Back to the drawing board. Again.

On Wednesday last week I spent the day exploring St Abbs Head. Fishing for small unusual species was the aim of the game. I took a light quiver tip rod, some light rigs, small hooks and a box of ragworm with me to scratch about. There are lots of photos online of rare fish taken in the area by divers. Streaked gurnard, John dory, anglerfish, Norwegian topknot, Montagu’s sea snail, snake pipefish, lemon sole, to name only a few! I was hoping to get lucky. Very lucky! After waking all the way from St Abbs village to Pettico Wick, to check out that area for the first time, I decided to fish instead from the rocks down to the right below the lighthouse. The climb down is pretty dodgy with some steep sections, loose scree and a step over a large crack onto a large rock. I find myself thinking “I’m too old for this nonsense!” every time I go down there!

Pettico Wick at the western end of St Abbs Head. Picturesque, but it was pretty shallow and didn’t look that “fishy”, so I gave it a miss. 

To begin with I fished with a 10g metal jig and caught a few small coalfish. Happy to have caught some fish to avoid a potential blank, I switched to my light scratching rig, a running ledger with a small hook baited with a small section of ragworm. I fished with these rigs for several hours but lost almost every one I cast out. Eventually I dropped the rig down close in and caught a small ballan wrasse.

This small ballan wrasse was the sole reward for my mini species bottom fishing efforts.

I may have to go back to the drawing board on this endeavour. It won't be the first time I've tried this sort of fishing and failed miserably. I had dozens of sessions at Loch Shira trying to catch a Fries' goby and didn't succeed. At least whilst doing that I caught lots of other species! The problem I have is that the ground on most of the accessible marks I’ve fished around St Abbs Head is rough, and the current can be very strong too. This makes fishing with delicate rigs and sensitive tackle difficult as they don't stay in the one position, being moved around until they eventually find a snag. I also think the areas where most of the divers explore and take their photographs aren’t really accessible from the shore either. Hmmm...

Tight lines, Scott.