Its codling time!

The day before yesterday I was in two minds as to wether I was gonna go fishing this week. But seeing that the weather was getting worse towards the end of the week I decided on going even if I wasn't 100% committed. Next morning I headed for the train station only to find that many services were cancelled and the one that did make it was late jeopardising my bus trip to Loch Fyne... Moreover the train was absolutely crammed with people and I was just about to turn back and head home when I found some room to get in. After a power walk to the bus station (not my thing definitely!) I managed to get my bus and a couple hours later I was at Loch Fyne, that was looking calm and inviting. I suddenly felt much better for doing the trip (the nap on the bus helped) and was filled with anticipation for what was to come in this day's session.
It was about low tide, calm and with a slight drizzle. Very good conditions for this mark.
The plan for the day was fishing cheburashka and slim lures in the bottom for the codling that should be shoaling about now. Of course I wasn't gonna say no to any pollock or late season wrasse as well!
Despite my high hopes the session started very slowly as fish were being very picky and other than missing a bite from what felt considerable, I only managed poor cod and a couple small pollock for the first half of the day. I changed spot moving to the right arm of the harbour and by then the tide was half way in. Things started to get better though and after some long casts I started to encounter my target. Codling were there though not as bunched up as I would expect for this time of the year, but with perseverance I got the solid bite I was waiting for and after a dogged fight and with the fish taking me to the rocks a couple times, I managed to land the best codling of the day. A plumb healthy fish of approx 2.5lbs. Having not eaten cod for a while, I decided to keep this fish while I released all other codling caught.

Always greedy the poor cod..

First of the day.

A nice codling...

..deserves a second pic.

Video of the day.

Nightfall was soon approaching but the action only seemed to intensify, something that surprised me as usually things go relatively quiet soon after sundown. Not this time though and I speculate that fish are still in 'summer time mode' making the most of this settled weather. Moreover the incoming tide seemed to be a positive factor as well. After the last light, I moved closer to one of the few lamps on the harbour and changed presentation to a texas rig with a 8g cone weight, luminous bead and a #2 Decoy RS worm 101 hook. The lure of choice was a 4" Berkley Gulp sandeel.
I couldn't believe the amount of bites and activity and was really gutted that I didn't have much time since I had to get the bus back home, I made the most of it though and caught some more poor cod, codling and surprisingly pollock. The latter were very quiet today and only really switched on after dark. I love it when I get surprised in my fishing and learn something new!

Night pollock.

Still feeding hard after last light.

Eyes bigger than his belly..

I then took the bus home and made a lovely dinner of my codling and some poor cod. Overall I believe I made the right decision to go fishing!

Thanks for reading!

Gear used.

Rod:  MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g.
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8
Leader: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs.
Lures: various 2.5"-3" slim paddletails, 4" Berkley Gulp Sandeels on Texas rig.

With wrasse and codling in mind...

As the title says the last few sessions saw me trying to focus on these two species. Wrasse because I haven't really targeted them this year and codling because it soon will be time for them to shoal up and provide excellent sport..
For the wrasse I tried at Loch Fyne while for the codling I was planning on an East coast trip (needing to take advantage of having the car before my brother returned from his holidays back home).
The good weather has unbelievably lasted till now (though don't think for too much longer) and I was sure I could get some ballans. I started not at my usual harbour mark but on a rocky outcrop a few miles further down the road, that is a known dive site and lots of wrasse are seen there. On arrival I realised that I was a too early as the tide was coming up and cut off access to the point and after casting on the sides I managed a couple wrasse and pollock. Although I was sure that most of the fish would be at the point (as the divers reported most of the sightings there) I decided not to stick around for the tide to recede and just go to my usual haunts..
I was fishing my LRF setup with the MC Solpara as I love using this rod and barely used it this summer.. I started casting around my favourite rocky point and chatting to some anglers that were pulling in pollock after pollock (small and average ones mostly) on float fished baits and surfcasting gear (!) when I got a good bite and a strong first run! After this the fish quietened down and I could feel some good weight on the end of the line... Bringing it to the surface I saw what must have been the best wrasse of the year flapping on the surface! This usually means that the fish is beaten, but nobody told that fish and it made another powerful run through some rocks and got stuck... My leader parted soon after...  Thinking that this is part of the deal with wrasse and lrf gear I stuck on but no more wrasse came from the point. I then moved to the inside of the harbour where there are lots of boulders but the water was very cloudy there and no fish could be found. Moving to the next point I started picking up some chunky codling and pollock before finishing with a small ballan. I decided to head home soon after as I was tired and was planning to return the next day anyway.

A very dark ballan.

Nice pollock on the Solpara.

Codling time coming!

Pretty ballan.

