Its just silly fishing now!

Well the title says it all really.. The fishing has really picked up now and there is no need to venture further than my local marks. With the one in Loch Linnhe in particular, providing some fast and furious action. I fished this mark for three consecutive days (at different spots) and the amount and variety of fish has been staggering.
On the first day I focused on fishing with heavy cheburashka (12g) and medium paddletails (grass minnow M, 2.75"Swimfish) on the medium rock fishing gear. I caught plenty of plumb codling around 35cm, a ballan wrasse, a couple cuckoo wrasse (didn't take a pic of the male coz I thought the camera was on!) and some pollock. Most fish came from distance and it was the first time I caught a male cuckoo at this mark, I think there might be something with this as I encountered it in the North East as well, where the males staged further away (deeper)  than females...

Decent codling.

Wrasse become bolder as well.

On the next day the weather was nice and sunny and I decided to get the Solpara and target codling and wrasse on the lrf softies. I caught a wrasse first cast but I was then getting takes OTD from active fish that made me change lure to metals. I then proceeded in catching fish after fish continuously and cursing for leaving the camera in the car! They were really in suicidal mode and I must have caught over 20 fish in less than an hour! I finished the session after foolishly loosing a much better fish by being hasty and not giving it more line. It grazed the line on some rocks...
I 've noticed that whenever I'm having a hectic session with fish a plenty, I become a bit careless and less cautious fighting the fish and this has cost me sometimes...

They love metals..

It was a mental metal session!

Today I went again for some metal action with the rod better suited to the task (Crostage) but typically the fish shied away from the metal jigs... I caught a few and even some tiny gurnards, but they were definitely in a more subdued mood. I knew they were there though and decided to fish slim softies on 8g cheburashka and a #4 offset hook. This was much more productive and I managed some more pollock and codling. The wind was getting very strong now and I switched spot so that I would have the wind on my back. I changed lure again to something that I thought would be even more enticing. A 4" Lunker City hydrotail worm that has been very effective for me in the past for finicky fish. From the first cast the water turned alive again and I started getting bites. Curlytails/twisters can be worked extremely slowly and still provide the fish with plenty of action (tail) to home in on. I was working the lure slowly, almost dragging bottom and sometimes hopping it and in quick succession from a relatively small area managed to catch a couple codling, a ballan wrasse, a female cuckoo wrasse and even lost another ballan close in!

Even these little buggers like them..

I love pollock..

Codling seem to like blades even more than pollock!

Beautiful ballan wrasse.

Cuckoo..

I also went to Loch Awe for a couple hours targeting the pike, but other then a tiny jack I got nothing. I decided not to persevere as the sea is so much more productive at the minute and I'm having a blast! There have been significant changes though as the bulk of the mackerel are gone now but the summer species are feeding hard.
Next week I'm expecting some madai jigs to arrive along with more Gulp softies and if they arrive before my days off and weather allowing, I will try and make a last fishing trip for this season.. I want to target the area starting from the Morvern coast, then Loch Aline and finish in the Ardnamurchan peninsula! Sounds like a lot and probably is, but even if I don't fish everywhere I'm sure I'll find some good fish...
Here's a little vid as well!

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Various
Reel: Various
Mainline: Siderwire invisibraid 0.10mm, Duel Hardcore x4 0.6 PE
Rig: cheburashka, metals

lure: Grass minnows, Lunker city Swimfish, Lunker City Hydrotail worms, various metals 5g-7g.

Four days of fishing! Part two.

After returning back on home ground, I wanted to pay a visit at Loch Fyne hoping for some big pollock that I didn't find up north... I reached the  mark at midday and it was around high tide. Not the best of tide states for this mark as its usually much better from low onwards.
Undettered I started casting small shads near the point and after a few casts got the first pollock. I thought many more would follow but it didn't happen. I had my favourite mark to myself but the fish weren't responding so I persisted even more, I finally got a solid take and the fish appeared to be decent but unfortunately it got wrapped around a fish farm chain on the way in! I managed a couple more small pollock after that but despite my hardest efforts the fish weren't playing ball. I decided to call it a day and drive back home. On the  way back, I passed Loch Awe and thought it a good idea to have a few casts with the dropshot as there was still light about. The bulrush were dying and the water level was much lower now but the fish were active and hunting. I saw a nice pike attack fry on the surface but only managed two jacks and no perch.. This was intriguing and I think I have to devote a whole day for the freshwater soon as the perch should be shoaling up now...

Been a while!

Little fella.

The next day I wasn't in the mood for driving far and went instead on my bunker-mark in Loch Linnhe. I fished on the medium rock fishing gear using heavy cheburashkas (12g) and offset hooks along with jigheads rigged with Grass Minnows and Lunker City Swimfish shads. I had a very good time catching many codling as they are now tightly shoaled and very aggressive along with a few decent pollock. The codling would typically give a couple false bites before committing and couldn't resist the lure bumping bottom. A nice and comfy session to finish my fishing marathon!

Nice colour variation on the codling.

As in Wick they were tightly shoaled and feeding hard.

Decent pollock

They love Grass Minnows bumped along the bottom.

A perfect hook-set!

On my next day's off I think a freshwater foray is in order before the perch move in the deep and also I'll try to target the codling on the LRF gear for even more fun! Its so surprising that no bigger codling have been found among the little ones.. I guess I'll blame the netting for that..

