The successor is here...

The first thing I did since returning from Chile was to find a new travel rod to replace my broken Savagear Roadrunner. Being extremely happy with my Spro Mobile Stick 80UL, I looked for something in the same range but with a faster action and heavier power. It didn't take me long to settle on the Mobile Stick 80MH Dropshot/mini crank (2.40m, 3-20gr). It took me a while to locate it, but after finding it on an e-shop in Germany, I duly ordered it...
the rod arrived within a few days and I was dying to try it out. On first impression it comes in a minimalist cloth bag with individual compartments and nothing more. But it is really tiny for a rod of this length. Shorter than the Savagear Roadrunner even though the latter was a foot shorter! Something that its very important for me as I can put the rod in the hand-luggage at the airplane...
I got my chance to use the rod a couple days ago in loch Fyne. I paired it with my newly serviced Shimano Stradic Ci4 2500 and I must say it felt pretty good in the hand.
Straight away I could see that it has a very different action to the almost parabolic 80UL. Much faster and with a stiffer tip as well.
The tide was going out and it was sunny but cold. I started the day by casting 7g metals but after only getting a couple knocks I switched to a 2.5 pearl white Lucky John Troutino (slim whip-tail) on a #4 offset hook and a 7g cheburashka. From the off I got bumps OTD and for the first time in the season I found the fish tightly shoaled and way off the bottom. I started retrieving at the number where I was getting bites (countdown) and soon enough got catching small pollock one after the other.
After missing a few bites, I switched to a plain 5g jighead and put on the same lure , in order to increase hook ups and as there was no fear of snagging up.
This did the job well and I caught a shed-load of small pollock.

First of many...

The little Troutino lure did a good job...

The biggest of the day on a stickbait.

The rod...

You can see the action of the rod in the video below.

After having enough of the little pollock, I switched to a variety of larger lures and got a slightly better fish on a stickbait mounted on a 3.5g Texas jighead. I then tried 4"+ curly/ripple tails on heavy cheburashka (14-16gr) hoping for some better fish. After loads of casts and only limited interest from more small fish I finally got two bites from something better but in both cases the line was cut soon after.
Throughout the day the rod performed well, working lures from 5-16g and casting them a good way. The tip is not solid (so I don't really understand why the rod has dropshot in its features) but very fast and transmits the bites very well. I would have liked it a bit softer (working with softplastics and all) but I'm thinking that it will be ideal for blades soon enough and also other hardbaits. Thus all in all a true all rounder, which is what a good travel rod should be!
I'm expecting great things from this rod and I hope it gives me as much enjoyment as its lighter counterpart that has been truly great value for money.

Tight lines!

Gear used.

Rod: Spro Mobile Stick 80MH
Reel: Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8
Leader: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs.
Lures: 2.5" Lucky John Troutino, various others.

I just couldnt resist!

