SEAL operations in February.

Last weekend I hosted Zubair and the lads again for a day's fishing. The weather has been atrocious this month so managing to get out was very lucky. Nevertheless, conditions weren't that great. Day started frosty but dry and there was a good swell running.  

I met the boys down the pier and the plan was to get on the boat and cross to one of the Islands where we'd spend the day fishing from the rocks. The guys really wanted to fish from the boat but I had warned them that it wouldn't be possible due to the weather and they should come prepared for rock and boat fishing.  Unfortunately, a couple didn't get the message and came with casual footwear that wasn't ideal...!

We crossed to the island and secured the boat. Then made our way to the first rock point. The swell was significant and after getting a couple skinny coalies I decided to move to the other side of the island. The swell was still significant here but the greater depth made fishing slightly easier. I setup the guys and had a couple casts with my rod. Surprisingly,  I got hit  straight away and managed a chunky pollock on a homemade yellow/white fork tail on 30g darting jighead. I recommended loud colours to the lads and soon enough Zubair was in as well.  The fish were typically holding low and near the rock-kelp transition.

Don't look too bad...

It's the same day..!

 There were average size pollock but they were in great condition and the gonads made them much heavier. Hence why this is prime time for the biggest fish of the year although unfortunately the weather has been prohibitive for fishing this winter.

Next one to have a fish was Khurram and he also lost a bigger one. Most of the other guys found it difficult to stay in the zone and unfortunately didn't get any fish. Winter fishing can have great rewards but its definitely more demanding skillwise.

After we lost a good amount of gear and with the tide receding (big tides) I decided to run and gun along the rock wall and Khurram followed me while the rest went back to the boat for a break. I soon found a pocket of fish and called Zubair back. The three of us had some more plump fish before deciding to call it a day. Unfortunately I didn't get many photos during the day as we kept most fish for the table and they were dispatched quickly! 

On the way back we had to lift and walk with the boat to the water as 2 of the bolts holding the wheels snapped  hence the title... It was good fun spending the day with the lads and even though not everyone caught, we still had some fish. They assured me they'll be back in the summer months for some relaxed boat fishing!

I was hoping for another day out before March but the weather is just showing storms all the time so I don't think I'll manage it. Plenty of other stuff keeping me busy right now anyway...

Tight lines 

Tropical fishing.

 I've not gone holidays outside the country so far but it seems that the hot weather has come to us.  This, combined with big tides, very clear water and sunny conditions, has unfortunately made fishing quite hard especially in the salt. Its something I call the midsummer blues when every year around this time the fishing slows down.  Typically I had 3 consecutive days guiding from shore and boat! We had to work hard for our fish but we didn't do too bad in the end...

Cracking days...

A happy angler.

That's better.

Wrasse from 20m.

Nick with a dark kelpy.

Got one too.

And then the haar lifted.

It came down to fishing early mornings while the haar was still low and then choose deeper kelpy marks when the sun came out. Especially from the boat it became apparent that the fish moved a bit deeper and were keeping low in the water column.  Also they were more loosely shoaled and fairly spread out. Nevertheless a good number of them came out, fighting hard along with a couple ballan wrasse.

Mackerel and cod from a solo day.

Hadn't caught one in a while 

Have been really spoiled with the weather this summer and I can't complain even though it makes fishing hard work. 

Had a couple solo outings in the freshwater that didn't go too bad. Fished for perch on another hot day, and despite taking a while to find them, they were shoaled up in a weedy bay and in a hunting mode. I didn't use finesse tactics and instead opted for a chatterbait-cheburashka and 2" softplastics. The bites were instant and one after the other. No fish of any size but loads of them! Got a few slaps on a wee topwater as well but no hookups. I really wish I wouldn't have to drive 2 hours plus to fish for them. Also managed a lovely brownie that smashed a mini spoon almost at my feet!  

Perch on chatterbait-cheburashka 

Loads of them. 

A welcome surprise. 

Got busy times ahead with lots more fishing and guiding! Also need some LRF mackerel for the bbq...

Tight lines 

Some tough guiding to start the season.

 Over the weekend I guided for a second time (after many postponed trips due to various reasons) my friend Zubair and his brother along with 2 friends of theirs that haven't fished in Skye before.

The weather didn't allow for a boat outing thus we fished from the rocks. Unfortunately the boys were a bit late and we lost valuable time from the ebb in the morning. I got cut off by something with sharp teeth and Zubair dropped something big that stayed close to the bottom. Possibly spurdogs. 