The next day the weather got noticeably chillier but still sunny and after a lot of casting around with small creatures on jika rig I failed to get any wrasse on that presentation. I got plenty of poor cod from the deep though and then reverted to the cheburashka. I was fishing 4g-6g cheburashka and small paddletails, though on the finesse setup this time, and after putting on a peculiar 2" softie (Bait breath O-Go Kyu that I had in my bag for years but never really tried them alot) I got the only ballan of the day.
I then switched to heavier cheburashka and 2.5" AGM Paddler grub paddletails, targeting the codling. I started getting some but I had lots of snags and cut lines, as my mainline has weakened especially after my Skye trip. Seeing that the codling weren't that big I just started tying straight on the braid without a leader. Unsurprisingly this didn't affect the codling one bit...

Poor cod on jika.

Quirky 2" Bait Breath O-Go Kyu does the job..

Not leader shy..

The next day I headed off for the East coast at the same mark at Fast castle as the week before. The intense westerlies had died down a bit and that mark seemed the best choice. Moreover I was in an exploratory mood and wanted to walk around to find some more areas to fish.. Needless to say that after wasting 1.5 hours hiking up and down the cliffs and sweating like a pig, I didn't manage to find a suitable spot and instead of settling on the known rock, I decided to drive to St Abbs head thinking I would have more options there.
On arriving I realised that St Abbs is more exposed to the wind and the eastern side of it was showing frothy signs of the swell. I decided to give it a go and started getting among some jumbo mackerel on the metals. It was good fun but I didn't come here for them and soon started working the bottom with soft plastics. The sea was too rough for my liking and after some casts I was ready to head back at Fast castle, when I got a good bite on the bottom... I recasted and a pollock was on my lure OTD. I then got a nice coalie and realised that although the sea was rough these fish were feeding... I changed spot to where I had been before with my mate Scott and started working my lures again near the bottom hoping that a cod would take it...
 Alas this mark was infested with the fat mackerel that were hitting the lures hard and getting caught at every cast! I changed lure colour from silvery/white ones to bright orange and pink in order to dissuade the mackerel but also to be more visible in the cloudy water. This seemed to do the business and although I still got mackerel, they would loose interest if the lure was left static or worked very slowly near the bottom whereas before they would still take it...
The first pollock didn't take long to show and I was impressed by the size of its belly! The next few fish were similarly in good condition and fat bellies, showing that they were feeding well in this rough water. I believe that this is because the baitfish were concentrated tighter and the predators took advantage of the relatively low water visibility to attack them. I was then even more surprised when after I struck at a repeated take and feeling good resistance on the other end, I got a lovely ballan on the rocks! This reminded me of my days on Sark where when the water was rough (not too rough though) the wrasse fishing would show less numbers but bigger fish.
After this fish I persevered while getting drenched by a few big waves until I retreated further back in the bay. Last time I had some good pollock from this exact area and after a few cast I had a good fish but it didn't feel like a pollock... The fish wasn't really making runs and instead zig zaging on the way back. This made me believe that I finally had a good cod although there were no head thumps...Bringing the fish closer I could see it was a good pollock but in the last minute it crash dived and cut me on the rock in front of my feet. Because of the large waves I was fishing from further back on the rocks and the line got cut on the lip of the ledge.
A few casts later I had another take and a similar slow fight and yet another pollock. Again the waves made the landing difficult and the line parted after a wave came crushing and then pulling the fish away while I was holding the leader... I did touch the leader though so it still counts! I think its time to invest in a good ISO net with their long telescopic handles... I haven't used a net in my fishing for a year!
I'm not so sure as to why the pollock behaved like this but possibly the water clarity had something to do with it, or their full bellies!
The sun was gone by that point and it was soon time for the drive back as I had to pickup my brother from the airport.

A long way down...

...and a long way up!

looks fine settled form a distance..

Chunky mackerel!

Chunky pollock...

500g of mackerel!

Not expecting one of them...

Lots of white water..

Even the little ones were chunky!

Well I really enjoyed my few day's fishing and certainly made most of the car but I'm now back to being carless! The cod are still in my mind though and I hope Ill be able to somehow arrange a trip for them on the East coast.

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g. MC solpara SPS-S792M, 7'9", 0.5-5g
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f, Shimano Biomaster 1000fb
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8, Mebarin braid 0.4 PE
Leader: P Line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs, Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lb
Lures: various

Thought it was June, not November...

