Corwin, my fantastic wee lad had not even boy turned six when he helped me have one of the most brilliant guiding days to date…

I was contacted by a repeat client who was looking to not only further increase his boat angling knowledge and watercraft confidence but also involve his five-year-old grandson in the experience. He initially asked for a full day but straight away I advised him that a full day would be way too much for a five-year-old and offered two half days. We could spend the afternoon with his grandson, with many exciting ‘diversions’ and then the following day out on the water doing some ‘proper’ fishing. Good plan! And then the brainwave…

How’s about I bring Corwin along? I’m sure they would get on great together and he is actually quite an accomplished wee caster, having landed a few fish himself already!

Agreed? Brilliant!

So, the first afternoon duly arrived and we met at the end of the peat track for the first exciting activity… OFF-ROAD DRIVING! You have never heard such shrieks and giggles all the way up the Croacach track! Then we unpacked and got the kit together for the short walk down to the next ‘mini-adventure’… PIRATE BOATING!

Another great success, very exciting for young Callum and Corwin did a great job of looking out for ‘dangerous rocks, sharks and general Loch Monsters from the bow! Due to the strong wind, our adventures afloat were curtailed to struggling across into the nearby bay, mooring-up and setting off on the next phase… MOUNTAINEERING!

It was just enough of a struggle to result in a satisfying reward of making it over the top and back down to a sheltered part of the loch on the other side. The timing worked-out perfectly for lunch and hot chocolate on arrival… It’s as if it was almost PLANNED that way!

A light shower passed, prompting another fun activity… EMERGENCY SHELTER BUILDING! The drouge came in handy after all! The ‘Emergency Shelter’ became the ‘Loch Monster Lookout’, after a brief spell as a spaceship! Finally we got down to a wee bit of fishing,a bit tricky in the swirling wind by I have to say, Corwin was a stunningly good coach for Callum! He said all the right things and Callum seemed to really take it all in and was doing some beautiful roll casts within a few minutes. Grandad even got the chance to slip off and have a wee ‘proper fish’ around the corner and was very impressed with Callum’s progress upon his return.

Unfortunately no fish were landed but there were takes and one lost fish but really the fishing was a minor part of the day. Corwin and Callum had an absolute ball and the following day Scott and I had a very pleasant morning out on the boat at Loch Bad nan Aighean.