Slowly picking up...

 Been a busy month workwise and with the gardening, fishing has taken a back seat. Moreover I had to change the keel to my boat as the old one was beyond repair this time. I put on a similar length keel from Aliexpress and after careful inflation (its wider) it seems to be doing OK.

I had a couple outing with clients from shore and boat and the results have been pretty good for this time of year. I think the reasonable weather we've been  having helped a lot.

The fish haven't all spawned out yet and they are in declined condition but seem very keen to improve that! As long as we had settled conditions and hit the right tide state, they wouldn't be too fussy.  Loud colours and softplastics done the deal. Slow jigs gave some fish as well.

Elvin and Manzhu with a double header!

Girl power!

Good conditions...

Some decent fish about...

She's in again...

And again..!

A few warriors for Dave!

Chilly but sunny!

It's great to see some better weather and I might be putting up a post with a new boat soon... 

It's also time I dusted the trout gear and go after the spotted beauties. I've got a new rod I want to try for them along with endless wee hard lures!

Tight lines 

New PB Cuckoo!

 The other week, we saw a window in the weather and me and dad headed to Neist for some proper rock fishing. 

I was keen to actually take him to my 'spiritual home' on the island and also try my new shore jigging rod (Savage Gear SGS2 shore jigging 100MH). It was a beautiful day and we set up on one of my favourite rocky points.  We soon got amongst the pollock although none of them over 4lbs. Good eaters though.  They weren't too fussy and would hit metals and softplastics. 

Cracking day...

Run of the mill...

After getting a few for the pot, I started trying some heavier metals and put on a 60g extra wide slow jig. The rod cast it some distance away and I started working it close to the bottom. I got an aggressive take on the drop and some thrashy resistance.  No problem on the big rod but you could tell the fish would go well on lighter gear. I knew it wasn't a pollock but was pleasantly surprised when I saw a big Cuckoo wrasse on the surface. It was clearly my biggest Cuckoo and as the fish wouldn't go back, I put it on the sling. It went to just under a kilo and was a stunning fish. Felt bad I had to keep it but they don't return well sometimes. 

A cracker!

PB for sure.

Found the rod a good tool for those 60g jigs and I suspect it'll work 80g equally well too. Seems to work better closer to it's upper limit.  A bit overkill for the fish on the day but I reckon it'll fit the bill for distance work and big mamas. I tried some big softplastics on it too and it did reasonably well with 40g darting jigheads and 6"-7" soft jerkbaits. Now just need to give it more fishing time.

Tight lines 

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 "cracking" day...

 Last weekend I guided a keen angler from my old hunting grounds in Lancaster. Tim wanted to taste what Skye has to offer and came up prepared with 2 brand new rods and reel specifically bought for this trip.

We met up on Saturday morning and were gonna fish that day off the sib and Sunday on the rocks. We set off to the first mark and conditions were looking good. He got his new Savage Gear Sgs8 rod paired with the lovely Shimano Vanford and to be honest I was slightly jealous of the setup... we had a few casts before he got snagged to some kelp. Unfortunately after applying some pressure, the rod snapped just above the spigot!! I didn't think that he exerted so much pressure as I proceeded to free up the lure with a slight tug...! Nevertheless, he switched to his heavier rod (SGS5 I think) and got straight into fish!

They're getting more predictable lately and we found them where I'd expect them to be. I suppose nearing Autumn things will get back to normal after this calm Summer.

We proceeded in finding some good fish mainly on softplastics, with the homemade Crazy Sandeel imitations from my Northumbrian friends doing plenty of damage. At some point we had another breakage, as my net hoop finally succumbed after netting hundreds of fish the past few years! A day of cracks for sure...

Lovely brace.

Some nice coalies about.

Good fish in great background

The next day it was time for shore fishing and I picked up Tim on my way to Neist Point.  The tide wouldn't be at my preferred stage for a few more hours but it's best to fish early in the busier marks anyway.  

The current was strong and we used heavy softplastics first and 40-60g metals later on. There were plenty of fish about although not of any great size. Tim got his pb ballan wrasse though on a paddletail.

Lovely ballan.

Average size.

Content! 

It was time to move to my next spot where I was counting on the better fish but Tim had enough of the hiking and was happy to wrap the day up. Skye hikes can be tough!

It was a pleasure to fish with Tim and he's informed me that the perch in the Lankie are doing well! 

I've got no guiding booked till September now so I'll do some solo sessions hopefully for sea trout and mackerel.

Tight lines