Isle of Skye September 2015 expedition. Day 4.

On the fourth day of the trip the winds died down and I realised that this was the opportunity I was waiting for to fish Neist Point. Thus on the morning, after treating myself to a full breakfast at the hotel I was staying, I made the drive back up to Neist point. I was relieved to see that the waves had mostly died down and also that the tide was only a small one as this has been mentioned to be a positive sign on this mark. Moreover the sun made an appearance at times making the day very pleasant for fishing.
I scrambled down the rocks on the right side of the Lighthouse and put on my last remaining Duel Salty Bait of 10g with a 4" Gulp sandeel mounted on the hook.
The mark has a good depth and more or less clear, hard bottom and the tide creates strong sideways current. I could feel my lure slowly being dragged on the bottom and for the most part I gave it only little movement letting it swing in an arc. After a few casts about, and having caught a mackerel and a coalie, I connected to a decent fish that took off like a steam train against a very tight drag. The mark's layout helped me in fighting the fish though, as I was high over the fish, and after a few less vigorous runs I managed to get a fine pollock on the rocks. This fish was followed by a few more good pollock until all went dead and it was time to move on.

Finally!

A nice one!

The inchiku/gulp kills..

I went on the other side of the lighthouse (the most visited) but although the water was looking equally fishy, I got no fish except a couple mackerel and coalies. I started walking and casting along the shore until I reached the south-facing side of the point. I got a couple decent pollock that were staging near the entrance to a large gully and then moved to the other side of the gully where it was overlooking the bay. A few more casts and I identified an area where the pollock were shoaled up. It was late afternoon by now and I suppose dinner-time for these pollock as I had a repeat performance of  the previous day... Pollock after pollock attacking my shads without mercy! The water was a little cloudy from the previous days swell and I went for bright coloured lures that seemed to do the trick. One type of shad though slightly edged it on the bites. The 3.25" AGM Paddler Grub ones in bubblegum and silver glow. they resemble the classic Ecogear grass minnow although they are 'beefier' and the tail is triangular. The tail/paddle gives them only little lift comparing to other shad tail designs and thus they can be worked faster and more linear at a certain depth.
I lost count of how many pollock I got, most of them being of a good size with a few nicer fish as well. Truly hectic action!
The action camera failed me again as it run out of battery when the frenzy begun and I even got tired of taking pics after some point. I just let myself enjoy the session knowing that it will be a long while till I encounter something similar again.

A good spot.

First of many..

Bright coloured lures were the order of the day..

Serious fighter..

Extra strong hooks...

A truly memorable day... Neist point didn't let me down! Even though it must be noted that I wasn't strictly speaking fishing on the Point..
More over the fish seemed to wise up to a certain colour after a while (a long while!) but a change in colour kept them biting.
I fished till almost dark and then made my way to the car feeling completely satisfied with my days fishing. It was hard to bear that the next day I had to leave Skye and return home.
The video of the day (although the vast majority of fish are not in).

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution KGS-902L, 2.7m, 7-23g.
Reel: Abu Garcia Soron STX 40
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.5
Leader: P line Halo fluorocarbon 10lbs
Lures: 10g Duel Salty Bait/4"Gulp Sandeel, 12g cheburashka with 3" Long John and 3.25"AGM paddler Grub paddletails.

Isle of Skye September 2015 Expedition. Day 3.

The next day I woke up around 08:00 and got ready to drive north again. I checked the weather and was disappointed to see the southerly winds still strong, as it would possibly mean that I couldn't fish the most iconic of Skye fishing marks, the Neist point. I have been wanting to fish this mark since I first heard about Skye and last time with Scott the weather didn't allow us to fish there. It was looking like my efforts would be thwarted again by the weather but at least I had to visit the mark...
I made a plan B of fishing Milovaig and/or trying at some of the marks north of Waternish at the middle peninsula of northern Skye.
After a relatively long drive I was on the point and I could see that my fears came true as the sea was rough with wide caps on the waves. Nevertheless I walked to the lighthouse to inspect the mark hoping that I would get the chance to fish it before I left. I then drove to Milovaig for a few casts around the pier there. The marks was looking good and there were already a couple anglers there but it didn't seem like they caught anything and after thrashing the place with casts, I got nothing as well. I'm not so sure this was down to the mark that fish weren't caught but more likely because of the time (afternoon) and weather conditions. Of course tide state could be a reason too being almost high tide.

Neist Point with rough seas..

What a place!

Milovaig pier.

