Yesterday I met up with my friends
Scott and
Lee for a full day's fishing. We arranged to meet around 10:00 in a South-facing mark and take it from there. The weather forecast was surprisingly good although there was some indication of brisk South-Easterly winds. The mark we picked doesn't hold masses of fish but it usually provides a few quality-pollock.
On arrival the winds felt a bit more brisk than the forecast and after meeting with the guys we proceeded to the rocky promontory... They informed me that they actually had a few casts at a nearby pier and had caught launce, flounder and plaice! Now that warrants some attention...
We reached the mark just before high tide and we could see that there was a considerable swell that cut off access to the best spot. Nonetheless we started fishing but after a couple hours we had nothing to show for our efforts.. I had three half-hearted takes from better fish that didn't develop and Lee got busted by a good fish. In all, I thought we were wasting our time as we could've had a dozen fish in the Northern marks... Thus I suggested we hit the road and go to Neist Point as we would still get a good few hours fishing there before nightfall.
 |
| The famous lighthouse. |
After some driving we finally reached Neist and I then realised that the Southerlies had affected this mark as well... We headed for the most exposed part but after losing a fish and getting soaked by the waves, we decided to move to the more protected side. The current was very strong there as usual, but it was nearing low tide and would slow down. I soon got a fish on but it got unhooked, then Lee was in but once again the Scottish pollock played dirty on him and got free of the lure! Things were very quiet and I suggested we move further back to an even more protected spot where I thought our best chances of success were. By then the sun was going down and on the last spot conditions looked very promising. The water was much calmer and straight away I opted for a 6" Hogy on a Crazyg wave deep offset jighead. The lads were fishing mainly metals with Lee utilising slow jigs in particular... I soon got into fish but had two failed hookups (the design of the jighead must have something to do with this) but I kept getting bites while retrieving and was soon into a better fish! It fought hard and took plenty of line but after a while I had him up for a photo. A nice fish of 7.4lbs that went back shortly after the pic.
 |
| The lads on the rocks... |
 |
| A nice fish... |
I then realised that Scott was in as well and soon enough he had another good pollock up! We realised that the fish were fairly localised and also were hunting in groups.
 |
| Scott is in... |
 |
| A nice one! |
The only one who didn't get a fish by this point was Lee! And he was starting to get frustrated after the consecutive losses during the day.. Soon enough though he was into a fish as well (by that time we had multiple hook-ups) that fought hard. He got the upper hand after a while and we were expecting a nice pollock only to see a dark shape coming up from the depths.. At first I thought it was a cod but then Scott shouted 'LING'!! We were all speechless at that moment and full of excitement! Scott proceeded into securing the fish and got it on the rocks. It was then high-fives and congratulations all around! The fish was weighed in at 7.8lbs! A magnificent fish made even more special by being caught on a lure (slow jig)! Needless to say the Lee was over the moon with this capture and who wouldn't be! This is practically a fish of a lifetime for the shore based lure angler...
 |
| Fishing side by side... |
 |
| Double hook-up! |
 |
| Another nice pollock for Scott. |
 |
| What a fish! |
We kept fishing after that but the action seemed to subside after a while. We were still getting fish but most of them of a smaller size and they were more spread-out than before. Not that anybody really cared by that point... We all caught some good fish after working hard for them all day and in adverse weather conditions. The ling was obviously the cherry on the cake and really showed off the fishing potential of Skye!
As the sun set, we made the long hike up to the cars and then drove to Portree for a much needed meal and a few celebratory drinks. It was a real pleasure fishing with the lads and I hope we can arrange another trip sometime in the near future...
Tight Lines!
