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I finally got out after nearly half a year in post paternal hibernation, in which I’ve neglected the blog entirely as you can tell! The truth is, my 2nd born arrived in the late Autumn of 2023 and is now nearly 4 months old, so I figured it’s about time I dust off the rods, scrape the rust off a few hooks and get back to being an occasional nuisance to things with fins.

I went for the easy option of opting to chase a few Whiting somewhere locally, which I figured would provide the best prospect of a few rattles. Not the most exciting, but I’m not in serious mode at the minute and just happy to get out for a bit of sport. Steve was up visiting family so we hatched a plan for a few hours on the walkway at South Shields, hoping to cross paths with one of the numerous Haddock that have over-wintered our shores this year. Having been something of a rainbow fish for the last few decades, It’s great to see the Haddock enjoying less commercial pressure locally and coming back in numbers, and hopefully it continues year on year. I wonder if we’ll see a subsequent increase in any other species on our shores in the coming years – it would certainly be great to see the Plaice fishing get somewhere back to what it used to be.

Anyway. It’s unseasonably warm considering it’s February. So much so, I’m aghast to notice that as I walk along the promenade to meet Steve and Martyn, I’m bloody sweating! 10-12 degrees is just ridiculous for the time of year! But, coupled with the lack of any real breeze, I concede that it does make for some rather comfortable fishing conditions so I suppose it can’t all be bad.

I opted for one rod, out of laziness more than strategy, with a 2 hook flapper comprising of size 2 long shanks fixed with a pair of orange floating beads. I use these Floating beads from Turkana regularly, with orange and white being my favourite. They don’t function as pop ups as such, but give small baits that subtle bit of buoyancy which makes them flutter enticingly around in any current, and obviously the bright colour can add an additional level of attraction especially in murky conditions. By no means essential, but I’ve got on really well with them and they’ve made a big difference to my catch rates on several occasions with this type of fishing.

It was a bit of a slow start as dusk descended, but into darkness the fish started to show. I was first of the mark with a 5 bearded Rockling to add to the annual species hunt tally, then the Whiting obligingly start to take everything in front of them and we each work our way through a fair few fish.

It’s Martyn’s first time sea fishing so he’s happy to get off the mark with a few. All of the fish are comfortably over the legal size limit too, although very lean for the time of year.

Fortunate or unfortunate though, the Whiting are so prolific that baits are getting pounced on within minutes of hitting the seabed, with regular double shots, so if there was any Haddock in amongst them they weren’t getting a look in. A slight pang of disappointment maybe but in all honesty I was just enjoying being out and catching fish after such a long time.

As slack water came things tailed off a bit which gave the critters time to come out; I pulled in a nice pot sized Lobster which would definitely have been coming home for a bath, had she not been laiden with eggs, so a quick snap and off she swam seconds later.

Steve also managed a double shot of bugs in the shape of an edible brown crab which was flirting with being legal size, and a surprise in the shape of a north east Spider Crab. They’re not unheard of up here, but they are somewhat of a novelty and you only hear of the odd one once in a blue moon.

Things slow down on the fish front with only the odd one coming in so we decided to wrap it at about 9:30. My recently arrived daughter is of a nocturnal disposition at the minute so I didn’t fancy staying out too late!

I kept 8 of the fish that wouldn’t have gone back due to deep hooking so that’ll keep the family in fish cakes for a bit. I think I probably threw double the amount back – they were certainly out in force!

Never know – I might get out again soon!

It’s a summary – that probably tells you all you need to know!

Over the years, I‘ve spent countless hours on surf beaches bait fishing for Bass, but when it comes to lure fishing for them, I’m still very much an amateur. It has become a bit of an obsession the last couple of years though, which has precipitated a mass exodus of British currency from my bank account on lures, rods, braids, bags etc.

Some might describe it as something similar to having all the gear, albeit less of the idea.

This year I’ve been really slow on the uptake though. First off, we’ve had a completely rubbish summer – apart from one week in June, it’s basically rained since the beginning of May. And the flat calm, crystal clear conditions conducive with the shallow, weedy areas I fish in summer have been hard to come by, as the wind seems to have been stuck in a permanent pattern of north and south easterlies. Great for surf fishing but I haven’t tried the beaches much since spring.

Anyway I’ve taken advantage of what little opportunity the weather affords and had a few early morning/late evening flick abouts. The first schoolie of the year fell victim to a Sandeel Pencil at the end of June on an otherwise unproductive session, before the weather once again put the kibosh on any further sessions and it was another 7-8 weeks before things settled enough to be worth venturing out again. Really I should have tried the beaches, but every time there was a window I seemed to be busy.

Anyway, a couple of weeks back I dragged my corpse out of bed at 4am for an early morning session before work and was treated to my first glimpse of a Northumberland sunrise in I don’t know how many years.

