"I originally come from Scotland, and return there twice a year to meet up with old friends, fish for brown trout in remote hill lochs and drink some whisky.

Last June I caught the fish of a lifetime, a wild brown trout just over 5 pounds in weight. It was caught on 3lb line with a barbless Deer Hair Kate McLaren.

These hill lochs take a long time to heat up after winter. Even though it was early June, there was no insect life showing and none of us had risen a fish all morning. The most striking feature of this fish was the butter-coloured belly, which clearly shows on the photographs.

Once again, thanks for a wonderful painting. It will take pride of place in the bothy on the shore of the loch."

— Gibby Rowan, proud owner

 

Making this painting for Gibby was fun because I perform regularly with a Scottish-style bagpiper, and it's cool when my two careers intersect. In this case they met at a remote Scottish hill loch, where you can almost hear the wailing of the pipes.

Learn more about my trophy fish portraits here, or give a listen to my Celtic band Molly's Revenge. You can even read a comic strip about how the band got its intriguing name!

— Stuart Mason Helmintoller, Artist

Text and images ©2007 by Stuart Mason Helmintoller, @Streamside.