This page is dedicated to the information of the lochs of scotland,general information is available here on most of the well known scottish pike lochs(sorry no secret waters!),and listed are directions to these lochs and also contact numbers etc....

SOUTH WEST SCOTLAND;

Lochs RONALD and HERON can be found at the "three lochs caravan park" about 8 miles west of newton stewart and can be fished on the same ticket allthough ronald is probably the most productive of the two producing double figure pike fairly regularly allthough saying that loch heron does have some big pike in it also including one of an estimated weight of 38lbs!! found dead washed up on the shore,
permits can be purchased at the caravan park £5 per day tel:01671-830304.


WOODHALL LOCH,lies about 6 miles north west of castle douglas and is another loch famous for quality pike fishing pike are caught all over this loch with an average size of 9lbs or so with plenty of high doubles and a fair share of fish of over 20lbs turning up every year,and the loch has produced pike of over 30lbs in the past,permits can be purchased from the post office in mossdale and cost £3 per day

LOCH MABEN,this little village lies between dumfries and lockerbie on the A709 road and offers pike fishing on three lochs CASTLE LOCH,MILL LOCH and KIRK LOCH,the best loch by far of these three is castle loch and is probably the most well known loch in scotland after the likes of,LOMOND,AWE, and KEN,castle loch has produced some really large pike in the past including several of over 30lbs,and pike of over 20lbs are still caught regularly today unfortunately this has attracted some poor quality anglers resulting a lot of dead and badly injured pike,but the loch now employs two bailiffs who are doing a lot of work to stop this poor quality angling,castle loch is £3 payable on the bank mill and kirk are free.

LOCH KEN,this loch is the real gem of all the waters in this area of the country pike can be caught all over this loch which is absolutely heaving with fish of species which include,trout,salmon,perch,roach,ruffe,bream to name a few and of course pike!, The pike in this loch average a size of about 6lbs but their are so many of them this is to be expected due to the competition for food and also the fact that the loch is still recovering from the extensive gill netting programme carried out in the 60's and 70's,allthough the average size is probably 6lbs pike into double figures are not uncommon however pike of 20lb plus are pretty rare they do exist!,and this loch in the past actually produced a pike of 72lbs!!!,and a pike of 40lbs was caught on rod by a german angler in 1972 also perch of up to 4lb are caught every year and many people reckon that this loch will turn up the new scottish record perch, permits can be purchased at the caravan park on the east bank,in castle douglas and in new galloway or payable to the baliff comes and costs £3 per day

CENTRAL SCOTLAND;

LOCH LOMOND;is the largest volume of fresh water in the uk containing a variety of species including:pike,perch,powan,trout,seatrout,salmon,ferox,char,roach,ruffe,bream,tench and even carp!,
this loch contains some huge pike but is by no means an easy water to fish due to its size there are some areas heaving with fish but also some areas devoid of any pike and this is where local knowledge or knowledge gained from years of exploring this huge loch come into play every year pike of 25lb plus are caught to anglers that know when to be in the right place at the right time,and this loch produced the rod caught record pike of 47lb 11oz to tommy morgan in 1947 and a dead pike was found in this loch which was estimated to be over 60lbs! this pikes head is on display in the kelvingrove museum in glasgow today,
popular areas to fish on lomond are the areas around balmaha,balloch,luss and ardlui and by boat lots of people tend to concentrate round the islands
bank fishing for pike and perch etc.. at the moment is free but boats can be hired from macfarlanes boatyard in balmaha,balloch marina and from the rowardennan hotel
Macfarlane's tel:01360-870214
rowardennan hotel tel:01360-870273
balloch marina tel:01389-752069

LOCH AWE;loch awe is also a very famous water in scotland and is 26 miles long and contains a large variety of fish also includin,pike,perch,roach,trout,salmon,seatrout,char,ferox and escapee rainbow trout..
awe produced the last two record ferox trout rod records in the last two seasons last season(20001)produced one of over 30lbs and this season produced a ferox of 31lb 6oz!,also pike are caught of a weight of over 30lbs every year again like lomond this is a very productive water if you know the right areas,this loch has allways produced large pike but the mass escape of rainbow trout in the 80's and 90's and the recent explosion of the roach population in this loch have done the pike no harm!
permits can be purchased from various outlets on the loch;
Loch awe stores dalmally tel:01838-200200
Ardbrecknish hotel tel:01866-833224
Ford hotel tel:01546-810273,
Permits cost £4 per day if bought from an outlet but can be purchased from the bailiff on the bank but will cost a penalty charge of £7 per day,Three days will cost £8 a week will cost £15 and a season permit can be purchased for £45.

LOCH VENACHER;venacher lies about 3 miles west of callander and is another well known scottish pike loch and has a deserved reputation for some very large pike the loch has some very deep areas that are best tackled by boat,from bank its best to concentrate on the shallow very heavily weeded areas for some success most of your usual sea deads,mackerel,sardine,herring smelt etc.... will score well here but a top tip is to use lamprey as the pike in this loch seem to love it!

Permits can be purchased from the caravan half way along the loch on the south bank or on the bank and cost £5 per day or a season permit can be purchased for £30,
boats can be hired from the caravan(season ticket holders get a discount for every boat trip)permits from morris meikle tel:01786-841692 (mob)07890 982 912