Linnhe LRF with company..

Yesterday I managed to meet up with the well known lrfer Jake Schogler for a day session at Loch Linnhe. Jake is writing an article on Sea angler magazine  about lrf in the Scottish lochs and was interested in fishing around my area. So after a few messages of facebook we arranged to meet up in the morning near Kentallen where we planned to fish for the day. Surprisingly the weather for the past few days has been unseasonably mild and sunny, so we were in luck!
We both geared up (some much heavier than others!) and headed for my favourite mark in Linnhe. The sun wasn't properly over the mountains yet and it was kind of a slow start but soon the fish came to the bite.. A steady stream of codling and small pollock followed.
 I was mixing it up with paddletails on cheburashka, stickbaits and metal jigs while Jake was using mostly dropshot and jighead presentations. I was hoping that the larger pollock would soon show as Jake was keen on getting some, but unfortunately they weren't in a mood that day. We did manage some nice wrasse though (even got one on the stickbait) and were kept busy by the codling, smaller pollock and coalies throughout the day. On a couple of occasions we also managed the fabled double hook-up (!) and all in all it was a productive day and good fun to fish with a fellow like-minded angler like Jake.

The prevalent species right now.

A surprise wrasse on the stickbait!

Good fun with a fellow lrfer!

Nice codling on the stickbait.

One of a few pollock for me.

Another wrasse.

Double hook-up!

This was our only session to be as Jake had family commitments for the rest of the weekend.
 Seeing how good the weather was today, I decided to visit Loch Fyne for the day hoping to find some better fish. I drove to find the loch calm as a lake and the sun glaring down.. A beautiful day but not exactly ideal for good fishing. As expected the fish were hanging deep and I decided that the best way of approach would be an 8g cheburashka and a 3" Keitech Easy shiner shad. I was getting bites every cast and codling along with poor cod were coming in at a steady pace although again the pollock eluded me as I only caught a few small ones. I put the lack of pollock down to the sunny weather and I also witnessed another angler catching a nice mackerel! Its mid November!
I moved along the harbour to the opposite point catching some smaller fish along the way with my first corkwing wrasse among them! Yet another new species for me!
At the point I reverted to cheburashka/shad combo and started fan-casting. I found a spot where the depth changes abruptly and focused my attention there. I was getting bites from  poor cod and I quickly retrieved the lure a bit shallower near the base of the breakwater's boulders. I got a good take and a very nice run that made me think I hooked a nice pollock. In the end I brought a good wrasse to the surface! The warm weather has definitely made them more active.. I kept casting around with the occasional codling coming up but it was nearing sundown now and I was hoping for something better to come along. After a long cast towards the spot mentioned earlier, I got another good take and again solid resistance.. This fight was different with plenty of head shakes and the fish kept deep, but with some sustained pressure I managed to bring up a very nice codling! Its been a while since I caught one that big and it put a smile on my face. Of course it was returned straight back and I decided to play around with some mini species afterwards. I caught another corkwing and a golsiney before calling it a day.

My first corkwing!

A good fighter.

A proper codling!

Mr fatty..

Lovely fish..

Feisty golsiney!

And a little video of the wrasse's run although I lost some time trying to turn on the camera again!

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution,KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g , MC Crostage CRK-T782AJI .
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000 fc, Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Yamatoyo SW super Light Game PE 0.4, Duel Hardcore 4x4 PE 0.6
leader: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs.P-line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs,
lures: cheburashka, metal jigs and 4"stickbaits.