Luck of the Cornish!

 Months ago I had a booking for 3 lads that was meant to take place last Saturday.  As these thing usually go, getting closer to the day it became apparent that the weather wasn't playing ball. Thankfully the lads were staying the whole week so we could pick a calm day. I picked Wednesday and the plan was to land the boat on one of the islands where we'd have some shelter from the SW wind and plenty of fishing ground. 

The day came and I got Daniel, Aaron and Graham onto the island. It was a lovely morning and for once the weather was much better than the forecast. We started targeting the major points and soon enough the fish appeared. Aaron got bit first on a pink Ecogear Power Shad and produced a nice fish. 

The water was looking a bit milky so I advised the use of loud colours. Soon enough Daniel was in too and after moving around a bit, Graham found some good ones. Unfortunately my beloved and battered extendable Major Craft landing net broke while I was trying to land one of those fish and I had to scramble down the rocks and use the net head to land fish all day...!

Aaron with 1st fish of the day.

Graham with the average stamp.

Happy chaps.

As the day went on, we kept running and gunning along the coastline, encountering pockets of shoaled fish but also picking up single patrolling ones here and there. The preference for loud colours weared off as the fish got more aggressive and I picked one on the Autowalker just as it was leaving the water!

What surprised me this day was the deliberate nature of the fights. I mean its part and parcel of this game to lose fish that reef you but not to such a degree as on that day.  Every fish fought hard and dirty using the reefs and kelp to their advantage and the losses were noticeable. I put it down to the excellent condition all fish were in with well rounded bellies. 

Daniel is in!

So is Aaron!

Heart attack take!

Graham seemed to have keyed in on a good presentation and location leading to the most consistent catches and better sized fish. Soon enough he had a much better one and after a powerful fight, I managed to get it in the net. A proper lump of a fish that took the scales to 4.6kg! Quickly released to fight another day. Graham was chuffed as he was having a red letter day.

Double for Graham!

Cracking condition! 

Throughout the day, a combination of soft plastics and metals were used with the soft plastics bringing in the better fish. 

A cracking day was had by all and we headed in around lunchtime. It was a pleasure fishing with the lads and glad to see people coming here from the other end of the country! 

Weather is still crap but I reckon any windows of calm are gonna see some good catches!

Tight lines! 

A bit of rock fishing too!

Getting towards Christmas now and fishing time has been limited, plus the weather hasn't really helped... Saying that, the other day I went on a rock session in what was probably the wettest day of the year! Typically I forgot to take my waterproof trousers but the fishing more than made up for getting soaked!
 I found the fish stacked in shallow water (still) among the kelp. Casts in deeper water only provided smaller fish... Its still 9.5C so it's not surprising that the fish are shallow yet their density leaves me wondering what they're feeding on...
Sizes were respectable yet no monsters. Soft plastics were winners again, especially 5"-6" slim paddletails and curlytails on 28g jigheads.

Below some pics and a video of the day.

Had a couple more boat fishing sessions with good results, though I've yet to find fish as stacked as from the shore... That's probably because I'm not fishing close enough to the kelp or I'm a far better shore angler than a boat one!

30g Salty Bait Inchiku does the damage.

When you hit the right spot...

Similar stamp...

I'll be getting some more free time soon and I'm really looking forward to some settled weather as its time for the big mamas now!

Tight Lines!

Gear from the shore.

Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g
Reel: Daiwa Ballistic LT 6000
Mainline: Seaknight Monster W8 PE2 (Aliexpress)
Leader: Daiwa Tournament FC fluorocarbon 25lbs, Duel Hardcore fluoro 30lbs
Lures: slim softplastics on 28g jigheads

Gear used on the boat.
Rod: Tailwalk Saltyshape Dash Power Rock S90H,
Reel: Shimano Stradic FK 3000c
Mainline: PE1.2
Leader: Daiwa Tournament FC fluorocarbon 25lbs
Lures:30g inchiku jigs

A long hike for the big ones...

