A "cracking" day...

 Last weekend I guided a keen angler from my old hunting grounds in Lancaster. Tim wanted to taste what Skye has to offer and came up prepared with 2 brand new rods and reel specifically bought for this trip.

We met up on Saturday morning and were gonna fish that day off the sib and Sunday on the rocks. We set off to the first mark and conditions were looking good. He got his new Savage Gear Sgs8 rod paired with the lovely Shimano Vanford and to be honest I was slightly jealous of the setup... we had a few casts before he got snagged to some kelp. Unfortunately after applying some pressure, the rod snapped just above the spigot!! I didn't think that he exerted so much pressure as I proceeded to free up the lure with a slight tug...! Nevertheless, he switched to his heavier rod (SGS5 I think) and got straight into fish!

They're getting more predictable lately and we found them where I'd expect them to be. I suppose nearing Autumn things will get back to normal after this calm Summer.

We proceeded in finding some good fish mainly on softplastics, with the homemade Crazy Sandeel imitations from my Northumbrian friends doing plenty of damage. At some point we had another breakage, as my net hoop finally succumbed after netting hundreds of fish the past few years! A day of cracks for sure...

Lovely brace.

Some nice coalies about.

Good fish in great background

The next day it was time for shore fishing and I picked up Tim on my way to Neist Point.  The tide wouldn't be at my preferred stage for a few more hours but it's best to fish early in the busier marks anyway.  

The current was strong and we used heavy softplastics first and 40-60g metals later on. There were plenty of fish about although not of any great size. Tim got his pb ballan wrasse though on a paddletail.

Lovely ballan.

Average size.

Content! 

It was time to move to my next spot where I was counting on the better fish but Tim had enough of the hiking and was happy to wrap the day up. Skye hikes can be tough!

It was a pleasure to fish with Tim and he's informed me that the perch in the Lankie are doing well! 

I've got no guiding booked till September now so I'll do some solo sessions hopefully for sea trout and mackerel.

Tight lines 

Them Northerners again...!

It's the time of year for my Northumbrian friends to come again and they've had a busy week... Mick, Keith and Chris came up on Saturday and we went out on Sunday morning. Me and Mick on my boat and Keith with Chris on Mick's sib. Conditions were very good and we covered a good number of marks during the day. 

We used mainly the lads homemade soft plastics and jigheads with good results. The fish were still spread out but every mark we went to had them! The size department was lacking a bit in comparison to other years but Keith did improve on that later in the day. We did get a couple of better coalies in amongst the pollock, with Mick having one that reminded me of my Norway trip... He was fishing with a lovely MajorCraft Solpara slow jig rod and the bend on it was unreal!

Keith and Chris with back to back fish!

Some bend!

A proper coalfish...

Standard size and great fun.

A coalie for me too..

Chris with a nice one.

Keith with the best of the day..

Cracking day!

The fish were a little bit fussy and required specific lure weights and profiles to get them going. Once unlocked, bites came thick and fast until they slowed down again and another presentation had to be found. We were anchored up with my Haswing Cayman GPS bow mount trolling motor and the other boat was connected to us by a 15m bungee cord. It was very impressive seing the motor work effortlessly with both boats tethered!

Unfortunately we didnt take many photos as everyone got stuck in the fishing! It was a great day and Im glad the lads managed to make it up here again after a year like this one...

More to come...

 

Tight Lines