This is how they roll in the Scotland...

Published: 06 June, 2008 in the "John O'Groat Journal

When Caithness anglers Ronald MacKenzie and Raymond Millard set out for the day fly-fishing on Loch Heilen this week, little did they know they would end up in the record books for the second time in the space of 12 months.
advertising

On June 8, 2007, the pair were out fishing on Heilen when Raymond hooked a huge brown trout which tipped the scales at 10 lb 12 oz.

It was recorded as the biggest wild brown trout to have been caught in Caithness in living memory.

That record stood until Monday of this week – and this time it was Ronald who was successful, hooking a monster of a fish which weighed in at 11 lb 10 oz. It was about 2ft 6in in length and had a girth of 18 inches – making it the largest brown trout ever taken on the fly in the county by some distance.

In each case, the fly that attracted the fish was the same pattern – a Golden Olive Bumble devised by expert Thurso fly-dresser Neil MacDonald – and was tied, with variants, by tackle shop owner Hugo Ross of Wick. Loch Heilen, near Barrock, has long had a reputation as a “big fish” water, with four-pound and five-pound trout commonplace. Earlier in 2007 Wick angler Mac Young caught a trout there weighing 9 lb 8oz.

Far North angling writer Bruce Sandison said: “I think that Loch Heilen is one of the finest wild brown trout lochs in Europe, and Ronald Mackenzie and Ray Millard have confirmed that belief beyond all reasonable doubt.”