Last week I was given a surprise three days off from work and not being able to control myself, got the ticket for Oban and went to get the car from my brother. Although I wasn't gonna fish my usual area but instead chose to drive up to Skye yet again! I blame the weather for this (!) as the unseasonably mild and dry days were absolutely perfect for fishing. The only factor I didn't calculate was the moon phase as it came to play a critical role to my fishing success (as I will describe further down). Moreover I only have videos from my fish and sessions there, again for reasons I will mention...
For this trip I was better prepared with new leader line (16lbs), more metal jigs of 15g-20g, more cheburashkas (15g-20g) and lots more soft plastics along with a few hardbaits that I thought could work so I was looking very optimistic...
So as the winds were from the south, It was yet again a good opportunity to head to the northern marks. Thus I drove in the night at Aird were I slept in the car.
I woke up to a lovely day and headed to the rocks. First order of the day were topwaters!
Unlike last time, I took a few with me including poppers and WTD lures as I was sure I'd have fun with them on Skye.. After seeing some disturbance on the water's surface (definitely from hunting coalies) I made a cast and after a couple more I got a good take and a lively fight. I then landed a very good coalie of 2lbs thus making me think that surface fishing might be a legit way of catching the bigger coalies as well... After fishing some more on the surface and having a laugh with all the smacks and hits along with catching a few more coalies and pollock. It was time for some serious fishing..
I started with the usual cheburashka and paddletail but was surprised to see that the fish were being a bit picky... Last time I had great success on this mark with senkos/stickbaits and of course the
Salty Bait inchiku/stickbait combo, thus I put on a 5" stickbait on a weighted offset that did a much better work. Still, I noticed that the water was receding very fast and it was then that it dawned on me that we are near the full moon and that means big tides. Now this may be advantageous for some species (like bass etc) but I think for pollock and other structure-oriented fish may not be so positive.
In combination with the mild weather and sunshine it felt as if the fish were dispersed and the action was not as hectic as last time. More over the bigger fish didn't show with most fish being in the 2.5lbs-4lbs bracket.
I walked towards the deeper water spot  thinking of trying some new inchiku/madai jigs where I caught the ling and cuckoo wrasse before, only to find a completely altered mark. The water was very low now as the tide was ebbing and a torrent was pushing past the rocks. It was impossible to hold bottom but making the most out of the situation I used some normal metal jigs, casting them uptide, letting them touch down and jigging them near the bottom and adjacent to the rocks. I lost a couple jigs doing that but got rewarded with a hard fighting pollock.

I had planned to fish this mark for most of the day but facing these conditions I thought it best to change mark. I headed back to the car and then made my way to the middle peninsula in the area around Waternish that I had great success last time. I reached the shallow kelpy bay and by now the tide was on its way up. I started from the same rocks in the middle of  the bay and put on a Salty bait/stickbait combo. After a few casts I got a good take and after a strong fight managed a nice pollock of 2.7kg. Unfortunately I messed up with the action cam buttons and only got the release video...

Thinking this was a good start and that there would be more of them about I made my way for the rocky point overlooking the bay. I was shocked when I realised that the water was too high and I couldn't access the point! This was disappointing as it was near sundown and I knew there would be a host of pollock waiting for me there... Anyway I went back to the rocks i was before and just played around with the surface lures. Again I had so many hits and splashes with only a few fish to show but I got some useful notes afterwards.
After the sun coming down I called it a day and had something to eat. Moreover I formulated a better plan for the next day so as not to be caught out unprepared by the tide state again. I was going to fish the same area in the morning as the tide would recede and then maybe have a quick session on Neist point before the drive home.
So, early next morning I was back on the bay. the water was still high but receding and I decided to play around with various lures until I could access the rocky point. I started with cheburashka and paddletail but other than a couple smaller fish I didn't get anything. I could see birds diving about though and a seal so I knew the fish were there. I changed to the inchiku/stickbait and got a fish first cast. I then lost the lure with another fish (!) and seeing that both takes were quite high in the water column, I decided it was time for the hardbaits...
I put on an Xrap in mackerel but after a few casts, nothing. I switched to a Max rap 15 thinking it would imitate a sandeel and on first cast I got a coalie. Second cast and after a few jerks I get a proper fish on! It fought well and it was clearly a decent fish but it took me to the kelp just a few meters away from me... Not having another Max rap, I used a sinking pencil lure by Taps and after  letting it sink I started retrieving it with constant jerks and some pauses. In one of those pauses I got hit and landed an average fish soon after. By now it was time to move to the other spot though but I was glad I tried the hard baits.. I'm pretty sure that in marks such as this and in places like Skye they can be an added weapon when the fish want something different as in this case.

I scrambled the rocks to my spot and since there was still plenty of water I decided to work a 5" Powertail worm on a Texas rig with a  #1 Decoy RS worm 101 hook, an orange luminous bead and a 7g cone weight. I would work this until the water pulled out and the kelp would be too tangled to get the lure amongst it. This certainly did the trick and I had fish after fish all of a decent size and fighting well. They were all in tip top condition and really fat (like the ones I encountered on the East Coast). The new thicker leader line seemed to be working better as I lost fewer fish from close in. This was to change as the tide ebbed even more and I had to change presentation to cheburashka and metals for longer casts. A true kelp forest, was like a wall in front of me and I lost some fish as they went straight in the kelp-wall and even the 16lbs fluoro along with the 1.5PE braid weren't enough to bring them up. I'm starting to think that the sort of proper shore jigging gear or the setups used for 'punching' in largemouth bass fishing maybe whats needed for these situations but I don't encounter them often enough to warrant such a purchase...!
Below the video of the action.

