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Sunday 27 November 2016

A wintry day with the young guns.

The past couple weeks had a proper wintry feel to them with frosts every day and cold winds for the most part. I always find these first frosts poor fishing-wise and thus I only went on a couple half-hearted outings. I had one session on a deep northern mark and found loads of fish albeit the vast majority of them on the smaller side... It was surprising that there were still cuckoo wrasse about though and I might still give it a go for their ballan cousins. I fished with the heavy gear that day but I believe that the time has come for the finesse gear to get to the forefront... Moreover although the metals got plenty of hits, it was the softplastics that gave fish much more easily... Saying that had I added a couple more assist-hooks on the metals things might have been different. As per usual the coalies are at their most aggressive this time of the year and I had some fun fishing for these Northern-Aji with the lrf gear as well.
Scottish Aji..lol


Even in the bleakest day, coalies can keep our line taut!

This week though we had very mild weather and little wind, thus I was gagging to go out the first chance I got! Unfortunately the car is at the garage but thankfully two of my young friends wanted to do some fishing and today we drove up to Neist point at midday.
We setup to one of my favourite spots and evidently there were plenty of fish swimming about. I had one LRF and a medium-light rod with me and after showing the how-tos to my friend Connor (that hadn't fished before) we started fishing.
We were about 2 hours before high tide and I started with a simple 16g cheburashka, #1 Offset ewg hook and a 4.5" Lunker city Ribster.
We were getting bites from first cast and I was soon into a decent fish! The fight is so much better on the ML gear! The heavier setup has been extremely useful when dealing with big mamas in the kelp forests and also in rough weather but for this kind of mark and calm conditions the lighter stuff rules!

The first decent fish...
I then switched rods with Connor and I took the LRF setup. Soon enough I heard Connor shout that he was in and the drag was screaming line out! It was a much better fish and after a few powerful runs managed to get into the kelp. I then showed Connor how to feed it line and got the fish unstuck. A few moments later I went down the rocks to land it for him and take the obligatory photo before releasing the fish. It was a good fish but for someone who hasn't fished before that was a feat! Beginners luck and all that eh?!
Happy with his first catch!
After Connor got his fish it was my mate Dylan's turn and after an average fish he managed a better one as well! The fish were in good condition and very hungry. It was fascinating to see at one point the wind threw a bottle into the water and soon after a large pollock came up to it from the depths to investigate! Should've brought the topwater lures...



Dylan with his second fish.

The fishing was pretty hectic with some decent fish showing but after having a few more pollock, I wanted to chance it for something else as we were near sundown... I started bouncing bottom with the lure and after a few casts I got a solid take and heavy weight on the line without the pollock's fast runs. The culprit came up soon enough and it was no other that a beautiful ling! This was the perfect end to the day and we then packed up ready for the way home.


Pollock in very good condition.


A beaut of a ling!


Below some thoughts on the day.
  • Fish still very active, especially at deeper marks and on settled weather after rough spells.
  • Fish keeping mostly deep and close to the bottom but still willing to come higher. Coalies all over the water column as usual.
  • The time for finesse and softplastics is here... Metals can be effective (especially slow jigs) but need more assists on them.
  • Harder to find the bigger fish consistently now. Some marks inundated with loads of smaller fish.
  • Finesse rods will come to play more frequently now as there's need for better bite indication and subtler presentations. Fish although hungry, didn't slam the lures as in the previous months.
  • It is a great feeling to introduce someone to fishing and help them catch their first fish!
Will get the video of the session up on Youtube soon. Hopefully the weather will stay like this till Tuesday for another outing...

Tight lines.

Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft KGEvolution Basic KGS-902L.
Reel: Shimano Stradic Ci4 2500f
Mainline: Duel Hardcore x4 PE0.8
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 12lbs
Lures:16g cheburashka, #1 offset ewg hook, 4.5" Lunker City Ribster.





Tuesday 15 November 2016

Found a wrasse-hole in November!

