Fishing on Orroland Loch and the River Urr at Dalbeattie

Fishing on Orroland LochThe private loch at Orroland

Guests of Orroland Holiday Cottages have use of the private loch and pavilion on the Estate. For fishermen the loch is stocked with rainbow trout, and weekly permits (fly fishing only) are available on arrival at £20 / rod including 2 fish and use of the small rowing boat.

The loch is surrounded by mown lawns and makes an ideal retreat. The pavilion has a gas barbecue, tables and chairs.

Salmon and Trout fishing on the River Urr at Dalbeattie

Fishing on the River Urr is available to holiday cottage guests at Orroland. The Urr is a medium sized river, well known to anglers in the south west of Scotland.

The river's claim to fame goes back three generations when farmer Scott inspected his fields after a night of heavy rains. A huge "Greyback" had lost its way and was flapping about in a flooded part of the field. It was soon gaffed with a handy fork, weighing in at something like 45lbs. Ever since fork fishing has been discouraged!

But the monsters are still coming up the river. In October 1999 a very clean cock of 35lbs was taken on a spinner upstream. The best fish in 2002 turned the scales at 25lbs, caught on the fly on the Craignair beat.

The best run of salmon is in September, October and November. Sea trout fishing is best in June, July and August with the best bags taken at night.

Thigh waders are adequate as most of the water can be fished comfortably with single handled rods. From September onward we recommend 12-13ft rods to cope with the heavier autumn fish.

We would expect our guest rods to return any coloured fish to the river but the released fish should be included in your catch returns.

The 2002 catch returns for the river beats available:

Salmon / Grilse: 126 @ 950lbs
Sea trout: 126 @ 236lbs
Brown Trout: 48 @ 35lbs

Your permit also allows you to fish the Dalbeattie Resevoir. The limit is 3 trout per day. The 2002 returns were 551 rainbow trout and 66 brown trout.