The Bass weren’t as impressed as me clearly, with only one fish taking interest in my lure, a white DoLive stick, and promptly ejecting it into a thick raft of bladderwrack a few seconds later. It gave me confidence though and I decided to venture out the following evening to fish into darkness, accompanied by Marc, in what we would have usually considered perfect conditions. Gin clear and flat calm – but still the Bass weren’t in an obliging mood as for the first few hours our lures may have well been in the back of the car for all they were being intercepted by hungry fish.

As the light really faded I clipped on a patchinko 125 in 500g colour. I’ve not had a Bass on a surface lure yet but I’m determined to give it a try every time I’m out. Having thrashed the hell out the venue for hours I admit I was ready to give up, as was Marc. Just as I was contemplating my last cast, I started to see small baitfish scattering in the shallows to my right, clearly startled by something. I was then taken completely off guard by a big splash behind the pachinko. I’ve read that this is pretty typical behaviour for Bass as they attempt to ‘stun’ the prey by swiping at it then come back round to pick it up. This happened a few times over the next 10 mins, then just as Marc came over admitting defeat, a Bass finally hit the lure solid on the surface no more than 8 yards out in 2 foot of water.

A short but spirited fight ensued before the net is slipped under a nice chunky Bass approaching 3lb – a lure PB for me, and off the surface! At this point the light has more or less gone and the tide is ebbing so we decide to call it a night.

Round 2

Bit by the surface bug, I was out again the following week to see whether it was a fluke. Another 4am wake up call saw me on the same mark less than an hour later. It was still completely dark, but a very bright, waning moon was still a fair way up above me which rendered the head torch more or less unnecessary and I could make out a very faint glare on the eastern horizon signalling the approach of daybreak.

I was a bit disheartened to see the water was a little cloudy from yet another stir up a few days previous – I’d expected it to have settled out by now but clearly not. I must admit this more or less shot my confidence of expecting to catch anything, but I messed about for a bit with a couple of slow twitch soft plastics until there was enough of a haze on the horizon that I could realistically send out the patch 125 and actually be able to see it snaking about on the surface. I was mindlessly casting, dreaming away and contemplating my sanity, thinking “why the hell did I bother getting out of bed – there’s not going to be anything here when the waters this murky” when a black, fish shaped silhouette torpedoed my lure about 20 yards out and I was, rather remarkably, attached to a Bass!

“Get in!” was the thrilled cry that woke the larks, followed by numerous expletives 10 seconds or so later when the fish managed to extricate itself mid water. But confidence renewed, I started paying more attention to what I was doing, deliberately casting at structures, currents and gullies, exploring the topography of the reef as best I could. Not 10 minutes later I got slammed again – these Bass were clearly well up for it this morning!

I managed to get this one to the net and, buzzing to get another off the top, quickly removed the single hooks and sent the fish off to tell its pals.

By this point it was high tide, but surely it had another fish in it? As a matter of fact, it had another 3, plus a few other misses from smaller schoolies. The average stamp was overall good as well – I measure me one fish at 48cm and the rest of were of a similar size. So 4 fish off the top in the space of 2 hours – I’m starting to sound like I know what I’m doing!

An hour into the ebb and the bites dried up so it was as good an excuse as any to turn my attention to the first coffee of the day.

I’m dying to get out again but the tides are tiny for the next week. My usual mark fishes best on the bigger tides I’ve noticed so I may have a scout around and see if I can find somewhere to go on the neap tides.

This is an annual event ran by seaanglingreports.co.uk to help raise money for the web fees. With a member list of nearly 200 you’d think this would be easy enough – unfortunately the reality is probably less than 20 are regularly active and still post on the forum. But those of us that do refuse to let it go; rather than attempting to compete with larger angling forums (or heaven forbid Facebook/instagram), SAR has become sort of a virtual angling club, and with most of us primarily North East and Scotland based it makes the annual meet a bit easier.

This years event was to be held at the old smokehouse on the north side of the mouth of the Tyne. 6 members turned to fish and a couple more stopped by for a chat – poor compared to last year, but we had to rearrange the original date due to bad weather, and those who could not attend were still generous with donations.

I was first blood with a 32cm Codling on frozen Crab within the first 5 minutes. All fish count in this measure and release match and this was enough to keep me in top spot for a good portion of the 4 hour match

There were a lot of nuisance Dabs and small Whiting about with little else of substance showing up. Some of the lads managed to find something more interesting to do by busying themselves with the local Sprat population, which were taking advantage of the peat stained water and clearly feeling confident enough to take their Sabiki’s fished down the side of the wall.

Their presence was clearly noted however as despite the murky water I managed a chunky Mackerel on lugworm of all things, which at 40cm turned out to be the biggest fish of the day, winning me the coveted Piscan Pot Trophy.

