May came and we saw some lovely weather on the island. I've actually had time for a few solo sessions and ventured to my usual places but also further afield.
From the boat I decided to get my fly rod out from collecting dust and actually use it (!) as conditions were perfect. Plus, fish really like small presentations in early Summer so a fly is a good choice. I got a new extra fast sink line on the reel and along with the usual clousers it didn't take long to tempt plenty of pollack and coalies.
They're great fun.
Mental on the fly!
The bigger ones always complicate things...
On the conventional gear, results have been pretty steady and I'm always a bit surprised on how hard some of those fish can fight this time of year, lean and mean! Also a few cod have showed up too.
Fighters!
Beautiful rock cod
It's also the time of year where my mind turns to sea trout and I've had a short session for them with one fish landed and plenty of their infuriating follows!
It stood still for a millisecond!
Overall a pretty good start to the Summer and I've got a few trips further afield planned too. Let's see how it goes.
Well, its October now and we've yet to see an end to the near constant wind and rain!
Ive only done limited fishing comparing to the same time of year the previous seasons, but the fish seem so up for it that its almost like they're asking for a bit of calm weather to go on a rampage!
I'm saying this after having a guiding session off the rocks and sib today and we literally had fish from the first cast! Moreover, even though the waters were slightly cloudy, with a swell running and brisk SE winds, we witnessed fish hitting topwaters... I love this time of year because of the fish feeding so hard but damn, I could do with some settled conditions!
Anyway, today I had a revisit from Andrew who had come back in summer for some rockfishing, only now he brought his mate Nick and wanted to fish off the Sib but also a couple rocky points if possible. The lads were mostly focused on numbers today although Andrew wanted to catch on the fly and also requested as many coalies as possible! Its so cool to find like-minded anglers!
I was worried about the forecast all week but thankfully it stabilised and I managed to plan a session in the North of the island.
We set off at dawn and after a short run on the SIB, we reached the mark.
We were fishing near the edge of a kelp covered ledge over 8-12m of water. Armed with 12-14cm shads on 30g jigheads, the lads started casting near the kelp and straight away were into good fish.
There was a touch of chaos in the boat for a few moments but in the end we got both fish landed and it was time for the usual pics.
First cast!
A fat one for Andrew.
Many more followed and most were over 2kg with the biggest going 3.6kg on the scales. The pollock were in excellent condition, fat and rounded though the few coalies we found seemed on the slim side.
The sps were more consistent with the big fish as expected though some crackers were caught on tiny metals as well. It was very interesting watching the sounder when small shoals of coalies would appear, we'd get a couple and then pollock would crash the party and the coalies would move on...
After catching a good few fish and even though the conditions were far from ideal, I put on a topwater just hoping we'd get one or two to jump on it. Well it actually managed to raise 5-6 fish with a small one jumping on the lure as i was about to pull it out of the water! No hook ups unfortynatelly.
Happy faces!
Mayhem!
After a while, Nick wanted to stretch his legs a bit and we beached on a rocky outcrop so that he could have a few casts there, while me and Andrew would stay in the boat and try to locate some coalies and catch them on the fly.
It turned out that coalies were very patchy on the day but instead Andrew managed a wee pollock on the fly. His setup was a very light one and with all that wind, he could only get the fly a limited distance. I'm sure that with a heavier setup, the results would've been much better.
While we were looking for shoals of coalies we passed over deeper water and saw fish near the bottom, wondering what they were, I put on a slim paddletail on a 28g cheburashka and let it touch bottom. Got a couple soft bumps and then struck into a fish. It turned out to be a wee codling. They were shoaled up but a bit finicky and we didn't manage another one as the pollock were quicker on the bite. I found shoals of codling at about this time of year last year too, so it must be a seasonal movement.
A nice one for Nick.
Even the biggest fish get tempted by small metals..
Silvery pollock on silver metal.
A good bend on the wee rod!
Small but Andrews first pollock on fly.
So fat and strong!
Need to get on them!
Cod food.
With this and that it was time to head back to the harbour. A very successful day in a thankfully better day than forecasted! It was a pleasure having the guys and hopefully we'll fish again together at some point.
Lately Ive been thinking of purchasing a slightly smaller sib to go with my wee 2stroke outboard for solo missions. Even though my solid floor takes relatively little time to assemble, its too heavy in combination with the 20hp outboard for the 'rougher' launches, plus the 2 stroke is just sitting there gathering dust... Saying that, I was very happy that the lads didn't mind at all fishing in such a cosy space and the Yam performed well with the added load.
The tourist season is very slowly winding down and this gives me more time to get out. I have November off and I'm really looking forward to some chilled out fishing then. Hopefully the weather will calm down by then!
Below some more fishy pics from recent solo outings and a wee topwater fishing clip from last week!
Somehow its already the end of August and typically for Skye, this month brings unsettled weather.
I haven't had many solo sessions but I did two days guiding with my friend Rob from Yorkshire.
The forecast gave 20-30mph Southerly winds and we had planned one day on the SIB and one from the rocks.
