Going with the flow in a wet and wild landscape

The iconic lochs of Scotland's Flow Country offer trout fishermen one of the finest experiences in the sport

- TIM BONNER

THE LOWLANDS beyond the Highlands' is an often used description of Caithness. But while the 'Kingdom of the Cats', which is surrounded by the mountains of Sutherland to the south and west and the sea to the north and east, is low-lying it is by no means uniform. In the north and east cattle grow fat and sleek on fine grazing alongside fields of barley. The River Thurso lures salmon fishermen, and the great alkaline lochs of Watten, St John's and Heilan hold big silver trout in gin-clear water. In the winter wildfowl abound, and huge numbers of snipe lurk in every bog and wet corner. This fertile top corner of Scotland, which was historically part of the Viking kingdom of Orkney, is a sportsman's paradise but it is the other unique and much wilder region of Caithness that holds even more attraction for the trout fisherman.