Had some fantastic sessions lately and the settled weather along with the aggressive fish, made for some very exciting fishing!
Firstly, I had a good day out on the SIB with my friend Milos. It was his first time fishing in Scotland and I made sure he caught his first Scottish fish! Whats more, he caught it on a topwater lure that's made by a friend, within the first few casts! We had loads more pollock throughout the morning, mostly on sps and metals. Also, we picked up some mackerel and a wee wrasse on a Breaden metalmaru with the LRF gear.
First Scottish fish...
...And on a topwater!
Metalmaru for this aggressive wee fella.
LRF pig!
Mechanic Lures Autowalker 115s...
Then on Sunday, I had the pleasure to fish again with the mad Geordie crew! The lads were up for the third time in a row and this time they brought two Skye virgins...
I've fished with the lads in most good marks of the Island and this time I wanted to offer them something different... I've been thinking for a while to try and get my friends on the islands I tend to visit with the sib, but instead of fishing from the boat, just beach and fish from the rocks.
This we did and soon enough we started catching. The fish preferred metals early in the morning and Keith managed a few OTT with a patchinko and my friend Soulis Autowalker 115s.
Unfortunately, the head of my prized Solpara landing net fell off (worn threads) while trying to net the first fish and for the remainder of the day we fished without it, resulting in some losses. Nevertheless, everyone caught some very good kelp pollock with their dark colours and the action got intense soon after HW.
Later on in the day, the soft plastics started giving most fish, with the Fiiish Crazy Sandeel proving irresistible to the big ones! Mick realised this last year and now he was armed with a whole box full of them! He got some very good fish but also got reefed by a few donkeys!
There we go.
Mick with the first.
Bob with a chunk.
Topwater aficionado!
A nice one!
Double hook up!
Dave with a good one!
And another kelpie...
Keith bringing one up accompanied by its mate!
Lovely fish for Mick.
Another OTT for Keith.
A brute.
It was an awesome day and we returned to the harbour knackered! The island doesn't have sheep on it and the vegetation grows wild, making hiking quite tiresome. We did get rewarded with excellent fishing though along with seeing a big sea-eagle, so no complaints there.
I have already ordered a replacement net and can't wait to get out there again!
Following my session last week where I witnessed coalies smashing baitfish at the surface, naturally I went again the next day bringing my LRF setup along... Of course this being Skye, the weather changed slightly the next day and there was some swell coming in now. I had my MH gear as well but in truth LRF was in my mind..
Thus I fished with the MH gear at first while waiting for low tide thinking that the conditions will improve. I caught the usual pollock and a ballan from my favourite spot and as the time passed conditions did improve markedly..
Pretty ballan.
While retrieving my sp's I saw some pollock shooting out from the ledge under my feet and coming practically out of the water trying to hit the lure! I changed position and picked up the LRF setup, clipped on a little topwater lure from Aliexpress and cast towards the ledge.. It didn't take long and the pollock hit my topwater! A short but intense fight ensued and I soon had the fish up on the rocks for a couple pics before the release.
Taken from under the ledge I was standing!
I managed to raise a couple more fish but they didn't stick so I went back to the MH gear and the softplastics.
At some point about an hour before low tide the coalies thankfully started blitzing and I immediately dropped the heavy gear again and picked up the light rod. Got on the rock closest to the action and cast out... Within the first few twitches I had a fish on!
This was repeated plenty more times along with fish getting unhooked and loads of attacks on the surface!
Here's the video of most of the action.
It soon became evident that the baitfish were actually sprats and as it happens perfectly matched the size of my lure. I tried other topwaters as well and they all did pretty good.
Match the hatch...
The action as well didn't really matter as long as the lure was moving erratically. Even when the front treble got tangled to the leader they'd still hit it!
Most of the action was happening in front of a point where the current was faster, I have actually witnessed similar situations in other places as well. I still remember a February session in loch Fyne when the coalies did just that. It was near low tide back then too and at a similar spot, something that convinces me that they chose the place and time to hit the baitfish when it would be most efficient to do so... Unfortunately knowing when there are baitfish at a given mark is harder to predict and as I went to the mark again a few days later, I saw that the sprat shoals kept their distance throughout the day.
Ideally calm overcast conditions with probably mild temperatures are the most conducive for this to happen. Still its great to have such fun surface fishing with the temps not passing 5C and when I thought I wouldn't get a topwater wet till summer!
Some more pics below.
Surface predators!
They didn't hold back..
On the Ima Pugachevs cobra as well.
This session really brightened up my fishing of late and I'm hoping to encounter a similar one again.
I just don't understand how more LRF'ers aren't giving topwaters a go while stagnating on the sp/artificial bait techniques all the time. Although I do realise that for some reason most UK tackleshops (e-shops as well) don't really stock LRF-topwaters anymore... This wasn't the case some years ago when tiny hardbaits were easier to acquire from the same sources.
