Caithness

The county of Caithness is located on the north-eastern tip of the Scottish mainland. Most of the county is low lying and relatively flat, but from a topographic and fishing perspective there are 2 very different environments. To the west and to the south is the ‘Flow Country’ a large expanse of flat blanket bog scattered with peatland lochs. To the east and north, separated by a line running roughly from the east side of Loch Calder through Toftingall to Loch Hempriggs, lies fertile gently rolling farmland overlying soft limestone marls. This landscape produces waters rich in weed growth and invertebrates, resulting in extremely productive fisheries. These include Toftingall and St John’s, and the renowned Loch Watten, amongst the best lochs in the Highlands.
The marl lochs are also prone to discolouration after periods of high winds, particularly the shallower lochs such as St John’s, Heilen, and Toftingall. For this reason, Loch Calder, the peatland Ulbster lochs and the Thrumster lochs to the south of Wick are worth keeping in mind for such conditions. Many of these lochs also offer good bank fishing, a useful option in wild weather.

There are 2 major salmon rivers in Caithness, the Wick and the Thurso, as well as Dunbeath Water and the River Berriedale that both flow into the Moray Firth, and Forss Water that pours out to the North Coast. Although the Thurso and Wick rivers both flow through the fertile farmland area, the Thurso, the region’s most prolific salmon river rises in the Flow Country to the east, and runs for approximately 26 miles from its source at Loch More, to the town of Thurso on the North Coast. The Wick River is a slow moving spate river that flows for about 12 miles from the hills south of the village of Watten, to Wick on the East Coast.