The next day I woke up around 08:00 and got ready to drive north again. I checked the weather and was disappointed to see the southerly winds still strong, as it would possibly mean that I couldn't fish the most iconic of Skye fishing marks, the Neist point. I have been wanting to fish this mark since I first heard about Skye and last time with Scott the weather didn't allow us to fish there. It was looking like my efforts would be thwarted again by the weather but at least I had to visit the mark...
I made a plan B of fishing Milovaig and/or trying at some of the marks north of Waternish at the middle peninsula of northern Skye.
After a relatively long drive I was on the point and I could see that my fears came true as the sea was rough with wide caps on the waves. Nevertheless I walked to the lighthouse to inspect the mark hoping that I would get the chance to fish it before I left. I then drove to Milovaig for a few casts around the pier there. The marks was looking good and there were already a couple anglers there but it didn't seem like they caught anything and after thrashing the place with casts, I got nothing as well. I'm not so sure this was down to the mark that fish weren't caught but more likely because of the time (afternoon) and weather conditions. Of course tide state could be a reason too being almost high tide.
After a short lunch in the car I drove to the middle point and stopped at a rocky headland near Trumpan. The mark was looking perfect as it was completely protected from the wind and close to deep water although not a first choice mark had the conditions been better... I decided to take the finesse gear (mistake) as I thought it would be adequate, though this time with the 10lbs leader on it and headed down to some rocks in the middle of two small rocky bays. Again the water wasn't particularly deep, but the kelp was thick and definitely worth a few casts.
I began with a blue/silver 3" Long John paddletail on a 12g cheburashka. After a few casts, I got the first pollock but then decided to change lure as I was getting some tentative bites and no hook ups. I changed to the good old 10cm Savagear sandeel in natural colour on a 10g jighead. I made a long cast to the area were I was getting the bites and the results were instant! A nice fish got hooked and after a good and 'hairy' fight I managed to slip my thump in its mouth and land it. If I hadn't doubled up the leader line with a loop, I'm convinced I would have lost that fish... Some more pollock followed from that area until I decided to move to the rocks enveloping the bay. After a tricky scramble on the rocks I reached a large boulder covered in bird droppings but being an ideal vantage point for fishing as it was overseeing the entrance to the bay. I lost the sandeel to a snag and I reverted back to the cheburashka and paddletail. I was getting fish but still a lot of finicky bites so I dropped the weight of the cheburashka to 7g and changed the lure to a 4" Reins G-tail Saturn in oxblood colour. Curly/ripple tail worms (jellyworms) are classic pollock lures but the clownish 7"+ monstrosities that most anglers use were never to my liking. These lures are meant for finesse and more subdued presentations thus I always had good results on them in 2"- 4"and natural colours (with some exceptions) and of course retrieved much more slowly and subtly than the usual straight fast wind more commonly used...
The fish did seem to be concentrated in that area but not in a proper hunting mood yet and keeping low between the kelp. Thus I worked the lure near the bottom with a slow retrieve and a few subtle twitches to make it jump upwards. I had fish after fish after fish on that presentation until a good pollock got the lure with him after bending the hook open. I then started using #1 Decoy rock fish EX heavy offset worm 13S and this never happened again. That was my last of the G-tails but I had more curly tail worms with me and I decided to further change my presentation by reverting to the classic Texas rig, something that I haven't used in a long while surprisingly...
Thus I put on a 7g cone lead followed by an orange luminous bead and a #1 Decoy RS worm 101 hook with the lure of choice being a no-name 3.5" pink curly tail worm. This did the trick equally well and the fish kept coming... So many that I didn't bother taking many pics and even the action camera died after some point! I also used some stick baits towards the end for a bit of variety as the fish went on a frenzy.. A good days result after a lot of searching around.
This goes to show again that even not so great-looking marks can provide you with excellent sport in Skye, even under adverse conditions. I caught more than 20 fish between 2-6 lbs from a relatively small area and again had a larger number of losses than I would have liked. Definitely a couple pb-feeling fish among the lost ones..
Moreover these results don't mean that fishing any lure will do. The change to a more natural colour from the bright blue/silver brought the first good fish and lessened the tentative bites and then the slower presentation with the curly tail provided only positive takes. Had I persevered with the original lure I'm sure I wouldn't have caught even half as many fish.
The video of the day.
Tight Lines!
Gear used.
Rod: MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g.
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8
Leader: P Line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs
Lures: 3"-4" paddletails on cheburashka and jigheads, 3"-4" curly tail worms on cheburashka and Texas rig. Stickbaits on weighted offset hooks.
