East Coast with the heavy gear.

On my last days off, and after finally having the car back on the road as well as my heavier reels back from service, I really wanted to head to St Abbs again and tackle with the big fish that I lost on my previous session there with my friend Giorgos. The conditions weren't identical, as it was much colder now, but the winds were from the West and would change to Northeasterlies later on... I have always found that fishing just before such changes can be very productive and was hoping that this would happen again... It has to be said though that I wasn't expecting any great flurries of fish and was just counting on a few good bites throughout day.
I was going to fish from the low tide onwards and high tide was about 19:00. I reached the mark around 12 o clock and started hiking down the cliffs to a spot that I haven't fished before but looked good enough and was near my favourite rock ledge anyway.
Thankfully the rocks were dry and I didn't have any serious issues even though the studs on my boots were almost worn out. I did however realise that I should have carried some rope with me as there was a very fishy rock-point just out of reach... Maybe next time..

Bright sky early on..

Overcast and cold later in the day.

Nevertheless I started fishing with a 15g cheburashka, #1/0 offset worm hook and a 3'' Scalp Minnow by Crazy-Fish. I aimed for a protruding rock about 30m away and after a few casts, I got hit on the retrieve! I was retrieving over a reef and that's where the fish hit so my first thoughts went to a good coalie or pollock. Unsurprisingly the fish went straight into a snag and I pushed it too hard till I heard the line ping! In retrospect I should have let the fish come out but I was just too impatient...
After some more casts around, I decided it was time to move to my usual spot.
Its important to note that although cold, the place felt more 'alive' than last time, with plenty of seabirds and even a seal swimming about..
I reached my favourite spot after an energetic hike up and down the rocks and started fishing straight away. I tried some metals as well but had no joy and decide to get the 'secret weapon' out! Being nothing else than my favourite Salty Bait inchiku with Gulp Sandeel combo.
On my second cast I got hit soon after touch down and this felt like another good fish. After a couple strong runs and some drag I managed to bring it close enough to see colour, and I thought it was a good pollock, but then the fish made a last run into the kelp and got unhooked with the well known 'kelp leverage method'... My disappointment couldn't be described...
I soldiered on but the place went dead after that. Moreover the weather was already turning and it started raining. I headed off as I was concerned about my boot's grip again and started walking back to the car. On the way back I thought of doing a few casts from a ledge that I don't fish very often as its the one most heavily pressured (in summertime. I didn't see another angler in both sessions). I didn't even bother to take the camera and hastily put on a cheburashka and an old Berkley Pogy paddletail that I found in my lure box...  As it happens I got a take on the first cast O.T.D! I gave the lure a pause and a twitch and the fish was on! It fought well but this time I took it easy and I soon had it at the base of the rocks. Now this spot is like a rock wall and very steep so I had to scramble down and perch precariously on a small piece of rock while trying to pull the fish up with the line. The line was just about holding and I managed to hoist a good pollock up to my feet. I held it there for a second while tying for a lip-grip but the fish wriggled and managed to throw the hook and back it went! I was left speechless! At least I got to see it and I touched the leader so it counts..lol

The 'lost trasure'!

I kept casting in the vicinity and then got snagged. I popped the rod a couple times and managed to set the lure free.. As I retrieved it back though, I got a good take and this felt like a very serious fish!
Unfortunately it threw the hook after a screeching run and I soon discovered why.. The hook point got blunt and bent from the snag!
Bellow the vid of the first two lost fish.

Lets just say that this wasn't my lucky day but despite the lost fish, I somehow felt positive. This maybe because I realised that all the fish were pollock and not the big coalies or cod that I was really after.  It would have been soul-crushing if I lost a 5+lbs cod...
I believe that I'll give the East Coast a rest for a while, not because the fishing is not worth the effort, but because I believe it will be even more productive in a month or two, while the sea-lochs offer much more action right now.

Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution KGS-902L, 2.7m, 7-23g.
Reel: Abu Garcia Soron STX 40
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.5
Leader: YGK Nitlon DFC flouorocarbon 16lbs
Lures: 20g Duel Salty Bait/4"Gulp Sandeel, 15g cheburashka with 3" Crazy-Fish Scalp Minnow and 3'' Berkley Pogy.

First fish of the year! Almost...

