ANDREW HOGG
Angling guide Andrew Hogg has been fishing since he was a child. He studied Aquaculture and Fisheries Management at the University of Aberdeen and he served as a Scientific Advisor for the Austrian Fishing Association.
His fascination with fishing began whilst staying at his grandparents, who lived in the Scottish borders. His great grandfather was a bit of a local legend on the river Tweed with many huge salmon to his credit. The main target for Andrew however, were small brown trout that he caught on worms in streams (or burns as we call them) using a tiny fibre glass rod and his great granddad’s old fly reel. Andrew recalls, “the majority of fishing was too expensive to do when I was a boy so the hill burns offered a real chance of catching a few fish without having to pay for expensive day tickets”. This is something that he still believes in – not having to pay ridiculous prices to enjoy a simple natural pastime.
Urged on by reading the many books that he found about fly fishing, he decided to learn how to fly fish at the age of 11. This now moved from an interest to an obsession! “ I would go to school, come home and just read, read and read more about so many different waters and fishing tales that lay within the pages. There was nobody to teach me how to cast, so I simply taught myself. I was given an old tubular steel “brownie” rod, bought a cheap line to put on the old reel, took as many old flies from my great grandfather’s collection as I was allowed to, got my first permit and never looked back”. This obsession has taken Andrew to many places, and not only in Scotland. Andrew has fished in America, Spain, France, South Africa, England, Ireland and Austria, where he now lives.
Andrew always enjoy his fishing. He has experience in catching practically any fish that swims from trout to conger eels – pike to tuna. As well as his fishing exploits, Andrew has found time to have articles published in various magazines in Great Britain, Germany, Austria and Italy. In 2018 he produced a short film based on the importance of introducing children to nature titles "Mermaids", which was nominated at several international film festivals and subsequently screened in New York and Spain. His latest venture has seen him become part of the Klejch & Secret rivers Pro Team.
He has also worked as an assistant fisheries biologist for the West Sutherland Fisheries Trust, located in the most north westerly tip of Scotland. It was while doing this work that he discovered the trout fishing paradise that lies in this section of the Scottish Highlands. As Andrew puts it, “ simply the most stunning trout fishing that you could enjoy. Miles upon miles of un-fished waters and trout that, pound for pound, fight harder than any other I have had the pleasure to catch”.
