Dont forget LRF...

Yesterday the weather was fine with only a moderate SW breeze and I decided on a bit of a drive-around in order to suss out new marks. What was mostly in my mind was wrasse! I need to find a suitable mark for them as pollock all day (even big ones) can get a bit monotonous... Moreover I had heard reports of mackerel in the Southwest beaches and as I've never been there decided to give them a try.
I started off at Talisker bay and although conditions looked good (for bass maybe) there was a lot of weed close in and after getting a few baby coalies, I decided to move and drove to the rocks between Portnalong and Fiscavaig (name sounds fishy so I took it as a good sign!). The rock ledges there are quite flat and make for comfortable fishing, while the kelp is not so extensive as in the Northern marks, thus I took only the LRF gear with me.
I played around with the baby pollock on topwaters and then switched to a 3g tungsten cheburashka with a #8 hook and a 2" Gulp Fish Fry. I fished straight down the ledges and soon felt some sharp bites. I struck and soon had a small ballan wrasse come up.
There were quite a few of them and I really enjoyed catching them. Hopefully I will encounter their mothers soon...
I made a few casts further out and these resulted, well, in what else than pollock... Catching a 1lber on this gear though reminded me why you need to respect this fish!

Talisker bay.

Eyes bigger than its belly...

a beauty...

Respect to this fighter...

More of a wrassy look...

After a while the bites slowed down and I decided to move yet again. This time I drove to Glenbrittle and had a few casts on the beach there. I was hoping for some mackerel or even flatfish but after seeing some fish come clean out of the water, I put on a metal and burned it fast near the water surface. After a couple missed takes I had a fish stick and it went absolutely mental! You gotta love trout.. a quick release and got a second one soon after that didn't even make a single jump...! Mental fish indeed...

Mental trout!

not so mental...

The sun was setting by now and I called it a day. It may not have been the most productive of sessions but variety is the spice of life as they say..

Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Majorcraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Shimano Biomaster 1000fb
Mainline: Gosen mebarin braid 0.3PE
leader: Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lbs.
lure: 2" berkley gulp Fish Fry on a 3g Tungsten cheburashka with #8 hook.

They are growing larger...

Last week was my birthday and thus I spend most of my time with my brother instead of fishing but after he left I quickly drove to one of my northern marks for a bit of shallow water fishing. The tide was nearing its ebb but the sun was out so after using the various shallow running hardbaits, I switched to a simple ripple tail worm on a Texas rig. The fish weren't in great numbers (end of the season its teeming with fish) but I managed to get a few literally under my feet! And these weren't small fish by any means!
I covered the area thoroughly with the Texas rig and then put on a metal for distance work. I got hit midway in and after feeling good weight initially, the line then went slack and I started winding it in steadily until it was too late... The crafty pollock was swimming towards me and into the snag! This happened again on the next cast and both fish were lost... I had bass swimming towards me in the past but never pollock in such a determined way! I also had a fish that was clearly caught again recently with a hook mark on its lips. Good C&R!
After a while I changed spot and being still a bit hangover, decided to just sit on a rock and make a few lazy casts around while waiting for the tide to turn... Well this is Skye though, and you should never drop your guard as I was hit by a serious fish soon after! It made a couple frantic runs but I soon had it under control and landed it with the help of my new lip-gripper. A lovely fish that went back soon after a couple pics.

Now that's a good birthday cake!

Some decent fish on the day...

A bit of wildlife...

...and a good'un.

I decided to move to a nearby mark after this as I thought I would get better action there as the tide was now on the rise. After a short drive and a hike, I was down to the second spot and the conditions looked ideal for minnows and maybe even topwaters...
I begun with softplastics to see if the fish were there and after getting busted by a fish on the first cast, I put on an Ima Hound Sonic 100f to search the area thoroughly (as it casts like a bullet).
A couple casts in and I got hit after some jerks, managing to land an average fish and that was followed by plenty more afterwards. I tried more hard baits and softplastics but as the sun was dipping lower in the horizon I felt it was time for topwaters. I tied a Duel Silver dog 90 but after some casts the fish ignored it. I persevered and switched to the Ima Salt Skimmer and the results were instantaneous! I'm convinced this is due to the slim profile of this lure but also its subtler action.

