Back to reality...

This weekend was my first days off after Skye and having my brothers car in my possession, I thought of doing a bit of driving around to assess how some new areas might fare.  Moreover I was expecting some good fishing as the weather seems to be holding up pretty well still.
A while back I had seen a video on YouTube by a fellow lure angler on the East coast at a very interesting rocky mark there. What surprised me was the good number of codling he caught there and after a bit of googling I learned more about the mark. The mark is near Fast castle and after asking my friend Scott about it, he told me that the descent was tricky but that only made it more attractive to me!
Thus on Saturday morning I made the drive to Fast castle and after a really hairy descent I arrived at the mark. The East coast really has some imposing rock marks! Almost vertical cliffs forming sharp fingers and deep gullies with kelp and some sparse reef further out. The bottom was usually sandy/clear  further out and harder close in. Half awake from the early wake up and drowsy from the long road I couldn't bother to retie a new snap, using the one that I had since Skye and just put on a 12g cheburashka with a 10cm Sakura Slit shad. After the first few 'exploratory' short casts, I made a long one, aiming for a buoy of some lobster/crab pots (good fish attractors). I let the lure sink and as soon as it touched down I had a fish on! I felt it thumping and thrashing while taking slow drag (typical cod fight) and then it all went slack! As I retrieved the line it became apparent that the knot had weakened and gave way... I hate those moments when it feels like I never learn! lol
The fish felt really good and was gutted not to land it as I'm really hoping to get my first proper cod (over 5lbs) this year.
I kept casting and working various paddletails but the bites were sparse and the fish wouldn't commit. It seems that this prolonged good weather period did more bad than good...
I then tried with a more finesse approach using a 4" stickbait mounted on a 3/0 offset EWG hook and connected to a 5g Crazyg lead head that I found lying in the bottom of my bag. These lead heads are in essence the Japanese take on cheburashkas and because of their shape they give a nice, tight, side to side wobble to the lure. Thus I could get extra distance on the cast and also have an attractive movement to the lure. This seemed to work somewhat better and I managed two average pollock before getting hit by a much better fish. This one made a screeching run and cut me off fair and square on some sharp rocks! It seemed that this wasn't my day..

Beautiful scenery..

Not much of a castle really..

Cliffs..

I love the rocks!

Presentation of the day.

A most welcome pollock.

After the lost fish, the bites stopped and it was time to make my ascent as I was going to meet up with a fellow Greek angler and fish the Torness power station outflow. The way up was much trickier and tiring than the way down (definitely getting a rope next time) and I reached the car being out of breath.
I drove down to the power station where I met up with my friend and after trying our luck with the lrf gear (having a few knocks but no fish) we decided to move to the rocks of Eyemouth. Another good looking mark with the negative of being very close to a populated area and thus pressured. I was confident that my friend would get his first pollock or codling, but other than a possible  pollock that reefed my friend we just couldnt get any fish from the bottom. It was a different story near the surface as big shoals of mackerel were pushing fry up. Getting fed up with the bottom fishing and since I haven't had a proper mackerel fry since the start of the season, I switched to my MC Solpara and the lrf gear and targeted the mackerel instead. I ended up keeping 6 fish and releasing some more but I could easily have spent the whole day catching mackerel there... So much fun! My friend only managed 2 mackerel but lost them both at his feet. I told him not to worry though as in the end we split the fish and I promised to show him my western marks soon where he will definitely catch his first pollock and codling. Moreover he was really impressed with the lrf gear and he is even thinking of 'converting'. How can anyone not like LRF?

Torness outflow..

Did a bit of blenny bashing too..

Airborne!

On the next day I wasn't feeling very well but still decided to visit a sea-loch that I have been postponing  fishing there for a long time. Loch Long is the closest sea-loch to me and I would be delighted if it turned out to be a worthwhile destination.
After the short drive I stopped at some well known dive sites where there are supposedly plenty of fish and admittedly the marks looked very fishy. I was hoping to get some wrasse and started by using small creatures on a jika rig. This started getting bites, some wrassy but more from small codling and also poor cod from the deeper areas but no decent fish would commit. I then switched to a 2.5" Keitech Live Impact on the same rig and finally got a positive bite and a fish on.
Straight on from the fight I new it was a wrasse and after a bit of coaxing out of some weeds I got a lovely ballan up. I kept fishing the same area but the bites dried up and had to move. I walked to another mark close by and managed a codling on a cheburashka with the same lure but not much else. It could have been the day but in all it felt as if the loch should hold more life than it does. Moreover I wanted to check the amount of life by throwing the guts from the previous days mackerel and I only saw a couple wrasse and smaller fish whereas in Loch Fyne I the whole place was teeming with fish.. Definitely too early for making any assumptions and I will have to try and fish some harder-to-reach marks as the fishing pressure is evident from all the discarded fishing line and anglers-related garbage...

Loch Long

Looks promising but need to find less pressured marks.

Lovely ballan on jika rig.

Loch Long codling..

On Monday the weather turned and the winds picked up. Not really feeling up for a wet and miserable session or a long drive, I decided to head to the Forth and Clyde canal to play with the little jacks..
Ever willing they obliged and I got a few on weedless softplastics and a minnow, after loosing some fish on the weedless presentation.