It was just as well as Reg managed a 34cm Codling half an hour before the end of the match which would have pipped mine by 2cm.

All in all it was a nice few hours out – nothing to write home about fish wise, but enough money raised to keep the site going another year. Pop along to seaanglingreports.co.uk if you fancy being part of a non-typical group of genuinely nice people. It might not be as busy as elsewhere on the internet, but it’s certainly not as volatile either!

It’s been nearly 4 years since my last visit to North Wales and me and Steve made the decision a few months ago that it needed to be prioritised over our usual jaunt to Scotland lest we be accused of being too predictable!

For the travelling species hunter looking to lift their tally, you could do a lot worse than Anglesey and it’s no real surprise when you have access to venues with records like Holyhead Breakwater, which historically has amassed over 50 species by itself! Most Anglers stick to the inside of the pier, where fast paced sport can be found with the various species of Wrasse, Blennys and Gobies that occupy the habitat all along the foot of the breakwater. Casting puts you onto clean sand where the usual Dogfish and Whiting will readily oblige, but you can also expect surprises in the shape of big Bass, Bull Huss, Rays and Smoothounds. And that really is only naming a few.

The outside wall is more for the specimen hunter; the ground is extremely unforgiving with large rocks, boulders and kelp, but this is where the larger fish lurk and good numbers of large Bull Huss and, on the right day, Conger eels can be expected. It’s also worth a chuck for Cuckoo Wrasse and 3 Bearded Rockling, which don’t tend to show much on the inside of the pier but can more readily be caught on the outside by putting in the time (and leads).

Anyway the plan was to start here later on the Friday afternoon, fish the evening flood for smaller species and then switch to bigger baits as darkness fell to target the bigger Huss and Conger. In reality, it didn’t work out that way for me, as I arrived at the pier a whole 3 hours after I’d intended due to horrendous traffic and road closures. Steve, Stu and Ez had already been there a few hours themselves, although sport had been slow as most of their fishing had been concentrated over the last of the ebb and first of the flood. The breakwater does tend to fish better the further you get into the flood in my experience, at least as far as targeting species down the side of the wall is concerned.

So, I managed an hour of species hunting before the light began to fade and amassed a small tally of Corkwing Wrasse and a couple of nice Ballan Wrasse to get me started before I switched focus to targeting bigger specimens. Darkness is definitely a factor in successful Huss fishing, maybe not as important as with Conger, but Huss are definitely more active at night. They love sticky ground as well, so often times you can target both species at the same time.

A strong pulley rig with big, strong hooks is all you’ll need. 6/0s are my go to at the business end with something like a 5/0 demon circle with an offset point as a pennel. Once upon a time I never used to use a pennel hook over rough ground, but over the years I’ve not found it makes any difference in terms of lost gear, and the pennel provides better presentation and definitely improves hook up rate, especially using a circle or chinu pattern. Fish baits are all you need – mackerel and/or squid are a standard option that will catch well, but if you can get it, what Huss really love is a fresh Whiting, Pouting or Poor Cod bait. These have accounted for many double figure Huss for me, incl my PB (a fish over 14lb). It seems to sort out the bigger specimens as well – In fact I would go as far as to say if you gave me the choice either of these 3 baits VS Mackerel the latter would get binned every time!

Anyway – big baits were plopped out the back of the breakwater as the light faded and we set about the evenings fishing. Dogfish started to make a nuisance of themselves pretty much immediately, as is often the case here. As the tide turned however they seemed to slacken off, which proved effective as less than an hour later my ratchet stripped away indicating the first proper Huss bite of the evening. They’re not the most exciting fighters but they do put up a good account of themselves, tending to hang deep until they’re at your feet. Steve manoeuvres in with the dropnet when the fish surfaces and expertly hauls the fish up the wall. It’s a clear double, and after a quick weigh it hits the scales bang on 12lb – great start!

Less than an hour later up comes a second, smaller fish a round the 5-6lb mark and then Stu follows suit not long after with a fish of his own, landing his first ever Huss, an angry female going over 7lb.

The tides halfway back now and bites dry up, save for the ever present Dogfish, and we decide to call it a night. That long walk back along the breakwater never gets any easier!

A rough nights sleep thanks to a punctured sleeping matt meant I suffered a bit the morning after, but eventually got up the motivation to have a few chucks off the back of the breakwater closer inshore while the rest of them were still snoring away. This didn’t produce much to write home about, a couple of Wrasse and of course the ever present Dogfish. The plan was to fish a rock mark for the evening flood, but since there was no rush to get there we dropped on to Amlwch for a spot of species hunting as the tide ebbed. The venue has been getting a lot of social media and YouTube attention recently and has been getting hammered as a result, but it is still producing a decent array of species for those using light gear. On arrival it was the busiest I’d ever seen it, with at least 20 people fishing. It’s only a small pier so this makes things pretty cramped, but thankfully there was still a bit of room on the inside and we tallied up a decent array of Corkwings and a few Ballans. I was hoping for a Goby or two, but sadly the most interesting thing that came up was a Long Spined Sea Scorpion!