A while back I was contacted by my fellow Greekspinners forum member and Facebook friend Giorgos, that he would be in the UK for holidays and that he would really appreciate if I could take him fishing. This made me extremely happy as I love nothing more than going fishing with like minded anglers and showing off my marks! The month he selected to be in the UK though is definitely not considered prime saltwater lure fishing time... Being almost the end of January now! Nevertheless he was extremely lucky to have his arrival on Friday coincide with unseasonably warm weather, brought by strong Southwesterly winds. This window of opportunity weather wise wasn't going to last long and in similar previous occurrences I always had good results in fishing.
My main worry now was where to take him?
I knew he wanted some spectacular Scottish scenery but also he preferred to fish with the LRF gear and had to find a suitable target for him. The first target that came to my mind were of course coalies! One shoal of them and we would thoroughly enjoy ourselves but as of my last session on Loch Fyne, they still hadn't shown up there. Moreover my quarry mark there is really not considered very scenic and thus also taking the wind's direction in consideration, my thoughts turned to the East coast...
We would have the wind on our backs and I've been wanting, for a long time now, to check how it fares in the winter. Obviously not as sheltered as the sea lochs but on this occasion it wouldn't matter.
We woke up early on Sunday and packed the gear into the car. Had a coffee and made the drive to St Abbs head, arriving around 10 o clock there. High tide was around 14:00, the sea was relatively calm though the wind was threatening to sweep us off our feet! At least the casts would go a long way...!

St Abbs on January..

Giorgos was very excited seeing all the cliffs and couldn't wait to start fishing.
We started on the first accessible rock ledge and put on some metals searching for the coalies. Our position was very elevated and the wind made things very difficult, but we soldiered on.. After fishing next to Giorgos for a while, I decided to move on the other side of the ledge. Not much was happening there as well so I went back to see how Giorgos was doing after some casts and break offs on snags. I found him with the rod bend over and the drag screeching! Straight away I scrambled to the rocks below him and managed to land his first Scottish fish, a plumb coalie! Needless to say he was over the moon and honestly I felt even happier that he caught a fish than I would've felt had I caught it myself!

A very happy LRFer!

Thinking there would be more of them around, we kept casting our metals and working the area but we saw no more signs of them. We soon decided to move to another rock ledge and after a bit of strenuous hiking we reached the spot. Unfortunately my friend wasn't wearing studded shoes and couldn't come all the way to they rocky point so he decided to fish the deep bay instead. I made my way to the tip of the rocky finger and started casting about my metal jig again without success. I saw some water birds diving though and then switched things up and tied a Texas rig with a 7g brass bullet head, glass bead and my favourite Decoy RS WORM 101 offset hooks #2. I mounted a 7,5cm dark coloured (UV) Vibro worm by Crazyfish and started making long casts and working the bottom.
I would let the lure touchdown then give it a few jerks to get some noise from the bead, and then lift and drag it on the bottom. After a few casts I got a proper take and felt some good weight on the end of my line. the fish wasn't tearing about in speed, instead moving relatively slowly but with force and thumping its head about. A typical cod fight although it wasn't meant to be long, as the fish cut me off on the bottom...  I was gutted and really annoyed with myself for getting caught unprepared (only with LRF gear).. I was then further annoyed as I realised my action cam battery had died without me realising and I didn't get the action...
I retied the same rig, changed battery and after casting out got a couple sharp bites (possibly coalies) but then got snagged. Another rig and another long cast saw me get a good take again but this time to something with much better speed that unfortunately cut me off again!
This time I got it on video:

I'm thinking that this probably was a good coalfish for reasons I will explain further down.
After loosing the two fish, things slowed down and since it was getting late, I went back to Giorgos to see how he fared. He didn't have a sniff but didn't seem too concerned as the one fish was enough for him to make the trip worthwhile. We made the arduous hike back up the cliff, got in the car and headed home tired but happy!

Giorgos on the ascend..

I may not have managed to land a fish but I was more than happy that Giorgos got one and also was pleasantly surprised at the potential for big winter fish on this mark. Needless to say Ill be back...
Back home, I gutted and cleaned the fish and was left amazed when I found what it had been feeding on!

Cockles?!

The seemed like cockle shells or something and the fish was full of them! This may explain my belief that my second fish was a coalie as they were obviously feeding on the bottom. Would never have thought that coalies would feed on shellfish but always love it when fish surprise me like that! You never stop learning in fishing... Next step try shellfish shaped soft plastics?!
Something else that Giorgos showed me was  the existence of  anti-fogging pads for action cameras and even gave me his to put on mine! Was always annoyed by that phenomenon and I'm looking forward to making better videos now!

Anti-fogging pads.

