Close but no cigar! Opening 2020 account.

On Thursday I had an opening in the weather and decided to open my 2020 account.
In light of the previous sessions surface action, I was keen to try and get a topwater pollock in January, something that I've not managed before.
I picked a lighter setup for the day (Akilas Mobile 80H - Stradic Ci4 2500f) and went out on my Honwave T32 sib.
The area is a favourite of mine near Staffin with depths of 8-16m.
Conditions were looking good with an overcast sky and light wind. The tide was almost all out and in retrospect, I should have set off a bit earlier...
I started straight away with the Mechanic Lures Autowalker 115s in lemon back. It didn't take many casts and I had fish blowing up on it! Unreal stuff for January!
Most of the strikes were so violent that they would propel the lure several meters away without getting hooked! I changed to another auto walker rigged with trebles but lost that lure on a wind-knot after a few casts...
I tried with a pink-back patchinko imitation but it appeared that they wanted the lemon-back autowalker in the end.
I interspersed the topwaters with various softplastics just so I could catch some fish but after anchoring on a new spot Id start with the topwater as this was my goal for the day.
Amazingly, one of the fish on softplastics came up with a long leader sticking out from its mouth and I'm wondering if its a fish that I or my friends have lost in the past couple months!! I tried to check out the lure but it had it all swallowed up. The fish seemed fine though, so I just trimmed the protruding line some, and let it go.
I've only managed to get a few of the topwater strikes on camera than the ones I had throughout the day but even though I fished hard till sundown, I just didn't manage to get fish in the boat! On several occasions I hooked up, only for the fish to shed the hook on the way in... So frustrating but also exhilarating seeing them hit like that in the middle of winter.
I blame the softer rod but also my rusty hands for this and I feel that I've had my last chance on the topwaters...

Nevertheless, it was a great first day out and I have high hopes for this year. And what a year its meant to be with the expected arrival of my first baby in a few weeks! I know that this will affect my ability to go out and fish but priorities are priorities!
Heres a video of some fish and blowups of the day.

Tight lines everyone!













                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

And just like that, its 2020!

Well, 2019 is behind us now and what a year it was! Quite possibly my most successful year fishing wise. Variety, numbers and sizes were pretty good and I'm hoping 2020 will be similar.
Even though it has been such a great year, the weather, especially towards the end of it, was anything but. The constant wind and rain have kept me indoors but nevertheless, I did manage a couple quick sessions before the year was out.
Conditions were far from ideal but what surprised me was the willingness of the fish to hit topwaters! I've had big shoals of chunky coalies but also pollock hunt high in the water column and just freely come up for a swipe on the surface. Something that has made me very happy although again, I just didn't have even remotely good conditions for an outing. What is more surprising is that they're willing to hunt so actively in plummeting water temperatures (8.6-9C now). I do hope to get out soon and catch a topwater pollock in January as I've never managed that!
Below some pics and videos of the last sessions of 2019.

Wee boat doing alright.

They're in great condition just now!

Coalies too!

Tons of them OTT

A wee surface hitter

Some of the coalfish were quality..

They love the Autowalker!

And the Videos

I have been very pleased with my new wee SIB (Honwave T32) that I've paired with my old 2stroke and for quick outings closeby, it's all that's needed and much easier to assemble/handle than the bigger one. Although the bigger boat is much more fun and I do prefer the solid floor when fishing.
Anyway onwards and upwards for 2020 with many more fish to come!

Tight Lines and Happy New Year!

Some exciting fishing on two sibs!

The weather has settled a bit the past couple of weeks and this has allowed me to get out a good few times. I had a fun session fishing around Neist Point from the sib, something I've wanted to do since I got it! It was a fantastic sunny day and I got good numbers of pollock along with a nice wrasse and some coalies. I had found shoals of tiny mackerel and after catching some on feathers, I decided to use them as bait near the bottom.
My target was spurdog but unsurprisingly it was almost impossible to get through the pollock! A large shoal was holding over a rocky reef at around 50m deep and would pick up anything dropping before it hit the bottom!

Good stamp of pollock.

Lovely wrasse!

Unfortunately, it was time to head home and I didn't manage to catch a spurdog...
The next day I went out on a new boat I got for solo outings. It's a Honwave T32 air v floor inflatable and I paired it with my old Evinrude 2 stroke outboard. I've been wanting a lighter and
faster-to-assemble combo for when I want to hit multiple spots and from 'rougher' launching areas.
In the day, the combo behaved pretty well and I got 14-15kts although I did have some issues with the boat that im trying to resolve...
The fishing wasn't bad either, with a few good pollock among a 'flood' of chunky coalies. I also got among some codling from a deeper spot. Not a bad couple of hours.

Hungry chunks!

From slightly deeper water.

 Then yesterday, we were in a small tide week and in combination with the settled conditions I was hoping the fish would be up for it. I targeted the area around Neist again and was going to do some bottom fishing for those spurdogs again, but on the way there, the pollock had other ideas...
I found shoaled pollock and coalies high up in the water column and they would often break the surface as they were feeding!
Time for topwaters! I took out a Mechanic lures Autowalker 115s and after a few casts, I had a couple blow-ups and fish jumping on it. It didn't take long before I connected to one and the fun started!
Got some nice fish and the hook-up ratio was far better than usual. It appeared that the fish were hitting to feed. Top fish was one of about 2.5kg that managed to hook me while thrashing!
After that fish, I decided that it was already a successful day and headed home. I'll get those spurdogs at some point for sure...

Autowalker does it again!

Lovely dark kelp fish.

Thats my blood...

Its been a fantastic couple weeks and I hope that the nice weather continues. I'm looking forward to my time off from work coming soon and intend to get out as much as I can.  Definitely gonna try and bait fish for some different species although it will be hard to get away from surface feeding fish!


Tight Lines