Dunlichity House

13 anglers arrived for the penultimate heat of this year's Dunlichity Cup.

15 competitors entered Heat 3 of this year's Dunlichity Cup.  Everyone caught and took at least one fish, with eight fish of 3lb or more taken.

Following the Scottish Government's announcement dated 28 May 2020 relaxing some Lockdown restrictions, Dunlichity Trout Fishery will reopen with effect from Friday 29 May.

We take the ongoing situation regarding Covid-19 very seriously and we would like all our visitors to do the same.

We consider the risk to anglers to be minimal once they are out fishing.  However, there are precautions that we will all need to take:

- Please do not bring children or non-fishing guests to the Fishery with you.  The Fishery is restricted to anglers only.

- The Bothy will be closed until further notice.  The toilet is also currently unavailable whilst essential repairs are carried out to the Bothy.  The outside sink is also unavailable.

- Do not share fishing equipment.  It is also advisable to bring something with you to place on the peg seats.  During this time, there will be no rental equipment available.

- For safety reasons, we have ceased the provision of complimentary tea, coffee and juices. Please bring your own refreshments with you.

- Please do not visit the Fishery if you have any of the symptoms associated with Covid-19 - stay at home until you are well.

- We do not have facilities for cashless payments, so we would be grateful if you could bring the correct money with you. Familiarise yourself with the revised ticket prices. A link to the prices is at the bottom of this page.

- We are not introducing a booking system and fishing will be on a first come, first served basis.  We are limiting the number of anglers on the Lochans at any time to a maximum of 25.  Please be aware in the unlikely situation where we have people waiting to fish, we will be more diligent in enforcing ticket start and finish times.

- Use the Fishery Car Park.  If it becomes too congested to appropriately conduct self-distancing, then feel free to park at the House.

- Please respect distancing on the banks ("2 metre personal exclusion zone").

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There is still ice on both lochans this morning, but we anticipate that by lunchtime, it will be largely cleared.  We will open at noon for anyone who wants to fish this afternoon.

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Hi,

We had been hoping to open today but both lochans are frozen.  We hope this is not going to last too long and will update the blog as soon as the ice has cleared.

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Conditions were good for the 4th heat of this year's Dunlichity Cup, and the heat got off to a flying start with fish of 5lb, 3lb 10oz and 3lb 7oz being caught on the first peg.  Sadly, this lulled everyone into a false level of confidence that their next fish was going to be a monster!

Although more big fish were caught, many competitors returned fish early on, then ended up blanking!  Only six competitors took fish, leaving valuable league points unclaimed.

League leader Jamie MacGregor Snr consolidated his position at the top of the leaderboard with a bag of 8lb 8oz, with 2018 newcomer Denis Howell taking second with a bag of 7lb 6oz and Davis Skinner third with 5lb 8oz. Alan Dallas took the bottle for the largest fish outside the top 3.

Denis Howell's second place moves him to second place overall.  Neil Pirrie was also a mover, rising up to fourth place.  With 4 heats still to go, anyone can still win this year's league!

The 5th heat is on Saturday 14 September at 09.00.



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14 competitors arrived to find cold and snowy conditions.  It was good to see James Watson attend for the first time in many heats.

As usual, a lot of fish were caught in the early pegs, with the action slowing down in the afternoon, leaving a lot of people with only one fish bags.

George Ritchie and first timer Denis Howell both secured 10 points with bags of 5lb 5oz each.  Denis took the first prize on the basis of the biggest fish (3lb 1oz compared with George's 3lb 0oz!).  Jamie Macgregor Snr was third with 4lb 15oz.  Jimmy Cooper was the only other competitor to take two fish.  Gordon Haggart won the bottle for a fish of 3lb 12oz.

After two heats, things are close at the top of the leader board with Jamie Macgregor Snr on 15 points, Gordon Haggart on 12 points and 5 anglers on 10 points.




The next heat is on Saturday 1 June at 09.00



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The 2019 Dunlichity Cup is up and running, with a new look at the top of the Dunlichity Cup leader board.

Darren Skinner took top place with a two fish bag of 7lb 3oz, with Neil Pirrie second (6lb 11oz) and Graham Matheson third (6lb 4oz).  Jamie MacGregor Snr took the bottle for the largest fish outside of the top three.

The next heat of the Dunlichity Cup is at 09.00 on Saturday 4 May.

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Following the postponement of the September and October heats of the Dunlichity Cup to enable water levels to improve, the heats finally got underway three weeks later.  As a result of pre-booked commitments, numbers for the heats were down, with 10 and 13 competitors respectively.

Heat 6
Jamie MacGregor Snr took advantage of the lower numbers with a heat winning bag of 6lb 15oz.  Gordon Haggart was second, John Allison third and Graham Matheson took the bottle.

Heat 7
Graham Matheson continued his good recent form with a bag of 8lb 13oz, which included the biggest fish of the day at 6lb 12oz.  George Ritchie was second, Neil Pirrie third and the bottle went to Matt Thompson.