It was a real pleasure being a host and fishing with Giorgos and hope we will meet again soon. All in all a great day out despite not landing my fish.
I am now really looking forward to my impending two week holiday trip to far away Chile, and can't stop thinking about the fish I might get there!

Tight Lines and best wishes for a fish-packed 2016!

Gear used.
Rod: Majorcraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Shimano Biomaster 1000fb
Mainline: Gosen mebarin braid 0.3PE
leader: Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lbs.
lure: 7.5cm Crazyfish Vibro worm on a Texas rig with a 7g brass bullet weight, 8mm glass bead and #2 Decoy RS worm 101 hook.

With wrasse and codling in mind...

As the title says the last few sessions saw me trying to focus on these two species. Wrasse because I haven't really targeted them this year and codling because it soon will be time for them to shoal up and provide excellent sport..
For the wrasse I tried at Loch Fyne while for the codling I was planning on an East coast trip (needing to take advantage of having the car before my brother returned from his holidays back home).
The good weather has unbelievably lasted till now (though don't think for too much longer) and I was sure I could get some ballans. I started not at my usual harbour mark but on a rocky outcrop a few miles further down the road, that is a known dive site and lots of wrasse are seen there. On arrival I realised that I was a too early as the tide was coming up and cut off access to the point and after casting on the sides I managed a couple wrasse and pollock. Although I was sure that most of the fish would be at the point (as the divers reported most of the sightings there) I decided not to stick around for the tide to recede and just go to my usual haunts..
I was fishing my LRF setup with the MC Solpara as I love using this rod and barely used it this summer.. I started casting around my favourite rocky point and chatting to some anglers that were pulling in pollock after pollock (small and average ones mostly) on float fished baits and surfcasting gear (!) when I got a good bite and a strong first run! After this the fish quietened down and I could feel some good weight on the end of the line... Bringing it to the surface I saw what must have been the best wrasse of the year flapping on the surface! This usually means that the fish is beaten, but nobody told that fish and it made another powerful run through some rocks and got stuck... My leader parted soon after...  Thinking that this is part of the deal with wrasse and lrf gear I stuck on but no more wrasse came from the point. I then moved to the inside of the harbour where there are lots of boulders but the water was very cloudy there and no fish could be found. Moving to the next point I started picking up some chunky codling and pollock before finishing with a small ballan. I decided to head home soon after as I was tired and was planning to return the next day anyway.

A very dark ballan.

Nice pollock on the Solpara.

Codling time coming!

Pretty ballan.

The next day the weather got noticeably chillier but still sunny and after a lot of casting around with small creatures on jika rig I failed to get any wrasse on that presentation. I got plenty of poor cod from the deep though and then reverted to the cheburashka. I was fishing 4g-6g cheburashka and small paddletails, though on the finesse setup this time, and after putting on a peculiar 2" softie (Bait breath O-Go Kyu that I had in my bag for years but never really tried them alot) I got the only ballan of the day.
I then switched to heavier cheburashka and 2.5" AGM Paddler grub paddletails, targeting the codling. I started getting some but I had lots of snags and cut lines, as my mainline has weakened especially after my Skye trip. Seeing that the codling weren't that big I just started tying straight on the braid without a leader. Unsurprisingly this didn't affect the codling one bit...

Poor cod on jika.

Quirky 2" Bait Breath O-Go Kyu does the job..

Not leader shy..

