First bass on Skye!

 I've had the rare opportunity on Sunday to go on a solo trip with the kayak. It's been a while since I've done that and pretty much forgotten/couldn't be bothered fitting the pedals and other accessories... Instead I used it as a paddle board and just paddled as it was flat calm. I went to my seatrout mark just to give myself a last chance of hooking a better one of these fish for this year and also to explore the area some more.

A day for it!

I paddled against the current at first so as to make it easier to fish with the current later on. This was a deeper rocky area and I could see lots of baitfish around. I also passed some boulder fields and identified some larger wrasse moving about. I had just changed leader from a thicker to a thinner one for the seatrout but decided to get a wee soft plastic down for the wrasse. This typically meant that I got busted on the first fish so I had to retie a thicker leader...!

I rigged a new softplastic creature bait  on an articulated Texas jighead and dropped it into a good looking hole. It didn't take long to see a dark shape moving towards my lure and I struck once I felt the take. A spirited wee fight and I landed a lovely wee ballan. I persevered a bit more but the rest of them seemed to have spooked and I reverted back to seatrout fishing. 

Can't say no to wrasse.

Cool jighead, the presentation looks similar to a jika rig.

Despite my efforts they just didn't seem too interested today and I had 5-6 follows and one half-hearted take which dropped off immediately after. By now I had drifted to the shallow bays and kept covering water. 

After yet another cast, I saw some disturbance in the surface near my lure and then a gray shape taking it. I immediately knew what this was and after a wee fight I managed to slip the net under my first Isle of Skye bass! It was only around a kilo but in perfect condition and I put it straight back after a couple photos. I knew there's bass on the island but not in any numbers that would merit targeted efforts. I have been fishing this mark for years and although I've always thought that it would be a good mark for the bass, never encountered them till now. I've rarely visited it after July though and maybe that's a factor... 

First Skye bass!

I persisted casting in the area but I didn't see signs of any more surprisingly. I decided to call it a day soon after. It was one of those days that despite the lack of numbers of landed fish, the encounters and the 'action' was plenty for me. One thing is certain though, the kayak will be coming out much more often!

Tight lines