Come tea time it was time to get to our next mark to see if there are any Conger willing to play. A precarious scramble over jagged rocks and boulders saw us awkwardly perched 15 ft above the water which would make landing any decent fish interesting.

With hours of daylight left, I busied myself with the light gear, knocking up a repetitive tally of Ballan’s and Corkwing’s again. The lads daringly set the stalls out for bigger fish at distance and got pestered by Dogfish for their enthusiasm.

Perseverance with the light gear paid off for me with probably the most interesting mini species of the weekend in the shape of a Tompot Blenny, which made a nice change from the onslaught of Wrasse.

Then Stu matched my bet with his first ever Leopard Spotted Goby. A trip of many firsts for Stu! Meanwhile, after relenting and casting out a big rod I was bringing in what I assumed to be another Dogfish, but on surfacing it was a much darker colour and turned out to be a Dogfish sized Bull Huss.

All of a sudden we seemed to be getting snagged up on a regular basis, and with suspicions growing in regards to what the culprit might be, I managed to drop off a small strap Conger on a 2 hook flapper right at my feet, which confirmed our theory that we were being hung up by small straps taking our bait and retreating into their holes. Sadly, that was the only sight of a conger we got all night, and when darkness settled in and the heavens opened the rocks became a bit precarious and we decided to call it a night around midnight, all of us tired from the weekends exploits.

So ends another weekend trip away, and probably my last for a while. It was great to have Stu and Ez along with me and Steve for a change, the banter never stopped all weekend and we had a right good laugh. Looking forward to the next one!

The old faithful venue is still producing the goods, with my latest session producing a decent haul of Bass, albeit none of them beyond the schoolie stage of their lifecycle!

As a venue, Druridge isn’t world famous for the size of the fish it produces, but it is a safe bet to avoid a blank. In fact in 15 years of fishing here I’ve only ever blanked once and can recall the session clearly, as it’s the only time I’ve ever fished the beach in totally flat calm conditions. Mildly overcast on a late spring early morning, the water was like a sheet of glass, with zero ripple from the wind. And the small Flounder and Turbot that can usually be relied on to provide sport were nowhere to be found. Druridge is probably my most regular venue locally, but I’ve made a point to never fish it in flat calm conditions since!

At 7 miles long, the bay has the classical north east ‘C’ shape of most of the beaches in the area and is a flexible option in any onshore conditions as both the head and foot of the bay are protected by large, rocky outcrops and skeers which take the sting out of any prevailing northerly or southerly swell. It doesn’t take much to get the water moving either, and a 2-3ft swell is all that’s needed to get the Bass on the feed.

Such was the case when Marc messaged me asking if I fancied another evening bait fishing for Bass. I checked the forecast – pretty much identical conditions to when me and Mike were out the other week, with a 2.5 ft north easterly swell to put some fizz in the water and get things moving. When I arrived at around 6pm it looked positive – a little coloured from recent rain but I’ve never known that put Bass off, and it’s rarely heavy on Druridge anyway with very little silt build up over the main body of the bay. After a slight false start, which involved a trudge back to the car as I’d somehow managed to leave my rod stand in the boot in my haste to get down to the beach, I was fishing.

Short up and overs with a size 1 circle hook as a pennel and a 1/0 Sakuma worm hook as the main were generously baited with fresh Ragworm and lobbed out into the turbulence. With the onset of lighter nights, I’m starting with 2 rods as I usually find the best sport comes as the light fades and into darkness, so having the extra rod during daylight can help to pick out any early arrivals that might feel more keen than their peers. Marc arrives within half an hour and sets up to my left and, between commenting on how perfect the conditions look, we set about waiting for things to go dark in anticipation of the first fish.

Yet we needn’t have been resigned to the idea of such a waiting game. The Bass clearly had other ideas about what time dinner should be served and were quite happy to start jumping on our hooks from the word go. We each built up a succession of schoolie Bass during the last few hours of daylight, the biggest touching around 39cm so nothing huge. Bigger fish are possible if you work for them, but a fish going over 2lb frankly is a fair achievement around here.

We have a particularly mad hour where a large school of fish is clearly camped right in front of us, with some baits in the water less than a minute before they’re set upon by hungry Bass. I ended up landing 6 fish in less than 40 minutes!

Ironically, as witching hour descends, things slow down – the fish are still around and feeding, but not as hard as before. Marc manages the best of the evening around an hour before high water though with a lovely 45cm fish thats destined for the table. I add a couple more Bass to my tally to bring me to 12 for the evening and, although there are fish still there, I conceded to tiredness and decide to call it an evening.

