Autumn is truly here.

We've been getting some proper Autumn weather now with lots of rainfall and the usual wind. Saying that there's been plenty of good days to go out but I've been too busy with work and family commitments. I'm also setting up something to do with Aquaponics for next year but more on that in a later post.

Probably the highlight of my fishing the past couple of weeks, has been a couple nice perch I encountered whilst having a couple casts on my way back from a family day in Inverness. Its in a loch that I know holds some smaller ones along with pike but was pleasantly surprised by a couple fish over 1lb. It was dusk and both fish fell on a small sparkle-chartreuse creature on a chatter-cheburashka. 

Lump!

Chatter-cheburashka all in!

I also had a short boat session in the salt that resulted in some nice pollock. Got some great footage of them hitting the lure underwater and will upload when ready.

Last week, my parents have come over to see us and I managed a short session with my dad on the sib. It was a choppy day but we managed a couple keepers that mum cooked straight after! 

More than a decade since we fished together! 

He's in! 

Good eaters.

Haven't fished with my dad in more than a decade so it was great to see him catch!

More recently, I've been in Inverness again and devoted some time in finding those perch again. I've been given some lovely softplastics from Tom at Kelpie Lures a while back and thought it was a good opportunity to try some of them. 

I decided to fish the bulb tail on a ned rig  as they look great underwater and it's a natural presentation. I fished an area with structure and dome depth that looked very 'perchy'. Didn't do too much in terms of action to the lure, just a few shakes and bumping bottom. Got an abrupt bite and some energetic head shakes straight away.  Felt a bit too lively to be a perch and to my surprise it was a nice brownie!  I had to take a quick pic and put her straight back as the season is over. I kid you not, as soon as I released the fish I turned my head and was greeted by the fishery officer!  I explained that I was targeting perch and  seeing that I released the fish and my gear he was happy to let me fish on... After a few more casts I decided to try another area with a bit more current. I was working my lure with the current and a few meters before the end of the retrieve I got another sharp bite with heavier weight on the strike. I momentarily thought it was a pike but the fight was very different and after some toing and froing,  I managed to land a salmon! Yet again a fish out of season so a quick pic, unhooking and sent her straight back. Decided that this was definitely not a perch spot and hearing some more splashes in the water, stopped fishing. Don't think I've ever considered salmonids as nuisance species before...!

Trout like ned rig too...

As do the salmon!

Great presentation.

It was great to see that the loch has healthy numbers of salmonids and that the lures work on them but I really hoped to have encountered a perch or two! Might try another loch instead. 

Tight lines!

Opening up my trout season!

 Had a few days around Arisaig last week and even though the weather still is wintry cold, It was dry enought to let me go trout fishing. I had a short kayak session in Loch Morar without getting a single bite or seeing any signs of life. It was great trying out the pedals on the kayak though and I was impressed with the speed (4.5kts) even with face on wind! 

Great potential.

Thats me...

 

The next day I opted for a session on a much smaller hill lochan that is a sort of a hidden gem. The water vegetation was looking much greener here and it wasnt long till I got the first fish of the day. It hit a green Ecogear S Grass minnow on a 5g tungsten cheburashka fitted with a chatterblade. I use this combo on a larger/heavier version for my seafishing but I thought it might work for early season trout if I downsized. 

Glad it worked.

Bonnie fish.

Small but beautiful.

 I had 6 hits, landed 3 fish and the rest managed to shed the hook, though not with their usual jumps. I find that early in the year they dont do that as much. Still those few fish were great fun on my old SPRO Mobile Stick 80UL and I was glad to have opened my trout account!

It was snowing again today so I think Ill wait a couple more weeks till im after them again. Im sure this Spring will come sometime this year...

Tight Lines

Jungle trouting..

After returning from my Islay trip I didn't have whole days off so other than a couple short sessions I didn't do much.. It has also rained a lot and I was skeptical in doing long trips, thus I decided to focus closer at home. There are a couple burns within a few minute's drive from home that I knew they hold trout as I saw them on my long trek last time I went trout fishing. Today on my break I though it was a good opportunity to check out the one closer to me. I put on the waders and after some scrambling above fences and bushes, reached the little burn. It was carrying a lot of water from the recent rains but no colour so I was optimistic. I started casting my #0 spinner about and sure enough the little brownies were hitting it hard! I walked up the stream for about half a mile and must have caught over 20 of them.. They were small as its only a small burn but I got a few better ones from the deeper swims. Still though, their sheer aggression, acrobatic fights and stunning looks made my day! I also noticed that most of them were looking chunky and that there were no salmon parr on this stream..

Precision casting needed!

nice swim..

Stunning.

Typical holding spot under bridges..

Surprising how many fish come from a good spot..

I also found some trout in a little stream flowing through a town which make for very different scenery! Overall it seems that they are everywhere up here...

Urban trout.. Need to look into it..

This week Im planning to visit Loch Fyne again but this time with the action camera and hopefully il get some nice footage. Ive also checked out a small loch that holds pike and perch and it looks promising..

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Daiwa Procyon, 6'.6", 1/32-1/8oz
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro1000
Mainline: Sunline Siglon fluorocarbon, 3lbs
Rig: spinners

lure: Lukris and Jaxon #0 spinners.

Return to my roots..

As I mentioned on my previous post, I am without a car now and this has really started to get to me! Especially yesterday on my day off, I stayed at home and I was feeling like a caged bird... Today I was having none of it.. I was determined to go catch some fish no matter what..
I heard of a little burn that holds plenty of small brown trout and even the occasional salmon in season and I've been wanting to try it out for a while now, though I was getting distracted by the lochs. Today it was the day, but the only problem was the distance... The burn is approximately 2.5 hours walk (!) from my place but nevertheless I was bent on doing it..
After the long walk I finally reached the burn and it did look very fishy with lots of cover and pools. I could see some little fish moving about and I cautiously approached the bank..
My first time fishing with lures was exactly in a place like this back home, ultra light spinning for brown trout and I must admit that its been a while since I've done it... So unsurprisingly, I was a bit rusty and a few casts didn't go where they were meant to!
I soon started getting the hang of it and I was rewarded with some little trout hitting my spinner. I caught plenty and lost some as I was making my way upstream, moreover I got some salmon parr as well, which proves that the burn gets salmon indeed...

Its been a while...

A beauty!

Plenty of parr, a good sign.

Sunken tree.. typical fish magnet!

After a while I reached a nice large pool and I decided to use some soft baits as well. I rigged an orange
Ecogear grass minnow s on a 1.5g jighead and started casting under the little waterfalls. It didn't take long before I started getting bites and more little trout and parr. I got a decent trout that came off but I wasn't bothered as I was having a really good time!

The pool.

They like softies as well!

I fished for a couple hours I think and caught plenty of little fish, so considering the time it would take me to walk back home and the midges eating me alive, I decided to call it a day and return some other time.. Possibly after some good rains later in the season for that elusive salmon.. Next week I'm looking forward to visiting the isle of Islay and doing some fishing there, hope it goes well!

Thanks for reading

Gear used.
Rod: Major Craft Solpara SPS-S792M (7'9", 0.5g-5g)
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro1000
Mainline: Sunline Siglon fluorocarbon, 3lbs
Rig: spinner, jighead
lure: Ecogear grass minnow s, Lukris and Jaxon #1 spinners.