I fished hard till the bites died down although I could get fish on the metals far out but couldn't bring them up. As I was bringing another fish though and while bending on the side of the rock to thumb it, I didn't realise that the water had gone so low now, so I bend over even more and extended my hand when I felt my boots slipping! I quickly managed to grab hold of some kelp roots just on the side of the rock and was thinking that I managed to avert disaster only to slip again and fall in when I tried to take a step! The water wasn't as cold as I expected and after a couple attempts I was back up on the rocks but I was horrified when I realised that my 'water resistant NOT waterproof smartphone' wasn't working... Thus the phone is dead now and all the pics with it! On closer inc=spection afterwards I realised that the front studs of my boots were worn out...
I made my way back to the car and changed to some dry clothes. Not dissuaded I stuck to the plan and drove to Neist Point for a quick session before it got dark. This time I didn't take the action cam as it was almost out of battery and this was a pity as the session was yet again spectacular. The water was rough and some major waves would crash on the rocks from time to time making for a very scenic background. Taking the water clarity into consideration, I started by using a bright pink 3.25" paddler grub on a 14g cheburashka that had given me good results previously on the same mark. Casting straight out from the rocky point I could feel the lure being dragged with the current so I opted for fishing the inside of a gully. I got a couple sharp bites but no hook ups and thinking it could be a wrasse, I changed lure to a UV green/chartreuse 3" vibro worm and got the fish first cast. It turned out to be a fat kelp pollock and after a few more casts in the gully, only yielding a couple good coalfish, I decided to concentrate at distance again. I changed to a slightly heavier cheburashka (16g) and a silver Paddler Grub. I would let the lure being carried away by the current, only giving it a couple hops on the bottom from time to time until it reached the rocks again. Most times it didn't reach the rocks as it was intercepted by fat pollock staging near the entrance to the gully. These were fish that judging by their length would probably be around 4+lbs but in this case they were more likely 5-6lbs! Around the end I managed a better fish as well that I just couldn't lift its head up from the bottom!
An excellent session and the best way to end yet another visit to this magical place. I honestly think this is the start of an addiction!

A video from the surface fishing.

I will close this post with some further notes on the fishing and conditions I encountered.

• Good weather but with big tides around full moon, transformed marks. Fish feeding hard but more dispersed.
• Fish somewhat more particular than other times. Possible keying on a particular food source? Simple paddletails didn't cut it all the time, while the inchiku/stickbait was ever reliable!
• Good potential with slim jerkbaits at certain marks (shallowish, plenty of kelp) definite slim baitfish pattern.
• On surface fishing the Ima Skimmer was by far the most effective lure. Poppers and popper/wtd hybrids much less so. Always best at around sunrise/sundown.
• Coalfish are much more efficient surface predators than pollock. The latter would at times jump spectacularly clear out of the water but would miss the lure completely!
• All fish were well conditioned and very well fed. May well be the best time (except spring perhaps) for the big fish. Also could possibly be the best time for a large coalfish...
• The upgrade to 16lbs leader made a slight difference when fishing at close range and also I had fewer outright cuts on the runs but from the deeper water and generally when the fish tangled right up into the thick kelp they were lost. Moreover it seemed at times that the more stick I gave them the faster they would burrow...
•  Greenish/silvery slim paddletail lures usually more universally effective.
• Takes little wind to roughen up the water at Neist Point but its usually worthwhile fishing there. 
• In rough conditions, larger, dark paddletails on heavier leads were very effective as well.

Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod:  MC KG Evolution KGS-902L, 2.7m, 7-23g.
Reel: Abu Garcia Soron STX 40
Mainline: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.5
Leader: YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 16lbs.
Lures: 10g Duel Salty Bait/4.5" stickbait, 12g-16g cheburashka with 3.25"AGM paddler Grub paddletails. 5" stickbaits on 5g weighted offset hooks. Ima skimmer 11cm, Rapala Max rap 15cm.

