Description

The River Creed fishery provides local and visiting anglers with ready access to high quality, low cost, salmon and sea trout fishing. Adult ticket prices range from £11 for an evening ticket to £60-£100 for season tickets (membership included) and are available to both locals and visitors. Please ensure you check the Marine Scotland Annual category before fishing as this may include 100% catch and release conditions.

The River Creed is located just a few miles to the west of the town Stornoway in the Western Isles. It is a renowned salmon and sea trout fishery with records dating back to 1871 and has been managed by the Stornoway Angling Association (SAA) since 2001. The SAA have restored the fishery (re-stocking, habitat improvement, poaching prevention) and catches have improved greatly. The highest sea trout catch was in 2003 (355) and the highest salmon catch in 2007 (308). In more recent years the sea trout numbers have declined and in 2020 38 sea trout and 164 finnock were recorded, with 192 salmon recorded on the creed system.

The fishery consists of 4 miles of double bank river fishing with 20 named pools along with bank and boat fishing on 2 lochs. Unusually for the Western Isles there is extensive fishing on the river where there are numerous holding pools as well as other runs where fish can be caught during high water. The Association has boats on Loch Chlachain (2) and Loch an Ois (1) where fishing can be very productive given the right weather conditions. A downloadable map of the main system can be found here. – Creed map 1.

The season runs from April 1st to the 31st Oct. July, August and September are normally the most productive months. The quality of the fishing on the river is very much dependent on sufficient rainfall to raise the river level, whilst on the lochs it is dependent on the strength and direction of the wind, with a strong W or SW wind providing the best conditions.

During the main season, day and evening tickets are available at all times (Monday to Saturday fishing) for both the river and the lochs. The boats are free to Creed season ticket holders, £10 extra for day ticket holders.

Access to most areas of the fishery is easy as a number of roads cross the catchment with the river below Loch Chlachain the only area where a walk of more than a mile is required. Although it is an Association fishery it is always possible to find a quiet stretch, especially during weekdays.

The most productive pool, The Bend Pool, is situated within the picturesque amenity woodland called the Castle Grounds. Also within an easy walk of the main road are the Peat Stack and Dam Pools, where many big fish have been caught over the years. Although the majority of the run consists of grilse there are invariably a few multi sea winter fish caught each year, with the best fish in recent years one of 19lbs.

Location

The main access to the river Creed is from the car park at the Creed Lodge road bridge on the A859. Both beats 1 & 2 can be accessed from here. Beat 2 can also be accessed further up the system from Loch Clachan and is commonly fished down from here.

Parking & Access

To the Creed:

Take the A857 out of the centre of Stornoway, going straight ahead for another 100 yards at the first roundabout onto Macaulay Road.

Take a left turn and carry on for 300 yards.

Take a left turn onto the A858 and carry straight on up the hill and remain on the main road for about 2 miles (note that it becomes the A859 after three quarters of a mile).

As the road descends it approaches a bridge over the River Creed.

Species

• Brown Trout
• Salmon
• Sea Trout