robin2440
- Oct 20, 2020
- 2 min read

Trout Fishing St Mary’s Loch

St Mary’s Loch Cappercleuch, Borders Scotland

St Mary‟s Loch is located only 35 miles from Smailholm, on the A708, and provides a fantastic day of fishing. The loch is home to the St Mary‟s Loch Angling club who manage boat and bank permits for both St Mary‟s Loch and Loch O‟ Lowes in Selkirkshire. Both lochs are interconnected by The Little Yarrow River and it is an easy walk between the two.

St Mary‟s Loch Angling Club lease both Trout and Coarse Fishing rights for St Mary‟s Loch and for Loch O‟ the Lowes It is useful to save the contact telephone number information, so that you can contact them if you encounter any issues while on the Loch.

The loch is over 150ft deep in some areas and is over a half mile from bank to bank. St Mary‟s has an area of 640 acres, and offers a challenge for fishermen of any skill set. The Loch‟s are close to 800ft above sea level, and have a prevailing south-westerly wind. Even on a warm day at Smailholm the air at the Loch‟s is still cool and therefore fish will still rise in most conditions. The lochs are home to a wide variety of fish including Salmon, Sea Trout, Brown Trout, Pike, Perch, Eel, and 3 Spined Sticklebacks.

The Lochs run a fairly relaxed set of rules, so you are welcome to enjoy yourself at your own leisure, but the lochkeeper requests that you follow basic etiquette when fishing on the loch. There is, however, a zero tolerance policy with regards to littering. The Lochkeeper also requests that if you catch a fish that you are not explicitly fishing for if you could return it to the water, to preserve the natural stock.

FISHING PERMITS

Please note that the club does not have the facility to accept payments via Card Machines at present at ANY of the below outlets, the club is looking into this for the future.

Please note that as of February 2020, ALL fish that are indigenous to the lochs which are Salmon, Sea Trout, Brown Trout, Pike, Perch, Eel, and 3 Spined Sticklebacks MUST be returned to the loch. If an angler catches anything other than the above it must be humanely dispatched please phone/text 07853339370 for instruction on how to proceed.

Best flies are traditional wets seem to always do well on the water Kate McLaren, Black Peacock spider, Invicta etc.

It can be quite a tough/dour place to fish at times but can also give you good sport on the right day...i.e windy and overcast. Dark traditional flies as already mentioned on a floating line....Kate McLaren a must, palmered coch, clan chief.

More importantly, keep on the move, cast and step. Its typical to cover 50 yards of bank without an offer then hit five or six fish in succession.

Day permit all species £10.00/day (24hr permit).

Youth 12-16 £4.00/day, accompanied by a responsible adult.

Children under 12 free, accompanied by a responsible adult.

Permits are available from our lochkeeper, please contact our Lochkeeper BEFORE your visit:

Mobile – 07853339370

or if you prefer Email – stmaryslochanglingclub@yahoo.com

Permits for the fishing are also available from:

Fishers Direct in Penicuik

9 John Street

Penicuik

Midlothian