After a short lunch in the car I drove to the middle point and stopped at a rocky headland near Trumpan. The mark was looking perfect as it was completely protected from the wind and close to deep water although not a first choice mark had the conditions been better... I decided to take the finesse gear (mistake) as I thought it would be adequate, though this time with the 10lbs leader on it and headed down to some rocks in the middle of two small rocky bays. Again the water wasn't particularly deep, but the kelp was thick and definitely worth a few casts.
I began with  a blue/silver 3" Long John paddletail on a 12g cheburashka. After a few casts, I got the first pollock but then decided to change lure as I was getting some tentative bites and no hook ups. I changed to the good old 10cm Savagear sandeel in natural colour on a 10g jighead. I made a long cast to the area were I was getting the bites and the results were instant! A nice fish got hooked and after a good and 'hairy' fight I managed to slip my thump in its mouth and land it. If I hadn't doubled up the leader line with a loop, I'm convinced I would have lost that fish... Some more pollock followed from that area until I decided to move to the rocks enveloping the bay. After a tricky scramble on the rocks I reached a large boulder covered in bird droppings but being an ideal vantage point for fishing as it was overseeing the entrance to the bay. I lost the sandeel to a snag and I reverted back to the cheburashka and paddletail. I was getting fish but still a lot of finicky bites so I dropped the weight of the cheburashka to 7g and changed the lure to a 4" Reins G-tail Saturn in oxblood colour. Curly/ripple tail worms (jellyworms) are classic pollock lures but the clownish 7"+  monstrosities that most anglers use were never to my liking. These lures are meant for finesse and more subdued presentations thus I always had good results on them in 2"- 4"and natural colours (with some exceptions) and of course retrieved much more slowly and subtly than the usual straight fast wind more commonly used...
The fish did seem to be concentrated in that area but not in a proper hunting mood yet and keeping low between the kelp. Thus I worked the lure near the bottom with a slow retrieve and a few subtle twitches to make it jump upwards. I had fish after fish after fish on that presentation until a good pollock got the lure with him after bending the hook open. I then started using #1 Decoy rock fish EX heavy offset worm 13S and this never happened again. That was my last of the G-tails but I had more curly tail worms with me and I decided to further change my presentation by reverting to the classic Texas rig, something that I haven't used in a long while surprisingly...
Thus I put on a 7g cone lead followed by an orange luminous bead and a #1 Decoy RS worm 101 hook with the lure of choice being a no-name 3.5" pink curly tail worm. This did the trick equally well and the fish kept coming... So many that I didn't bother taking many pics and even the action camera died after some point! I also used some stick baits towards the end for a bit of variety as the fish went on a frenzy.. A good days result after a lot of searching around.

A hard fight with the finesse setup...

Average stamp of fish..

Rugged fighters..

This goes to show again that even not so great-looking marks can provide you with excellent sport in Skye, even under adverse conditions. I caught more than 20 fish between 2-6 lbs from a relatively small area and again had a larger number of losses than I would have liked. Definitely a couple pb-feeling fish among the lost ones..
Moreover these results don't mean that fishing any lure will do. The change to a more natural colour from the bright blue/silver brought the first good fish and lessened the tentative bites and then the slower presentation with the curly tail provided only positive takes. Had I persevered with the original lure I'm sure I wouldn't have caught even half as many fish.

The video of the day.

Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g.
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8
Leader: P Line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs
Lures: 3"-4" paddletails on cheburashka and jigheads, 3"-4" curly tail worms on cheburashka and Texas rig. Stickbaits on weighted offset hooks.

Isle of Skye September 2015 Expedition. Day 2.

I woke up early next morning to be greeted by a fantastic view. The sun hadn't risen yet but everything looked perfect for a good start to the days fishing. I headed off on foot towards a peninsula that I saw on Google earth just a short walk away from the bay I was fishing the day before. The peninsula was more or less rectangular in shape and jutting out towards the northeast. I started fishing on the eastern point as it was overlooking a secondary bay adjacent to the one from yesterday. Although there was little wind, the sea was a bit rough and in these conditions I prefer fishing in sheltered spots as I believe pollock favour them then.

I could see baitfish on the bayside area of the point and I knew the pollock wont be far.

I started with metals and the pollock were on them form the start! The average stamp of these fish was around 3lbs but there were bucket loads of them and they fought hard and dirty.. The depth here was not great, maybe 6-7m at the end of the cast but the bottom was covered with kelp. I lost a few of my conventional metals and decided a Salty Bait/senko combo would be more suitable for this situation, as its relatively weedless, rises fast on the retrieve and offers a larger profile so that it could sort the bigger fish out.