I made a plan B of fishing Milovaig and/or trying at some of the marks north of Waternish at the middle peninsula of northern Skye.
After a relatively long drive I was on the point and I could see that my fears came true as the sea was rough with wide caps on the waves. Nevertheless I walked to the lighthouse to inspect the mark hoping that I would get the chance to fish it before I left. I then drove to Milovaig for a few casts around the pier there. The marks was looking good and there were already a couple anglers there but it didn't seem like they caught anything and after thrashing the place with casts, I got nothing as well. I'm not so sure this was down to the mark that fish weren't caught but more likely because of the time (afternoon) and weather conditions. Of course tide state could be a reason too being almost high tide.
 |
| Neist Point with rough seas.. |
 |
| What a place! |
 |
| Milovaig pier. |
After a short lunch in the car I drove to the middle point and stopped at a rocky headland near Trumpan. The mark was looking perfect as it was completely protected from the wind and close to deep water although not a first choice mark had the conditions been better... I decided to take the finesse gear (mistake) as I thought it would be adequate, though this time with the 10lbs leader on it and headed down to some rocks in the middle of two small rocky bays. Again the water wasn't particularly deep, but the kelp was thick and definitely worth a few casts.
I began with a blue/silver 3" Long John paddletail on a 12g cheburashka. After a few casts, I got the first pollock but then decided to change lure as I was getting some tentative bites and no hook ups. I changed to the good old 10cm Savagear sandeel in natural colour on a 10g jighead. I made a long cast to the area were I was getting the bites and the results were instant! A nice fish got hooked and after a good and 'hairy' fight I managed to slip my thump in its mouth and land it. If I hadn't doubled up the leader line with a loop, I'm convinced I would have lost that fish... Some more pollock followed from that area until I decided to move to the rocks enveloping the bay. After a tricky scramble on the rocks I reached a large boulder covered in bird droppings but being an ideal vantage point for fishing as it was overseeing the entrance to the bay. I lost the sandeel to a snag and I reverted back to the cheburashka and paddletail. I was getting fish but still a lot of finicky bites so I dropped the weight of the cheburashka to 7g and changed the lure to a 4" Reins G-tail Saturn in oxblood colour. Curly/ripple tail worms (jellyworms) are classic pollock lures but the clownish 7"+ monstrosities that most anglers use were never to my liking. These lures are meant for finesse and more subdued presentations thus I always had good results on them in 2"- 4"and natural colours (with some exceptions) and of course retrieved much more slowly and subtly than the usual straight fast wind more commonly used...
The fish did seem to be concentrated in that area but not in a proper hunting mood yet and keeping low between the kelp. Thus I worked the lure near the bottom with a slow retrieve and a few subtle twitches to make it jump upwards. I had fish after fish after fish on that presentation until a good pollock got the lure with him after bending the hook open. I then started using #1 Decoy rock fish EX heavy offset worm 13S and this never happened again. That was my last of the G-tails but I had more curly tail worms with me and I decided to further change my presentation by reverting to the classic Texas rig, something that I haven't used in a long while surprisingly...
Thus I put on a 7g cone lead followed by an orange luminous bead and a #1 Decoy RS worm 101 hook with the lure of choice being a no-name 3.5" pink curly tail worm. This did the trick equally well and the fish kept coming... So many that I didn't bother taking many pics and even the action camera died after some point! I also used some stick baits towards the end for a bit of variety as the fish went on a frenzy.. A good days result after a lot of searching around.
 |
| A hard fight with the finesse setup... |
 |
| Average stamp of fish.. |
 |
| Rugged fighters.. |
This goes to show again that even not so great-looking marks can provide you with excellent sport in Skye, even under adverse conditions. I caught more than 20 fish between 2-6 lbs from a relatively small area and again had a larger number of losses than I would have liked. Definitely a couple pb-feeling fish among the lost ones..
Moreover these results don't mean that fishing any lure will do. The change to a more natural colour from the bright blue/silver brought the first good fish and lessened the tentative bites and then the slower presentation with the curly tail provided only positive takes. Had I persevered with the original lure I'm sure I wouldn't have caught even half as many fish.
The video of the day.
Tight Lines!
Gear used.
Rod: MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g.
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8
Leader: P Line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs
Lures: 3"-4" paddletails on cheburashka and jigheads, 3"-4" curly tail worms on cheburashka and Texas rig. Stickbaits on weighted offset hooks.
No comments:
Post a Comment