As per the title, the fishing on my days off has been a mixture of salt and freshwater with relatively good results..
On Wednesday I decided to hit a new spot as I'm looking for sheltered areas that can offer fish in the strongest winds that we get so often up here.. This means that somewhere in the central complex of lochs (Bracadale, Harport etc) would be my best bet and thus I gave it a go...
I visited a point with easy access to deeper water though with much less kelp and structure than I would've liked... Moreover the inner lochs along with Neist tend to get the first of the mackerel and having this in mind I added a sabiki teaser along with my lure.
I started with 28g metal jigs but got absolutely nothing on them. After a while I decided to try some Gulp jerk shads that Ive recently got in mainly for night fishing.. I rigged it on a 30g Duel Salty Bait and worked it slowly on the bottom. I soon started getting bites and it wasn't long till I had a fish on! The telltale rhythmic beating of the fish's tail let me know that mackerel were here and I managed to see the fish before it got unhooked. I wasn't too worried though as wherever there is one there are usually more! Thus after a while I started getting some fish in.
They weren't caught on the main lure just the teaser, but I think that the bulky presentation along with the slower working and maybe the scent of gulp attracted the fish.. All of them were skinny even though of a good size and I suppose they need some more time and the waters to warm up a bit to start feeding more aggressively.
A new mark..
Summer-bringer!
I had different plans for later in the day... For a while I have been wanting to do a night fishing session from the rocks just to see whats out there and the conditions seemed passable on the day.
Thus around 21:00 I was on the mark and decided to play with the LRF setup while waiting to get darker. I also used the heads of the previously caught mackerel (bodies obviously eaten 😁) to chum and also baited a bucktail on the heavier rod. Its been a long time since I've last bait fished but thought to do so out of curiosity...
The fish were feeding well and I had great fun catching some good pollock on the LRF gear but at some point saw the line on the heavier rod move and picked it up. I struck and felt something heavy thrashing in the deep.. After a while I got it up and was very pleased to see a nice ling on the surface! Got it up, unhooked and sent it straight back. A few more pollock were caught later and I decided that it was a productive wee session anyway and I didnt need to spend more time there. Moreover there was an annoying swell by that time and it reinforced my decision to call it a night.
I'm not gonna be rushing to buy bait-fishing gear any time soon but the catch was cool so I might actually do it again!
Sunset...
A proper scrap on LRF gear...
A nice pollock later on.
The video of the session.
The next day I had arranged with my girl on a day out with a boat in Loch Morar for fishing and a picnic. It was a wet start to the day but it got better afterwards. Being unfamiliar with the Loch, the fishing wasn't record breaking stuff but we caught some lovely brownies and its definitely something I'm keen on doing again. Possibly supplied with a sounder and targeting some char and/or ferox...
Not bad!
Love brownies!
A nice one.
Beauty.
Cant beat a good picnic!
A very enjoyable and productive couple days.. Hopefully I'll be able to replicate them next week...
My last days off have been quite productive as the weather has been pretty decent and I managed to get a bit further afield. The destination was Applecross, more so for a picnic and a day trip but I did manage to have a few casts..
The drive up there was quite something and the coastline looked fishy... I checked the admiralty charts previously and although the depths weren't massive, I did mark some areas that looked interesting.
Thus after a nice picnic on the rocks, I picked up the rod and let a few casts with a metal on.
The depth was around 10-15m and very snaggy with thick kelp close in. After finding the deepest spot I concentrated my efforts there and soon enough the polock started to show. Not monsters (though a better one got unhooked) but it was good to see the fish feeding so actively and in the shallower marks. Hopefully they should do the same on Skye too..
It was only a short trip to Applecross but I'm definitely gonna check it out again as its a very beautiful place.
A decent fish in Applecross..
Actively hitting metals in relatively shallow water..
Interesting drive.
The next day I had a short session for some little brownies in a loch (video up soon) and then headed straight for the rocky mark that made me buy my new 6m long Majorcraft Solpara landing net!
Its here!
It didn't take long to find the fish and even with this net I could only land the fish in a few spots but this is a vast improvement from before! I can actually fish with the lighter gear there and get the fish up safely now. Very pleased with my purchase needless to say...
First pollock landed with the new net!
Quite a height..
The self takes need practise..
Almost there..
Much better.
Well it definitely feels like Summer is on its way here and this means I'll soon start to fish in the shallow kelpy marks and for the summer species as well. I'll also try an explore more of those little lochs here for brownies on the UL gear! The videos will be uploaded soon hopefully...
Tight Lines!
Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft KGEvolution Basic KGS-902L.
Reel: Shimano Stradic FK C3000
Mainline: Unitika Shore Game X8 PE 1.2
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 16lbs
Lures: various
The other day, seeing as the weather was being too nice, I changed my plans and instead of a freshwater session I decided to visit a distant Southern mark that thought it would be firing up now...
Last time I was there, the fishing was slow yet the quality of fish was evident. By now as the weather has markedly improved it should be expected that the big mamas would be more active.
Thus I started the long hike to the mark and I timed my arrival there 3 hours before low tide.
As my main rock ledge was still inaccessible I started casting on a different rock further back, but thanks to using the LSJ setup I could easily hit the 'sweet spot' especially when using metals.
I begun with a 30g metal and a sabiki teaser further up the leader, as I heard the fishermen started getting mackerel and was hoping to get a few early ones myself. Instead I got a few feisty coalies and kept them for dinner.
Soon more serious fish started to appear and with the tide receding a bit more, I was able to setup on my favourite ledge and gain easy access to the deeper water.
I got some good fish on the metal but lost a few on the way up as they would get unhooked in the thick kelp of this mark...
Nevertheless, I persisted and soon I had a good pollock up. I kept working the metal but things went quiet and I put on an articulated paddletail from Illex, the Nitro Sprat Shad. This lure was immediately taken (OTD) but I just couldn't get the fish to stick on it. This happened more consecutive times and I then had to switch to a different lure. I'm not sure if its the design of the said lure or the pollock where being really funny (maybe both) but I just couldn't hook up on it.
I put on a pearl silver Savagear Sandeel and this was hit with less force and only once. Thinking that this might be a bit 'loud' colour given the bright sunny conditions and calm, clear water I switched to a natural green Fiiish Crazy Sandeel that was taken first cast a few meters in the retrieve near the bottom! A dogged fight ensued (as so many at this time of year) and I soon had a respectable 70cm+ fish on the rocks with the lure all in its mouth! This goes to show that even on very aggressive and actively feeding fish like pollock, the bigger fish are far more wary and fussy than the smaller ones...
A beaut...
Deserves a second pic.
After releasing this fish I kept working the same area with a variety of lures but the bites dried up. It was low tide by then but I kept at it hoping the fish will come to the feed again once the current increased.
At some point I switched off the Gopro and put on a 20g metal for the usual 'last casts'... Well on the second 'last cast' I hooked up to another good fish and after another dogged fight managed to land her. A beautiful fish with a mark on the bottom lip (trying to snag me) and again 70cm+ though this could have easily been a double a couple months back...
I quickly released her as well and started on my way back with a spring on my step. It was a good session on a lovely day!
Big mama!
Below the video of some of the action.
When the sun is shining Skye really is as good a place as any! Fishing-wise I consider this time of year one of the best for the larger fish as they are hungry after spawning but on the other hand they usually don't fight as actively as later on in the year and are slim thus not weighing as much as you'd expect..
Well hoping to get some sessions on the trout soon and hopefully the good weather will hang on a while longer!
