FAQ's

We are often asked by customers and tourists to the area about fishing locally.

1 Loch Ness. 

You are permitted to fish for trout on Loch Ness from the bank – the key point to keep you legal is that you must be targeting Brown Trout with light tackle (line 6lb or under and small lures).  You, must also stay away from inlets and river mouths (500m). If you are seen to be interfering with migratory fish (salmon and sea trout) you are breaking the law. You may not fish from a boat on Loch Ness, occasionally the boat hire suppliers on Loch Ness suggest that this is allowed – this is incorrect and leaves you open to prosecution.

You will see small boats with identification numbers fishing on Loch Ness, these boats are fishing with the permission of the Landowners surrounding Loch Ness through a special permit arrangement which is paid annually and usually comes with a permanent berth on the loch. The pleasure cruisers available for hire on loch Ness do not have this permission.

If you have hired a boat to cruise loch ness, it is perfectly legal for you to fish from the bank (with the aforementioned light tackle) when you are moored up.

You may also fish in the canal system – this is owned by Scottish Waterways and is not subject to the same rules.

Loch Ness is famously deep and cold; trout fishing can be great sport and very productive but it will tend to happen quite close to the shore where the water is warmer and there is greater cover and fly life.

Popular places on loch ness for a cast are on the Dores to Foyers stretch of Loch Ness and also under Urquhart Castle (between Drumnadrochit and Glenmoristion).

There are very few Pike in Loch Ness, for this reason pike anglers tend to concentrate on Loch Oich and Loch Lochy further down the Ness system.

2 River Ness.

The River Ness is a beautiful asset to the town of Inverness, it is split into five sections: The Estuary, The Association Water, Ness Side, Ness Castle and Dochfour Fishings. Each of these sections require individual permissions and are strictly controlled.

The Estuary beat allows fishing from the Railway bridge down into the estuary of the Moray Firth.

The Association Water (administered by the Ness Angling Association) is a fabulous, approximately 3-mile stretch of the river that stretches from the Railway bridge to the final pool above the weir (running parallel to the canal and few hundred metres south of Whin Park). Tourists and visiting anglers are made very welcome and are able to fish this stretch of the river for £25 per day (from February to end of June) and £35 per day until the end of the season on the 15th of October.

The fee can be paid (in cash) at our store on Castle Street or at the Fisherman’s Hut at the Little Isle (when attended).

Anglers may fish by Spinning Lure or Fly and may also fish the worm during the months of July, August and September. A link to the Ness Angling Association website is shown below.

You can also take advantage of a full membership of the club, those residing in Inverness can join the club for £110 for a full season and associate memberships are also available for those who live out with the area.

3 Local Lochs.

There are several lochs in the area which are popular with anglers.

Loch Ashie & Loch Duntelchaig, free to fish but bank fishing only – Loch Ashie and the neighbouring Loch Duntelchaig are the water supply for Inverness, any method seen to risk contamination of those lochs is illegal this includes launching boats and paddle boards.

Loch Ruthven, this loch is an RSPB Reserve and SSSI. Boat Fishing is allowed by landowner permission – there is no bank fishing on Loch Ruthven for the protection of rare bird species such as the Slovanian Grebe who nest here. Paddle Boarding, Swimming and unauthorised boats are strictly controlled and prohibited between the start of March and end of August.

Boats can be hired on Loch Ruthven from our Store for £35 per day – fishing is by fly only and boats are “oars only”. Call the store to book your day – keys for the boats are collected from our Castle St. premises.

Loch Knockie and Loch Killen (near Whitebridge), fishing is permitted by arrangement from Knockie Estate and Garrogie Estate respectively.

There are several other small lochs in the area which may be available to fish by permission from individual landowners or clubs, as this can change from season to season, we suggest you contact owners directly. We do not keep a list of landowners – so the homework required for these lochs is down to the individual!

4 The Moray Firth & Beauly Firth

The Moray firth is the sea inlet that runs into the River Ness and becomes the Beauly firth as it reaches the coast at Beauly. Sea Trout and occasionally Sea Bass are caught in the firths and during the Summer mackerel and occasionally herring can be caught from the shore.

Targeting mackerel and other salt water species is legal in the firth, however there are protected areas, these are “pinch points” where protection is in place for the migratory fish (Salmon and Sea Trout) which are returning to their home rivers.

If you wish to fish for Seatrout near inverness in the Moray Firth a permit is available from ourselves at Grahams and also the Local Shop in North Kessock. This permit is only £10 per season and allows fishing from Ferry Point towards Buchrew (on the Inverness side) and from the Old Ferry pier towards Craigton (on the North Kessock Side).

Fishing further into the Beauly Firth requires a Beauly Angling Club permit which again can be bought from Grahams for £45 for the season – this ticket is great value as it also allows some fishing onto the lower stretch of the River Beauly.