After that the action slowed down and we had to move to a couple different spots. The bites were few and far between and mostly coming from deeper spots. Typically, the newbies both caught while the "veterans" didn't!  Took another move to get them to catch as well. 

Overall the fish were fussy and apart from the early morning losses, no lunkers showed up. Moreover, we caught  a couple males that were still exuding milk showing that they haven't spawned out fully. I'd usually expect fishing like this in March or April but not May... 

With the colder weather this year i suppose that everything's been pushed back a bit. Water temperatures are over 9C now so hopefully things will pick up quickly. 

I've been doing more wee lochan fishing lately as it gets me some exercise and those brownies are always fun. I got an UL telescopic rod for these smaller waters and every little fish feels like a monster.  Still a bit slow on the seatrout front. 

Only had one short boat session since my last post without having much to show for it. Was more exploratory as I had a few areas marked that I wanted to check out but just then my fishfinder's transducer stopped working and put me all wrong for the day. Had a few average fish here and there and played around with the boat before calling it a day. I've since bought a Garmin striker 4 Vivid with downvu imaging and also ordered a cheap transducer from Aliexpress for the old Garmin. If that works, I'll use the Vivid on the boat and the old one in the kayak...

Who needs hooks when they hit like that!

A cast from the pier after I put the boat away...

Looks good.

It seems that we'll be getting some warmer weather soon and there'll be an end to these Northerlies at last! Raring to get the boat out and do some serious fishing!

Tight lines 

First session of 2021 and a PB!

The weather for this weekend was meant to be calm but frosty. I decided to go on a shore session to begin the year. Was hoping a big mama pollock would show up and start this year with a bang!

Started with a 5" blue/silver shad on a 30g jighead. On the second cast I got a subtle take with the lure hard on the bottom and I struck into solid weight. I had set the drag pretty tight, even so this fish took some drag in short, slow runs. I knew it was a good fish but it didn't fight like a pollock.  Slowly I managed to get it closer. It kept trying to snag me up all the way in but soon enough I saw a brown lump coming up. It was a lovely cod and definitely a new shore PB at 3.6kg!

They're getting bigger! 

As New Year starts go, this was a cracker! I kept fishing and soon got amongst the pollock. There seemed to be plenty of  them but of only average size with the biggest going about 4lbs.

Average stamp.

In good condition.

Most fish took the lure close to the bottom while hopping it. Only a few came up on straight retrieve. Natural colours worked better.

On this session, I paired the Solpara Light Shore Jig rod with my 6000 Daiwa Ballistic LT and a 1.2PE braid. The combo worked well and I might use it more often. I was pleasantly surprised by the 25lbs Duel BIG fluorocarbon leader, as even though most fish tried to kelp me, it held up well. I hope the season continues like this and really looking forward to some settled weather so that I can get the boat out and play with the trolling motor/GPS anchor and also the new relief shading overlay by Navionics. Its amazing!  

Wow!

Let's see what this year has in store for us and best wishes to all for good health and tight lines! 

Dimitrios 

Rock fishing from a remote Island and underwater lure testing.

I managed to get another day out last week as I wanted to try out some different stuff.
Firstly, I wanted to get some underwater footage of the chatterbait-cheburashka and the Umbrella rig (A-Rig) whilst fishing. Secondly, I wanted to land on a nearby uninhabited island and do some rock fishing there. Its usually a secondary mark from the SIB but I wanted to have a more thorough go at it from the shore.
The day was a bit windy with a little swell coming in, easily fishable nonetheless. I started off the sib and soon enough I had a lovely, full bellied pollock smashing the A-rig on camera! This was then followed by a couple fish on the chatterbait-cheburashka. Both presentations definitely worth further scrutiny for Spring fishing...

She came in like a missile!

By mid-ebb, I decided to head for the island and start shore fishing. I covered the area where I tend to get better results from the SIB and used mainly 30g chatterbait-cheburashkas and normal cheburaska, rigged with 12-13cm slim or curly tailed soft plastics.
It didn't take long to get into fish and I managed to land a couple average sized pollock but also got reefed by a couple too. I reached a rocky point that had a kelp covered ledge close in and then dropped into a good depth. I worked the lure near the bottom and got a bite within the first few casts. I struck hard and it felt heavy. The fish took some drag and was a proper tug of war to get it through the kelp, but I had her in the net after a few minutes.
A lovely female of 3kg that was released after a couple pics. Definitely fishing this mark again!

Quality fish.

I had another hook up on the very next cast that felt like a good fish, but unfortunately it got stuck straight in the kelp...
All in all a very successful day and it seems that this Spring, despite the mixed weather, the fish are up for it!
Below are a couple videos of the day.