Back to reality...

This weekend was my first days off after Skye and having my brothers car in my possession, I thought of doing a bit of driving around to assess how some new areas might fare.  Moreover I was expecting some good fishing as the weather seems to be holding up pretty well still.
A while back I had seen a video on YouTube by a fellow lure angler on the East coast at a very interesting rocky mark there. What surprised me was the good number of codling he caught there and after a bit of googling I learned more about the mark. The mark is near Fast castle and after asking my friend Scott about it, he told me that the descent was tricky but that only made it more attractive to me!
Thus on Saturday morning I made the drive to Fast castle and after a really hairy descent I arrived at the mark. The East coast really has some imposing rock marks! Almost vertical cliffs forming sharp fingers and deep gullies with kelp and some sparse reef further out. The bottom was usually sandy/clear  further out and harder close in. Half awake from the early wake up and drowsy from the long road I couldn't bother to retie a new snap, using the one that I had since Skye and just put on a 12g cheburashka with a 10cm Sakura Slit shad. After the first few 'exploratory' short casts, I made a long one, aiming for a buoy of some lobster/crab pots (good fish attractors). I let the lure sink and as soon as it touched down I had a fish on! I felt it thumping and thrashing while taking slow drag (typical cod fight) and then it all went slack! As I retrieved the line it became apparent that the knot had weakened and gave way... I hate those moments when it feels like I never learn! lol
The fish felt really good and was gutted not to land it as I'm really hoping to get my first proper cod (over 5lbs) this year.
I kept casting and working various paddletails but the bites were sparse and the fish wouldn't commit. It seems that this prolonged good weather period did more bad than good...
I then tried with a more finesse approach using a 4" stickbait mounted on a 3/0 offset EWG hook and connected to a 5g Crazyg lead head that I found lying in the bottom of my bag. These lead heads are in essence the Japanese take on cheburashkas and because of their shape they give a nice, tight, side to side wobble to the lure. Thus I could get extra distance on the cast and also have an attractive movement to the lure. This seemed to work somewhat better and I managed two average pollock before getting hit by a much better fish. This one made a screeching run and cut me off fair and square on some sharp rocks! It seemed that this wasn't my day..

Beautiful scenery..

Not much of a castle really..

Cliffs..

I love the rocks!

Presentation of the day.

A most welcome pollock.

After the lost fish, the bites stopped and it was time to make my ascent as I was going to meet up with a fellow Greek angler and fish the Torness power station outflow. The way up was much trickier and tiring than the way down (definitely getting a rope next time) and I reached the car being out of breath.
I drove down to the power station where I met up with my friend and after trying our luck with the lrf gear (having a few knocks but no fish) we decided to move to the rocks of Eyemouth. Another good looking mark with the negative of being very close to a populated area and thus pressured. I was confident that my friend would get his first pollock or codling, but other than a possible  pollock that reefed my friend we just couldnt get any fish from the bottom. It was a different story near the surface as big shoals of mackerel were pushing fry up. Getting fed up with the bottom fishing and since I haven't had a proper mackerel fry since the start of the season, I switched to my MC Solpara and the lrf gear and targeted the mackerel instead. I ended up keeping 6 fish and releasing some more but I could easily have spent the whole day catching mackerel there... So much fun! My friend only managed 2 mackerel but lost them both at his feet. I told him not to worry though as in the end we split the fish and I promised to show him my western marks soon where he will definitely catch his first pollock and codling. Moreover he was really impressed with the lrf gear and he is even thinking of 'converting'. How can anyone not like LRF?

Torness outflow..

Did a bit of blenny bashing too..

Airborne!