With only one heat left, Jamie MacGregor Snr remains in a commanding position at the head of the leader board on 48 points, followed by Graham Matheson (42 points), Gordon Haggart (39 points) and George Ritchie (38 points).  The 2018 winner will come from one of these four.  However, annual prizes go down to 7th place, so anyone of eleven competitors could take home a prize.
The eighth and final heat of the 2018 Dunlichity Cup is on Saturday 3 November at 09.00. 

It's quite ironic, sitting here in the scorching heat waiting for rain to lift the Lochan levels, to report that the last heat of the Dunlichity Cup was affected by electrical storms!

Nearby thunder led us to take an early lunch after three pegs in the hope that the electrical activity would quickly pass. Unfortunately, the continued threat of lightning meant that the afternoon session was not able to commence until 14.00 and consisted of three 30 minute pegs.

The conditions were not great and fish were at a premium.  Leader Jamie Macgregor Snr extended his unbeaten run to 4 matches, with Graham Matheson taking second place with Ian Young third.  James Gray won the bottle.

Jamie leads after three heats, with James Gray second and last year's winner Gordon Haggart in third.  

The next heat is on Saturday 7 July at 09.00. 

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2017 Dunlichity Cup

In order to allow the lochan banks a little more time to recover from the recent wet weather, we are beginning this year's competition a week later than normal, on Saturday 8 April.

The full list of dates is as follows:

Heat 1 - Saturday 8 April
Heat 2 - Saturday 6 May
Heat 3 - Saturday 3 June
Heat 4 - Saturday 1 July
Heat 5 - Saturday 12 August (the second week in August to miss Moy / Belladrum)
Heat 6 - Saturday 2 September
Heat 7 - Saturday 7 October
Heat 8 - Saturday 4 November

2016 / 2017 Troutmaster Fish Off

The Fish Off for last year's Troutmaster badge winners will be held on Saturday 20 May.  Invitations will be sent out in the next couple of weeks.


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There is still a light dusting of snow but the banks are clearer so we are reopening this morning.

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Who would have thought it!

Snow overnight on top of sleet for much of yesterday have left the banks too wet to open.

Hopefully, we will not be closed for too long!

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The high temperatures over the past few days have cleared all but a little ice from both lochans.  Given the forecast overnight temperatures, we plan to open tomorrow morning.

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Heat 6 of the 2015 Dunlichity Cup with be held on Saturday 5 September at 09.00.  The top lochan will be available for general fishing at 14.15 after the competition.

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It was a case of deciding winners after a number of equal scores in the 5th heat of the 2015 Dunlichity Cup.

In order to encourage competitors to keep trying to the end, we have always used the last person to catch a fish as the winner when two scores are tied.  The ruling was used twice in Heat 5.

George Skinner set a blistering pace by taking both of his fish in the first 8 minutes of Peg 1.  His total weight of 7lb 14oz was looking good until Aeneas Taylor matched it with his second fish taken in Peg 4.  Aeneas took first place but both he and George gained 10 points.  Jamie Macgregor Snr was 3rd with 5lb 4oz.

The "tied" ruling was also used to decide the bottle, with Liam Skinner and David Skinner catching equally weighted fish.  David won the bottle as he caught his fish in Peg 4 whist Liam caught his in Peg 2!

Liam Skinner's 6 points kept him well out in front of the overall leader board.  Jamie Macgregor Snr is second, but with 3 heats left, only 3 people can overtake Liam.

The next heat of the Dunlichity Cup is on Saturday 5 September.

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Both lochans frozen and 3 inches of snow mean that we will not be opening today.  Once conditions have improved and we can open, we will update the Blog.

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The bottom lochan and two thirds of the top lochan are frozen this morning.  We will update the Blog as soon as conditions improve.

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Although there is a thin layer of ice on 30% of the bottom lochan, the top lochan is now clear so we are reopening this morning.

Keep checking the blog for further updates.

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As a result of a busy time at the house, we are combining the last two heat reports:

Heat 5 - Saturday 10 August

We had not originally intended to hold a competition in August, but as a result of a request from the July competitors, we convened an extra heat.  13 anglers arrived for what turned out to be an interesting heat.  A lot of fish were caught during the day, but pride of place went to David Skinner with a bag of 10lb 5oz, which included a 7lb 14oz rainbow.  Second was Tim Watson with a bag of 6lb 3oz (including a 4lb 4oz rainbow) and third was Neil Pirrie with a 4lb 8oz bag.  George Skinner won the bottle.


Special mention to Michael Kerr, whose perseverance led to him putting his first points on the board (6).  The result moved David Skinner up to third place in the league, with Liam Skinner and James Watson both falling back after scoring nil and 1 point respectively.  George Skinner moved into first place.

Heat 6 - Saturday 7 September

A number of absentees meant that only 8 anglers competed for reduced prizes.  It also mean a fish of any weight would guarantee at least 3 points.  In the end, three competitors blanked!

There were 4 5lb+ bags and a tie at the top of the points board, with Liam and David Skinner both landing bags of 5lb 15oz.  Both got 10 points but Liam was awarded first prize on countback.  Magnus MacDonald was third with 5lb 3oz.
George Skinner's absence allowed Liam and David Skinner to both leapfrog him, with James Watson moving up to equal third place.  The other big mover was Magnus MacDonald.  With two heats to go, 8 anglers could still claim first place.

The next heat is on Saturday 5 October.
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