A silver thread in a ribbon of green.

Keen to catch a few more freshwater species, I popped out in the evening earlier this month to target a couple on the Water of Leith. The river which runs all the way through Edinburgh, used to be badly polluted, but these days it’s in much better condition. Such is the transformation, it’s been described as “a silver thread in a ribbon of green”. Most anglers who fish the river target brown trout, but more often than not, when I visit, it’s to target some of the venues smaller inhabitants. With exactly this in mind, I'd arranged to meet up with my mate Ryan to help him catch his first bullhead, but arriving early, I decided to see if I could catch a few minnow before it got dark. The water level was very low, and I didn't get many bites, but eventually I caught my target species from a deeper area at the water’s edge.

The humble minnow. Another species added to this year's tally.

As light faded, I headed downstream to meet up with Ryan at my favourite bullhead spot. Once it got dark, they began to appear from underneath rocks, their daytime hiding spots, and dropping a single maggot down in front of their faces, we were soon catching a few of them.

The bullhead is present in large numbers in the Water of Leith. 

Catching them isn't exactly difficult, so I usually try to hunt for larger specimens. Shining my headtorch around, searching for a monster, I spotted a small common eel poking its head out from underneath a boulder. Dropping my bait in its vicinity had the desired result, but the slippery fish quickly swam backwards into its hole. I didn't think I'd be able to successfully extract it, but to my surprise, a bit of gentle pressure did the trick.

The smallest common eel I've ever caught.

As the eel quickly destroyed my running ledger, tying it in knots, and we'd caught plenty of bullhead, we called an end to what had been a very productive evening after I unhooked the slippery rig wrecker and returning it to the river.

Tight lines, Scott.