On the next day I wasn't feeling very well but still decided to visit a sea-loch that I have been postponing  fishing there for a long time. Loch Long is the closest sea-loch to me and I would be delighted if it turned out to be a worthwhile destination.
After the short drive I stopped at some well known dive sites where there are supposedly plenty of fish and admittedly the marks looked very fishy. I was hoping to get some wrasse and started by using small creatures on a jika rig. This started getting bites, some wrassy but more from small codling and also poor cod from the deeper areas but no decent fish would commit. I then switched to a 2.5" Keitech Live Impact on the same rig and finally got a positive bite and a fish on.
Straight on from the fight I new it was a wrasse and after a bit of coaxing out of some weeds I got a lovely ballan up. I kept fishing the same area but the bites dried up and had to move. I walked to another mark close by and managed a codling on a cheburashka with the same lure but not much else. It could have been the day but in all it felt as if the loch should hold more life than it does. Moreover I wanted to check the amount of life by throwing the guts from the previous days mackerel and I only saw a couple wrasse and smaller fish whereas in Loch Fyne I the whole place was teeming with fish.. Definitely too early for making any assumptions and I will have to try and fish some harder-to-reach marks as the fishing pressure is evident from all the discarded fishing line and anglers-related garbage...

Loch Long

Looks promising but need to find less pressured marks.

Lovely ballan on jika rig.

Loch Long codling..

On Monday the weather turned and the winds picked up. Not really feeling up for a wet and miserable session or a long drive, I decided to head to the Forth and Clyde canal to play with the little jacks..
Ever willing they obliged and I got a few on weedless softplastics and a minnow, after loosing some fish on the weedless presentation.

Aggressive little jack.

They really liked the minnow.

Definitely an anticlimax from my Skye trip but only to be expected.. Not all bad though as I believe the new marks (especially on the East coast) have good potential and weather permitting I will visit them again next week. At least Ill get some more mackies to play with and eat!

Thanks for reading and Tight lines

Gear used
Various.

Isle of Skye September 2015 Expedition. Day 2.

I woke up early next morning to be greeted by a fantastic view. The sun hadn't risen yet but everything looked perfect for a good start to the days fishing. I headed off on foot towards a peninsula that I saw on Google earth just a short walk away from the bay I was fishing the day before. The peninsula was more or less rectangular in shape and jutting out towards the northeast. I started fishing on the eastern point as it was overlooking a secondary bay adjacent to the one from yesterday. Although there was little wind, the sea was a bit rough and in these conditions I prefer fishing in sheltered spots as I believe pollock favour them then.

I could see baitfish on the bayside area of the point and I knew the pollock wont be far.

I started with metals and the pollock were on them form the start! The average stamp of these fish was around 3lbs but there were bucket loads of them and they fought hard and dirty.. The depth here was not great, maybe 6-7m at the end of the cast but the bottom was covered with kelp. I lost a few of my conventional metals and decided a Salty Bait/senko combo would be more suitable for this situation, as its relatively weedless, rises fast on the retrieve and offers a larger profile so that it could sort the bigger fish out.

And that it did getting a few good fish before something much larger got it and cut me off! This was going to happen again after I tied a 5" stickbait on a weighted 5g offset hook. The biggest mistake of this trip was not taking a thicker diameter leader fluorocarbon. Most of the marks here are very different to the layout of my marks in the sea-lochs and there's little room for true finesse and light game.. Although the 10lbs fluoro leader was adequate for the majority of fish, there were more instances that I would have liked were a thicker (just slightly say 12-15lbs) line would make things easier and decrease my losses.

From that point onward I tried to double up some length of my leader by making a loop and this did help a lot.

A perfect start to the day.

Magical...

Slow jigs were very successful but I lost most of them..

Salty Bait/senko combo..

Pollock love stick baits.

After loosing the two fish and also my only 5" senko as well as one of my two 10g Salty Baits (ouch!) I decided to move towards the northwestern point as it seemed deeper and also relatively protected by a small island. I picked the most forward looking rock to stand on and put on a 3" Crazy-Fish Vibro Worm (UV and scented) mounted on a #2 offset hook with a 16g cheburashka. I made a long cast and was surprised at the depth of the mark as it took more than 40 seconds to reach bottom. Moreover the current was strong and I could feel my lure moving very slowly. This seemed more familiar...