About this time every year, I tend to get to marks that are harder to reach as Skye is packed with tourists and I prefer to avoid the crowds. Moreover the fishing can be tremendous as well!
Thus on Thursday I took a long hike to my favourite southern mark and started fishing about midday.
The tide had just started to ebb and it was sunny though with a brisk southerly wind and a bit of a swell.
I started casting my usual sps and metals but was getting only tiny pollock that seemed to be shoaled up. Surprisingly for this mark, the coalies weren't about either along with the mackerel that have yet to show up...
Took me about half an hour till I got the first proper bite on a 6" Sluggo on a 20g darting jighead. This mark doesn't produce lots of fish, but what it offers is usually big! The first fish turned out to be the smallest of the lot at 66cm...
They were keeping to a relatively tight spot and casts a few metres either side wouldn't get hit. I clipped on a couple slow jigs too (as the wind was getting stronger) and in all, I had about 50-50 of the fish caught on the metals and softs.
Unfortunately, even though I was using my trusty LSJ setup, I had a brute of a fish take lots of drag and actually manage to open the snap (Owner P-24 Lead snap #1!). Nevertheless, a few more big ones made me feel better after that...

In good condition though a tad thin..

All solid fish here!

A nice kelpie...

 Here's a video of a couple fish only as the battery run out...

A great day in the sun and I honestly cant believe how good the weather has been so far.
Even though I do love this mark, I'm planning to get a RIB in a few months just so I can reach marks like this more easily! Growing old..lol
Had a morning's searching session today, trying to find some mackerel as I've had reports of a few of them getting caught but alas I didn't manage to find any.. Hopefully, it won't be long now for them...

 Tight Lines

Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g
Reel: Shimano SW Biomaster 4000XG
Mainline: Duel X wire X8 PE1.5
Leader: Daiwa Tournament FC fluorocarbon 20lbs and 25lbs
Lures: 30- 40g slow jigs, various soft plastics











 

Shore-slow jigging for a (probable) PB!

We had a change in weather this week, with predominantly SW systems that raised the temperature and also the wind died down a bit. I decided on a midday session with the light shore jigging setup as I wanted to try out some slow jigs but also aim for better fish...
The water was slightly milky from all the swells and I went for a chartreuse/zebra glow 40g slow jig.  There was still some swell running and I expected the fish to be further out.
I made the first cast and after some bumps on its way down from coalies, it wasn't long before the first pollock was on..
Fought pretty well but was soon landed for a pic..

Wanted some metal today!

 
Another cast and this time I got hit soon after touchdown... The fish  managed to shed the hook soon after and as I was nearing the kelp edge I started a constant retrieve and then got hit again!
It didn't feel too heavy at first and I began pumping it in but then it started peeling drag in such a rate that I honestly thought it was a seal and started cursing my luck!
The fish did some more runs and I was waiting for the ''seal'' to let it go until I saw that I was actually hooked on a very good pollock!
Got the net out and with a bit of faff I got her in... A proper dark and battle-scarred warrior this one!
Around 81cm and with a big belly (near spawn time) thus I'm fairly sure it was bigger than my
pre-Xmas PB!

Bruiser mama!

Superb fight as well...

After a few pics I released her and kept at it. I caught some more fish and it was interesting to note how aggressive they were as they would fight hard, bite OTD and also come up on straight retrieve too...
I avoided striking into bumps and would instead tighten up only when I felt weight at the other end in order to avoid the coalies. I reckon with a larger single assist hook I could be even more selective...
This seemed to work pretty well as I didnt get through many coalies, though I have to say that the pollock were shoaled up and dominated the spot.

Notice how darker fish from rock/kelp are...

After a while the bites died down and it was time to change spot. I targeted the deepest areas and was rewarded with a few more pollock and loads of coalies!

...Comparing to ones from cleaner ground.

It was still early in the day but thinking that I couldn't do any better that day I decided to head home a happy man.
What a place Skye is...!

Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g
Reel: Shimano SW Biomaster 4000XG
Mainline: Duel X wire X8 PE1.5
Leader: Daiwa Tournament FC fluorocarbon 20lbs and 25lbs
Lures: 40g slow jigs

Here comes the snow and a PB!

The weather has been cold for weeks and a few days ago the Island was draped in snow! This coincided with reduced intensity winds and small tides...
Needless to say I was raring to go for a few casts and got my chance yesterday morning.
I went out the house in the morning ready to set off but realised that everything was frozen! And moreover being a Sunday I wasn't very sure if the road to my mark would be clear... After seeing a couple neighbours struggling to get their car out, I decided to go back indoors and maybe wait till later hoping that the sun might melt some of the ice.

Imposing landscape...

Around midday I couldn't wait any longer and headed out...
The drive was a bit tricky at some points but not too bad and at last I reached my mark to find perfect conditions. Ebbing tide, overcast and with a slight breeze. I had my LSJ setup with me today as I wanted the extra casting distance and was mainly gonna use large lures on heavy weights.
I clipped on a 14cm Delalande Shadka II on a 40g jighead and started casting about.
I could feel bites near the bottom but nothing big enough to take the large lure.  After a couple more casts I connected with a heavy fish near the bottom! It bend the Solpara like never before and took plenty of line from my tight drag but fortunately didn't snag me on any kelp or rocks. some more steady pump and wind later and I got her up... I knew she was big and as soon as I thump-held her I measured her on the butt of my rod as I have some tape at the 80cm mark that is the supposed length for an 11lbs fish. She was longer than that and I was elated! Got a couple pics of her against the measuring tape and she was about 83cm and in excellent condition. A stonking fish and my new PB!
After a couple pics I quickly unhooked her and plunged her in the sea, typically for this time of year and mark she swam off strong...

A brute!

I fished a bit more catching some usual sized fish but I felt this session couldn't really get any better and called it a day.
Some notes for the day:

• Though I saw plenty of cormorants, the gannets and gulls weren't about and along with the lack of coalies I reckon that the baitfish shoals were further out.
• Again the big lures brought the bigger fish...
• Definitely needing the heavier gear for these fish!
• Used metals (mainly slow jigs) but they proved too indiscriminate and got hit by all sizes of fish.
• Solpara rods are lucky 😉(previous confirmed PB on my LRF Solpara!)

Tight lines!


Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g
Reel: Shimano SW Biomaster 4000XG
Mainline: Duel X wire X8 PE1.5
Leader: Daiwa Tournament FC fluorocarbon 20lbs and 25lbs
Lures: 14cm Delalande Shadka II on 40g jighead.

The last Skye fish for 2016!

The past couple weeks I have managed to do two outings in order to close my 2016 account up here in Skye. I would've liked to have been on the rocks much more often as the weather has been very mild and settled for the most part, but being very busy at work, didn't get the chance. Nevertheless both sessions were on fire with lots of decent fish coming out and I have to say that I feel 'full' of fishing bliss! lol I'm now going back home and I hope to be making some reports on my fishing there...
On both sessions The fish were very active and the general weather patterns were the same. That is around 10C temperatures with brisk westerlies. On the second session the winds were a bit more than brisk with a moderate swell! This didn't slow down the fishing though... I used the heavy gear on the first day and the ML/HRF setup on the second one. I had lots of fish in the 3lbs-5lbs bracket with a couple more than that and also a few cutoffs even on the heavy gear! Moreover the coalies are now in their best size with a proper fatty caught the other day on a 5" paddletail and 3/0 jighead. 😲
I also got a surprise in the form of a beautiful male cuckoo wrasse in the last session.

A good stamp of fish...

Metals were very productive on the calm day...

Heavy Texas does the job...

A solid fish!

Of course the SaltyBait always produces..

Such beauty..