The next day I headed off for the East coast at the same mark at Fast castle as the week before. The intense westerlies had died down a bit and that mark seemed the best choice. Moreover I was in an exploratory mood and wanted to walk around to find some more areas to fish.. Needless to say that after wasting 1.5 hours hiking up and down the cliffs and sweating like a pig, I didn't manage to find a suitable spot and instead of settling on the known rock, I decided to drive to St Abbs head thinking I would have more options there.
On arriving I realised that St Abbs is more exposed to the wind and the eastern side of it was showing frothy signs of the swell. I decided to give it a go and started getting among some jumbo mackerel on the metals. It was good fun but I didn't come here for them and soon started working the bottom with soft plastics. The sea was too rough for my liking and after some casts I was ready to head back at Fast castle, when I got a good bite on the bottom... I recasted and a pollock was on my lure OTD. I then got a nice coalie and realised that although the sea was rough these fish were feeding... I changed spot to where I had been before with my mate Scott and started working my lures again near the bottom hoping that a cod would take it...
 Alas this mark was infested with the fat mackerel that were hitting the lures hard and getting caught at every cast! I changed lure colour from silvery/white ones to bright orange and pink in order to dissuade the mackerel but also to be more visible in the cloudy water. This seemed to do the business and although I still got mackerel, they would loose interest if the lure was left static or worked very slowly near the bottom whereas before they would still take it...
The first pollock didn't take long to show and I was impressed by the size of its belly! The next few fish were similarly in good condition and fat bellies, showing that they were feeding well in this rough water. I believe that this is because the baitfish were concentrated tighter and the predators took advantage of the relatively low water visibility to attack them. I was then even more surprised when after I struck at a repeated take and feeling good resistance on the other end, I got a lovely ballan on the rocks! This reminded me of my days on Sark where when the water was rough (not too rough though) the wrasse fishing would show less numbers but bigger fish.
After this fish I persevered while getting drenched by a few big waves until I retreated further back in the bay. Last time I had some good pollock from this exact area and after a few cast I had a good fish but it didn't feel like a pollock... The fish wasn't really making runs and instead zig zaging on the way back. This made me believe that I finally had a good cod although there were no head thumps...Bringing the fish closer I could see it was a good pollock but in the last minute it crash dived and cut me on the rock in front of my feet. Because of the large waves I was fishing from further back on the rocks and the line got cut on the lip of the ledge.
A few casts later I had another take and a similar slow fight and yet another pollock. Again the waves made the landing difficult and the line parted after a wave came crushing and then pulling the fish away while I was holding the leader... I did touch the leader though so it still counts! I think its time to invest in a good ISO net with their long telescopic handles... I haven't used a net in my fishing for a year!
I'm not so sure as to why the pollock behaved like this but possibly the water clarity had something to do with it, or their full bellies!
The sun was gone by that point and it was soon time for the drive back as I had to pickup my brother from the airport.

A long way down...

...and a long way up!

looks fine settled form a distance..

Chunky mackerel!

Chunky pollock...

500g of mackerel!

Not expecting one of them...

Lots of white water..

Even the little ones were chunky!

Well I really enjoyed my few day's fishing and certainly made most of the car but I'm now back to being carless! The cod are still in my mind though and I hope Ill be able to somehow arrange a trip for them on the East coast.

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g. MC solpara SPS-S792M, 7'9", 0.5-5g
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f, Shimano Biomaster 1000fb
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8, Mebarin braid 0.4 PE
Leader: P Line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs, Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lb
Lures: various

Back to reality...

This weekend was my first days off after Skye and having my brothers car in my possession, I thought of doing a bit of driving around to assess how some new areas might fare.  Moreover I was expecting some good fishing as the weather seems to be holding up pretty well still.
A while back I had seen a video on YouTube by a fellow lure angler on the East coast at a very interesting rocky mark there. What surprised me was the good number of codling he caught there and after a bit of googling I learned more about the mark. The mark is near Fast castle and after asking my friend Scott about it, he told me that the descent was tricky but that only made it more attractive to me!
Thus on Saturday morning I made the drive to Fast castle and after a really hairy descent I arrived at the mark. The East coast really has some imposing rock marks! Almost vertical cliffs forming sharp fingers and deep gullies with kelp and some sparse reef further out. The bottom was usually sandy/clear  further out and harder close in. Half awake from the early wake up and drowsy from the long road I couldn't bother to retie a new snap, using the one that I had since Skye and just put on a 12g cheburashka with a 10cm Sakura Slit shad. After the first few 'exploratory' short casts, I made a long one, aiming for a buoy of some lobster/crab pots (good fish attractors). I let the lure sink and as soon as it touched down I had a fish on! I felt it thumping and thrashing while taking slow drag (typical cod fight) and then it all went slack! As I retrieved the line it became apparent that the knot had weakened and gave way... I hate those moments when it feels like I never learn! lol
The fish felt really good and was gutted not to land it as I'm really hoping to get my first proper cod (over 5lbs) this year.
I kept casting and working various paddletails but the bites were sparse and the fish wouldn't commit. It seems that this prolonged good weather period did more bad than good...
I then tried with a more finesse approach using a 4" stickbait mounted on a 3/0 offset EWG hook and connected to a 5g Crazyg lead head that I found lying in the bottom of my bag. These lead heads are in essence the Japanese take on cheburashkas and because of their shape they give a nice, tight, side to side wobble to the lure. Thus I could get extra distance on the cast and also have an attractive movement to the lure. This seemed to work somewhat better and I managed two average pollock before getting hit by a much better fish. This one made a screeching run and cut me off fair and square on some sharp rocks! It seemed that this wasn't my day..