Ima hound..

Chinese cheapo!

Ima Salt Skimmer.

After catching a fish and witnessing a few explosive blow ups things quietened down and I decided it was time to go as I was also being eaten by midges! A very satisfying session and the first topwater fish of the year!
Something else that I've recently done is to upgrade the teflon ring on the roller of my Daiwa Freams 2500 with an actual roller bearing as its so much better when working with braid. Recently I felt the roller a bit 'sticky' at times and after realising that my Freams doesn't have a rbb (cheeky Daiwa!), ordered the upgrade kit from ebay for about 15 quid. The whole thing took only a few minutes to put in and I recommend it as I already feel the improved performance.

Damn you Daiwa! lol

Below some videos of the session.

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution KGS-902L, 2.7m, 7-23g.
Reel: Daiwa Freams 2500
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.0
Leader: YGK Nitlon DFC flouorocarbon 16lbs
Lures:Various

Trying out a new rod and fishing with hardbaits for pollock.

As per the title this has been what I've mostly been up to this week. The warm weather has definitely helped and on my first session I found plenty of fish in the shallow kelpy marks. I began the day on the deeper water with the usual softplastics and metal jigs as I have a new rod  (MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g) that I wanted to try out. From the code you can understand that is a light shore jigging rod and I had been thinking for a while to purchase one... I only needed a serious justification and the Skye pollock and marks gave me just that!
On first impression the rod behaved very well and its pretty much what I thought it would be. Powerful yet not stiff, good caster and with a sensitive tip. Comparing to my other rods it has a thicker and more powerful butt yet the tip is almost as thin as my 7-23g rod.
Clearly metals are its forte but I also found it very good at working jerkbaits and even softplastics, albeit better with exposed hooks and with a jighead of over 12g weight.
I caught plenty of fish on it and fished with an almost locked drag. I had no fish lost to snags yet I was pleasantly surprised to see 2-3lbs fish putting a good bend to it! Such power in them! Yet it easily lifts fish like that on the shore.
After spending most of the morning fishing with metals and softplastics, The tide started to ebb and I could see the kelp reaching close to the surface now. I had a few fish take just above the kelp and I thought it would be a good idea to try a shallow running minnow. I put on an almost forgotten Megabass Zonk and after a couple casts and while I could clearly see the lure dancing to the jerks near the surface I got a fish shoot out from the kelp and strike it!
The strike was ferocious and the fish crash-dived straight for the kelp. I soon had the upper hand though and I was ecstatic when I landed the pollock. I proceeded in releasing the fish and kept fishing, managing some more fish on a few more lures I had with me. After a while and with the water being almost in low tide now, I made for the shallows and fished the same tactics with the hardbaits over the kelp. I got some more fish but I'm convinced that if the day was overcast I would have caught even more... As expected in the clear water and sunny conditions, natural colours were the best producers with lures that could dive that bit deeper more successful. Namely the classic Rapala X rap and a sinking Ryobi minnow. Towards the end of the session and after i had covered the area with the hardbaits, the metals winkled out a couple more fish from distance.

Zonk does the damage!

Ryobi sinking minnow.

The type of mark..

X rap...

Metals are indispensable though...

