Pentlands, David Pike Images

Scotland boasts some of the best walking in the world. Here are five unheralded routes that rate
among the country’s best.

John Muir Way

If you are arriving in Scotland by air, as you approach Edinburgh Airport, the Firth of Forth spread
out below. One of Scotland’s greatest, but little-trodden walks follows the Forth from Edinburgh to
the North Sea. The John Muir Way is a long-distance path named after one of Scotland’s greatest
naturalists. Marvellous coastal scenery characterises the walk, from the industrial heritage of
Prestonpans to the cliffs of the North Sea coast.

The Cairngorms

The Cairngorms National Park covers a wilderness area of natural splendour, but you may well have
the place to yourself on the high-level walk from Cairn Gorm to Ben Macdui, Britain’s second-highest
mountain. Once you have climbed the imposing peak of Cairn Gorm, you then walk across the high-
altitude Alpine plateau towards Ben Macdui. The scenery just gets better and better as you head
into the wilderness.

Southern Upland Way

The Southern Upland Way is Scotland’s longest, and one of its most challenging walking routes.
Stretching across the south of Scotland from the far west of Dumfries & Galloway to the North Sea
coast, it takes beautiful landscapes, yet is still unsung as a trekking route. You could take on all 212
miles, taking 10-14 days, or get a taste for the route with a bite-size chunk by just doing one of the
15 sections. Whichever one you choose, you’re in for a treat.

Highland Perthshire

Get a taste of the Highlands on a circular walk through awesome scenery that takes in moor,
mountain and forest far away from well-trodden routes. From Pitlochry, head towards the
summit of Ben Vrackie before taking a high-level pass and plunging down a knee-testing descent
to Killiecrankie, site of the infamous Soldier’s Leap, where a Highland soldier escaped from the
advancing government army by leaping over a river gorge.

Pentland Hills

While many walkers who come to Scotland head to the famous Highlands, there is wonderful
walking just a few miles from Edinburgh Airport. The Pentland Hills is an area of natural beauty
taking in some impressive peaks. The walk along the ‘Pentland Ridge’ scales five summits –
Turnhouse Hill, Carnethy Hill, Scald Law and East and West Kips. It gets a wee bit windy up here, so
take care, but the effort will be well worth it.

Guest post by James who  writes for Skyscanner.net

It was a very cold and frosty morning as we set off to Fylde Trout Fishery last Sunday. With more layers on than a polar explorer and flasks of hot coffee and soup we arrived about an hour after dawn to thankfully find the lake had not frozen solid although as soon as we got out of the car our fingers did good impersonations of icicles.

After reading the reports from the previous few days we both elected to start at the far end of the lake with Cats Whisker lures. At first this seemed like a great plan as we both lost fish early on but after an hour even those few takes dried up so we changed over to a black varient of the same lure – a Black Cat (imaginative eh?) – this did… nothing. No matter the retrieval method, depth or speed we couldn’t get any takes on these lures which was a shame as they were our first ‘home tied’ flies and it had looked promising early on.

By now my hands were bitterly cold although with my new boots my feet were toasty and after yet another cup of coffee just to give my hands something warm to grasp I changed over to what is rapidly becoming my ‘go too’ fly. A Yellow Dancer from Fulling Mill, after half an hour of this – varying everything I could, changing location it was becoming increasingly evident that the fish just weren’t playing and after watching a few other anglers also ‘not catching anything’ it was looking grim.

Last cast came at around 11:45 and I was actually looking forward to stopping now. I was cold and fishless and day dreaming of log fires and then thump, fish on! A very slow retrieve had tempted a Rainbow Trout which after probably far too much praying by me came to the net. A quick photo or two and it was released into the cold depths of the lake, job done.

First outing of the year and a fish – it doesn’t get much better than that although I don’t think we’ll be going fly fishing when the temperature reads -2°C, at least not for a while.

So the task now is to figure out how to tie the Yellow Dancer lure as it seems to be my lucky fly. There are a lot of variations on the internet but they all seem very similar so I’m probably going to pull the now mangled one I caught with to bits, and see what it’s made off.

And before anyone comments on the silly grin, the picture is there to prove I caught it although all it proves is I know how to hold a fish…

Regular north west sea anglers might have already been to fish off Cleveleys beach, just outside Blackpool. The main promenade has been rebuilt in recent years and offers a brand new stepped revetment down the the beach, where angling takes place at high tide, and of course off the beach at low tide.

Just past the end of the new development, heading onto the northern end of the town and a shingle beach, is where you will find the majority of sea fishing and the regular competitions, organised by West Coast Tackle. There are pegs marked out on the sea wall, such is the regularity of the events, which draw sportsmen from all over the UK to some large matches.

