This Spring keeps on giving...

 Been out a few times this month and every time the fishing has been class. I don't know if it's the warm water temperature, harsh winter etc but the fish have been unseasonably aggressive. 

I had a guiding trip with regular visitor Dave and his pal Ash the other day. The lads wanted some fish for a good feed. I knew it was going to be a good day but it turned out even better! More like hauling than fishing... By the end of the session we lost count of the hungry pollock we got along with a few coalies for a touch of variety...

A cracker for Ash.

Unreal weather!

Double trouble!

Crash divin...

Well conditioned...

Most fish came on the retrieve and considerably high in the water column. I did try to showcase  topwaters to the lads but I was just too busy unhooking their fish all the time. Nevertheless, they enjoyed the rodbendage especially after a long winter of limited fishing. Colours weren't that important either as long as there was a change after some fish.  The majority of the fish were still prespawn and I suppose they were after a good feed before the spawn.  We finished the session before midday with a bunch of fish in the cooler and sore arms!

A few days ago I received another new rod for my collection. It's a Westin w3 powerteez 2nd gen (2.7m 21-70g). I decided to go for it as I need a proper powerhouse for the largest fish, something a bit more stepped up than the johncoo ruffy while still under the £100 mark.

I only had a couple hours available but I was glad to find some nice fish that gave it a workout. It's a fast actioned MH rod and it reminds me a bit of the Tailwalk salty shape dash power rock 90 I used to have. Hopefully I'll get plenty more time with it soon.

Good size.

I also made a wee vid of the session.

Im honestly glad the weather and fishing has been so good this Spring after that terrible winter we've had. I'm sure it won't go on forever as the forecast is showing snow for next week (!). Nevertheless, May is just around the corner and as it seems its going to be their spawning time this year, I might target some trout instead. Got a couple days for guiding too so hopefully ill get the free time for all that!

Tight lines

OTT start to April.

 Went out on the 1st of April hoping to see some more surface action from the coalies that have extended their stay this year. Usually we'd get plenty over winter but then they'd go quiet around March time until we hit May. Not this year though as it appears that they and the pollock are in and in feeding mode. 

Started the day on a shallow mark and sure enough the Autowalker 83S found the coalies. Definitely had a couple pollock swat it too but hooking the fish was another matter. Despite the numerous blow ups, it took some tweaking to get them hooked. Again the slower retrieve whilst connected on the middle ring of the lure gave the most positive bites. Saying that, towards the end of the day the fish became more aggressive and the normal way of rigging had more success. Even made a wee vid for old times sake...

Ravenous skinny coalies!

After changing spot and  having enough of the light game, I switched to the heavy setup looking for some bigger fish. They were very positive towards my soft plastics with red being the preferred colour, though they got even more fired up when the A-rig came out! I love power fishing for them like this around spawning time and this is definitely a presentation that seems to deter the smaller fish.

Love how they get a subtle purple colour this time of year.

A-rig doing the damage.

The action only seemed to be getting better as the day got on but I felt very satisfied with the fishing and decided to call it a day. I'm fairly sure that I have now had a fish on topwaters every month of the year! Who needs tropical predators when you have coalies... Hopefully we'll get some more settled weather and the fishing continues like this, water temperature has risen half a degree in the past couple weeks to 8.5C so I suppose it's only gonna get warmer now. Its amazing to see that even with all that snow and ice, it barely got below 8C this year and already rising...

Tight lines.

March opener.

 We had a week of great weather last week but as I was very busy at work, I only got time for a last minute session on Saturday. There was a wee swell running and a slight chop at times but good enough for a session this time of year. Got the boat loaded and headed down the slip. No particular plan on the day but I was hoping that the coalies would've stuck around so that I could have a go with the topwater again. Madness to be talking about topwaters this time of year but a man can hope...

I narrowly missed the best tide state for the first mark but decided to stick around as it was the most sheltered spot in the area. Surely some coalies would still be around... As in last time, I moved slowly just with the trolling motor and started with soft plastics. Not much was happening and it seemed that I missed the pollock breakfast time. I did get a few sharp bites though meaning the coalies were around. On went the Autowalker 83s though this time  I clipped the snap at the middle of the lure (where the hook is on the larger model). I saw this trick from seabass angler George Boukis and really liked the very lazy s action on very slow retrieve of the Autowalker 83s. The downsides to using it this way are the reduced casting distance and the need for flat calm conditions. I started casting around and after getting the speed right, it wasn't long till I started getting some hits. Most of the fish were coalies as expected but I'm sure I had a couple pollock going for it as well in their usual airborne way...  After a few missed hits I soon had the first fish coming up and it was such great fun on my light eging (squid fishing rod). It's a  Savage Gear Salt Egi  8'2 6-12g that I got mainly for sea trout and other light game with hard baits. 