I started getting short 'snappy' bites and I was certain of the culprit. Cuckoo wrasse..

I sped up the lure as I didn't want to hook them in such deep water and was aiming for something better. As the lure reached closer I started a steady retrieve to bring it higher in the water column. This saw a fish attack and drag started singing! This felt like a very good fish and took line at will, but as I was fighting from an almost vertical angle, the fight was much easier to control and after a few more runs I got the fish up. I took a pic and quickly threw it back. I then got another decent fish but lost it at the base of the rocks I was standing, as I couldn't dislodge it from the kelp.

Having had enough of the pollock I drew my attention to the bottom species and started targeting the cuckoos. I would bring them in very slowly so they wouldn't puff up so easily. I caught a good number of females along with a lovely male over a pound. Such a beautiful fish!

In amongst the cuckoos I got a different take and a more solid 'cod-like' fight and was delighted to bring up a ling! My first for 2015. Always a joy catching these.

Apart from the cheburashka I also used my 30g Salty Bait tipped with a Gulp sandeel and this made the cuckoos even more willing to bite. of course I couldn't avoid the pollock altogether and some more were caught in surprisingly deep water. This caused problems with their revival and one fish wouldn't make it so I kept it.

A hard fighter.

Such a fun fish to catch..

Very aggressive.

These teeth!

A predator from the deep.

Cant escape them on Skye!

Vibrant colours worked well in the deep water.

I decided to head back to the car for a snack and also to scout another likely looking area for closing the day. After a bit of driving I reached Duntulum  where the area looks good with cliffs and kelpy bays. I took my medium gear and fished some rocks and around boulders for wrasse but I only got a couple finicky plucks before switching to metals. A few average pollock and some nice coalies later and I decided to head off as I was going to spend the night in a hostel at Broadford and I had a good hours drive ahead of me. I would have preferred somewhere much closer but I didn't realise that Skye is still busy with tourists this time of year and almost everywhere was fully booked or very expensive!

On the way back I stopped at Portree and had my fish battered and fried at the chippy there. It was a great ending to a good days fishing as its hard beat fresh fish and chips. I also attracted some more customers to the chippy after they thought that the fish comes in that size.. lol

The shoreline near Duntulum.

A nice coalie.

Supper!

Below some videos.





 



 Tight lines.

Gear used.
Rods: MC KG Evolution, KGS-902L, 2.7m, 7-23g. MC KG Evolution, KGS-832ST 2.53m, 3-15g.
Reels: Abu Garcia Soron STX 40. Shimano Stradic ci4 2500f
Mainlines: Duel Hardcore X4 PE 1.5. Duel Hardcore X4 PE 0.8
Leaders: P line Halo fluorocarbon 10lbs. YGK Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon, 8lbs

 .

A sunny day on the East coast: St Abbs head.

Yesterday my day off coincided with Scott's and he invited me for a session on his neck of the woods. I dully obliged and took the train to Edinburgh arriving there about 09:00. Now there were some setbacks to this trip, first I recently realised that my favourite KG Evolution tip was cracked (from the return trip on Skye) but I managed to patch it up with superglue and braid.. And secondly only the day before I managed to cut a bit of the tip of my thumb at work! Undeterred I patched that one as well (not with superglue and braid I must add..) and was looking forward to some fine fishing...
We reached the mark about an hour later to find perfect conditions. Little wind, overcast but clearing and an incoming tide. I started with a Salty bait/gulp sandeel combo and got a pollock first cast but then things got really slow.. This wasn't very surprising as we soon saw dolphins passing at casting distance from our spot.. They were a beautiful sight but I was concerned about their effect on the fishing, as I believe they negatively affect the fish more so than seals etc.. And so it was for a while we had no takes (not even coalies!) until I started working the bottom with a 12g cheburashka and a 3" Crazy fish vibro fat paddletail. I got a take OTD near the bottom and then got stuck.. I gave it a couple seconds and then managed to get whatever it was unstuck. It felt like dead weight but I was sure it was a fish and after a while we saw a huge mouth surfacing from the depths.. It was a big mama short spined scorpion fish that got us cheering! I always get a kick from catching these guys, especially when they're at that size!

