Ding a ling...

 November has been unusually busy for me but the few times I managed to get out, I did some scouting but also visited areas that I've not been in a while...

I've been on the lookout for a mark that would give me good shelter from northerly winds as Staffin can be too exposed at times but also productive enough to worth the effort. Thus I towed the boat and launched at a pretty decent slipway. I had only a couple hours to spare and quite some area to cover. Thus I runned and gunned my way past saved fishy spots on my Navionics app. Most proved very quiet but typically on the last 40 mins of the day I struck into a hotspot with good numbers of solid pollock! I hooked a number of hard fighting fish with a few spitting the hook so I will definitely be returning to this mark... The weather was pretty good on the day but I'm hoping for similar results on a less than ideal day.

Hard fighter

The next session took place in one of my favourite marks that I tend not to fish very often as access with the trailer can be a bit tricky. The wee Honwave and the Tohatsu were needing a good run though so I decided on a tech free day just wanting to get the rod bend. 

Well, there was plenty of that as good pollock and ravenous coalfish were on my lures cast after cast. It was a good day on the topwaters with a couple pollock on the autowalker 115s but also the good old whopper ploper, that drove the coalies in a frenzy! I had two of them hooked up on the same lure a couple times! 

I had to move out of the way as a creel fisherman put the fleet out but waited around as this can be a good trigger for bringing in fish since the fresh bait attracts them... I focused on soft plastics and moved in as soon as the creels were down. Plenty more pollock but the cherry on the cake came as I slowed right down the retrieve and a nice ling hit my shad! Always a pleasure seeing them on my lures...

Nice ling!

Only took one pic as they're a bugger unhooking in the inflatable!

They love that thing!

Excellent condition 

I got some more pollock after that and it wasn't long before I called it a day. It's really refreshing sometimes to fish with minimal gear and just enjoy the tug!

Hoping to get some more outings this month before the holidays. As long as the weather doesn't get too bad it should be pretty good right now.

Tight lines!

Slowly picking up...

 Been a busy month workwise and with the gardening, fishing has taken a back seat. Moreover I had to change the keel to my boat as the old one was beyond repair this time. I put on a similar length keel from Aliexpress and after careful inflation (its wider) it seems to be doing OK.

I had a couple outing with clients from shore and boat and the results have been pretty good for this time of year. I think the reasonable weather we've been  having helped a lot.

The fish haven't all spawned out yet and they are in declined condition but seem very keen to improve that! As long as we had settled conditions and hit the right tide state, they wouldn't be too fussy.  Loud colours and softplastics done the deal. Slow jigs gave some fish as well.

Elvin and Manzhu with a double header!

Girl power!

Good conditions...

Some decent fish about...

She's in again...

And again..!

A few warriors for Dave!

Chilly but sunny!

It's great to see some better weather and I might be putting up a post with a new boat soon... 

It's also time I dusted the trout gear and go after the spotted beauties. I've got a new rod I want to try for them along with endless wee hard lures!

Tight lines 

Autumn is truly here.

We've been getting some proper Autumn weather now with lots of rainfall and the usual wind. Saying that there's been plenty of good days to go out but I've been too busy with work and family commitments. I'm also setting up something to do with Aquaponics for next year but more on that in a later post.

Probably the highlight of my fishing the past couple of weeks, has been a couple nice perch I encountered whilst having a couple casts on my way back from a family day in Inverness. Its in a loch that I know holds some smaller ones along with pike but was pleasantly surprised by a couple fish over 1lb. It was dusk and both fish fell on a small sparkle-chartreuse creature on a chatter-cheburashka. 

Lump!

Chatter-cheburashka all in!

I also had a short boat session in the salt that resulted in some nice pollock. Got some great footage of them hitting the lure underwater and will upload when ready.

Last week, my parents have come over to see us and I managed a short session with my dad on the sib. It was a choppy day but we managed a couple keepers that mum cooked straight after! 

More than a decade since we fished together! 

He's in! 

Good eaters.

Haven't fished with my dad in more than a decade so it was great to see him catch!

More recently, I've been in Inverness again and devoted some time in finding those perch again. I've been given some lovely softplastics from Tom at Kelpie Lures a while back and thought it was a good opportunity to try some of them. 