Warrior coalfish OTT 

Plenty of decent Pollock 

After a few fish I'd clip the lure from the front again just to see if I'd get the same reaction from the fish. It was evident that they really wanted the slower, more pronounced action though as I only got a fraction of the strikes this way.  March is probably the last month I'd expect to get action on topwaters anyway and it felt slower than last time, with the fish being far more finicky. Nevertheless, they still came up as long as the lure was worked slower whilst keeping a good action. 

I fished this spot until the bite died and then hit the deeper marks.  Soft plastics did the damage there and had a steady stream of pollock and a few coalies before moving again to a more exposed spot. Here the fish weren't really up for it but a change in colour (from chartreuse to pink) unlocked them and I had a couple more fish to finish off the day.

It's been a weird winter to say the least. Quite frustrating that it's been consistently bad weather to get out but quite productive when I did manage to go. I really hope I get a couple chances to target the big females before they spawn  although time is running out...

Tight lines!

The silent approach.

Can't believe it's been a month since I wet a line! Saying that, the weather has really been something else this winter. We haven't gotten the big Northerly storms like last year but it has been constantly just bad enough for going out.

Have been keeping a close eye to the forecast and yesterday was looking like the best day we've had so far. Thankfully the forecast got it spot on and I headed out after breakfast. Wasn't looking for anything spectacular, just needing to feel a fish on the end of my line! 

After a bit of faffing with the wires of the electric motor (tbf I don't look after it at all) I got it going and decided to hit a spot where I've been noticing the fish getting spooked easily with the aluminium boat. This time I stopped the main engine a good distance from the mark and made my approach with the electric motor keeping the sounder off. Made a few lure changes at first to see what they liked and natural presentations got hit better. 

I started getting a steady stream of plump pollock near the bottom at first but also on straight retrieve later on. I could also feel some coalies on the vicinity as they'd bump my lure so I thought it was time to try out the new Autowalker 83s from Mechanic Lures. Coalies really love hitting it's bigger brother the Autowalker 115s but a smaller presentation better matches the wee sprats and sandeels they're usually feeding on.

Autowalker 83s

Standard size pollock on the paddletail.

In the net.

Streamlined hunters.

Love seeing codling more often.

I started fan casting and sure enough after some casts I started getting blow ups on it! The 83s comes with only a treble at the back hence it took a few goes for the fish to stick as they were hitting it head on. Nevertheless, the coalies put up a good show as they were of a good size. It seems to me that the 83 has a more aggressive action as I was using it with heavier gear and still getting a pronounced snaking with some tail side slapping. Need to bring out the light game setup next time for a proper go. Saying that, the lure still casts and works very well on MH gear.

I alternated between topwater and SPs keeping the fish interested until the bites dried out. This took surprisingly long though, especially considering that I went toward the end of the "bite time" for this mark.  Made a small move to another nearby spot and found even more fish stacked on a ledge...

Here the coalies were even thicker, interspersed with some pollock and even a couple codling. A brighter coloured soft plastic did better in the deeper water of this mark.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day but as always it was time to head in soon enough. Today is another windy and rainy day so I'm glad I made the most of it. I really hope we get another day like it soon so I can try and winkle out a big girl!

Tight lines. 

2023 just like that...

 Happy new year to everyone and best wishes for 2023. I really don't know where December went as work and family have kept me very busy. Moreover, the cold and windy weather hasn't exactly spurred me on towards fishing... I've had a few sessions here snd there with good results but not the long sessions I'd like.

Back in December, I made an exploratory trip to Bracadale with mixed results. It was a lovely day out but I'd have far better fishing over my patch... A few quick shore sessions provided some good eaters but it wasn't until yesterday that I had a proper fishing session. 

Usual size. 

Some lovely coalies lately. 

I set off with dad and this was his first trip on the tinnie. Weather was OK with an incoming tide and a fresh southerly that felt warmer than the past few weeks.

