay.

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Wild brown trout on quiet Highland water

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