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Tuesday 11 August 2020

The mad "Northumbrians" are back!

It was a pleasure to meet up yet again with my Northern English friends and have a session on the sib! Mick and Keith brought Chris and Rob with them for their annual Skye fishing holiday. The weather last week was crap for the most part and the lads struggled to find good fishing. I deliberately waited for last minute and picked the best day of the forecast. We met up early in the morning and the plan was to split up in two SIBs. Mick and Keith in Mick's new Honwave T35 and Chris with Rob in mine.
We launched and headed for our first spot. The forecast gave S-SE winds but we were met with a brisk westerly that got me worried I chose the wrong spot...
We started fishing and soon enough we found the fish holding near the bottom in a 25m bowl.
The old-timers Mick and Keith started hauling some fish in and it took a few tries for Chris and Rob to follow suit.  
The fish were showing a strong preference to soft plastics and this continued for the rest of the day. 
After a couple hours and with the westerly not dying down, we decided to move to a more sheltered area.
The crossing was fun in the chop but we soon came to shelter.
I could see fish higher up in the water column and there seemed to be plenty of fry around. 
We started casting and soon all the guys were in!  
We had a steady stream of 4-6 lbs fish with the better ones going 7-8lbs. We came close but no double graced our net on the day. 
At some point Chris got something heavy on, that kept close to the bottom without making the usual runs and dives of Pollock. We were all surprised to see a decent cod coming up from the depths! And it wasn't alone as Chris managed another one a few casts later, on his homemade cheburaska jigs! 
The obvious jokes of the East Coasters bringing these fish over were made, although it definitely seems like cod catches are becoming more frequent... 
I get codling on the deeper parts of this mark around October and then in Spring, but this was very shallow and unusually out of season. 
Nevertheless they were a lovely addition to the species count and Chris generously gave them to me for my dinner. 
Later on we encountered the first mackerel on this side of the island and we had some nice sized ones on the metals. By then the wind had gone right down and the sun was out. A perfect ending to another fishing adventure with these legends!















It was great having the guys back for another year and I'm glad that I managed to  put them on the fish after the hard days they had. 
The fish we had seemed in excellent condition. We tried to get them up on the topwaters but I believe that the combination of big tides and sunny sky kept them low. 
I had a quick session the other day after work and I managed a pollock on the fly and a coalie on the Autowalker 115s. The visibility was unreal at 18m! 


















With the proper arrival of the mackerel now, the sea feels alive and though I suspect fish will be a bit finicky, the golden time is near...
Will be going back to Greece for holidays next week and I'm hoping to get some fishing done there. Been a while...

Tight Lines 

Wednesday 5 August 2020

A bit hectic!

The past couple of weeks have been a blur... I've been very busy at work but also with guiding and I got to see some familiar faces. I feel really proud to have so many returning anglers! The fishing has been typical of Mid-summer with fussy fish and short feeding spells. Persistence, frequent spot changes and realistic finesse presentations were key for getting the fish.
Weather has been good for the most part although as we're getting into August, things seem to change. Had the first few mackerel sessions as well, though only at the western part of the Island still. I've yet to find some spare time for freshwater fishing but I'm hoping to change this soon.



















OTT!

Striped torpedo






















I have more guiding to do this week with yet more familiar faces! Hopefully it'll be time for some topwater strikes...

Tight lines!