Anyway, I hope Ill get the chance at some point to do a summer trip down South and target those garfish, scad, bass etc OTT on the LRF gear...
Tight Lines!
Gear used
Rod: MajorCraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000Fc
Mainline: Duel Hardcore x4 PE0.6
Leader: Toray Excellent fluorocarbon 6.8lbs
Lures: Jerry's topwater lures from Aliexpress, Ima Pugachev's cobra 60
Well we're into September now, which I consider the beginning of the best period for fishing in general! The past couple sessions indicated that the fish are aggressive and very keen to come to the surface when conditions allow (even when marginally).
I had Lewis from Edinburgh visiting the other day and he was very keen on getting some topwater action! The weather forecast for the week was horrendous! with supposedly 30-40mph westerlies for most of the week, but thankfully as it usually happens up here, it wasn't very accurate and by Friday the winds were dying down.
We met up shortly after daybreak and would fish from the high tide onwards on a shallow bay.
On arrival there was quite a bit of swell running (residue from the previous days winds) but I was sure it would dissipate with the ebb...
We gave topwaters a go but it was still too bouncy for the lures to work properly and the fish to come up, thus we soon clipped on various softplastics on 14g-20g cheburashkas and started fishing close to the bottom.
Soon the bites started coming and along with them the pollock!
Some decent fish around 3-5lbs and after a while Lewis hooked up to a better one that took plenty of drag and snagged him up... I got the rod and changed angle, after waiting a bit I gave the line a few pulls directly with my hand and realised the fish was out! Passed the rod to Lewis and after a few pumps and winds the fish was in the net! Lewis told me his previous PB was 6lbs and after weighing this one it appeared it was bigger at 6.13lbs! Now that's a good start to the day...
New PB!
More than one fish had actually been caught before and had healing prick-wounds, this is because being a shallow mark, most of the fish survive... A testament to the value of good C&R!
The fish were being quite fussy in the morning, preferring gentle and slow animation near the bottom along with natural coloured sps and lightish weights. Other presentations even with soft/active lures but on heavier weights or garish colours didn't get much attention. We didn't use metals as the coalies are usually in big numbers on this mark.
Caught before...
Another survivor...
We were a couple hours into the ebb now and the gullies started emptying, moreover the swell died down a bit and I thought it was a good time to try with the topwaters again. After trying several lures in the same area, we managed to raise a couple pollock on the Ima Popkey.. The fish seemed annoyed more than anything to this 'intense' lure but just seeing them respond was an indication that they were now closer in and higher in the water column.
We decided to move to a different spot and concentrate on the topwaters. The waves didn't allow all the WTD lures to walk properly and only a few could 'bite' well enough to have a nice and constant action. I clipped the Tacklehouse Vulture and Lewis had a cast near some weed collected at the mouth of a gully. Soon enough a fish splashed and hit the Vulture. The first fish of the day on topwaters was soon on the rocks and that was just the beginning...!
We kept at it and Lewis managed to get plenty more fish! The hookup rate was much better than on my previous session,on this day though the time was much more appropriate and most of the fish got caught on the first treble indicating active feeding...
The size of the fish was very good as well with fish of 3-4lbs and even some bigger ones hitting the lures! We both agreed that while the chances of getting, say a double figure fish were slim, catching this kind of size pollock on a 5-25ish gram rod was all the fun you could want!
As mentioned only a few topwaters worked better amongst the waves including the tacklehouse Vulture, Ima Popkey, HTO Climax while when the water calmed down, the Salt Skimmer (and its Chinese copy) were very effective.
Feisty!
Not only little ones OTT!
Another decent one on topwaters!
After the fish quitened down and the sun came out of the clouds, we decided to hit one more mark with softplastics and again the fish obliged. Lewis lost a big one that kelped him but got plenty more decent pollock after! They prefered again finesse presentations on light leads and a dark 4" paddletail did most of the damage.
Fish on!
After a few more fish it was time to call it a day and head home.
This was a fantastic fishing session that panned out as planned and I thoroughly enjoyed Lewis's company. Below is the video of the surface action for the day.
Last week saw me do some guiding with a fishing aficionado! George has a very extensive freshwater match fishing background but only recently got into saltwater lure fishing and wanted to get some tips and also sample the great fishing Skye has to offer... Thus we started our day at first light and the venue of choice was the imposing Neist Point, a mark that I believe everyone who comes for the first time on Skye must visit.
Conditions-wise it was looking like a textbook pollock day... Overcast, a bit windy but with mild temperatures. George told me that he would be happy with some good pollock and also a cuckoo wrasse, both species readily available on Neist.