Its quite amazing seeing how hard the big pollock hit the A-rig! But from watching more of the footage I'm going to play around and try and put more weight on the head of the rig, so that it falls head down and has more action on the drop and slow speeds. Also I'll try with more Texas rigged sps. I reckon its a lure that can prove useful in early summer as well when fish like tiny baits...

Playing  around...

Hopefully this lockdown will be over soon, so that I can travel further afield and target them spotted beauties!

Tight Lines!

Choppy day on the sib and a new shore mark.

Since the arrival of my son, fishing time has been obviously non-existent, but as I've got an understanding wife, I was allowed to get out of the house for a few hours. Weather is still crap but we did get a couple slightly settled days that were doable on the SIB.
On the day, typically conditions were rougher than forecasted but I launched nonetheless. I was really looking forward to trying out a new underwater camera I got recently (Olymbros underwater camera). I've always been fascinated watching the fish react to lures etc and it was only a matter of time till I got a camera for me.
I fished mainly with a Duo Tide Vibe Slim 140 while the swell was up, as I find that slim heavy lipless crankbaits (and metal vibration lures at some places) can be very effective this time of year. 
Got a few chunky pollock on the Vibe and when the swell died down and hit the low water mark, this bite slowed down and fish started preferring soft plastics instead.

Chunky Prespawn fish.

They smash the Vibes.

By now the current and swell had died down and it was time to try with the camera.
Its a floater(!) so I had to put a 30-40g weight to get it down. I tried a few lures just to see the different reactions from the fish and I have to say that the footage offers a lot of food for thought...

Then yesterday I wanted something more of a challenge and decided to hike to a mark I've wanted to try out for years! There was a storm coming but the spot would offer shelter.
It took about half an hour's hike to the mark and it did look fishy. The only problem was how precipitous it was and fish extraction would be problematic.
I started fishing with metals but didn't get a whiff on them so I switched to cheburashka rigged chartreuse paddle tails that got hit very quickly. The fish were keeping low and the bites were hesitant but I hooked up into 2 fish that, unfortunately, lost on the way up to the ledge I was on.
I decided to look around and find a more suitable spot that would allow me to land fish and as the tide ebbed more, I was able to walk on the rocks under the ledge I was at.
I only had limited time left but finally managed to winkle out one in the end. Blank avoided so it was time to head home.

 The weather is meant to be better this week so I'm hoping to get out more and get some more footage on the underwater camera. There's a couple new spots Id like to try and fish from the SIB as well.
I also look forward to the opening of the trout season as well and I'll definitely have a few trips for them as well soon.

Tight Lines

Trying out a new rod from Aliexpress...

A few weeks back, the unthinkable happened and I lost my Tailwalk Power Rock rod and Stradic FK combo... That combo had worked really well from the rocks for me and even better off the SIB. Thus I needed to find something similar to replace it. I really couldn't justify the cost of it though and started looking for cheaper options...
For some reason, it appears that the market has geared more towards £200+ rods and I couldn't see many options of comparable rods for less than £100.
Now its no secret I use a lot of gear from Aliexpress and after trial and error, I think I've found out which companies tend to produce ok stuff and which ones crap... Thus I thought I might try and find a rod there.
Moreover, I started looking around in Youtube as well, especially in Russian channels as they tend to use a lot of this gear.
Somehow I ended up watching a video with a rod called Ruffy (!) by the company JOHNCOO. Its action and specs seemed close to what I wanted and after a quick search, I found it on sale in Aliexpress for around £40 delivered!
I pulled the trigger and a few days ago, I got it in my hands. First impressions were very good. Fuji guides, robust reel-seat and pokey/firm action. I went for the S862MH model (2.6m, 15-55g) that's more akin to the Power Rock I had.
Yesterday, I got the chance to try it out on the rocks in a short session. I used 20g+ darting jigheads and 16cm soft jerkbaits along with 28g cheburashka and 11cm paddletails.
The rod had no problem jerking the softpastic in 15-20m depth and I could feel quite easily any taps and touches. Did pretty well on dragging the paddletail on the bottom as well.
I got no monsters on the day but the fish were thick with big bellies and I even managed to lift a couple sizeable ones without the net...

Getting ready to spawn.

I'll let the video below show the rod better.

I know its entirely possible that this rod might break on the next outing, but I reckon even if it only lasts me one season, I'd still be very happy considering how little I've spent for it. I'm not in any way sponsored by JOHNCOO or anyone but feel like I had to talk about this rod as I was so pleasantly surprised by it. I'm very keen to see if it's anywhere near as dependable and impervious to some 'heavy handling', as the Tailwalk was. Only time will tell...