This week I was determined, even without a car, to get a bus and go to Etive yet again. The weather wasn't looking good but I was determined to get among the pollock that should finally be there in numbers...
Well thankfully my mate Ronnie wanted to do the same and so yesterday morning we set off.
On the way to the loch the weather was getting worse and worse. On reaching the mark we were greeted with strong winds and rain. Temperature was around 8 C!
We knew it was gonna be bad and we came prepared with waterproofs but it was even worse than the weatherman predicted! Nevertheless I started fishing blades and trying hard to control them in this wind and after a while I started catching some fish. They weren't of any great size but this raised our hopes that a larger fish would show with perseverance.. Unfortunately this didn't happen, and after a few hours we had enough so we decided to head down to our usual banker mark in loch Fyne.
The weather was a little better there and we got catching fish straight away.. What surprised me was the great depth that most fish were coming from and that some of the pollock still had worms on them. Moreover the number of pollock was relatively limited comparing to codling, that we caught quite a few of. This seems to me to be because of the bad weather that I find  affects the pollock much more than codling and coalies. In any case we caught a good number of fish with some nice codling among them and also lost a couple that got stuck on the way up.
As they say, a day fishing beats a day at home anytime!
Some pics below and a video will come soon.

The largest pollock on the blade...

Lovely looking codling...

On a softie..

Pretty coalie.

Cheburashka kills codling!

A poor cod from the deep on the slow jig..

They are leaner here comparing to the East coast ones..

Red coding are stunning..

I'm not sure I will be heading up in Etive again, unless the weather greatly improves before my holidays back home in two weeks time. I want to try loch Long soon and I'm hoping I will be able to find some productive marks there as its so much closer to Glasgow and I can reach it easily either by train or bus!

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Majorcraft Crostage CRK-T782AJI, MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000 fc, Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: YGK G-soul x3 PE 0.4,  Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8
Leader: Sunline FC guide special fluorocarbon, 6lbs doubled up. YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs
Lure: ZX35, metal jigs, paddletails on cheburashka.

Things are stirring in the deep..

For the past few weeks Ive been making a foray to the lochs once a week and things seem to liven up the past couple sessions. Last week I managed to visit my favourite mark in Loch Etive and although it was already late in the day I still managed to rack up a nice little mix of species and had quite a lively short session comparing to the long drawn affairs of the previous ones. This was in part because of the ideal weather conditions (overcast, mild, no wind) along with the suitability of the mark as a sheltered area away from the main loch. There were no big fish but all the signs were there that it wont be too long now..
I chose to fish with my spro travel rod so as to maximise fun with the little fish due to its semi parabolic character and indeed it was a joy! I fished simple 3.5-5g cheburashka with #8 slim offset hooks and 2" slim softies.

love the colours on poor cod.

A lonely whiting, first from loch Etive..

Skinny coalie..

This week I was planning to give the lochs a rest but the forecast showed very mild temperatures, with warm southerly winds, overcast skies and a new moon. I couldn't let the combination of all these favourable factors pass so in the morning I headed up to loch Fyne at my usual mark. I decided to start from the left arm of the harbour so that i would fish the outside and have the wind at my back. It was hard controlling the line and feeling for bites but for once this wind was relatively warm and I was glad I could fish without gloves for the first time this winter! I was fishing Gulp prawns on 12g cheburashka and soon I felt a bite. i struck and felt some weight with a few head shakes but not much more. It was a lovely sea scorpion and I'm always happy catching these little beasts..

Stunning!

Not scared of big baits..

After the scorpion I moved towards the point and fished towards the inside of the harbour as the wind died down a bit. I changed to slims and paddletails and the bites started coming, followed by some very welcome codling, pollock and coalies much better sized than the ones from my winter sessions of late..

Better sized codling from the deep.

Some nice pollock as well in good condition..

After a while and while the tide had receded considerably i decided to move to the opposite arm of the harbour as I was sure more fish were to be found there.. On reaching the other point I was left with my mouth open as fish were going on a blitz and smashing fry on the surface! This is an unusual occurrence in the warmer months but in the middle of February personally its something Ive never witnessed! I knew at once what fish was doing this though... Coalfish! At once I started casting the little shad and was getting hit every cast but some fish didn't stick so I changed to a metal (if only I had a popper!) and was now getting coalie after coalie.. They were of a good size and excellent condition. I was fishing with the heavier gear but nonetheless I lessened the drag and enjoyed the fights with a wide smile on my face! I was also reminded how much i like coalies for my dinner so i kept five while releasing all the rest, possibly around twenty fish altogether. superb fun!

Rugged fighter!

Coalies save the day!

Dinner...

They were feeding well..

Finally a session worth noting and a lovely dinner as well. Hope the mild weather continues as the best fishing is just around the corner when the pollock shoal up in spring!
From the freshwater side the canals are now ice free and a friend informed me of some fishy-looking lochs not far from home that we will explore soon.

Tight lines!


Gear used.
Rod: Spro Mobile Stick 80 UL, 2.40, 0.6-8g, MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g.
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000 fc, Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Yamatoyo SW super Light Game PE 0.4, Sunline Tenya PE 0.7
leader: Dragon fluorocarbon 7lbs,P-line Halo fluorocarbon, 10lbs
lures: Scented prawns, slims and paddletails on 12g cheburashka, metal jigs.