Saturday, 10 March 2018

Fussy buggers...

In March now and as usual things have slowed down fishing wise... It was very interesting to note the fish change behaviour from pre
cold front to post frontal conditions. Although Skye was largely unaffected by the snow and extreme weather that the rest of the country faced (we did get some below zero temps and strong easterlies though), that was enough to push the fish down deep near the bottom, and combined with them being in spawning mode, make them very fussy...
Just before the cold front I had a very entertaining session catching pollock and coalies on sinking pencils and vibration lures, with the latter being clearly more effective as the fish were inhaling them and coming high up in the water column to hit them on straight retrieve...
All this changed after the front passed and I didn't manage a single touch the other day on the hardbaits.. Actually, even the softplastics weren't producing as they were supposed to... Fish showed a clear aversion to loud/bright colours and only hit natural ones. But even then the bites weren't decisive and fast strikes were necessary to hook them.
Moreover it's the first time this winter that I've started seeing some pollock with worms on them as they've only now been pushed to the bottom and are less active... Also, the coalies seem to be few and far between after the cold conditions...

Pre front, well conditioned and aggressive fish...


Post frontal, natural softplastics near the bottom...


Interesting colours and markings on this one...

The areas that seem to be less affected by these conditions though tend to be deep rocky marks near fish cages and there are always active fish around them...

Active fish near cages...
I have also tried unsuccessfully to catch my first fish on the Fly, but with the current conditions and the fish staying deep its quite a challenge, so I might wait till warmer weather to get at it again...

Was asked about my stud arrangement...



Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod: APIA Foojin'R Best Bower 96 MLX
Reel: Shimano Stradic FK C3000
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X8 PE 1.2
Leader: Daiwa Tournament FC fluorocarbon 20lbs
Lures: various

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