It is, of course, the club's main event of the year with anglers making the journey from various parts of Scotland and England to take part in what is one of Scotland's most prestigious sea angling competitions.

Unfortunately entries were down to 21 anglers taking part this year, as quite a number of our usual visiting anglers were fishing a major competition in the south of England.

However this did not affect the competition in any way, as it was as keenly contested as ever, with some very good anglers taking part; and thoroughly enjoying it all, especially with the bonus of good weather!

The fishing itself was fairly slow at times, but on looking back it was also on the whole reasonably steady through the two days, with the bulk of the catches mainly made up of Haddock, Whiting, Red Gurnards, and Cod…and of course lots of Mackerel!

However as we are fortunate to live in an area noted for it's wide diversity of different species, the following fish were also caught…..Ling, Spurdog, Megrim, Spotted Ray, Grey Gurnard, Lythe, Coalies, Lesser Spotted Dogfish, Ballan Wrasse, Cuckoo Wrasse, Herring, Sandeel, Dab, Scad, Poor Cod and John Dory!

On the species front, the biggest news of the competition was the capture on the Saturday aboard the Nimrod from Kinlochbervie (skippered by Jimmy Mackintosh), of a potential Scottish boat record John Dory of 2lbs 4ozs, to visiting veteran Inverness angler Graham Forbes who has been coming to this competition for many years.

It is a rare fish to catch on rod and line and shows that off the west coast of Lewis you just don't know what will come up next!

It has been officially weighed and submitted to the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers as a new record.

The winner of the 2008 Western Isles (open) was Edinburgh angler Steve Souter who is well known in the sea angling world, and indeed one of the country's top anglers, winning his boat each day for 364 points and a maximum 200%.

Local angler Gillies Mackenzie was second on 318 points and also 200%, with Inverness angler Alistair Forsyth third on 312 points and 200%. Another local.. John Nicolson was fourth with 291 points and183%.

The other prizewinners are as follows….
Ladies Champion – Mairi Montgomery
Ladies Runner-Up – Peggy Mackay
Day One Winner – Gillies Mackenzie
Day Two Winner – Steve Souter
Heaviest Fish – John Nicolson – Spurdog 9lb 11oz
Specimen Fish – Graham Forbes – John Dory 2lbs 4oz
Rarstin Trophy – Stornoway SAC
Four Man Team Winners – Gus Mackenzie, Alistair Forsyth, Gillies Mackenzie, Steve Souter
R.M .Macleod Trophy (top Boat) Nimrod (Jimmy Mackintosh)
The Niall Ian Cup – Boat landing the heaviest fish - Nimrod
Visiting Angler – Steve Souter
Ian Horne Trophy (member with top catch on one day) – Gillies Mackenzie
D B Macleod Shield – Member with highest aggregate catch – Gillies Mackenzie