I only recall one other session a few years ago where I had so many fish and it’s nice after such a time to have a bit of a red letter day. I think we’re about at the point when it’s time for the lure rod to come out!

Not the first attempt of 2023, but the first session that’s been successful.

With the winter cod season now a distant memory, we’re just coming towards end of the annual spring lull in reputable fishing activity. Mid March and through April is generally a dismal time for sea fishing where I’m from. The hardy anglers content with scaling things down can still find some busy sport, but the results are more based on quantity as the quality fish have moved offshore to spawn.

As we creep towards May though, the better fish begin to return and we start to enjoy the arrival of summer species. My bit has been well and truly champed waiting for the water temp to rise enough to make it worth getting the lure gear out for Bass, but this year the lingering chill of the seasons end has been a stubborn nemesis and I’ve had to stick to my guns with bait fishing – with little success up to now.

Bass are Bass though, and I still enjoy catching them on bait. So, a bit of a last minute decision saw me heading up to Druridge on bank holiday weekend with Mike. We’ve not fished together for a while so it was good to be out again.

When we arrived at the beach a couple of hours after low water however, we were a bit concerned at the state of the sea. I’d been expecting a south easterly surf running from my cursory glance at the forecast, but it was clear on re-analysing that it was in fact north easterly despite the prevailing south easterly wind. With swell and wind working against each other, the surf was really dampened on a lot of the beach and we covered pretty much the full stretch of the bay in the car looking for the best of the surf. It was a bit of a challenge I can tell you, though on this occasion right in the middle of the bay appeared to have JUST enough surf that might hold a few fish, but it was definitely on the knife edge in terms of being ideal! Everywhere else was flounder territory, which didn’t really interest us today. So we trudged down to the waters edge and set about salvaging the task at hand.

Mike set his stalls out for a Turbot for the species hunt to start with, while I focused straight on the Bass. A short up and over was baited with a couple of lively Ragworm and plopped out within minutes of arriving. It was a bit of a last minute session, and Mike had struggled to get bait, so we’re only using one rod each. I don’t remember the last time I only fished with one rod – far too relaxed compared to usual – I actually think I quite enjoyed it!

There was a bit of a nervous moment when both me and Mike had to tow in some monstrous rafts of kelp, which really put the 3 pieces to the test.

Thankfully the current quickly cleared things out and this was the only time we had problems with weed, so it was back to focusing on the rod tips as the last of the light conceded. The south east breeze, while not strong, allied itself with some unwelcome (and un-forecast!) pockets of rain which made things a little uncomfortable at times. Between the peltering though I had to abruptly end a phone call to the mrs as my rod registered the first interest of the evening and a small schoolie was promptly plucked from the fizz. The first Bass of 2023 – not a monster but a welcome site.

Target achieved, the next bait is sent out and over the next hour Bass number 2 and 3 of 2023 follow. All around the same size, it’d be hard to tell them apart! Mike had found favour with the local Flounder population and was notching up a decent tally and then managed a Bass of his own, so that’s both of us with a species point.

Things go slow for a bit and the exploits of the night before (beer) start to catch up with me; at one point I catch myself nodding off whilst still standing up! The surf is calming all the time and eventually I’m only plopping my bait 20 yards to make sure I’m in the right area. Eventually the fish come back on the feed and I get a much more solid bite than the last few. This one has a bit more size to it, not enough to really cause the gravity surf any trouble but enough to notice. As it transpires it’s a nice little Bass bang on the legal 42cm size. I debated having him for the table, but I prefer them to go over 45cm and later in the year when they’re in better condition, so he gets his photo taken and then gets sent back – hopefully we cross paths again later in the year when I’m out with the lures!

This is quickly followed by another smaller schoolie to take me to 5 for the evening

Things go quiet on the Bass front again around midnight, although Mike continues to tally up on the flounders on most casts. Just before high water we decide to call it quits, with a little left over bait for Mike to save for a mid week session.

So despite the hard conditions, it actually turned out to be a decent session. I’m really itching for the temperature to go up now though so that we can get on with the summer fishing!

I’ve been neglecting the blog again, which is usually code for I haven’t been fishing much. In fact I’ve only been twice since my last post in September for a couple of impromptu plops into the local gully’s. I managed to extract a nice 6lb Cod on my last dart out, satisfying myself that I can still actually catch fish.

So, with a good session well overdue, the plan was set for a pilgrimage to South-West Scotland in search of a few early year Thornbacks to break my angling hiatus.

This is the time of year for a PB as the larger females hug the shallower inshore waters getting ready to lay their eggs in early spring. Although the area produces Thornbacks pretty much year round, the average size definitely seems to go up between now and March/April. While I’ve caught plenty of Thornbacks over the years, I’ve still to break the magic 10lb barrier – so that would be my target for the day, along with an optimistic attempt at a Conger once the light faded.

