They are growing larger...

Last week was my birthday and thus I spend most of my time with my brother instead of fishing but after he left I quickly drove to one of my northern marks for a bit of shallow water fishing. The tide was nearing its ebb but the sun was out so after using the various shallow running hardbaits, I switched to a simple ripple tail worm on a Texas rig. The fish weren't in great numbers (end of the season its teeming with fish) but I managed to get a few literally under my feet! And these weren't small fish by any means!
I covered the area thoroughly with the Texas rig and then put on a metal for distance work. I got hit midway in and after feeling good weight initially, the line then went slack and I started winding it in steadily until it was too late... The crafty pollock was swimming towards me and into the snag! This happened again on the next cast and both fish were lost... I had bass swimming towards me in the past but never pollock in such a determined way! I also had a fish that was clearly caught again recently with a hook mark on its lips. Good C&R!
After a while I changed spot and being still a bit hangover, decided to just sit on a rock and make a few lazy casts around while waiting for the tide to turn... Well this is Skye though, and you should never drop your guard as I was hit by a serious fish soon after! It made a couple frantic runs but I soon had it under control and landed it with the help of my new lip-gripper. A lovely fish that went back soon after a couple pics.

Now that's a good birthday cake!

Some decent fish on the day...

A bit of wildlife...

...and a good'un.

I decided to move to a nearby mark after this as I thought I would get better action there as the tide was now on the rise. After a short drive and a hike, I was down to the second spot and the conditions looked ideal for minnows and maybe even topwaters...
I begun with softplastics to see if the fish were there and after getting busted by a fish on the first cast, I put on an Ima Hound Sonic 100f to search the area thoroughly (as it casts like a bullet).
A couple casts in and I got hit after some jerks, managing to land an average fish and that was followed by plenty more afterwards. I tried more hard baits and softplastics but as the sun was dipping lower in the horizon I felt it was time for topwaters. I tied a Duel Silver dog 90 but after some casts the fish ignored it. I persevered and switched to the Ima Salt Skimmer and the results were instantaneous! I'm convinced this is due to the slim profile of this lure but also its subtler action.

Ima hound..

Chinese cheapo!

Ima Salt Skimmer.

After catching a fish and witnessing a few explosive blow ups things quietened down and I decided it was time to go as I was also being eaten by midges! A very satisfying session and the first topwater fish of the year!
Something else that I've recently done is to upgrade the teflon ring on the roller of my Daiwa Freams 2500 with an actual roller bearing as its so much better when working with braid. Recently I felt the roller a bit 'sticky' at times and after realising that my Freams doesn't have a rbb (cheeky Daiwa!), ordered the upgrade kit from ebay for about 15 quid. The whole thing took only a few minutes to put in and I recommend it as I already feel the improved performance.

Damn you Daiwa! lol

Below some videos of the session.

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution KGS-902L, 2.7m, 7-23g.
Reel: Daiwa Freams 2500
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.0
Leader: YGK Nitlon DFC flouorocarbon 16lbs
Lures:Various