Beautiful scenery..

Not much of a castle really..

Cliffs..

I love the rocks!

Presentation of the day.

A most welcome pollock.

After the lost fish, the bites stopped and it was time to make my ascent as I was going to meet up with a fellow Greek angler and fish the Torness power station outflow. The way up was much trickier and tiring than the way down (definitely getting a rope next time) and I reached the car being out of breath.
I drove down to the power station where I met up with my friend and after trying our luck with the lrf gear (having a few knocks but no fish) we decided to move to the rocks of Eyemouth. Another good looking mark with the negative of being very close to a populated area and thus pressured. I was confident that my friend would get his first pollock or codling, but other than a possible  pollock that reefed my friend we just couldnt get any fish from the bottom. It was a different story near the surface as big shoals of mackerel were pushing fry up. Getting fed up with the bottom fishing and since I haven't had a proper mackerel fry since the start of the season, I switched to my MC Solpara and the lrf gear and targeted the mackerel instead. I ended up keeping 6 fish and releasing some more but I could easily have spent the whole day catching mackerel there... So much fun! My friend only managed 2 mackerel but lost them both at his feet. I told him not to worry though as in the end we split the fish and I promised to show him my western marks soon where he will definitely catch his first pollock and codling. Moreover he was really impressed with the lrf gear and he is even thinking of 'converting'. How can anyone not like LRF?

Torness outflow..

Did a bit of blenny bashing too..

Airborne!

On the next day I wasn't feeling very well but still decided to visit a sea-loch that I have been postponing  fishing there for a long time. Loch Long is the closest sea-loch to me and I would be delighted if it turned out to be a worthwhile destination.
After the short drive I stopped at some well known dive sites where there are supposedly plenty of fish and admittedly the marks looked very fishy. I was hoping to get some wrasse and started by using small creatures on a jika rig. This started getting bites, some wrassy but more from small codling and also poor cod from the deeper areas but no decent fish would commit. I then switched to a 2.5" Keitech Live Impact on the same rig and finally got a positive bite and a fish on.
Straight on from the fight I new it was a wrasse and after a bit of coaxing out of some weeds I got a lovely ballan up. I kept fishing the same area but the bites dried up and had to move. I walked to another mark close by and managed a codling on a cheburashka with the same lure but not much else. It could have been the day but in all it felt as if the loch should hold more life than it does. Moreover I wanted to check the amount of life by throwing the guts from the previous days mackerel and I only saw a couple wrasse and smaller fish whereas in Loch Fyne I the whole place was teeming with fish.. Definitely too early for making any assumptions and I will have to try and fish some harder-to-reach marks as the fishing pressure is evident from all the discarded fishing line and anglers-related garbage...

Loch Long

Looks promising but need to find less pressured marks.

Lovely ballan on jika rig.

Loch Long codling..

On Monday the weather turned and the winds picked up. Not really feeling up for a wet and miserable session or a long drive, I decided to head to the Forth and Clyde canal to play with the little jacks..
Ever willing they obliged and I got a few on weedless softplastics and a minnow, after loosing some fish on the weedless presentation.

Aggressive little jack.

They really liked the minnow.

Definitely an anticlimax from my Skye trip but only to be expected.. Not all bad though as I believe the new marks (especially on the East coast) have good potential and weather permitting I will visit them again next week. At least Ill get some more mackies to play with and eat!

Thanks for reading and Tight lines

Gear used
Various.

A sunny day on the East coast: St Abbs head.

Yesterday my day off coincided with Scott's and he invited me for a session on his neck of the woods. I dully obliged and took the train to Edinburgh arriving there about 09:00. Now there were some setbacks to this trip, first I recently realised that my favourite KG Evolution tip was cracked (from the return trip on Skye) but I managed to patch it up with superglue and braid.. And secondly only the day before I managed to cut a bit of the tip of my thumb at work! Undeterred I patched that one as well (not with superglue and braid I must add..) and was looking forward to some fine fishing...
We reached the mark about an hour later to find perfect conditions. Little wind, overcast but clearing and an incoming tide. I started with a Salty bait/gulp sandeel combo and got a pollock first cast but then things got really slow.. This wasn't very surprising as we soon saw dolphins passing at casting distance from our spot.. They were a beautiful sight but I was concerned about their effect on the fishing, as I believe they negatively affect the fish more so than seals etc.. And so it was for a while we had no takes (not even coalies!) until I started working the bottom with a 12g cheburashka and a 3" Crazy fish vibro fat paddletail. I got a take OTD near the bottom and then got stuck.. I gave it a couple seconds and then managed to get whatever it was unstuck. It felt like dead weight but I was sure it was a fish and after a while we saw a huge mouth surfacing from the depths.. It was a big mama short spined scorpion fish that got us cheering! I always get a kick from catching these guys, especially when they're at that size!

