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Galloway has some of the best fishing rivers in Britain and
Barrhill Farm Cottages are the perfect base from which to explore them.
Nearby are the Rivers Cree, Bladnoch and
Tarff.
The River Cree
The Cree is best known
for its grilse run and summer salmon.
The Water of Minnoch in the upper part of the catchment holds a good head
of fresh fish throughout the season and is the final destination of springers.
Sea trout fishing is generally
confined to the lower river, with fish mostly entering the system around May/June.
The Penkiln Burn, although
small in size, offers exciting fishing for skilled sea trout and salmon anglers. The Palnure Burn also holds good numbers
of sea trout and some salmon. Brown trout fishing tends to be confined to areas of the High Cree.
The Bladnoch and Tarff
The Bladnoch and Tarff hold both game and coarse fish,
but the rivers are best known for their spring salmon.
The Bladnoch is one of only a few west coast rivers that
retains its spring run. Spring salmon can be caught from the start of the season, but catches tend to pick up from March onwards.
Summer salmon of up to 10lb are taken each year, but the main fishing takes place during the grilse run which begins around
June and continues to the end of the season.
The river is renowned for its brown trout throughout the south-west
and impressive wild brownies of up to 5lb can be taken in the mid-river beats, although there are also larger trout (6lb+)
taken in fish traps for broodstock each year. Sea trout are only occasionally caught. Coarse fish that are present in the
river include pike, perch and roach. Angling pressure on these species has traditionally been low, but sizeable individuals
can be caught quite readily in some parts of the river system. Double figure pike are regularly taken on the main Bladnoch,
especially in the areas around Dalreagle and Torhousekie.
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