And that it did getting a few good fish before something much larger got it and cut me off! This was going to happen again after I tied a 5" stickbait on a weighted 5g offset hook. The biggest mistake of this trip was not taking a thicker diameter leader fluorocarbon. Most of the marks here are very different to the layout of my marks in the sea-lochs and there's little room for true finesse and light game.. Although the 10lbs fluoro leader was adequate for the majority of fish, there were more instances that I would have liked were a thicker (just slightly say 12-15lbs) line would make things easier and decrease my losses.

From that point onward I tried to double up some length of my leader by making a loop and this did help a lot.

A perfect start to the day.

Magical...

Slow jigs were very successful but I lost most of them..

Salty Bait/senko combo..

Pollock love stick baits.

After loosing the two fish and also my only 5" senko as well as one of my two 10g Salty Baits (ouch!) I decided to move towards the northwestern point as it seemed deeper and also relatively protected by a small island. I picked the most forward looking rock to stand on and put on a 3" Crazy-Fish Vibro Worm (UV and scented) mounted on a #2 offset hook with a 16g cheburashka. I made a long cast and was surprised at the depth of the mark as it took more than 40 seconds to reach bottom. Moreover the current was strong and I could feel my lure moving very slowly. This seemed more familiar...

I started getting short 'snappy' bites and I was certain of the culprit. Cuckoo wrasse..

I sped up the lure as I didn't want to hook them in such deep water and was aiming for something better. As the lure reached closer I started a steady retrieve to bring it higher in the water column. This saw a fish attack and drag started singing! This felt like a very good fish and took line at will, but as I was fighting from an almost vertical angle, the fight was much easier to control and after a few more runs I got the fish up. I took a pic and quickly threw it back. I then got another decent fish but lost it at the base of the rocks I was standing, as I couldn't dislodge it from the kelp.

Having had enough of the pollock I drew my attention to the bottom species and started targeting the cuckoos. I would bring them in very slowly so they wouldn't puff up so easily. I caught a good number of females along with a lovely male over a pound. Such a beautiful fish!

In amongst the cuckoos I got a different take and a more solid 'cod-like' fight and was delighted to bring up a ling! My first for 2015. Always a joy catching these.

Apart from the cheburashka I also used my 30g Salty Bait tipped with a Gulp sandeel and this made the cuckoos even more willing to bite. of course I couldn't avoid the pollock altogether and some more were caught in surprisingly deep water. This caused problems with their revival and one fish wouldn't make it so I kept it.

A hard fighter.

Such a fun fish to catch..

Very aggressive.

These teeth!

A predator from the deep.

Cant escape them on Skye!

Vibrant colours worked well in the deep water.

I decided to head back to the car for a snack and also to scout another likely looking area for closing the day. After a bit of driving I reached Duntulum  where the area looks good with cliffs and kelpy bays. I took my medium gear and fished some rocks and around boulders for wrasse but I only got a couple finicky plucks before switching to metals. A few average pollock and some nice coalies later and I decided to head off as I was going to spend the night in a hostel at Broadford and I had a good hours drive ahead of me. I would have preferred somewhere much closer but I didn't realise that Skye is still busy with tourists this time of year and almost everywhere was fully booked or very expensive!

On the way back I stopped at Portree and had my fish battered and fried at the chippy there. It was a great ending to a good days fishing as its hard beat fresh fish and chips. I also attracted some more customers to the chippy after they thought that the fish comes in that size.. lol

The shoreline near Duntulum.

A nice coalie.

Supper!

Below some videos.





 



 Tight lines.

Gear used.
Rods: MC KG Evolution, KGS-902L, 2.7m, 7-23g. MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g.
Reels: Abu Garcia Soron STX 40. Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainlines: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.5. Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8
Leaders: P line Halo fluorocarbon 10lbs. YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs

 .

Isle of Skye September 2015 Expedition. Day 1.

I haven't been writing many posts lately mostly because I haven't done much serious fishing and also because I was planning a proper fishing trip on Skye. I did have a short trip to the Mull of Galloway but I only had a few casts here and there and other than masses of average pollock and a few ballans not much else was caught. Moreover my phone became almost non operational and I couldn't take any pics.. Thus just the week before my Skye trip I managed to get a new one (the waterproof Samsung S5!) and I was ready for it. I took the bus to Oban on Thursday the 17th and got picked up by my brother there. After some lunch I took the car and headed off to loch Linnhe.
I was planning to fish locally for the day and drive up to Skye early the next day. I got to my mark on Kentallen and had some light game fun there (the only true lrf sessions for the whole trip as it turned out).
I was fishing small creatures on the jika rig, aiming for some wrasse as I really haven't targeted them much this year, but the codling had other ideas and kept pestering me!
I then switched to metals and had some pollock before deciding to move to loch Leven and fish a mark that I found on a diving site. It was getting pretty dark but the mark supposedly holds good numbers of wrasse and it was worth a try.
I arrived at the mark and on a first look it didn't seem that great but after the first casts I realised there was more to it than meets the eye. I got a good 'snappy' bite on the cheburashka and after a spirited fight, a lovely ballan was up ashore. I then got another similar bite but this time a much stronger adversary that managed to cut me off on the first run... I retied and after a few more casts I got a nice codling that got unhooked as I was bringing it up through the kelp. Definitely a mark to be revisited...