On my second day off, the weather was very different, being muggy wet and misty and staying overcast for most of the day. I consider these conditions positive for pollock and thus I decided to visit Rubha Hunish again and this time fish it more extensively.
I also had with me the finesse gear as I wanted to try slower bottom presentations in order to find if there's any wrasse about. Again I begun with softplastics but after a while and seeing that there weren't any big fish about, I put on the hardbaits and started covering water. To say I had a blast would be an understatement! I had fish even jumping out of the water and hitting the lure as I was lifting it out of the water! On one occasion, the front treble of a slim jerkbait tangled with the line and the lure was swirling on the surface. I slowed it right down and  a few meters from my feet I saw a pollock smash into it! The best part is that i caught many of the hits on my action cam and I will put the videos below. The fish were clearly much bolder with the overcast conditions and the ebbing of the tide accentuated that. Fishing in the gullies and around the points where the water was choppier saw fish hitting brighter lures while inside the bay, natural colours ruled. The retrieve was erratic with plenty of jerks and pauses and fish would usually hit the lure very close to the shore. Towards the end of the session I found a pocket of fish in a corner of the bay and the little Ryobi got four fish in equal number of casts. A very enjoyable day even without the lunkers.
As to the lighter gear and slower tactics, well I tried but couldn't avoid the pollock! At times its hard to comprehend the numbers of them here...!
Another thing I tried on the day was a plastic lip gripper (The Fish Grip) as I want to give my thumbs a rest! I have to say that it proved very useful and much more gentle to the fish comparing to the metal ones I used in the past...

Another good spot...

Some finesse...

Ima Nabarone..

Savagear prawn on dropshot, yet more pollock

The fish grip proved much gentler...

A secure hold.

And some videos!

I really enjoyed my hardbait fishing and its been a while since the last time I did this. I really see why so many lure anglers get a kick out of  this. especially when the hits are so visual, only topwater fishing can get more exciting... Next time I will be getting some topwaters with me!

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g
Reel: Abu Garcia Soron STX40
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.5
Leader: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon 20lbs and 16lbs
Lures:Various

Mackerel are in, Summer is here!

First day of summer yesterday and having relatively good weather I decided to make the most of it. The only problem was the intense northeasterly wind that was going to make things tricky for me. I thought that Neist would be sheltered enough and drove there a few hours before high tide. On arrival I was greeted by the multitude of tourists that are becoming more prevalent by the day...
Undeterred I made my way to my favourite rock spot, only to find it occupied by two other anglers...
I squeezed in next to them and started fishing the usual tactics.
The wind was really annoying and clearly affected the fishing as the others had only caught a couple smaller pollock. I persisted for a while thinking that the fishing will pickup near high tide but to cut a long story short, it didn't... I got a few 2lbers around high tide on Salty Bait and Texas rig with the occasional coalie but it was a grind. Before I called it quits I put on a 20g slow jig and worked it slow near the bottom at distance. I got a take soon after touchdown and some solid resistance. The fish was fighting harder the closer I was bringing it, with sharp head-shakes and unwilling to come off the bottom but I soon saw an orangeish  shape come up. Only after a second look did I realise it was the first ballan wrasse of the season! a nice fish of about 2lbs... I picked the leader to haul it on the rock and just then it got unhooked and went back into the sea! I just wanted a photo...
Anyway I decided to move soon after this as I wanted to scout a new mark.

had to work hard for it...

They were close in and close to the bottom..

After a short drive I was in Orbost where I stopped to fish. To be honest I just wanted to escape the wind and try out some of the hardbaits I bought all winter. I'm intending to use them in the shallow kelp-filled bays later in the season and I wanted to see how each one behaves. After giving the lures a good swim, I switched to a 20g metal jig and started fan casting and counting it down to get an idea of the depth and bottom composition of the place. Its a relatively shallow bay (deeper water on a good cast) with some vegetation that I believe would attract better fish later in the season.
As I was reeling in my metal, I felt some bites and struck. I was then met by weird resistance and after reeling in more I realised I had hooked a fish from the tail... What was important though is that it was a mackerel! They are here!
Quickly I tied on the sabiki teaser and proceeded in getting my dinner sorted. It took about 10mins and I had a bag-full of fresh mackerel to take home! A good end to the day.

First of the season!

Today the wind was even stronger and I drove South thinking I could avoid it. It wasn't meant to be though and after a couple fish I had enough. It was such a lovely sunny day but the wind just ruined it!

looks lovely but felt cold with the wind..

Still no blank though...

Video of the session.

 Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution KGS-902L, 2.7m, 7-23g.
Reel: Daiwa Freams 2500
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.0
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader FC 20lbs
Lures: metals with teasers and brass n glass Texas rigged softplastics.