It was a crisp morning as I rocked up to pick Tony up just after 9am and we quickly embarked on the three hour journey westwards, stopping for the obligatory bacon butty along the way, before arriving at the mark about half an hour before low water.

Bites started pretty quickly, although it was obvious they weren’t what we were after. Frequent rattles had me thinking dabs initially, but the culprit was soon identified as Tony reeled In a match sized Whiting. It was gut hooked so went into the bait bag for Huss bait. I followed up shortly after with a Whiting of my own, so the blank was off, but it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind as far as breaking my angling fast was concerned!

The Whiting continued to make a nuisance of themselves for the first few hours. This didn’t inspire much confidence – being a prey fish, the fact that they were out in abundance meant there clearly wasn’t enough predators around to deter them!

As the light began to fade though I got a bite that looked entirely different and, suspecting the target species had finally turned up, I lifted into the first Thornback of the evening. I could tell it wasn’t a bad size as it hung low all the way back to my feet and I soon had a nice Ray landed. Weighed in a sling she went over 10lb, but with the sling deducted her final weight came out at 9lb 9oz beating my previous PB by a single ounce. So I’m still on the hunt for that double!

Not to be out done, Tony followed up with a ray of his own 5 minutes later, this one comfortably over 6lb.

Generally when the fish turn up here, you can have at least a good few hours on them before they tail off again. Sometimes sport is so prolific it’s hard to keep up with 2 rods! This evening however was not so. Sport remained slow, with only the odd fish showing.

With the sun well set I turned my attention to conger, baiting up a large mackerel and squid combo, lobbing it close in and dragging it backward basically until I could feel ground, which is where the eels will be if they’re there. In the meantime I manage another smaller Ray and a dogfish

Things go quiet for the last hour and eventually we concede, with Tony having to be up early for work the next morning.

Just as I’m tidying up my first rod, I notice a very tentative looking bite on the Conger rod. This is quite typical of Conger, despite their size they usually take a bait very gently. I’m convinced it’s an eel and once I feel it move off I lift into it – and instantly the line parts on the barnacle encrusted rocks.

“S**T!!!”

Ahh well. Much as I’m tempted to have another go, the prospect of a sensible nights sleep wins over and we head back to the car.

So not the session we perhaps hoped for but not a complete waste. I’m happy to be back out and catching fish again after so long, and I’m already looking forward to the next one.

If life was different, I’d live in the highlands.

The draw back to rugged, Scottish territory is always sitting at background levels of insatiable, so much so that I haven’t really focused my travelling efforts anywhere else in the last few years. If the opportunity has come up for a few days away, it’s always been Scotland.

Fishing the various sea loch’s, Sounds and Firth’s of the north west highlands of “god’s country” is the pinnacle of the sport for me. There’s just nothing like it. Even if you’re blanking – who cares! The scenery alone is a good enough reason to go.

Obviously that’s not strictly the case, I go fishing to catch fish and when I don’t I get annoyed! But there are far worse places to blank than this:

The fishing up here is as diverse as the scenery – but in recent years the quarry that keeps bringing me back is the Common/Flapper Skate. They’re about the biggest thing you can hope to catch from the shore in the UK and I’ve spent many hours targeting them – with at least some success!

A late start

This time we were hoping to try out a couple of new marks we’ve had our eye on, as well as visit some of the usual haunts. So, with Steve’s van loaded with all the gear, we set off at tea time on Sunday night, arriving to one of our usual marks for the start of the flood around 1am in the morning. Spirits were high and it was an absolutely beautiful night as well – we’re more accustomed to fishing in high winds and driving rain in Scotland but we were certainly lucky tonight. We managed a few hours before tiredness got the better of us – static rod tips doing nothing to break the monotony, so we decided to get our heads down and rest up for a decent session tomorrow.

More of the same

The following day we fished another one of our usual marks – one which has produced for us in the past albeit a little inconsistently. Such was the case this evening on the Skate front, but during the hours of afternoon sunlight we did have some decent sport with the local populations of species in the shape of Ballan and Goldsinny Wrasse, Pollock, Poor Cod and Leopard-Spotted and Rock Gobies.

We were also treated to an appearance from up to three Sea Eagles which were riding the thermals surprisingly low, just about within camera range!

Darkness is generally the deciding factor on most of the Skate marks we fish as they’re pretty shallow, and while the tides and conditions were absolutely spot on tonight – frustratingly those rod tips still never moved all night! The fire did keep our spirits up though during the protracted periods of inactivity.

Slightly deflated we retreated to the van in the stupidly early hours of the morning to again try and rest up for the next day. The forecast for tomorrow was favourable for one of the new marks we wanted to try on this trip so we were hoping for an improvement in the sport.

