Loch Leven and Going with the Flow

The reason I love Loch Leven so much is because of the surrounding scenery. It changes from the open coastal views at Ballachulish, past the grandeur of the Glencoe glens to the magnificent mountains of the Mamore at Kinlochleven. The loch is wide to the west, narrow in the middle then eases out again to the east.

One of the mighty Mamores at the Kinlochleven head end, Am Bodach stands proud at 1032m high.



Although I dropped some hooks with strips of supermarket mackerel on as bait, I never got a single bite. I must confess, I don’t blame the fish, I wouldn’t have eaten the mackerel either. I love fresh caught mackerel but in my mind, the bait was well past its “sell by” date long before I had bought it.

Heading back down the loch was a breeze with wind and tide on my tail. The waves were hardly noticed as the boat surfed the small swell. I trolled a lure behind me and kept the engine on tick over just to keep a straight course. Life felt great as I went with the flow. The fact I never caught a fish didn’t bother me. I was learning about boating in a beautiful environment



I pulled over and landed to stretch my legs a little as I had now been on board for five hours. I found a little rocky bay out of the wind and took some photos of the boat in its surroundings. Here it is with a backdrop of Mamores.



And another photo of it against Beinn na Chaillich on the north shore of the loch.



The wind was now dropping as fast as the tide was and the waves started to flatten. I was heading for the narrows of Caolas na Con again. This time I knew the passage would be smooth. The outgoing tide would pull me through with ease



In the narrows, the water swirled and ran like a river but the boat didn’t flinch, it went straight as an arrow. I was still going with the flow instead of trying to push the river.



I popped out the narrows at the far end and it felt like it was like a different place now.



The water flattened and the sun came out. I felt I had battled with a storm and won. I continued to peacefully not catch fish. I learned that life can be very calming by going with the flow.




more to follow...