If you fancy a spot of sea fishing at Cleveleys you might want to check out the website all about the place, www.visitCleveleys.info. It’s privately published by a local company and shares local information, views and all kinds of quirky stuff, and welcomes contributions from readers. Send in photos of your catches, or the views you take while you are there and see them on the site. During the course of this Spring, www.visitCleveleys.info is all set for a major redesign, and also to be joined by interlinked sites that cover the rest of the coast.

Thanks go to Jane (the managing director of a local Fleetwood based agency) for writing this article, who not only helped redevelop the new Cleveleys website but also lives within spitting distance of the beach front – not that I’m jealous you understand…

For a change, and because the weather has been truly dreadful recently so we’ve not been out, this post is by Daniel P. and gives a brief overview of the sea fishing potential in the rest of Cardigan Bay – thanks for the post Daniel.

If you’re a keen angler, the UK has some of the best spots to go fishing. Wales, in particular, has miles upon miles of beautiful coastline which are ideal for the keen fisherman. Cardigan Bay in North Wales is a great area to try sea fishing. In this article, we’ll be looking at the best places to go fishing in Cardigan Bay and how to make the most of your time there.

Let’s begin by looking at some of its many beaches, where you can catch Bass, Mullet and Cod in winter, and the many rocky shores where Pollack, Wrasse, Mackerel and Conger lurk.

Tresaith Beach is a sandy beach between Aberporth and Penbryn and is a good place to spot Seals and Bottlenose Dolphins in the water. It is named after the River Saith, which ends in a waterfall over the nearby cliffs and offers two beaches for beach casting and shore fishing. The first is the main sandy beach and the second is a rocky beach found by going under the waterfall. Be careful of the tides. The beach is a good place to catch Mackerel and it’s best to fish at night during the summer months when the tourists aren’t swimming in the sea. There is also a cafe, a first aid post, a corner shop for essentials and The Ship Inn pub, which serves some great grub.

New Quay (Cei Newydd) has another great beach for the fisherman. A popular tourist town, thousands of visitors flock here every summer, attracted by its sandy shore. There are lots of café’s here and boats are available if you want to fish in the Irish Sea. The pier wall is a good place if you’re after Conger Eels, and the rocks are great if you’re after Mullet and Bass. Be careful around the rocks since they can get very slippery. If you don’t have any luck with fishing, there are some wonderful pubs here. The Wellington Inn serves some great locally caught seafood whilst the Penwig has a great range of beers to try.

Mwnt is a sheltered sandy cove owned by the National Trust. There are a few steps to get down, so be careful. The fishing here is ideal for beach-casting and fishermen have reported catching Dogfish, Mackerel, Pouting, Pollack, Tompot Blenny and Fivebearded Rockling. There aren’t many facilities here, though, just a cafe and toilets. Dogs aren’t allowed here, so be aware.

Llangrannog Beach is another good area for fishermen. The spectacular Ceredigion Heritage Coastal Path leading right to the beach produces some wonderful views. There are plenty of mackerel to be caught off the rocks and nearby Ynys Lochytn offers opportunities for crabbing and the odd Bass. There are lots of pubs in Llangrannog and a convenience store.

If you are interested in catching Sea-Trout, try the Dyfi estuary near Aberdyfi. Boat fishing is illegal in the area because it is a nursery area for fish, so return any young. Flounder and Mullet can also be found in the brackish waters. Note that the area is popular among tourists in summer, so it’s best to come at a quiet time in autumn or winter.

There are lots of opportunities to catch some wonderful fish in Cardigan Bay. Always remember to be responsible and release what you’ve caught. Look after the environment and be rewarded for years to come.

Written by Daniel P who works for Wish.co.uk - find out more about their short break experiences here

I did get to try out some new boots that the nice people at fishing tackle suppliers, Fishtec sent me to test though and I must say first impressions are very good. The TF Gear Thermo-Tex Boots are constructed of very light weight (although thick) rubber which seems more flexible than normal welly material, this makes them very comfortable and easy to wear for a long period of time. They come with a removable fleece lining which took a bit of getting used to as you have to hold onto it while putting them on but once I’d figured this out they were great.

List price is £69.99 but you can get them from the fishtec website for £59.99 – a bit steep for a pair of glorified wellies but if you’re serious about winter fishing these would be ideal.

Would I buy a pair? Not now as these were free and until I tried these I’d have said no but after seeing (and feeling) the benefits of these boots, I’d have to say yes, especially since duuring our morning outing Wendy continually complained of cold toes while mine were positively toasty…

Buy TF Gear Thermo-Tex Boots from Fishtec.

