From gurnards to Salmon!

My days off have been quite productive. The weather has been really horrible with constant rain at times  but this made me think that the time for my salmon trip has come. Before that though I did a short LRF session in Etive on Wednesday and was planning to go for salmon on Thursday. I was hoping to get some more trout on the LRF as whenever I target the bottom species, I get a couple of them OTD. It was a slow session with only a few codling but I did get a few trout and also gurnards! Three in a row as there seemed to be a group of them. They were holding over soft bottom and were quite aggressive towards my 2" Berkley Gulp Fish Fry. What I noticed and have also read that before, is that the way they bite makes for missed strikes and a steady slow retrieve after the first tap usually sees them hooking themselves. I finished the session with coalies on the metal jigs fished in the current. I made a video as well..

Pretty trout..

Another trout meant to be here!

I love gurnard..

Deformed coalie..

On thursday I drove to river Orchy to try for salmon. I was hoping that the rains would have spurred even more fish up and I would stand better chance of catching one. I purchased my day permit but the news werent great. There were fish about but not biting (at least not on the fly) although somebody caught a couple on spinning the previous day. I decided to fish the same beat where that fish got caught and after driving there and having a chat with the owner I started fishing. I fished with my medium rock fishing gear and a 15g flying c type spinner. The river was looking very good with some deep pools, rapids and plenty of structure and cover. I reached an eddy  with a couple sunken trees in it and after seeing a trout follow, I persisted. I caught another trout and walking upstream I made a cast straight on the tree. After a few cranks I got a solid hit and I knew at once that I've done it! This followed..

The Orchy holds a lot of trout as well.

The king of the river!

A lovely 75cm fish and a lifelong dream come true! I thought that I would get more as I had the rest of the day fishing but alas I didn't find any more fish. I did caught plenty of trout and even a jack pike though.
I am now seriously hooked on salmon and thinking of attempting another trip before the end of the season but the cost is the only deterrent in my already limited budget!


Tight lines

Gear used.
Rod: Majorcraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI,   Majorcraft KG Evolution,KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g
Reel: Shimano Exage 1000fd ,Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Spiderwire invisibraid 0.10mm, Seaguar Kanzen braid 10lbs
leader: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs.
lures: Berkley Gulp Fish fry, 7g HTO shore jig, 8g Savagear lrf psycho sprat, 15g Flying c type spinner.

Back on track yet again!

I think this summer somebody cursed me not to have a car! Last weekend saw me head down to Glasgow determined to buy another car (3 cars so far  this summer and counting!). I closed the deal in less than 30 mins and was back on the road, now a proud owner of a Vauxhall Vectra.. On the drive up from Glasgow and although the weather was rainy I thought it would be a good idea to stop at my Loch Fyne mark for a few casts, as I had packed my tiny Spro mobile stick travel rod with me...
I reached the mark to find it devoid of other fishermen and campers (a very rare occurrence) and I took this as a good sign..
I paired the rod with a newly bought, used Shimanno Exage 1000fd and started casting paralel to the rocks and working the lure (2" tube with 2g jighead) OTD. On the first casts I got hit soon after started hoping the bottom and It was a solid fish! This rod really makes for enjoyable fishing as its semi parabolic and was now really bent on the fish, that was making some good runs.. Slowly I managed to bring it to the surface and I saw it was a nice plumb wrasse and my biggest one so far in Scotland!

White tubes are good..

A beautiful ballan!

I caught some smaller pollock after that and a few mackerel but nothing big.. I did see a pod of porpoises working their way around the salmon cages.. The salmon were jumping like mad!

Since that session I have only done another one on the burn near my village for trout and another one in Loch Etive trying some different marks that convinced me that there's no need for going too far in search of good fishing marks as there's plenty of them I havent tried in there..

Nothing major caught but a nice variety although I didn't take many pics since I was just happy getting back to fishing again.. I'm going to try for salmon this month and really hope to get at least one even not as big as the one I lost back in the start of the season..

Tight lines!

Gear used
Rod: Spro Mobile stick 80 UL
Reel: Shimano Exage 1000 fd
Mainline: Spiderwire invisibraid, 0.10mm
Rig: metal jigs, jighead, microjig
lure: Ecogear grass minnow s, jackall peke peke, Agm 2" tube

Mix n match.

My days off saw me try a few different marks that I previously noted but for various reasons had not fished there. I targeted  a natural harbour with a steep rock wall in Loch Leven that I thought could produce something. I was planning to fish with my Solpara to maximise the fun.. On my way there though, I stopped near Duror at the mark where I caught the ling before in Loch Linnhe. This place is a mystery to me as it never gives large numbers of fish but there's always a surprise coming from it. And this time was no exception with my first cuckoo wrasse getting caught first cast and only a pollock and a couple poor cod caught after that.. I wasn't complaining though and I made my way to loch Leven. The mark is a kind of tricky to approach but after a bit of scrambling I was on the rock wall. There seemed to be fry moving about and after the first casts I started getting bites and poor cod. I then caught a chunky goldsinny wrasse and a few  codling followed.

My first ever cuckoo wrasse first cast!

The Loch Leven harbour..

Chunky goldsinny..

Codling are everywhere!

I then decided to head down to Loch Etive and fish opposite the Taynuilt pier as the current is strong there and I though this would attract fish. I put on a metal jig and I could see that the tide was just coming in. A few casts around a rocky point and I was in! The coalies started hitting my jig and some of them being quite decent put up a great scrap on the Solpara! I also managed a 2lbs pollock that made things even more interesting.. I was surprised to see small coalies feeding in the surface on flies and I regretted not having a little popper to play around with them.. After the metal jig bite wavered I turned to the microjigs and Ecogear grass minnow to work the bottom. I managed a couple codling and then something better that snagged me up in the kelp.. The plant life has grown dramatically now and I lose fish more often than before, so I think I will revert to braid for my mainline. I concluded the session at my classic spot in the harbour and got another pollock on a 7g HTO shore jig.

Find the current find the coalies...

Super fun on the Solpara

I love metal jigs!

He wanted it!

On Saturday I was on my way to Loch Fyne but I stopped first at loch Awe for some dropshot targeting the perch. The water level was high and I had to wade to my armpits and fish in the bulrush to be successful, I got a couple on the Dekoj 3" swordtail that I really started to favour for the dropshot. I lost two fish in front of me that managed to pass the hook on the bulrush (how do they do that?!) and then got a decent one on the smallest Savagear soft 4play on a jighead.

A nice presentation

If only I had a belly boat!

I wanted to drive to loch Fyne after the perch session but I had an unpleasant surprise when the car broke down and I find myself yet again without a car! I hope I'll manage to get it repaired soon as I'm now starting to turn my attention towards salmon.. I really have to get one before I finish the season!

Tight lines!

Gear used
Rod: Major Craft Solpara SPS-S792M (7'9", 0.5g-5g), Awa shima qlite spin, 2.40, 1-5g
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro1000, Tica libra SA2500
Mainline: Sunline Siglon fluorocarbon, 3lbs. Sunline FC guide special fluorocarbon, 6lbs.
Rig: metal jigs, microjig, dropshot
lure: Ecogear grass minnow s, Jaxon hexan ice pilker, HTO shore jig, Dekoj swordtail, Nikko-Kasei pin worm.