It’s that time of year again: resolution-making time. I have decided that I must have a lot more exercise and fishing this year than I have had recently; after all, what is this life but full of care if a piscitor does not get enough pisciting? My plan is to visit old friends who have been kind to me in the past that have not had the pleasure of my company for far too long. Thus, I have marked my angling card with lochs in Orkney, Sutherland and Caithness that I will try to visit frequently during the coming months. Here is a brief description of them and why they attract me.

Bea Loch (left) on the Orkney island of Sanday is one of the most rewarding waters in Scotland. Access for me is by ferry from Scrabster in Caithness to Stromness and then another short ferry-hop to the island, but it is a fair distance for non-northern anglers. It is probably best to arrange a summer fishing holiday in Orkney and, during that time, plan to visit Bea.

Bea is a small, shallow loch and sometimes affected by strong winds. There is often a boat available, but bank fishing is just as, if not more, effective. The loch has been improved by the Orkney Trout Fishing Association and fish average in the order of between 12oz/14oz.

However, some enormous fish are also present: Hugo Ross from Wick took one of over 6lb in weight recently and in 2008 another basket of 5 fish weighed in at a total of 23lb, including a specimen trout of 9lb 4oz. All of which seem to me like a pretty good reason for getting there. Permission from Mr E Groundwater, Castle Hill, Sanday, tel: 01857 600285.

Loch a’ Bhualaidh (top). This tiny, enigmatic north Sutherland water lies just across the Kyle of Tongue from Castle Sandison. It falls into the ‘more exercise’ New Year Resolution’ category (see above) and involves a four-mile, soggy moorland round trip there and back. Neither is there any guarantee that you are going to see a fish, let alone catch one. But, believe me, there are substantial trout in the loch: I have seen them, and local anglers have shown me baskets that they have taken from its peat-stained waters; one with 5 trout weighing a total of 22lb. Bank fishing only and it is almost possible to cast across the loch. Don’t be tempted to try to do so; the fish invariably lie a few yards from the shore. Permission: Tongue & District Angling Club, Ben Loyal Hotel, Tongue, tel: 01847 611215.

Loch Hope (right) is another favourite of mine and, since the explosion of factory fish farm sea lice on the west coast, it is Scotland’s leading sea-trout water. The loch is six miles north/south and divided into three sections, North End, Middle Bay and South End; the latter being where most of my attempts at the removal of sea-trout from their natural habitat takes place. Boat fishing only and outboard use on South End is allowed in emergency conditions. The loch also hosts useful numbers of salmon, fish heading up the Strathmore River to their spawning grounds in the mountain wilderness of the lands surrounding Foinaven and Arkel. July, August and September are the most productive months and dapping the most successful fishing method – probably because most anglers fishing the loch dap. I prefer to use traditional wet fly patterns and have never had reason to use anything else.

Above all, Loch Hope is one of Scotland’s most dramatic lochs, with glorious Ben Hope, Scotland’s most northerly Munro dominating the eastern shore. Fish or not, for me, Loch Hope is quite simply an utterly splendid place to spend a day. Permission: GK Galbraith, tel: 01738 451600; Ben Loyal Hotel, tel: 01847 611215; Mrs Heather Gow, tel: 01307 462437; Altnaharra Hotel, tel: 01549 411222.

Loch Heilen (left). I have had a love/hate relationship with Loch Heilen in Caithness for more than 35 years. In truth, Heilen can be the most infuriating trout loch in all of Scotland. There are times when you would swear that its water was entirely devoid of fish, and other times when the whole surface seems to explode with rising trout, including fish of prodigious size. For as long as I have known it, Heilen has produced specimen trout of up to and over 10lb in weight. My heaviest trout weighed a modest 4lb 8oz. May and June are the best months, from either bank or boat, thereafter weed growth becomes a problem – not for the fish, I hasten to add, but for those amongst us lunatic enough to try to catch them. You have been warned. Permission: Hamish Pottinger, tel: 01847 821210.

Loch Watten. Watten was the first Caithness water I fished when we arrived in the county in 1975. I immediately fell in love with it and, latterly, we lived for a decade in a house overlooking the loch. The quality of Watten trout is simply superb, beautifully shaped and marked fish that have salmon-pink flesh.

I prefer the Watten Village end of the loch and my favourite drift is from the fence in Factors Bay, round the island and then down Whin Bank. I remember one evening, almost at the end of this drift catching two trout in quick succession, in very shallow water, each of which weighed 1lb 12oz. Magical sport in a truly magical loch. Permission: Hugo Ross, tel: 01955 604200. So, that’s the fishing season sorted. Now I just have to sort out the disorganised heap of tackle that I dumped unceremoniously in a corner last September. Happy New Year to you all, have a great season!