We fished a sheltered spot first and got hungry fish straight away! Dad managed some good eaters and a couple bigger ones that were released. I got a few too and then got cut off by a good fish. Unfortunately a seal came for a visit and the bites dropped. Decided on a quick move and I started with a topwater. The Autowalker got hit almost instantly and I realised there was a shoal of coalies pushing bait up the reef. Time for fun... Rigged an Autowalker for dad and after showing him the retrieve speed, he started catching pounder coalies one after the other!

Dad started with a fatty.

He's in! 

Loads of them on the Autowalker. 

Good size coalie. 

Nice coalie on the Autowalker

There were some better ones among them and I had a cracking slap on the lure from a nice fish that weirdly didn't stick. I kept using the lure and catching a few fish until at some point realised that my middle hook got broken back when I had that strike! Mad coalies... I switched to a Lucky Craft Gunfish imitation to gove thdm something different and kept getting hit. It was great fun giving the lure a couple twitches and then getting some takes while it was resting. Most fish wanted it moving though. The hook up rate was somewhat reduced on this lure despite the 2 trebles. There's definitely something about the hook configuration and flowing action of the Autowalker that gets more hookups I feel.

In other news, I decided to treat myself to a new reel before Christmas... I did my usual research but nothing jumped to me on my price range. I wanted something more stepped up than the Sedona but not as expensive as the Stradic. In the end I settled for a Shimano Nasci C5000 XGFC at about £75. Typically smooth straight off the box, hopefully it'll take the punishment. I was really wanting to try a non shimano reel but at that price range and with the specs offered on the Nasci... I remain a shimano fanboy still! The cheapo Sedona has been excellent so far and there's no reason that the Nasci won't be as good. Thankfully, with most of my fishing done from the boat these days, the need for bulletproof reels has lessened and sturdy, well made cheaper reels seem to be fitting the bill ok.

Another one...

The cold and snowy weather could really move away now and would love some settled conditions in the next few weeks as dad wants to get out on the tinnie again! Let's see how it goes.

Tight lines!

Old friends and new weapons.

 Last weekend I had the pleasure to host my friends Alan and Paul again. We only managed to fish the Saturday due to the weather,  but we gave it a good go fishing all day practically. Last year I had a tough week with the lads and we really struggled to get some good fish in the boat. This year I was determined not to let that happen again... 

We had great conditions on the day so much so that we were possibly overconfident... We started at a shallow, kelpy mark that I tend to visit a lot this year. We got fish straight away but then they got fussy very quickly and the action slowed right down. It was infuriating as we could see loads of fish on the sounder and also feeling bites on our lures but no hookups. We spent a bit longer than I would've allowed regularly on this mark as I was thinking that the fish were waiting for the right tide state. Nevertheless I decided to move eventually and we headed for some slightly deeper spots. Thankfully we found some active fish and the boys got stuck in! 

Paul with a nice coalie.

Warrior pollack 

Alan with a plump fish in perfect conditions

Good times

Getting better...

That's more like it!

A nice one for Paul.

Eyes bigger than his belly this wrasse..

Alan's lure pile...

They're both in!

Double trouble 

Great condition on these fish 

I had some new rods to try as well, one being the MH Spro Specter finesse spin (2.42m 18-48g) and the other the Mifine Maximus (2.28m 10-40g). They both got some fish and I'm happy with them but can't form an opinion until after much further use.

Maximus!

New MH rod

We noticed extensive shoals of baitfish throughout the day and I persisted with topwaters as it seemed perfect for them. The fish had different ideas though and I only managed one to the usual Autowalker...

Topwater love.

Get in!

The lads got a good number of fish with the bigger ones around 3kg but no monsters showed up this time. I'm glad the fish played ball in the end as it was honestly a cracking day weather wise.

I'm starting to think that the tinnie may not be as 'stealthy' as the sibs when approaching shallow water fish. It could be the noise reverberating from the metal hull, the shiny colour and/or even the 2 stroke engine that does it, but its been a few times now that we approach a mark, catch a couple fish and they then go into lockjaw.  I'm going to try hanging off slightly farther from the fish next time and also turn off the engine (use the electric motor) before closing in. See how it goes.

I've not fished at all for myself the past couple months but hopefully I'll manage it this month as guiding has slowed down. I really want to take the boat out the west side and try a session for spurdogs... 

Tight lines