With not getting out recently I was looking forward to a spot of fly fishing at our local fishery, Mere Beck and woke to a slightly overcast morning with a hint of drizzle in the air, not great weather for most but fantastic for trying to temp a trout or two.

I arrived around the same time as Gordon, the owner, and after the obligatory chat got down to the fishing.

First fly to try was a cats whisker, a white lure type fly with a white tail, green / yellow body and white ‘wing’. This fly pulses in the water and for reasons I’m not entirely sure of, is a great fly here in the UK. About 1/2 hour in I felt a pull and it was fish on. This felt like a good fish but after about 30 seconds the damn thing came off. Retrieving my line I found that my knot had come undone! This is the first time ever that, that has happened, not sure why but it’s probably due to lack of practice with the fine line after doing so much sea fising earlier in the year – I was a little mad at myself to say the least.

After about another hour the sun came out and realistically put paid to what little action there was although I did have a few enquiries on an orange lure in one of the ponds towards the rear of the complex. These have a few small goldfish in them as well as trout according to Simon (who caught at least 4 rainbow trout today), a very helpful chap I met, so it was no surprise the bigger fish will take orange lures.

And that was that, not fish today but it was great to be out fly fishing once more and hopefully, once the weather gets a bit cooler, the fish will come out to play properly.

Our annual September visit to Anglesey coincided with some truly horrid weather this year – payback for a beautiful 2 weeks in July maybe. In fact it was so bad that our first nights sea fishing was cut short, the wind and associated weed was so bad that even huge leads couldn’t keep the baits in the water for any length of time. It doesn’t look it in the photo above but trust me, it was horrid.

Saturday, according to the weather forcast didn’t look so bad so we arrived about 2 hours before high water and made our way to the small ‘bay’ formed by the bend in the ‘river’ between Holy Island and Anglesey proper. There were a lot of anglers fishing the beach to our left but with the tide racing in and out on such a flat beach it can be a bit of a hassle moving all the time, and since we were on holiday, we wanted something easy.

Actually we always fish this spot – it’s been good to us in the past and once again it didn’t let us down. As normal there wasn’t much action during the flood and realistically the weed was a bit more of a problem than we anticipated but we wanted to get there early to get our favourite spot.

Once the tide started ebbing the weed vanished and fishing began in earnest. An hour into the ebb my rod gave the tell tail bend, which just kept going, and I struck into what was obviously a good fish. It put up a fair scrap in the surf but eventually a lovely female Small Eyed Ray was beached, weighed at 9lb 3oz, photographed and returned to fight another day.

Unfortunately that was the only fish of the weekend and once again the weather came down, making fishing impossible for the rest of our trip but after a few days on Anglesey even the weather can’t stress you out.

A wonderful island with great fishing which we will continue to visit as long as we are able, in fact we’re already planning next years visits.

The weather these past two weeks has been worthy of biblical descriptions. Wet? I think that’s slight understatement, we’ve not wanted to go outside let alone go fishing and on the days where it’s been almost tolerable the wind has been all over the place.

We did manage to get out a couple of weeks ago for another attempt at getting a Smooth Hound at Cleveleys.  The weather was perfect – flat calm and a warm muggy evening but all we managed was a small Bass and a Lesser Weever, not my favourite fish as they have a sting on their backs and when you try and pick them up they arch in a way to try and stick you.

Pliers and forceps are my usual method of dealing with these little buggers as the sting is very painful.

Looks like the weather is going to be equally grim this weekend so we’ll just have to see and maybe, if there’s a slight beak in the wind and a small ocean isn’t falling from the sky we’ll try and get out fly fishing somewhere local.

The last time we went boat fishing was in October 2008 off the West coast of Ireland where it was apparently flat calm – flat calm in the Atlantic involved a 4m swell and we were both sick and didn’t catch much except a lovely Cuckoo Wrasse for Wendy, so now we don’t do much boat fishing and are firm believers of keeping something solid under our feet. Wendy even gets sea sick even standing on a pier…

I do have a few mates who have small (and not so small) boats who fish all along the coast of Lancashire, Merseyside, down into North Wales and around Anglesey and the one thing they need to be able to rely on is a good engine.

Honda invented the world’s first 4-stroke outboard engine in 1964 and have recently launched a new campaign featuring documentaries covering how people use their new Honda C4 outboard. The latest follows Ben on a night fishing trip where he uses luminous lures to catch many different species.

More information on the Honda documentaries can be found here, where as well as seeing how other people use Honda products you can take part and maybe be featured in the latest documentary.

Post Sponsored by Honda