A new mark

Day three and the conditions came good to get on our intended mark. This one was a bit of a trek – scrambling up and down cliffs and goat tracks for half an hour until we found a decent enough platform to fish from. There was a bit of a swell caused by the onshore wind, but this was dying all the time and we felt pretty safe. Fishing into over 100ft of water, we were hopeful of a few species during daylight but we were mostly just pestered by doggies. As usual we weren’t expecting the Skate to be present until darkness, so I didn’t actually bother setting the stalls out for them until the sun began to set and dusk settled in. I’d baited one rod with half of an unlucky dogfish and sent it out to the depths. Skate aren’t the fussiest of predators – they need a lot of food to sustain their huge size, and will happily chomp down on a dogfish. The benefit of using one as bait is that not much else will entertain it – so it’s a good option when other baits are being pounced on by dogfish, crabs or other nuisance species. In fact you can cast one out and pretty much leave it all night if you want to.

Anyway Steve was feeling the cold a bit with the loss of the sun and reluctantly decided to make the arduous trek back to the car for his jacket and some snacks.

The law of the sods

Naturally in his absence, Steve’s rod screamed off ten minutes later and it was left to me to deal with the fish. I was gutted as you can tell…

She was clearly not happy with being hooked and took plenty of line in her initial bid for freedom. It’s not a fight you’d forget in a hurry – the power of these fish is just phenomenal, demanding the utmost respect and testing your gear to its absolute limits. When they decide they want to run or dive, just let it happen – there’s nothing any rod or reel on the planet is going to do anything about it. That being said, you can give them some stick back, and in fact it’s best to do so in order to get them off the seabed quickly and facilitate a quick release.

Once she’d finished messing about I bullied her a bit to try and get her up quick – which worked and she was on the surface after just fifteen minutes, a nice female around the 150lb mark. Often times you can be attached to these fish for well over an hour, so I was pleased to get her up quickly.

Unfortunately we’d forgotten to bring the gaff down with us. The mark is not the flattest – you’re basically fishing the base of a cliff. I managed to get a hold of the leader but couldn’t negotiate the Skate onto the ledge I was standing on. Steve eventually arrived back from the van and took the leader, trying to coax the Skate up onto the ledge but the swell was making it impossible, drawing her back every time we got her up and rubbing the snood against the rocks until eventually the snood parted right at the hook and she sailed back off to the depths below.

Never mind. Im still counting it as a capture as we touched the leader – but I’m a bit miffed I didn’t get a picture! Anyway the hook was both barbless and bronzed and she was hooked right in the scissors, so I’ve no doubt she’ll get rid of it quickly. We both agreed she was around the 150lb mark so a bit off a PB but it was great to get one after such a long while.

I decided at that point to make the thirty minute scramble back to the van to get the gaff in case we hooked up again. Clambering over rocks, boulders and sheer ledges – I got a call half way back saying my rod that was baited with the half a dogfish had just had a run from another Skate! Sod’s law again! Sadly this fish dropped the bait and never came back. Anyway I returned nearly an hour later with the gaff, reset both rods and we sat in anticipation, hoping to get Steve a fish as we tend to take it in turns once the first fish has been landed.

The rest of the ebb passed with less activity – the Skate had obviously moved off as the dogfish were back to making a nuisance of themselves, less likely to find themselves impaled by our 10/0 hooks but still making every effort to destroy our perfectly presented baits!

That was until I got a more tentative bite that initially had me thinking Skate, until I hooked into it. It gave some really dogged headshakes and took a bit of line and was clearly a decent fish. This rod had been baited with mackerel and I’d actually misplaced the cast – the backdrop on this mark is quite difficult in terms of casting, even more so over high water, and I remembered I’d ballsed this one up a bit and only made it about 30 yards into some pretty sticky ground. Given the type of fight and the weight of the fish, we both thought it must be a decent Conger. Unfortunately we would never find out – as it managed to shake the hook before I got it to the surface.

Skate On!

As we got back towards low water things went quiet. This can be telltale of a Skate moving into the area – they’re a massive predator at the end of the day and will munch their way through pretty much anything they can get in their mouths. We were just contemplating whether it was going to happen when sure enough – Steve’s rod hooped over for the second time this evening as a fish made off hard and fast with his Mackerel bait. Just as he tightened up to lean into it though the fish dropped the bait again!

If a Skate does this it’s worth putting your rod back in the stand and leaving it as very often they will return to the bait. You’ll also find that where there’s one Skate, there’s often more. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later it was back and taking line a bit more tentatively this time but still with the unmistakable run of a decent Skate. Steve set his drag, hit the fish and this time it was on.

