Some exciting fishing on two sibs!

The weather has settled a bit the past couple of weeks and this has allowed me to get out a good few times. I had a fun session fishing around Neist Point from the sib, something I've wanted to do since I got it! It was a fantastic sunny day and I got good numbers of pollock along with a nice wrasse and some coalies. I had found shoals of tiny mackerel and after catching some on feathers, I decided to use them as bait near the bottom.
My target was spurdog but unsurprisingly it was almost impossible to get through the pollock! A large shoal was holding over a rocky reef at around 50m deep and would pick up anything dropping before it hit the bottom!

Good stamp of pollock.

Lovely wrasse!

Unfortunately, it was time to head home and I didn't manage to catch a spurdog...
The next day I went out on a new boat I got for solo outings. It's a Honwave T32 air v floor inflatable and I paired it with my old Evinrude 2 stroke outboard. I've been wanting a lighter and
faster-to-assemble combo for when I want to hit multiple spots and from 'rougher' launching areas.
In the day, the combo behaved pretty well and I got 14-15kts although I did have some issues with the boat that im trying to resolve...
The fishing wasn't bad either, with a few good pollock among a 'flood' of chunky coalies. I also got among some codling from a deeper spot. Not a bad couple of hours.

Hungry chunks!

From slightly deeper water.

 Then yesterday, we were in a small tide week and in combination with the settled conditions I was hoping the fish would be up for it. I targeted the area around Neist again and was going to do some bottom fishing for those spurdogs again, but on the way there, the pollock had other ideas...
I found shoaled pollock and coalies high up in the water column and they would often break the surface as they were feeding!
Time for topwaters! I took out a Mechanic lures Autowalker 115s and after a few casts, I had a couple blow-ups and fish jumping on it. It didn't take long before I connected to one and the fun started!
Got some nice fish and the hook-up ratio was far better than usual. It appeared that the fish were hitting to feed. Top fish was one of about 2.5kg that managed to hook me while thrashing!
After that fish, I decided that it was already a successful day and headed home. I'll get those spurdogs at some point for sure...

Autowalker does it again!

Lovely dark kelp fish.

Thats my blood...

Its been a fantastic couple weeks and I hope that the nice weather continues. I'm looking forward to my time off from work coming soon and intend to get out as much as I can.  Definitely gonna try and bait fish for some different species although it will be hard to get away from surface feeding fish!


Tight Lines

Making the most of the sunshine!

This has been an action filled weekend with plenty of fish and in glorious sunshine!
On Friday I visited a mark that I though might hold some fish as it can get tiring going up and down Neist all the time! The mark is a rocky bluff with good depth, little current yet very near some fish farm cages. Its relatively easy and quick to get there yet landing fish can be a problem. Nevertheless I decided on having a go and my target for the day were coalies as I wanted some for the pan.
I had the ML/HRF setup on the day and fished a variety of softplastics and metals. Unfortunately no coalies were caught and I just couldn't avoid the pollock! All of them of a decent size (3lbs+) that made landing them extremely difficult. Moreover the mark has long chains underwater and some kelp close in that helped the fish into making landing them even more difficult!
Anyway I managed to land one fish that I kept. Cleaning it I saw it was full of milt and that seems to reinforce my thoughts that its mostly the males active now, while the larger females are either not feeding well or moved offshore. I suspect things might get quiet soon...

A tricky mark.

Male gonads full of milt...