A beast!

Cant get enough pics of them!

Cavernous mouth!

Japanese pose..

Pollock on the Salty bait/gulp sandeel

After that, the action really slowed down again and it was time to move.. We had an arduous hike to the next point but we were fishing soon enough. I had a follow on my first cast, possibly from a pollock (usually a sign that fish are not active when pollock are concerned) but couldn't tempt it again.
The place was looking very 'wrassy' though and soon enough Scott's rod was bent into one that took some dropshotted gulp. Soon after I had one as well on the cheburashka and what I consider a testament to 'proper' lures effectiveness on them. I believe that when they are active they will happily eat a well presented softie and gulp/isomes etc are not the only way for Scottish wrasse. Certainly down South this is the case as wrasse numbers there are huge and I remember in Sark days that they would practically hit anything!
I decided to try and target the wrasse more specifically as the pollock were not playing ball and I prepared a Jika rig with a small creature. I consider the jika a deadly presentation for wrasse especially when using creatures and crawling/hopping them across the bottom. Unfortunately the wrasse weren't that hungry and neither me nor Scott got another one although I missed a solid bite...
As I was fishing for wrasse though I spied two silhouettes moving quickly near the surface of the water, and after a closer inspection, I'm sure they were bass and good ones at that, around the 50-60cm mark! I told this to Scott who informed me that they are regularly seen and caught here and after this I fan casted the area with a Savagear sandeel with no results though.. I then decided to fish a stickbait on a weighted hook just to see if it would make a difference to those passive pollock plus it could also pick up wrasse and bass. This quickly did the trick and a pollock engulfed the whole thing OTD, thus giving me little fight and in the end I had to keep the fish..

The point we were heading...

Scott climbing at the top..

Wish there were more of them about!

Jika rig.

Pollock on the stickbait

Sadly no more fish came from the point and I decided to work the deep kelpy bay on the right. I reverted back to the cheburashka (7g this time) with a 3" Long John paddletail. I stumbled upon these paddletails on ebay and I'm guessing they're Chinese, but Ive had great results with them and they look and move good. Moreover they are heavily scented and very cheap too! The tide was going out now and after a few casts at the deeper parts without luck, I moved closer to the back of the bay and made a cast near a big boulder that I could see was standing just before the water got deeper at the edge. I let the lure drop on controlled line and as I started picking up line on the reel, I realised I had a fish on! It felt pretty heavy but didn't do many runs only getting lively before I brought it up. A nice pollock of around 4.5-5lbs had engulfed the lure and this explains again the slow fight. Very carefully I unhooked the fish with the pliers and with a bit of help it swam back into the depths. I proceeded in getting another fish that gave me a screeching run but got itself unhooked in the kelp on the way up.. Another cast towards the shallows and another fish hit me hard and made a mad run! It went on a couple more peeling drag in the process before I landed it after a bit of scrambling on the rocks. Another fine pollock that I didn't bother taking too many pics of as I had the fight on the action-cam... or so I thought..!

Quality pollock.

Excellent fighter!

Anyway we decided to head back and after an arduous hike up the cliff we arrived sweaty back in the car.
We then drove to st Abbs harbour with flatties in mind but we blanked and it was time for me to get the train home. Below a vid of the day:

Some interesting notes on the day are that dolphins really do kill the action on a days fishing... I suspect this may also explain why the pollock were caught so close to shore. Moreover even though Ive only been a few times on the East coast I have to say that although it gives good fish, you have to work hard for them and you don't get the flurry of action that we get on the sea-lochs. The presence of bass was also very surprising and I guess I should make a session for them sometime soon but alas the lack of car has really brought my plans for the summer upside down...
Another quality day with my friend Scott and I really appreciate him showing his marks to me. Looking forward to his results form his holidays in a few days time and also to fish again after he returns.

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g.
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8
leader: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs
lures:Cheburashka with 3" paddletails, Duel Salty bait/gulp Sandeel, 4" stick bait on 3g weighted wide gap offset hook.