Codling on creature and jika rig.

Loch Leven.

A feisty ballan.

I stopped fishing as it was getting dark and got into the car thinking of a place to spend the night. I wasn't feeling tired at all and I decided to head to Skye straight away, thinking I would make good time since the roads were going to be devoid of tourists! And so it was, after a couple hours I was in Loch Duich and I decided to sleep on the parking space near the Eilean Donnan castle, so that I could fish that mark as well first thing in the morning.
I woke up early to a spectacular view of the castle and got down to the rocks. I could see shoals of coalies splashing about as the tide was pushing in and after catching a few I decided to head off as the weather was looking good and I wanted to make the most of it fishing the marks I couldn't last time I was on Skye.

What a view to wake up to!

Having checked the weather forecast, I was meant to have a mixture of dry and wet days but what interested me the most, was the wind speed and direction. For the first few days the winds were mostly Southerly and at times quite strong, thus I decided to head up to the Northern marks first.
My first stop was Staffin, as it showed potential the last time I was here with Scott but it was unfishable then. This time the sea was much calmer (though still choppy) and I was hoping for better results.
I started off with my heavier setup and a 3" Long John paddletail on a 12g cheburashka.I began fan casting around the rocky point at the entrance to Staffin bay and was soon rewarded with a beautiful copper mottled pollock that shoot out from the kelp to take the lure just under my feet. I was surprised to see a fish that big with this kelp-colouration as its usually smaller fish, living amongst the kelp that have it, in my marks further south.

Stunning colours!

I then had a few more decent fish, got cut off by something better and finished with a good one. The bite seemed to slow down after mid-day and I then decided to head North again.

Staffin shoreline...

A nice one.

I arrived at a village called Aird, and immediately could see that the area was looking very fishy.
It was a kelp filled bay, fringed by rocky slopes. The water didn't seem particularly deep close in but a good cast would help me with that and also I could see that the bottom was cleaner further out. As it was sunny I thought that the fish would be hiding in the kelp or be further out in the deeper water, so I decided to use mainly metals. I would work the metal near the bottom far out and as it came closer, I would aim to pass it just over the kelp where I was thinking that most pollock would be. This proved to be very successful on coalies at first and then some good pollock! They seemed to like the metal worked faster than usual and with more jerks, thus assist hooks proved better than singles at the back, as they don't get tangled with the line. I had some slow jigs with me purchased mainly for this trip and they seemed to be very effective albeit fished completely differently to how they're meant to. Due to their shape (wide) they rise quickly on the retrieve and they were perfect for being worked rather fast on a steady retrieve just above the kelp. A few abrupt pulls (not jerks!) and pauses here and there made them irresistible.
I kept moving and casting along the shore and caught a good number of fish. I also lost more fish (and lures) than I would have liked and this was caused by me forgetting to pick up my fluorocarbon leader from the other bag and thus resorting to mono (12lbs)  for my leaders which just didn't cut it in this case. Even my fluorocarbon leader didn't prove good enough for some of those fish and marks as it turned out in the end...

Looks fishy...

...even more fishy!

Nice plumb coalies on Skye as well.

Pollock love metals.

What a fight!

Slow jigs used differently but working...

Pollock ground..

As the sun got lower the fish became active close in and I changed to soft plastics, taking fish after fish!
It was hectic fishing and the quality of fish along with the quantity was staggering with most fish between 2-5lbs!

Unreal colours.

Tired from all the rock scrambling and fishing but happy, I made my way back to the car for something to eat and some much needed sleep.

After a hard days fishing..

Below is a teaser from my videos to come

Tight lines and more to come...

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution, KGS-902L, 2.7m, 7-23g.
Reel: Abu Garcia Soron STX 40
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.5
leader: Toray Bawo polyamide plus mono 12lbs
lures: metals and 3"-4" softplastics on cheburashka.