Its been months now that I had my eyes set on a sheltered northern mark that is near some fish farm cages. I went to check it out last week but the weather was horrid and chose a different mark instead. Today after going to Neist and finding it too rough, I decided to try the new mark. The weather was largely dry but there was a persistent S/SW wind that made fishing uncomfortable. Nevertheless I got down to the rocks and started fishing opposite the cages (a good spot to fish in any area that has cages). I begun with a 30g Salty Bait tipped with a Gulp Sandeel. The casts weren't very far because of the wind and the depth there wasn't massive (15m approx). The ground was kelpy close in but after the first few meters the bottom dropped into broken reef.
After a few casts, I started getting sharp bites. I struck and felt the thumpy headshakes typical of a wrasse. Soon enough I had it on the rocks and then proceeded in catching a few more. Not something I expected on a windy afternoon in the middle of November! They were fairly concentrated but after getting a few and having a few shed the hook, the spot quietened down.
I decided to move to another rocky outcrop but this made getting fish up a bit tricky as access to the water was limited. Undeterred I kept fishing and caught another wrasse and some pollock. The latter were a pain to get in as I had to scramble down to the only access point to the water and in the process a few fish shed the hook or got me kelped...
Oh hello!




Pollock on heavy Texas rig..

A good presentation.
On the day I tested some new 28g tungsten weights that were just the ticket for tackling the wind...
I was also getting a lot of coalie-bumps on my lures and after a while I decided to play with them on the LRF gear and light metals. The mark seemed to hold a good head of them and soon I had some on the rocks intended for the pan..!

Scottish Aji!



Recently I purchased a Savagear Black Savage (what a name!) waterproof suit and also a Stormr Strykr jacket, so I'm now hoping to be well protected for my winter's fishing. Initial vibes from both items are very good and I will come back to them once Ive spent more time in them!😊
Savagear Black Savage.

Stormr Strykr.




Tight lines.


Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g. Majorcraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Shimano SW Biomaster 4000XG. Shimano Stradic 1000fc
Mainline: YGK G-Soul WX8 PE1.2.Ygk G-Soul x3 0.3PE
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 20lbs, 25lbs. YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon 8lbs.
Lures: Various


Tuesday 1 November 2016

A morning on Neist.

On Monday I had the morning off and thought of going fishing at Neist. I woke up at around 08:30 and drove to Neist Point for a half day session as I was meant to be back to work at 17:00. The weather was supposed to be rainy but with slight winds and no swell so I was expecting some action. There wont be too much time before the waters get cold now and I need to make every chance count...
I arrived an hour or so before the low tide mark and first set up on my spot overlooking a gully. I found the fish at distance but much higher in the water column than usual (possibly a sign of active feeding before colder weather). Started with softplastics and after the fish got tired of them I switched to metals that brought in some more quality fish. For some reason the fights weren't very energetic but dogged with the fish 'hugging' the bottom structure... As a result I lost a couple decent ones.

A quality fish caught at range...
Plenty of this stamp..

Metals rule!

Chunky...
 After the bites slowed down I moved to my second favourite spot and got straight into more fish. For some reason the fish on this spot (more exposed and rough at the time) fought much harder with the usual crash-diving runs! I was still fishing with metals but after a string of good fish, I switched to a Texas rig with a 20g tungsten bullet weight, 8mm glass bead and 1/0 wide gape offset hook. The lure of choice was a 4" Crazy Fish Active Slug. I started dragging and hoping the lure on the bottom, prospecting for something other than pollock but in the end they showed up nonetheless! I had seen reports of some codling been caught nearby and I was hoping to get one but other than some wrasse bites and a cut line (from something toothy) I didn't find any of them.
Nevertheless it was an action packed session and one I'm hoping to replicate as much as possible before the winter blues... The added bonus to the day was that for once the weatherman got it wrong and it didn't really rain that much!
The only skinny pollock in the sea!

Much better..

They love Texas rig as well...

Hoping to do some LRF in the next couple weeks as I think its about time I found out what Skye's harbours have to offer...

Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g
Reel: Shimano SW Biomaster 4000XG
Mainline: YGK G-Soul WX8 PE1.2
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 20lbs, 25lbs.
Lures: Various