We had spring tides this weekend which made the currents very strong around the point, thus we targeted the pollock first and when the current became too strong, moved to a more sheltered spot. After catching some fish (but also getting cut off by some very good pollock) the tide was reaching the ebb and the current slowed down. We then moved again towards the deeper water but the cuckoos proved elusive.
More pollock were caught that gave George a good workout and after a while and by persisting with bottom fishing tactics (heavy texas rig) a couple ballan wrasse were caught. The second one was a solid and beautiful fish..
Seeing as the cuckoos weren't in a mood to bite and with the session nearing its end, we decided to have a go with the topwater lures for pollock in a nearby suitable mark.
After demonstrating the 'walking the dog' to George, he made a few casts with the Ima Skimmer and raised a couple fish that didn't take. I then changed the lure to the Tacklehouse Vulture and George proceeded into catching his first pollock OTT!
We kept at it for a while longer and after a couple more boils and splashes he connected to a second fish. This was the end of a very productive day and I believe that my friend thoroughly enjoyed the fishing. For me it was a very pleasant day, George was good company and even though I wasn't fishing, I felt rewarded by seeing someone else catch fish and experience the intense action that the Isle of Skye can offer! Admittedly we didnt manage to find the cuckoos but the combination of spring tides/strong currents and windy weather definitely isnt ideal for these fish.
Next time as they say...
One of the many fish caught..
It was a bit windy at times...
A decent pollock.
Best fish of the day. A hard fighter!
George with a beautiful ballan.
OTT!
Next week Im expecting my friends Scott and Lee for a long-awaited joint session! Seems that the weather will be reasonable so I'm hoping we'll experience some more good fishing...
As per the title the weather has been atrocious the past couple weeks and I only found opportunities to fish here and there, mostly in the more sheltered areas. The fish have obliged but its been difficult to get to the larger pollock as the coalies are in huge numbers and truculent right now! Even the usual up-sizing the lures that used to dissuade them has little effect now!
Nevertheless here's a little video from last week.
Today I had a quick session before the expected gales started and managed a couple average fish (among hordes of coalies) on topwaters of all lures! I kept one fish as I wanted to try out a ceviche recipe for pollock that I thought it might work. Well it did and its now my favourite way to eat them!
A decent fish on the vulture.
Scottish squid with gram flour and pollock ceviche. Tasty!
I was surprised to find the fish very willing to come off the top even though the water was 'lively' and the wind strong. If only this weather calmed down abit...!
My days off didn't start in the best way this week. Issues with my car kept me home for most of the morning (turns out I had left a light on and drained the battery...) but as soon as I sorted it out, I was out fishing! This time I took my usual light shore jigging setup but also the finesse one as I wanted to 'scratch' around the bottom for extra species.I was fishing at one of my favourite deep water rock-marks and started with a 14g cheburashka and a 3" Ecogear paramax on the #2 offset hook. It took a long time to hit the bottom but I felt sharp bites as soon as it did... I struck and at once I knew I had something other than pollock on! I took my time reeling the fish in and soon enough had a chunky female cuckoo wrasse on the rocks.. I love catching these fish and persevered looking for the male to bite my lure.. Alas as is usually the case up here, the pollock had different ideas and didn't let anything else get a taste of my offerings. I got a 4-5 pounder that gave a very good fight and thought it was time to change to the heavier gear...
This saw me catch yet more pollock but towards the end I got a lovely male cuckoo wrasse!
Less colourful but still feisty!
Can never get tired of catching these...
And the videos of the session.
As I was making my way back (getting dark by now) I passed the shallow bays and the water just looked perfect for some topwater action. It was almost past the high tide mark by now and as I approached the waters edge I saw fish splashing close in.. Pollock hunting...
Straight away I put on the only surface lure I had with me (Tacklehouse Vulture) and casted towards the splashes.. The rest on the video below...
Almost night-time...
On the next day I visited Rubha Hunish as I hadn't been there in a while.
The session didn't start with a bang and things were pretty slow but after moving around a bit I decided to fish the rocks facing the wind and covered water quickly with hardbaits. This saw me get some good fish and the lures that shined were the Ima Hound 125 Sonic and the ever-productive Megabass Zonk Gataride. As I was walking and casting along the rocks (tide turned and was on the ebb by now) I identified a gully emptying out and it was there that I had non stop action for about 20mins! In retrospect I shoud've used hardbaits and even topwaters but the classic 6.5" Sluggo on a darting jighead did the damage..
Ima hound...
A very dark fish...
Megabass Zonk Gataride..
And the video.
A very productive couple of days and I couldn't ask for more!
I'm really hoping the weather improves a bit though as I want to make the hike (and fish!) to Idrigill Point and Rubh na Dunain. Two hard to get to marks that I'm sure are well worth the effort. Plus I need a bit of exercise!
