The hardest yet most enjoyable guiding session ever!

Sometime ago I was contacted for a guiding session to take place last Tuesday. As so often happens up here in Skye the weather had other ideas and we had to reschedule as it was actually snowing and dropping hail for the most part of Monday and Tuesday! Temperatures plummeted and we had gale force Northerlies. Thankfully Wednesday was much kinder, flat calm and sunny skies actually (!), and we gave it a go then.
I met the brothers Zubair and Zaheer at their accommodation and after a cuppa and a chat we set off for Neist Point.
I knew the fishing would be tough as the fish surely were affected by the previous day's weather and also the large tides we're having, along with the calm sunny conditions.
We arrived a couple hours before low tide and I thought our best chances would be at a sheltered spot near low tide.
I set the lads up with metals at first and then soft plastics as the fish were hard on the bottom and not willing to chase metals. Moreover we realised that they were holding further out than usual and I employed 20-25g cheburashkas to reach those spots.
Soon enough we started seeing some fish, with coalies at first and then some good pollock.
As is the case with this mark the lads had a few fish lost due to snags or cut offs as they weren't able to stop them, but that's pollock fishing for you..!
After some fish, the resident seal took interest in our catches and we decided to move instead of offering it more free meals!

The day before...

...And after!

Zaheer with a decent one.

Zubair with another slim pollock.

The tide had turned and the current was increasing by now so I adjusted weights accordingly but it was still slow going.. Was using straight 3"-4" lures at first on Carolina rig or cheburashka and after getting some fish the bites dried up. I knew the fish were there and downsized to 3" strong scented paddletails that got hit instantly. A couple more fish followed but they were clearly not in a feeding mood as they were getting hooked barely on the lips. Thankfully the lads had brought an impressive array of cooking utensils and snacks (carrying it all the way down and then up Neist was a feat!) and we decided on having a tea break. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and we enjoyed a lovely curry and a cup of tea on the rocks... That's the life!
Afterwards we persisted for a while longer on this spot but after a couple missed strikes and some smaller fish we decided to move again.
The third spot only gave a couple more small pollock and by now the current was particularly strong. I decided that we should give the first (sheltered) spot another go but even there the current was too strong. Thus we headed back up to the car and drove to a nearby mark that is much more sheltered and less affected by the tide.

Best fish of the day..

Finicky pollock in a cracking day!

Fishing brothers in action.

Average sized..

Bendage!

Tea break!

The sun was setting when we arrived on the second mark and we didn't have much time. I made the first cast to see if there was anything going and hooked up soon after! This mark hasn't got the numbers of fish Neist offers but all the pollock here seem to be 3lbs and up!
So it was that I had a nice fish landed on the rocks soon after a spirited fight. On close inspection I realised that this fish was previously caught and after a quick photo with Zaheer I let it go back.
Surprisingly no more fish were caught by the lads while I was cleaning and filleting the catch of the day and we decided to head home.

A recaught fish.

On arrival to their accommodation the brothers were adamant that I should have dinner with them and since I really cant refuse a good homemade curry, we enjoyed another lovely meal!
It was a long and tiring day but the company of such kind people, passionate about fishing, made it very rewarding.
The lads wanted me to guide them again next day before they leave but having other obligations I told them what their best plan would be and I was glad to later find out they caught some more good fish and went home happy!
It was a pleasure fishing with them and they are welcome again any time.

Passionate fishermen!

Tight Lines!

Postspawn guided trip!

Its been a while since my last trip and that is mostly due to being too busy at work and with other commitments. Moreover I'm waiting for my new rod to arrive and I just don't feel like going fishing till I get it!
Nevertheless today I had planned a guiding trip for a fellow angler and we met up on Neist Point in the morning. Bruce is getting back into saltwater fishing after a while and was really keen to get some rod bending action! Sometime back he asked me to recommend him a reel and some lures and was now ready for a first taste of Skye rock fishing.
We were greeted by a millpond sea and sunny skies in the morning. After a quick coffee/chat and leader tying we picked our gear and headed down to the mark. Seeing as we have neap tides at the moment and the conditions were calm, I decided to start off at a more exposed point.
I rigged Bruce up with a 20g cheburashka and natural colour 3" paddletail and told him how to work the lure and where to cast. After a while he started getting the hang of it and the nibbles started coming. It took more than usual to get the first fish as we lost a couple in the kelp but soon enough the first pollock of the session was on the rocks! A hard fighting 3 pounder...
We persevered but possibly due to the conditions the fish were staying further out than usual and were more picky. A change to metals shook things up a bit and we soon had a steady stream of fish coming. Also got a couple nice coalies that just cant keep away from metals!

A good coalie on the metal.

A decent first pollock.

After a while and with the bites drying up whilst nearing the high tide point, we decided to move to my favourite spot. We kept using metals and more fish started coming! By this point Bruce was doing great and I was surprised to see a man his age doing so well on the rocks, but all this rock hopping and fish pulling got to his shoulder and he decided to take a break. As I wasn't fishing by this point I decided to have a few casts with the Major Craft KGS-902L and my new Stradic FK C3000 spooled with Unitika Shore Game PE X8 1.2. I had a ribster already rigged on a 16g cheburashka and made a good cast near the rocks across the gully. After touchdown I started a leisurely retrieve and got a gentle tap after a pause. I set the hook into something heavy but other than a few clicks of drag it didn't do much! I was even more surprised after I saw the size of fish coming up and I quickly got down to the rocks and landed it. I have added blue tape on most of my rods marking the 80cm mark thus indicating a usually double figure fish and at a quick glance this fish was approx 75 cm thus around 8lbs. I quickly plunged her back into the water and with a couple swipes of the tail she was gone like nothing happened! We had a laugh about the non-existent fight with Bruce but I find this to be not uncommon especially at this time of year with the fish in postspawn etc. Needless to say we caught fish of half the size later on that fought much harder than that one...

Nice fish, crap fight!

 The weather was turning by mid afternoon and the conditions became more conducive for pollock fishing, with a slight chop on the sea and cloud cover. Bruce was back on again and this time he hit a good patch with good numbers of fish in a short time. He was fishing with a ''money minnow'' style swimbait that is very soft and has an oversized paddletail and pollock absolutely loved it. They even hit it while static..
It was interesting to note increased seabird activity with some gannets diving close in and even guillemots swimming after baitfish and occasionally following our lures!

Happy angler!

Rod bendage!

Many of this size...

A few better ones in the mix.

A nice one.

We tried a couple more spots before the day was gone and got some fish from them but it was getting colder now and considering the long walk up (with some fish for Bruce) we decided to call it a day. It felt good to be guiding someone onto fish again and it was for the most part a cracking day in good company. If only for Bruce's hurt shoulder it would be a perfect session. It was a pleasure to fish with Bruce and had a good craic. Glad to see him with a good dinner sorted!
For next week I got some more outings planned but I cant wait to get my hands on the new rod. Will post pics and first impressions as soon as I get it!

Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft KGEvolution Basic KGS-902L.
Reel: Shimano Stradic FK C3000
Mainline: Unitika Shore Game X8 PE 1.2
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 16lbs
Lures:  4"-5" paddletails on 16g-20g cheburashka, oversized paddle swimbaits on 16g jighead and Texas rig, 20g-30g metals