Last week I was booked to guide three spirited French anglers that drove all the way to Skye from the suburbs of Paris!
Jacques, Pierre and Jean-Paul were keen to sample some of Skye's saltwater fishing and we couldn't have picked a better day to do it. I picked them up at 06:00 from their accommodation and we drove to my favourite shallow bay. It was an overcast, warm morning with only a slight breeze that didn't dissuade the midges at all (French insect repellent don't work on Scottish midges!)! The plan was to try and get a few fish off the top and then fish with the usual softs and metals.
The plan took a wee backstep after Jacques though he lost his iPhone and I had to retrace our steps to find it... Typically, all the way back in the car...😆
Apart from Jacques, the others were only occasional anglers and thus not very familiar with modern lure fishing techniques. I had the first cast to try and show them how to 'walk the dog' and I got a hit straight away midway in the retrieve! Immediately I gave the rod to JP and after a couple casts, he started getting the hang of it.. I could see a couple follows from fish and soon enough he hooked up to a lovely 2pounder.
A good start to the day and Pierre was next... He got a few follows and bumps but unfortunately not a topwater fish for him... This was soon rectified after I put a softplastic on a 20g cheburashka and he had his first pollock as well.
The tide state wasn't actually favourable for this mark but near the change point things started to liven up and everybody started hooking up with the softplastics.. Surprisingly Jacques (the most experienced of the group) hadn't caught a fish yet! After the others managed a couple more each, I decided to change his presentation from a paddletail to a darting slim and he was in soon after! Took him a while but he landed the best fish of the morning of approx 5-6lbs.
It was then time to change marks and moved to a trickier ledge where distance and right presentation was key on the day.
Here the experience of Jacques showed as he caught some nice 60+ cm fish and ended the day with a 70cm! The lads kept a few fish for tea but the larger ones went back quickly to keep growing!
It was a very enjoyable day with some true gentlemen and Im glad that everyone caught some decent fish.
The next day I decided to do something that's becoming a favourite style of outing for me. That is, to start early around dawn with topwaters and then switch to the fly gear.
It was another overcast day with a slightly stronger breeze. I started with the well known Xorus Patchinko imitation of the smaller size (10ish cm), that I find works very well in choppier water. After a few dozen passes with the lure I got 2 slaps on it from very decent fish but again, as usual, no hookup! It's so frustrating when they slam the lure so hard that they don't get hooked. And it's usually the bigger specimens that do that...
Anyway, a few casts later and I connected to a feisty 3pounder that was well hooked from the first and middle treble. No more topwater interest after that..
Switched to the Fly and after a bit of the usual faffing about to get the casting right, I connected to a good fish! A good fight but soon enough he was up for a pic. Still surprised how the gentle pressure of the fly rod manages to get them out of the snag, but then again this isn't a very snaggy spot anyway...
Some more casts later, and while working the area where the topwater was hit by a better fish, I got a solid take and immediately realised I was connected to a better fish. Another good fight ensued with plenty of 'hairy' moments but I soon managed to coax her towards me and onto the weedy ledge. A lovely fish around 6-7lbs and I'm convinced it was the same one that hit the topwater at the start of the session! A few pics and then I let her go back in...
Here's the video.
A very productive morning and I was back for breakfast well before 10 AM!
Something that Ill start experimenting with in the next few weeks will be to change the trebles on all my topwaters. I'll try and see if there's any improvement on the hookup ratio by using different types and sizes of trebles, i.e short shanked, round bend, coloured etc.
I'm sure in some cases the lure's action might be affected significantly but as long as I get some more of those hard hits ill be happy...
Tight lines!
Jacques, Pierre and Jean-Paul were keen to sample some of Skye's saltwater fishing and we couldn't have picked a better day to do it. I picked them up at 06:00 from their accommodation and we drove to my favourite shallow bay. It was an overcast, warm morning with only a slight breeze that didn't dissuade the midges at all (French insect repellent don't work on Scottish midges!)! The plan was to try and get a few fish off the top and then fish with the usual softs and metals.
The plan took a wee backstep after Jacques though he lost his iPhone and I had to retrace our steps to find it... Typically, all the way back in the car...😆
Apart from Jacques, the others were only occasional anglers and thus not very familiar with modern lure fishing techniques. I had the first cast to try and show them how to 'walk the dog' and I got a hit straight away midway in the retrieve! Immediately I gave the rod to JP and after a couple casts, he started getting the hang of it.. I could see a couple follows from fish and soon enough he hooked up to a lovely 2pounder.
A good start to the day and Pierre was next... He got a few follows and bumps but unfortunately not a topwater fish for him... This was soon rectified after I put a softplastic on a 20g cheburashka and he had his first pollock as well.
The tide state wasn't actually favourable for this mark but near the change point things started to liven up and everybody started hooking up with the softplastics.. Surprisingly Jacques (the most experienced of the group) hadn't caught a fish yet! After the others managed a couple more each, I decided to change his presentation from a paddletail to a darting slim and he was in soon after! Took him a while but he landed the best fish of the morning of approx 5-6lbs.
It was then time to change marks and moved to a trickier ledge where distance and right presentation was key on the day.
Here the experience of Jacques showed as he caught some nice 60+ cm fish and ended the day with a 70cm! The lads kept a few fish for tea but the larger ones went back quickly to keep growing!
It was a very enjoyable day with some true gentlemen and Im glad that everyone caught some decent fish.
 |
| JP with his first 'Lieu' and on a topwater! |
 |
| Pierre was next... |
 |
| Jacques fight back! |
 |
| A solid fighter! |
The next day I decided to do something that's becoming a favourite style of outing for me. That is, to start early around dawn with topwaters and then switch to the fly gear.
It was another overcast day with a slightly stronger breeze. I started with the well known Xorus Patchinko imitation of the smaller size (10ish cm), that I find works very well in choppier water. After a few dozen passes with the lure I got 2 slaps on it from very decent fish but again, as usual, no hookup! It's so frustrating when they slam the lure so hard that they don't get hooked. And it's usually the bigger specimens that do that...
Anyway, a few casts later and I connected to a feisty 3pounder that was well hooked from the first and middle treble. No more topwater interest after that..
Switched to the Fly and after a bit of the usual faffing about to get the casting right, I connected to a good fish! A good fight but soon enough he was up for a pic. Still surprised how the gentle pressure of the fly rod manages to get them out of the snag, but then again this isn't a very snaggy spot anyway...
Some more casts later, and while working the area where the topwater was hit by a better fish, I got a solid take and immediately realised I was connected to a better fish. Another good fight ensued with plenty of 'hairy' moments but I soon managed to coax her towards me and onto the weedy ledge. A lovely fish around 6-7lbs and I'm convinced it was the same one that hit the topwater at the start of the session! A few pics and then I let her go back in...
Here's the video.
A very productive morning and I was back for breakfast well before 10 AM!
Something that Ill start experimenting with in the next few weeks will be to change the trebles on all my topwaters. I'll try and see if there's any improvement on the hookup ratio by using different types and sizes of trebles, i.e short shanked, round bend, coloured etc.
I'm sure in some cases the lure's action might be affected significantly but as long as I get some more of those hard hits ill be happy...
Tight lines!