Tight Lines

Gear Used.

Rod: Johncoo Ruffy S862MH
Reel: Shimano Biomaster SW 4000XG
Mainline: PE1.5
Leader: Daiwa Tournament FC fluorocarbon 25lbs
Lures: 16cm soft jerkbait on 20g+ darting jighead, 11cm paddletail on 28g cheburashka.

Best fishing of the year!

The settled weather has continued and the fishing can only be described as being on fire!
Had a sib session with friends Colin and Fred and I still can't find the words to describe how awesome the fishing was!
It was a cold, overcast, morning last week but there was only a breath of wind and very little swell. We fished shallow (10-18m) kelp ledges and from the get-go, the fish went crazy for our lures. After catching some lunkers on sp's, I told the guys to get some topwaters on... Colin is more acquainted with them as he fishes for bass, but Fred had only recently given them much time.
Colin put on a Patchinko while I gave Fred an Autowalker 115s and showed him how this lure works just by retrieving it steadily. Hits were instant..
Colin hooked up to something big, as did Fred though his fish got off soon after. Colin was still bringing his fish in and Fred was in again! Unreal stuff!
Finally, I saw colour from Colin's fish and upon putting it in the net, we realised that this one was a big mama! She went to 10.5lbs and left us all looking each other in joy and disbelief. I unhooked her and Fred's fish and quickly sent them back into the water. The mayhem continued for almost 2 hours and I lost track of how many fish we got. Topwaters really shined on the day. The fish were hitting them hard and getting them deep with far fewer misses than usual. There seemed to be a significant influx of pale pollock (open ground, shoaling fish) along with the darker ones I tend to find more on this mark. The reason must have been the shoals of baitfish showing on the finder... Everything caught fish, even a big squid lure that was skipping the surface as Fred was bringing it in, when a pollock hit it mere meters from the boat!😆

On a Topwater!!!

Madness...

Hungry fish.

Another nice one for Fred.

So many double hook-ups!

Stonking fish..

Some bait there...

On the puffin!

At some point, Colin offered me to try his favourite rod, a Tailwalk eginn paired with a Shimano Sustain. It was a lovely combo that I could fish with all day... I say was and not is, as unfortunately the setup was lost in the most unreal incident that I've ever experienced whilst fishing...! We were all fishing softplastics for a bit and Colin and Fred were into fish, wanting to help land their fish, I retrieved my line, put the rod down with the tip over the water and the lure just hanging in the water. This proved to be a big mistake... As I was bending over with the net, I caught with the corner of my eye, the rod flying into the water at speed!! Obviously, a pollock took the static lure anc crash-dived taking the rod with it...! I was left speechless after this incident and also very deflated that I lost such a great rod and reel. I tried to retrieve it for an hour or so with a lead and hooks but to no avail. Colin
took it better than me and we decided to not let this stop us from enjoying the day. I've since sorted it out.  We kept fishing and despite the bite slowing down, the fish were still willing to take OTT. Thus we would cast metals and softplastics and after seeing interest, we'd try a topwater. This gave me a lovely pollock on the Autowalker again.
It was soon time to head back after a day that none of us would forget any time soon!

A dark kelp brute.

A pale one and a kelpie.

Autowalker does it again!

Big gob.

Even on the squid!?

And a wee video

This week, I was guiding again but from the rocks this time. Friends Ryan and Craig came for the first time to Skye and wanted to experience the fishing. Conditions were looking great although the tide wasnt ideal. We started soon after first light but things were slow to develop. The seals were keeping very close and once we started getting some fish, they became a pest by stealing them... We encountered shoaled up 2-3lbs fish and it proved hard to get through them to the bigger ones throughout the day. It kinda felt like spring in a way ie shoals of smaller immature pollock but very few bigger ones.
We did hook a few 4lbers but only managed to land a couple whole...😑
Nevertheless, it was a very pleasant day and it felt good to be on the rocks again. Was getting too lazy fishing off the boat all the time. The boys were happy as long as they were catching fish as even the ones we were catching were of good size compared to where they usually fish. It does bug me on the rare days when the biguns don't show and despite our efforts, it just wasn't happening that day. Goes to show that even in Skye you cant expect lunkers every day.
I did recommend to the lads that they come again after Xmas when the big females are in. Hopefully I'll be able to showcase them the potential of this place then...

Plenty of smaller ones..

A better one..

Seal attack signs..

Double hookup!

A chunk for Craig.

A cuckoo for Ryan.

Until next time Tight Lines to all!