As I mentioned, the second day conditions were far rougher and this affected the fish lure preference but not their feeding activity. While I caught plenty of fish on metals on the calmer conditions of the first day, it was a different story in the swell... I had far more consistent results then with 'flashy' colours and loud presentations i.e chartreuse paddletails on cheburashka, pearl-white sp's on Vassalo Swimming jigs and Carolina rig with red floater before the hook. It was also very noticeable that the use of the lighter gear didn't inhibit me but instead helped with fishing lighter weights and picking up bites better despite the swell and current. The finer lines really cut through the water...

Chartreuse was the colour of the second day..

Loud presentations in the swell...

A fatty!

Recaptured fish!

On the 2nd day metals were preferred by the smaller ones.

Nice one!

A lovely surprise.

The place of dreams...

Goodbye.. for 2016...

Another interesting occurrence on the second day, was when the sun came out and soon enough the bites from larger fish slowed down.. I then switched to small slow jigs and reverted into catching fish albeit the smaller ones and also coalies. As soon as the sun got behind the clouds and became darker, the bigger fish started feeding again and the softplastics again picked the best ones out.
Below the action filled videos!

These two days were all I needed before leaving and I'm now looking forward to some good fishing back home! I'm hoping to get some bass and barracuda from the salt and chub and pike from the freshwater... Lets see!

Tight Lines and Merry Christmas!

Gear used.

Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g and MajorCraft KGEvolution Basic KGS-902L.
Reel: Shimano SW Biomaster 4000XG and Shimano Stradic Ci4 2500f
Mainline:YGK G-Soul WX8 PE1.2and  Duel Hardcore x4 PE0.8
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 25lbs, 16lbs and12lbs
Lures: 20g -30g metals, 16g-20g cheburashka with various paddletails on  #1 offset ewg hook, Carolina rig with 20g -30g tungsten bullet-8mm glass bead-swivel-25cm line-#1/0 offset ewg hook and various softbaits.

A morning on Neist.

On Monday I had the morning off and thought of going fishing at Neist. I woke up at around 08:30 and drove to Neist Point for a half day session as I was meant to be back to work at 17:00. The weather was supposed to be rainy but with slight winds and no swell so I was expecting some action. There wont be too much time before the waters get cold now and I need to make every chance count...
I arrived an hour or so before the low tide mark and first set up on my spot overlooking a gully. I found the fish at distance but much higher in the water column than usual (possibly a sign of active feeding before colder weather). Started with softplastics and after the fish got tired of them I switched to metals that brought in some more quality fish. For some reason the fights weren't very energetic but dogged with the fish 'hugging' the bottom structure... As a result I lost a couple decent ones.

A quality fish caught at range...

Plenty of this stamp..

Metals rule!

Chunky...

 After the bites slowed down I moved to my second favourite spot and got straight into more fish. For some reason the fish on this spot (more exposed and rough at the time) fought much harder with the usual crash-diving runs! I was still fishing with metals but after a string of good fish, I switched to a Texas rig with a 20g tungsten bullet weight, 8mm glass bead and 1/0 wide gape offset hook. The lure of choice was a 4" Crazy Fish Active Slug. I started dragging and hoping the lure on the bottom, prospecting for something other than pollock but in the end they showed up nonetheless! I had seen reports of some codling been caught nearby and I was hoping to get one but other than some wrasse bites and a cut line (from something toothy) I didn't find any of them.
Nevertheless it was an action packed session and one I'm hoping to replicate as much as possible before the winter blues... The added bonus to the day was that for once the weatherman got it wrong and it didn't really rain that much!

The only skinny pollock in the sea!

Much better..

They love Texas rig as well...

Hoping to do some LRF in the next couple weeks as I think its about time I found out what Skye's harbours have to offer...

Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod: MajorCraft Solpara SPS-1002LSJ, 3.05m. max 50g
Reel: Shimano SW Biomaster 4000XG
Mainline: YGK G-Soul WX8 PE1.2
Leader: Duel Hardcore Powerleader fluorocarbon 20lbs, 25lbs.
Lures: Various