Aggressive little jack.

They really liked the minnow.

Definitely an anticlimax from my Skye trip but only to be expected.. Not all bad though as I believe the new marks (especially on the East coast) have good potential and weather permitting I will visit them again next week. At least Ill get some more mackies to play with and eat!

Thanks for reading and Tight lines

Gear used
Various.

The slow part of the season...

This month saw proper winter weather finally arrive upon us with plenty of snow, low temperatures and ice on the canal. The bad conditions along with increased work obligations contributed to the fact that I've done very little fishing comparing to last year.. Albeit I have managed to get fish from the salt later than ever before in the UK so I cant complain too much..
I did a few sessions on the F&C canal with the best results coming before ice up a couple weeks ago.. I've yet to encounter any perch but got a few jacks. A day just before the really cold weather came through was particularly good with the jacks getting really aggressive but I only had limited time and managed one jack while losing two that attacked a spinnerbait. I was fishing a light rod and couldn't set the large hook properly..

Pretty jack.

Icy...

After that day the canal has been pretty quiet and thus today despite the low temperature warning and brisk wind, I decided to head up to loch Fyne as I knew I would catch something there.
It was sunny for the most part with a cold NW wind and the occasional snow falling, making for an unusual fishing day but in the end I did manage some fish although as expected it was hard work.
I started with long dropshot rigs and heavy leads of over 10gr and various scented lures. As the tide receded I switched to cheburashka and paddletails as I could now work them better and with fewer losses since the current was weaker and didn't drift and snag my lures. I lost a better fish on the cheburashka and other than a few missed bites all fish were caught on the dropshot rig. This was to be expected as the fish have slowed down their metabolism and prefer more static presentations. Moreover scented lures where clearly more effective today again due to the low temperatures and sluggish fish. All fish were caught around midday.

Nice camo on this one..

They dont shy away from larger lures..

Clear cold and windy... Not ideal!

I should've scaled down and played with these guys..

Some notes from the day:

• Smaller lures would probably have been more effective as I would target the tiddlers specifically but instead I gambled for something better that didn't materialise..
• Fine wire, extra sharp hooks are a must.. Losses in winter due to weak hook-holds are more strongly felt!
• The larger fish were absent this time. Smaller fish always more active..

I think we are now in the hardest part of the year fishing-wise and any opportunity/chance of success should be exploited. Its a time for improving presentations and general fishing efficiency with usually meagre results. I do feel though that a decent fish in this time of the year is much more valuable and memorable than one in the warmer months..
In the following weeks I think a visit to some more protected marks is in order and time for the lightest/finer approach with small lures to take place. This includes the canal were I've yet to fish with UL cheburashka..

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g.
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Sunline Tenya PE 0.7
leader: P-line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs
lures: Scented worms, prawns on dropshot.

Change again..

Well I've now moved to Glasgow after a 10 day holiday, driving around Scotland and North England. I did almost no fishing but I enjoyed visiting places that I haven't been for in a while.. I did get the chance for a couple casts at Loch Linnhe and I winkled out a couple codling but not much else. I'm not complaining though as this is the latest I've ever fished saltwater in a year and I'm pretty sure that with the first opportunity I'll head straight for Loch Fyne since its not that far away..  I am optimistic that there will be fish to be had in the lochs throughout the colder months. Below a little video and some pics of my last fish here.

Hope they will still be there in January! 

My last pollock for 2014..

I need to find a place with bigger ones!

I have to look closer at home first though, and the Forth and Clyde canal seems promising..
I already identified some stretches on Google Earth and today had my first reconnaissance session near Maryhill. I was after perch mostly but seeing how cold it got since yesterday I thought it more likely to catch jacks.
I started fishing jigheads but then switched to dropshot with a pilker instead of a weight, something that's worked for me well on tough, cold days. After a few casts around likely looking spots, I was soon getting the jacks I was waiting for.. Really tiny pike but they were my first fish from this canal and in this horrible weather very welcome!
After fishing for about an hour and a half I decided to call it a day and head home.
I was very surprised with how well the fluorocarbon mainline (I couldn't find my K2K traces!) managed to withstand the jack's teeth as it took 4-5 fish till I had to retie.. I think that it was a good choice upping the line to 6lbs and using it exclusively on dropshot.

New canal looks promising..

Some nice features..

Tiny jacks were the catch of the day!

No matter how cold, they always give some sport..

Another baby pike.

Don't think I've caught smaller!

I will now start focusing more on the canal for my every day short sessions and whenever I get the chance (weather allowing!) I will still make the trip to the lochs to see how the fishing changes in the colder months. Moreover I'm really keen to try with the heavy gear on the East coast for bigger cod, but that may be more of a gamble returns-wise... In any case I'm not hanging my rods (!) and hope that the canal lives up to expectations...

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Awa Shima Qlite spin, 1-5g, 2.40m
Reel: Tica Libra SA 2500
Mainline: Sunline FC guide special fluorocarbon, 6lbs
Rig: dropshot
Lure: LFT Live baby shad with pilker instead of lead.