 Definitely a long net needed for this mark... Something else Ive noticed lately and also got into a conversation with a friend, is that the drag on the stradic Ci4 seem to have become less smooth and precise... Ive had quite a few sudden line breakages and I'm not convinced its the braid to hold accountable. Will be looking into possibly upgrading the drags in both my Stradics later on and hope to see improved performance.
Yesterday and today I devoted my time on Neist Point and had some brilliant fishing. The seals pestered me a bit yesterday but today I had the whole sea to myself. Tried to get some coalies on the LRF setup, but instead caught bigger pollock that cut me off. It seems that coalies prefer larger prey at this time of year or need longer casts as I got some on the ML setup. They weren't as plentiful today though I did go at a low water period.
Moreover I fished very slow at times, practically dragging the lure (subtle lures worked best) and got into some better pollock than the past couple days.
Used 14g-16g jigheads, small metals and hair jigs (LRF), 16g Cheburashka and Carolina rig. Had some issues with some of my offset hooks as I was out of EWG's and used ones with inward looking point that cost me some fish. I changed to Sickle offsets and the losses were minimised. The fish although plentiful weren't biting as hard as in the previous months.

What a day!

On LRF instead of coalies..

On the ML setup and larger lure...

Seal business...

Hugging the bottom.

Better fish today..

Predator's eye.

Another video below.

I don't know how much longer this weather will last but Ive really made the most of it!
Looking to make some new additions to my arsenal soon...

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 16lbs
Lures: various subtle actioned sps (small paddle, curly tail, straight) on 15g jighead, 16g cheburashka and Carolina rig with added floater near the hook.

A good start to December!

This mild weather has kept up luckily and gave me the opportunity to have another session at the rocks of Neist Point. Ι was expecting to find slight southerly winds but instead got brisk westerlies although nothing to worry about if not a positive factor...
I begun casting metals and from the first cast got fish on! They were hitting aggressively soon after touchdown but as I was using the ML setup lost a few to the kelp... An indication of how aggressive they were was when I got a fish up with the jig lodged in the middle of its mouth and not caught by the hook!

A dull yet mild day...

The rip line close inshore...

Good numbers of 3lbs pollock hitting metals..

A few bigger ones as well...

One look and we all know whats happened here...

Yep.. Greedy pollock.

After a while I moved to my favourite spot on Neist as I wanted to try for other species as well, especially since it was near sundown now. I tied a good old Carolina rig with a 20g tungsten bullet weight, 8mm bead followed by the swivel, 25cm line and a red floater before a 1/0 ewg offset hook. I mounted a 4.5" Lunker City Ribster and after checking it out in the water, was happy with the presentation. The addition of the floater lifts this unsalted lure off the bottom and gives it a very natural movement. On the first cast I got snagged soon after touching bottom but as soon as I pulled the lure out of the snag I got a fish take it! It took drag at ease and after a couple runs cut me off! A good fish...
 I tied another Carolina rig in the same way and started getting a good number of pollock on it. The presentation was working either dragged and hopped on the bottom but also on straight retrieve. Another indication that fish were very active...
I got another good fish that managed to cut me off on the base of the rocks and as I couldn't be bothered tying another caro rig I switched to a 16g cheburashka and paddletails. Working it on the bottom I got a 'snappy' take and a different kind of fight.. Soon after I landed a beautiful ballan wrasse! More pollock followed but the bites were growing thinner as the sun dipped down. On another cast I got a weird take on the bottom and heavy weight on the line.. I had my suspicions and I was proved right after hauling a pretty ling on the rocks! It was hooked on its side (!) and looked like it had been in a fight on its younger days. I released it soon after a couple photos..

A very provocative presentation...

Fooled...

And another one!

Beautiful December ballan!

The condition of these pollock was noticeable...

Checkout the bite mark...

They are becoming a bit of a regular occurrence before nightfall...

Chunky fish...

I fished for a bit longer but after catching a couple more pollock thought it best to get on my way as I was working in the evening. A good day on the rocks any day but for this time of year it was superb results! The size and condition of the pollock was surprising though after seeing the large shoals of baitfish (sprats?) close inshore not as much so... Will be uploading the videos soon enough!

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:20g metals, 16g cheburashka with various paddletails on  #1 offset ewg hook, Carolina rig with 20g tungsten bullet-8mm glass bead-swivel-25cm line-#1/0 offset ewg hook and a 4.5" Lunker City Ribster.

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.

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