I decided to fish the bulb tail on a ned rig  as they look great underwater and it's a natural presentation. I fished an area with structure and dome depth that looked very 'perchy'. Didn't do too much in terms of action to the lure, just a few shakes and bumping bottom. Got an abrupt bite and some energetic head shakes straight away.  Felt a bit too lively to be a perch and to my surprise it was a nice brownie!  I had to take a quick pic and put her straight back as the season is over. I kid you not, as soon as I released the fish I turned my head and was greeted by the fishery officer!  I explained that I was targeting perch and  seeing that I released the fish and my gear he was happy to let me fish on... After a few more casts I decided to try another area with a bit more current. I was working my lure with the current and a few meters before the end of the retrieve I got another sharp bite with heavier weight on the strike. I momentarily thought it was a pike but the fight was very different and after some toing and froing,  I managed to land a salmon! Yet again a fish out of season so a quick pic, unhooking and sent her straight back. Decided that this was definitely not a perch spot and hearing some more splashes in the water, stopped fishing. Don't think I've ever considered salmonids as nuisance species before...!

Trout like ned rig too...

As do the salmon!

Great presentation.

It was great to see that the loch has healthy numbers of salmonids and that the lures work on them but I really hoped to have encountered a perch or two! Might try another loch instead. 

Tight lines!

Normal working order resumed!

 Had a cracking guiding session yesterday that shows how quickly things change in the sea. Fished with Angus, a young local angler that stays away from the Island and doesn't get the opportunity to fish that often. 

I was already out for work commitments in the morning and arranged to meet him later in the day. On the way back from work, I  had a quick reconnaissance troll around my usual spots and a couple other points.  Stumbled upon a good stack of fish in a secondary point and then went to pick up Angus.  Headed straight back to the shoal and he was straight into them! 

The conditions were same as last week with a fresh WSW breeze and chop, same size of tides, state and water clarity, but the fish were in a real hunting mode. Its like a switch flipped and they turned into "Autumn" mode! 

I gave Angus my rod rigged with a homemade sandeel softplastic from my Northumbrian supplier ;-) while I was preparing his setup. The fish absolutely loved the lure and were coming in one after the other! I noticed that his setup was using mono line and decided to have a cast to remember the olden times...

Bending time!

Average size.

Brute of a fish!

God, how did we ever manage to catch fish on that! Zero feel and control. Almost impossible to set the hook properly, but I still caught too! At some point I got a good hit and the fish stayed deep... It took some good drag and got me in the kelp twice. It was very hard to control it with the mono but the line held and buffered the headshakes... I joked that it was probably a feisty little fish but brought up a nice lump of a pollock! Kinda cheeky that I caught it on my clients rod but I made sure he caught plenty more fish on mine!

Nice chunk.

After a while, the fish wisened up and we moved to a different spot. Marked a bait- ball and anchored up with the Haswing close to it. Angus was soon in again and these were some better fish... I think he broke his pb a few times and settled on a 7lber for the day.

Eyes on the prize.

By then the sun was going down and it was time to call it a day.  Such a great day's fishing and in good company. It felt like a different place to last week. The fish showed preference for very loud colours like pink, chartreuse and bright orange. The crazy sandeel imitations got most fish and the metals barely got a sniff. More to come soon.

Tight lines 

That's fishing...

 Been a busy couple weeks for me with family holidays and other commitments but last week I hosted Alan and Paul again for a week. Up until their arrival the weather was fantastic but typically once they got here the winds picked up. We had two full days and I have to admit that unfortunately, this was some of the toughest fishing I've had in years... We fished hard, covered ground, moved areas, changed a myriad of lures and presentations but it just wasnt happening. Thankfully the lads had a couple good days on bait with spurdog and rays giving them some action. 

Even though we found some concentrations of fish (looser than last year), the abundance of bait was possibly what made them very picky. Moreover we couldnt hit the areas I'd have liked due to the wind. I felt really bad for the guys as they worked so hard but the fish didnt play ball. Especially when they brought a glut of new lures and jigheads to try as well. We cought some average sized fish but nothing to shout about.

Second-cast fish filled with promise...

A couple double strikers.

Best fish on a deadsticked sp on cheburashka.

Anyway, the lads had a good time as they enjoyed the pubs (a bit more than they'd like!) and hopefully they'll be back next year to try again. This is fishing I suppose and even in a top destination like Skye, nothing is guaranteed.

I experienced the finnicky mood of the fish furtherly, on a solo outing on my way to a family day out. I had a few casts early in the morning at a weedy spot where I know to hold good fish. I raised one on the Autowalker and then as they wouldnt come up, I tried a variety of softplastics and metals. I must've had a dozen follows on my lures and at time nips at them but not taking it properly. The water clarity was very good as it usually is this time of year and I could see the fish clearly... In the end I tried a Xorus Patchinko just in case and managed a solitary pollock.

Solitary Patchinko smasher.

The abundance of bait, clear waters and very sttled weather are my main plausible factors for the  finnicky nature of the fish at the moment and I really hope this doesnt last long as we're entering my favourite fishing time of the year...

Tight lines!

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