The Skate hugged the bottom really hard this time. Every time Steve dislodged it it would move no more than a couple of inches before sticking to the sea bed again. A couple of times it managed to find an obstacle and fears of being stuck solid would set in – but Steve managed the situation expertly by switching positions to get a good angle on the fish and get it to turn away from the snags. We were convinced by the nature of the fight it was a big female, as the males tend to be harder fighting and more erratic.

Eventually, after 40 minutes of solid pressure being applied (much to the protests of Steve’s back) it was directly below the rod tip – still down on the bottom in about 80ft of water. It eventually lost its purchase on the seabed below and Steve was able to negotiate it half way up the ledge. The Skate clearly wasn’t done though and took off back down again and all Steve could do was hang on. The next time he got it nearly all the way to the surface, before it shot off down again, taking double the amount of braid back! Cue all sorts of profanities from Steve!

Finally on the third attempt it surfaced and we were both surprised to see it was a big male fish. This time we were prepared with the gaff and with the fish secured well in the wing, he was landed without much hassle, enabling us to measure, unhook and get some pics.

The Skate charts are different depending on Male and Female, with the females growing bigger. This particular fish however was off the chart for a male – or in other words the male charts didn’t go big enough! It’s wingspan was over 80 inches, whereas the charts for male fish only go to 77 inches. Going by the trends in weight increments though we estimated somewhere in the region of a 140-150lb fish, comfortably beating Steve’s previous PB by a decent margin.

Given we’d now both had a fish we decided to call it a night. I was kicking myself for not getting a photo of my fish – but we decided if conditions allowed, we would fish here again tomorrow night so I could try and get another.

Change of plan

Sadly when we surfaced the following morning the wind had picked up. It was still a nice sunny day, but the onshore wind was strong and we knew the mark would be dangerous with the large swells. Unfortunately, while our other marks would have been fishable, the wind would be straight in our face, and we were humming and harring whether we could really be bothered to put up with it given the slow sport of the first two evenings.

So after a bit of a think and a couple of calls , we reluctantly decided to forgo the Skate fishing for the last night and set our sights on Conger instead up towards Fort William. It was a bit of a gamble, as the mark we had in mind was new to both of us – we had no idea if it would produce.

It was really quite comfortable though – a small jetty stretching out from a harbour into Loch Linnhe. And the views of the sunset were amazing.

Conger are a bit of a nemesis for me. I’ve targeted them quite a bit when on trips to North Wales and while I have had a few, they’ve been mostly small straps – with my PB only being around the 5lb mark. Last time I targeted them properly I hooked a huge one on Holyhead breakwater that was well into double figures, but the rig snapped as I was lifting it up the wall and I’ve been sore about it ever since. Other than that my attempts to catch them have either been fruitless, or limited to smaller captures. As much as I like targeting them, they don’t half bloody frustrate me!

Hoping to redeem myself somewhat, I sent one rod out at distance to see what else was about and then set my Conger rod up with a simple running ledger rig down the side of the wall baited with mackerel head and squid. To our surprise I had a take 10 minutes later and was quickly hooked into a small strap – which we got a glimpse of before it promptly spat the hook just before it reached the surface. On inspection of the rig, the hook was twisted up, suggesting the eel had taken the bait backwards and probably wasn’t hooked properly. It was nevertheless a good confidence boost though!

The distance rod then registered some interest, with the culprit turning out to be a small Thornback.

I decided to focus just on Conger and so rather than this rod going back out, i switched to another running ledger rig and dropped it at a different point down the wall.

Steve had a couple of Conger baits in as well but was also fishing at distance with one rod – and getting plagued by dogfish and other small species for his troubles!

The rods down the side of the wall remained untroubled for a few hours, save for some hungry crabs. Finally though, half way through the ebb at around midnight, we heard the tentative click of the drag on my Battle 7000 as an eel had picked up the bait. It’s surprising how gentle the bites are from these fish and Steve, being a little more experienced with catching these fish, encouraged me to let it develop – minimising the resistance as much as possible in the hope that it wouldn’t drop the bait. Eventually I felt it reversing back into its hole and hit into it. A brief moment of solid resistance before the fish dislodged from its refuge and was quickly visible in the shallow water at the base of the jetty. The depth could only have been 6ft at the most, but clearly enough to hold fish throughout the tide.

The Eel was landed swiftly and weighed in at just shy of 7lb – no where near a monster but a new PB! A few pictures taken before it was sent back to its home.

We fished on for another couple of hours, with me getting another take from a Conger which must have felt too much resistance as it dropped the bait and didn’t come back. Steve continued to wage war on the local Dogfish population until low water when we decided to call it a night as he wanted to get on the road for a couple hours in order to save some time tomorrow for the journey home.

And so ends another jaunt to the highlands and as I write I already want to go back. We’ve decided to take a bit of a hiatus on the Skate front for the time being though and both fancy targeting Conger a bit more often. It’s in the planning stages currently but hopefully there’ll be more eels featuring on here in the near future 😉