I decided on hitting a Northern mark with the Sib, as it offered the most shelter. We would be fishing from Rob's Honwave T32 inflatable and after a couple pump issues, we got it all inflated and launched.
The fishing was done very close to shore and over a steep kelpy shelf.
We used mainly 12-14cm shads and soft jerkbaits on 20g jigheads.
From the off the fish showed an aggressive presence and they were all of a surprisingly good size... Most of them were well over 2kg and we had a couple that must have went to 4kg plus! The fights were spectacular and it was very difficult to stop these fish reaching the bottom. Most were coaxed out slowly and with some patience, a few broke us off and one was taken by a seal that gave the reel a proper workout!
We didn't stay long out as the wind and rain intensified but this was one of the most successful SIB sessions of the Summer!
On the way to the harbour, the waves made going a bit wet but we were soon on the slipway and glad to be getting out of the rain.
A fat mamma!
A happy angler!
Lighter coloured fish.
Excellent average size on the day..
This one was probably caught before..
The next morning the weather got even worse and we met at a shallow bay, where again, we would be most sheltered from the wind. There was some swell running that made fish a bit fussy but we managed some nice dark pollock on the softplastics but also on the fly! Rob is a keen fly angler and even though he thought that conditions were prohibitive, I insisted on him bringing the fly rod along in this mark.
It's always amazing fishing so close in for pollock and being able to see them take the fly!
Pollock on the fly!
Beautiful kelpie.
Saw this one take!
One for me too.
Unfortunately, the bad weather conditions really slowed down the fish on the next spot we hit and we decided to call it a day.
It was a pleasure fishing with such a passionate angler like Rob and seeing those bites on the fly was just mesmerising!
Yesterday, I had a SIB session with my friend Adam, this was his first time ever going fishing (!) and I was determined to get him on the fish! We fished Staffin bay mostly as again the weather wasn't good. Northerly winds and lots of rain had given a tannic tinge to the water, that made fish finicky.
Still, we persisted and after Adam got used to how the reel etc worked, started getting some tentative bites. He hooked up and lost a couple fish along with one break off but in the end he managed to get some nice fish!
Not bad for a first timer!
Perfect condition.
Even though the wind and swell meant that most fish kept low, the tide was right for trying topwaters. I put on the Mechanic Lures Autowalker 115s and had a few casts in a good looking spot. I'm always amazed at how hard pollock can slam topwaters and not get hooked! See the clip below..
I'm now looking forward to the Autumn months, as this means that Ill get more free time and hopefully some settled weather! Also, its time for the serious fishing to begin!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of guiding three gentlemen from England. Richard, Pete and Mark were keen to experience Skye's pollock fishing as they come mainly from a freshwater background and don't get the chance to rockfish much.
The weather was against us from the off with strong SW winds and a non-stop downpour for most of the day. Moreover, we had big tides this week and I know that these conditions when combined can get fish to lockjaw...
Despite the adversity, we had a reasonably good start, with Mark getting most of the fish on a pink Sidewinder rattleback sandeel. Even though we tried to replicate this pattern (and even sharing his lures) he just kept getting most of the fish! An incident that tends to happen sometimes when fishing in groups and I suppose its because of a combination of factors such as a person's retrieve style, setup, cast placement etc. Richard had a couple fish on metals and Pete managed a female cuckoo wrasse.
After the bites dried up on the first spot, it was time to let Peter have a go with the fly rod as that was on his list for the trip. We visited a shallow kelpy mark and as it was sheltered from the wind, he was able to let a few casts. He hooked up on the third or fourth cast and it was a decent dark fish that gave him the runaround!
The others soon joined in with the spinning gear and soon everyone was getting bites!
There seemed to be some bait near the rocks and a seal was hunting nearby. At some point, the pollock started pushing bait near the top and smashing them on the surface! We could see baitfish jumping (more like coalies or herring than sandeels) and pollock come clean out of the water... It was a bit confusing as to who was praying what but sufficient to say that it was awesome to see such activity!
Mark had a go with a topwater but other than a couple bumps he didn't get any to stick. They seemed fixated on what they were feeding and medium-sized paddletails worked best.
Hardy troopers!
First cuckoo of the season.
A nice bend..
Throughout the day bites didn't come easily and we really had to work for them, but every fish was in tip-top condition and fought well. Usually, May fish tend to be thin and a bit slow but this year seems different and the big baitfish shoals probably provided ample food for them.
We finished the day on a deep water mark that tends to give a few fish but with the potential for a better size.
Richard hooked up first but the fish reefed him and it all went a bit quiet after that with only a few tentative bites on our lures. Pete kept persevering and changing lures and spots a lot and he then got the fish of the day! I ran to put the net under a lovely conditioned 65cm pollock that got caught on a 2" curly tail grub on a 10g jighead!
It goes to show that especially this time of year, big fish can be caught on tiny presentations and it's not always the big lure equals big fish...
Excellent condition.
Notice the tiny jighead...
We then released the fish and after a few more casts, decided to call it a day.
It was a hard days fishing but the gents got the results they wanted and we all went home with a smile on our faces. That's the kind of session that sticks to mind for a while...
