Soon after my arrival from Chile, I spoke with two friends from facebook about joining them on Loch Fyne for a session together. Although we all live in Glasgow, it hadn't been possible to do that till now and seeing that the weather was calm and sunny (a pleasant coincidence this winter on many of my days off!) I thought it was the perfect opportunity.
Thus I was going to get the morning bus (no more of that, car back on the road now!) and meet Fergus and Paul at the mark as they were already staying a couple nights in a b&b there. I only took a LRF setup as the heavier reels were still in service, and from what the boys told me, things were slow so I would need to 'scratch' around...
I arrived at Loch Fyne to be met with calm, clear waters and a sunny sky! There was little wind and high tide would be in a few hours. So conditions-wise, it felt pretty good... I met the boys (and a local angler) at the usual rocky point and they had a couple pollock already along with the local guy losing something big. They were all fishing metals and it seemed a day for it so I did the same.
Putting on a 7g cheapo metal, I made a long cast, fed line for what seemed like an eternity, and then started retrieving my jig, trying to keep it as close to the bottom contours as possible. A couple knocks later and I had a fish on! It fought well, but soon enough a beautifully conditioned pollock came up. This time last year they were nowhere to be found! This mild weather has definitely kept them active throughout the winter months.. I took this for a good sign but after getting a couple more knocks and a fish or two between us, things really slowed down.
Fergus suggested we try the little river mouth for sea-trout as he caught one the day before and I thought it was a good idea so we walked back in the village and down to the river. There wasn't much movement and after spending 15mins there we got nothing and decided to head back.
On the way back, we passed a spot I always wanted to try a cast from and this I did.. I had a paddletail on a 7g cheburashka and although the spot looks shallow, in reality a good cast puts you over 15m of water... I got a codling-like hit soon after the drop but the fish let it go. A few more casts and this time the fish had the lure already in by the time I tightened down! A good dogged fight and a chunky codling was landed soon after.
I wasn't able to get any more bites at that spot so I returned back to the first point that by now was becoming more fishable with the receding tide. I persevered with the soft plastics fished tight to the bottom and was rewarded with some more codling and also connected with a couple better fish that unfortunately weren't landed. One got snagged and another one cut me off. Both were pollock without a doubt! There seemed to be a period of activity near sundown but the guys weren't having much success even though they changed to softplastics and soon enough they had to go and pick up their stuff from the b&b. I fished on for another 45 minutes and other than a couple poor cod and some knocks I got nothing more, so I called it a day and made my way to the bus stop.
Although I fish solo most of the time, its really nice to tag along with people who enjoy fishing and when there are a few fish thrown in the mix, then it makes for some very enjoyable time!
Needless to say I'll head out with the guys soon! Possibly towards Loch Etive as I'm pretty confident that the blade pattern may begin earlier than last year..
I would have preferred to fish with my medium gear as there seem to be good numbers of better fish, and it will happen soon as I now got my heavier babies back! Moreover I got a new travel rod and I'm dying to try it out..
The numbers of fish were still much better than last year and also their sizes which makes me hopeful for an early season trophy. It would have been interesting, had I taken water temperatures, to compare between this and last year and see if the presence of pollock/lack of coalies maybe based on that.. But I can't explain it any other way. All the fish were in excellent condition and hitting even faster presentations so that's good news for the forthcoming sessions. I do miss a good coalfish bite though!
All in all a great day and it was a pleasure fishing with Fergus and Paul. Looking forward to our next encounter!
Tight Lines!
Gear used.
Rod: Majorcraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Shimano Biomaster 1000fb
Mainline: Gosen mebarin braid 0.3PE
leader: Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lbs.
lure: 7g metals and 7g cheburaska with Crazy-fish paddletails.
Thus I was going to get the morning bus (no more of that, car back on the road now!) and meet Fergus and Paul at the mark as they were already staying a couple nights in a b&b there. I only took a LRF setup as the heavier reels were still in service, and from what the boys told me, things were slow so I would need to 'scratch' around...
I arrived at Loch Fyne to be met with calm, clear waters and a sunny sky! There was little wind and high tide would be in a few hours. So conditions-wise, it felt pretty good... I met the boys (and a local angler) at the usual rocky point and they had a couple pollock already along with the local guy losing something big. They were all fishing metals and it seemed a day for it so I did the same.
 |
| Flat calm... |
 |
| First one for 2016! |
 |
| A lovely day in winter! |
Fergus suggested we try the little river mouth for sea-trout as he caught one the day before and I thought it was a good idea so we walked back in the village and down to the river. There wasn't much movement and after spending 15mins there we got nothing and decided to head back.
On the way back, we passed a spot I always wanted to try a cast from and this I did.. I had a paddletail on a 7g cheburashka and although the spot looks shallow, in reality a good cast puts you over 15m of water... I got a codling-like hit soon after the drop but the fish let it go. A few more casts and this time the fish had the lure already in by the time I tightened down! A good dogged fight and a chunky codling was landed soon after.
 |
| Chunky codling OTD! |
 |
| Photo thanks to Fergus... |
 |
| I love codling on LRF! |
Although I fish solo most of the time, its really nice to tag along with people who enjoy fishing and when there are a few fish thrown in the mix, then it makes for some very enjoyable time!
Needless to say I'll head out with the guys soon! Possibly towards Loch Etive as I'm pretty confident that the blade pattern may begin earlier than last year..
I would have preferred to fish with my medium gear as there seem to be good numbers of better fish, and it will happen soon as I now got my heavier babies back! Moreover I got a new travel rod and I'm dying to try it out..
The numbers of fish were still much better than last year and also their sizes which makes me hopeful for an early season trophy. It would have been interesting, had I taken water temperatures, to compare between this and last year and see if the presence of pollock/lack of coalies maybe based on that.. But I can't explain it any other way. All the fish were in excellent condition and hitting even faster presentations so that's good news for the forthcoming sessions. I do miss a good coalfish bite though!
 |
| Big boys ready for another serious season! Hopefully... |
All in all a great day and it was a pleasure fishing with Fergus and Paul. Looking forward to our next encounter!
Tight Lines!
Gear used.
Rod: Majorcraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI
Reel: Shimano Biomaster 1000fb
Mainline: Gosen mebarin braid 0.3PE
leader: Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lbs.
lure: 7g metals and 7g cheburaska with Crazy-fish paddletails.