Thanks for reading!

Gear used.
Rod: Various
Reel: Various
Mainline: Various
Rig: cheburashka, jighead, dropshot
lure: Grass minnows, Lunker city Swimfish, Lunker City Ribsters.

Four days of fishing! Part 1, Fishing the Northeast.

I have been given four days off from work this week and I thought it would be my best chance for a good fishing trip  before the season ends. I had two places in mind, either going south and fishing at the Mull of Kintyre or going to the North East and fishing around Wick, Dunnet Head and Thurso. From a look in Google Earth I was immediately drawn to the rugged coastline of the North East and the many points and cliffs there. I chose to go there in the end and on Saturday morning I made the long drive to the town of Wick. My first stop was at the Old Castle where the water is very deep and there is access to the rocky fingers below the castle.
I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of 'life' in the water as I could see loads of fry and coalies moving about. I decided to use my favourite presentation at the moment that does a good job as a 'searcher bait' and thus a Shimano madai jig rigged with some Berkly gulp was cast in the depths. I got some sharp bites but I reacted too fast and missed them, but I was sure they were form wrasse.
I re casted and this time worked the lure slower with twitches near the bottom and soon I had a bite and a fish on! It was fighting well but it wasn't something big, so I hurriedly retrieved line wanting to get my first Northeastern fish in my hands.. I could see colour after a bit, and a lot of it! It was a male cuckoo wrasse and my first one (male)! I got another one after some missed takes and then a female. I noticed that the males where hanging deeper than the female and this maybe a reason why Ive only caught females at my mark back home....

That's Fishy!

Very interesting rock formations.

Stunning colours.

Had to put him back fast...

And another one..

There she is...

A good sign?

Surprisingly I got no codling or pollock and I worked pretty hard for them covering a lot of water and making many casts. I was sure the presentation was good and it seemed that the fish just  weren't there... After  a while a seal popped up and then another one! I moved to a different area but there were even more seals there! I think they may have affected the fishing as I caught nothing around them and so I decided to change location.
I moved to the harbour and  decided to fish the outer breakwater. It is a very fishy looking harbour, with three separate harbours (inner, river, outer) and it would be my main venue.
I kept the madai jig, only I now tipped it with a Keitech sexy impact for a faster retrieve and started casting and working it near the lighthouse. I soon got a nice codling but then lost the jig to a snag! I changed presentation to a 12g cheburashka (was getting very windy) with a #2 offset hook rigged with an Ecogear grass minnow M. I move towards the inner harbour entrance and after a couple casts, I started getting subtle bites and hooking into codling. They were shoaled up near the entrance of the inner harbour and were attacking the Grass minnow every time! I managed about a dozen or more of them until night fall and then they stopped feeding. They were all about the pound mark and really good fun!

Wick Harbour.

Codling on the jig.

They were tightly shoaled and hungry..

Feeding on baby flatfish!

I spend the night in the car and woke up early to target the river part of the harbour. I was hoping to encounter some new species on this trip and I wanted to fish in different areas and not just the rocks! I was thinking that I might get some flatfish and so I got the Solpara and the lrf lures and started working my way from near the bridge towards the mouth of the harbour. I was using mainly Ecogear aqua Katsu mebaru and Berkley fish fry's and suffice to say the place was stuffed with small fish! I was getting hit as soon as the lure touched bottom and among the usual codling and coalies I started getting a stream of whiting and some small flounders as well... Job done and I now had two new species at this trip!

My first whiting!

My first flounder!

They are akin to poor cod in their behaviour, hunting in shoals.

Plenty of teeth on them...

Coalie country up here...

After the morning harbour session, I moved to a rocky outcrop on the northern side of the town but other than a couple coalies, nothing showed so I was back on the road heading to John o Groats and then Dunnet Head. I fished for a bit at John o Groats harbour where I witnessed the most ravenous coalies ever,  that would even hit lures on the surface and even higher when I was lifting them up!
At Dunnet Head I fished at a small slipway where some rock pinnacles created interesting structure in a relatively deep bay. I used my heavier gear to cast larger madai jigs and shads and I finally found some pollock! They hit the jig hard and got hooked straight away!

John o Groats pier.

Rocks from Dunnet head..

Good looking ground.

Flashy but effective..

I finally found them!

I then drove up to Thurso with the intention of fishing Scrabster harbour and indeed the harbour looked very inviting but unfortunately I was running late as I didn't want to be driving in the night or stay there so I decided with a heavy heart to leave this for another time and head home.
It was an interesting trip and a needed change of scenery. The Northeast seems more productive than anticipated and I'm sure with more effort much better fish would be found. Its very interesting to see such differences in both the landscape, marks and fish and although I was hoping for some larger fish I enjoyed the trip and the variety.. Some notes from my trip:

• The numbers of coalies are  unbelievable!
• So much life in and out of the water.. Seals, birds, fry everywhere!
• Proper rough ground..
• Where are the pollock?!
• A lot of  commercial fishing activity..

On the next part I'll describe the fishing at my usual marks...

Tight lines!

Gear used.

Rod: Various
Reel: Various
Mainline: Various
Rig: cheburashka, jighead,
lure:Various Ecogear Aqua, Berkley Gulp, Madai jigs, Grass minnows.