A beast!

Cant get enough pics of them!

Cavernous mouth!

Japanese pose..

Pollock on the Salty bait/gulp sandeel

After that, the action really slowed down again and it was time to move.. We had an arduous hike to the next point but we were fishing soon enough. I had a follow on my first cast, possibly from a pollock (usually a sign that fish are not active when pollock are concerned) but couldn't tempt it again.
The place was looking very 'wrassy' though and soon enough Scott's rod was bent into one that took some dropshotted gulp. Soon after I had one as well on the cheburashka and what I consider a testament to 'proper' lures effectiveness on them. I believe that when they are active they will happily eat a well presented softie and gulp/isomes etc are not the only way for Scottish wrasse. Certainly down South this is the case as wrasse numbers there are huge and I remember in Sark days that they would practically hit anything!
I decided to try and target the wrasse more specifically as the pollock were not playing ball and I prepared a Jika rig with a small creature. I consider the jika a deadly presentation for wrasse especially when using creatures and crawling/hopping them across the bottom. Unfortunately the wrasse weren't that hungry and neither me nor Scott got another one although I missed a solid bite...
As I was fishing for wrasse though I spied two silhouettes moving quickly near the surface of the water, and after a closer inspection, I'm sure they were bass and good ones at that, around the 50-60cm mark! I told this to Scott who informed me that they are regularly seen and caught here and after this I fan casted the area with a Savagear sandeel with no results though.. I then decided to fish a stickbait on a weighted hook just to see if it would make a difference to those passive pollock plus it could also pick up wrasse and bass. This quickly did the trick and a pollock engulfed the whole thing OTD, thus giving me little fight and in the end I had to keep the fish..

The point we were heading...

Scott climbing at the top..

Wish there were more of them about!

Jika rig.

Pollock on the stickbait

Sadly no more fish came from the point and I decided to work the deep kelpy bay on the right. I reverted back to the cheburashka (7g this time) with a 3" Long John paddletail. I stumbled upon these paddletails on ebay and I'm guessing they're Chinese, but Ive had great results with them and they look and move good. Moreover they are heavily scented and very cheap too! The tide was going out now and after a few casts at the deeper parts without luck, I moved closer to the back of the bay and made a cast near a big boulder that I could see was standing just before the water got deeper at the edge. I let the lure drop on controlled line and as I started picking up line on the reel, I realised I had a fish on! It felt pretty heavy but didn't do many runs only getting lively before I brought it up. A nice pollock of around 4.5-5lbs had engulfed the lure and this explains again the slow fight. Very carefully I unhooked the fish with the pliers and with a bit of help it swam back into the depths. I proceeded in getting another fish that gave me a screeching run but got itself unhooked in the kelp on the way up.. Another cast towards the shallows and another fish hit me hard and made a mad run! It went on a couple more peeling drag in the process before I landed it after a bit of scrambling on the rocks. Another fine pollock that I didn't bother taking too many pics of as I had the fight on the action-cam... or so I thought..!

Quality pollock.

Excellent fighter!

Anyway we decided to head back and after an arduous hike up the cliff we arrived sweaty back in the car.
We then drove to st Abbs harbour with flatties in mind but we blanked and it was time for me to get the train home. Below a vid of the day:

Some interesting notes on the day are that dolphins really do kill the action on a days fishing... I suspect this may also explain why the pollock were caught so close to shore. Moreover even though Ive only been a few times on the East coast I have to say that although it gives good fish, you have to work hard for them and you don't get the flurry of action that we get on the sea-lochs. The presence of bass was also very surprising and I guess I should make a session for them sometime soon but alas the lack of car has really brought my plans for the summer upside down...
Another quality day with my friend Scott and I really appreciate him showing his marks to me. Looking forward to his results form his holidays in a few days time and also to fish again after he returns.

Tight lines!

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:Cheburashka with 3" paddletails, Duel Salty bait/gulp Sandeel, 4" stick bait on 3g weighted wide gap offset hook.