An American species hunter in Scotland.

At the start of May I received an email from a young American species hunter by the name of Brandon. One of the things I really like about writing the blog is that it occasionally brings myself and other like minded anglers together. In his email he explained he enjoyed my blog, would be visiting Scotland at the end of May and was keen to meet up, so we could do some fishing together. I told him that I would meet up with him when he was in Edinburgh, and I'd help him catch a few new species for his life list. After I finished work last Sunday I picked him up from his Airbnb, and we visited the Water of Leith, as Brandon was keen to catch his first bullhead. Waiting for it to get dark, we targeted minnows for an hour or so. They weren't particularly active however, although I did manage to catch one. It was an opportunity to try out a small "photo tank" that I recently bought to take to Singapore with me.

My new photo tank works quite well I think.

Once it got dark we headed to my favourite bullhead spot and began searching the shallows with our head torches. The bullheads were out in numbers, and as usual, couldn't resist a maggot on a small hook dropped right in front of their relatively large mouths. Before long we’d lost count of how many we'd caught. Whilst Brandon took lots of photos of bullheads I began scouring the bottom for bigger specimens. A monster bullhead soon appeared, out from underneath an overhanging section of the bank. A new personal best bullhead was soon in my photo tank!

Brandon photographs the latest addition to his life list.

My new PB bullhead. Possibly. I didn't weigh it.

Our mission accomplished, we headed back to the car. After dropping Brandon off, I headed home, satisfied with a successful guiding effort. I was working in the morning, but we arranged to meet up the following evening again.

Whilst I was working on Monday, Brandon was out fishing on Granton Breakwater. He wanted to catch some wrasse and I told him that this was a good spot to try. The wind had a made it a pretty tough session, but he caught his first ever ballan wrasse, so he was happy with that. I managed to get away from work thirty minutes early and headed down there to pick him up. Off we went to Dunbar Harbour for a session targeting, to begin with, flounder and plaice. We arrived a little too early but as the tide flooded and the depth of water over the sandy corner we were fishing in increased, we eventually spotted some flat fish chasing our ragworm sections as we slowly twitched them along the bottom. My first fish of the evening was a small plaice, which was my first of the year. Plaice make up a small percentage of the flatfish I've caught in Dunbar Harbour of the years. so it was a slice of luck to catch one straight away. It was followed fairly quickly by a small flounder.

A small plaice. Another species added to my 2023 tally.

A flounder soon followed.

Soon afterwards Brandon also got lucky and caught his first ever plaice. After the sun had set and light begun to fade I hooked a big flounder that unfortunately came off just as it was coming to the surface. A short time later, Brandon hooked a big one too. Perhaps it was the fish I'd lost. It was certainly too big to swing up, so I grabbed my 5.9m landing net from the car and netted it for him.

A tiny plaice. Size doesn't matter to species hunters. They all count.

Brandon uses a Tupperware tub full of water to photograph his fish. This is a great tool for identification purposes and shows most of the fishes features very well.

A big flounder. Size doesn't matter to species hunters. They all count.

Once it was dark we spent a couple of hours fishing into some mixed ground at the back of the harbour. We were hoping that shore rockling, five bearded rockling or viviparous blenny might take our worm baits, but it wasn't to be and at midnight we packed up and headed back up the A1. The following day I was off work and Brandon had to be back in Edinburgh by 19:00, so we decided to make an early start to a day of species hunting.

After getting about three and a half hours sleep, I jumped in the car and picked Brandon up at 06:00. We drove west to East India Harbour in Greenock where we had a small list of species that I thought Brandon and I could catch around there. A common dragonet was our first target. Rigging up running ledger rigs and baiting small hooks with a little section of ragworm, we cast out as far as we could and slowly wound in. On my second cast I felt a bite and stopped winding. Waiting a second or two before lifting, I felt the weight of a fish and reeled it in. When a stunning male common dragonet appeared on the surface I was absolutely delighted!

I’ve wanted to catch one of these for years! Absolutely stunning! Just look at those colours.

Brandon caught his first common dragonet shortly afterwards too, so our session had got off to the perfect start. After a few more common dragonet and some dab from further out we began fishing over the rocky, weedy ground closer in, but surprisingly this didn't produce anything, so Brandon suggested we try fishing inside the harbour instead.

Dab are another species you can catch at range from East India Harbour.

This suggestion proved to be a great one. In the past I've never had much joy fishing inside the harbour but as soon as we took a look we spotted lots of wrasse moving around over the rocky bottom, including some pretty big rock cook wrasse. One hook paternoster rigs were dropped down and quite a few wrasse were soon being caught. Mainly rock cook wrasse and corkwing wrasse, but we also had some goldsinny wrasse and a ballan wrasse too. The rock cook wrasse and goldsinny wrasse were firsts for Brandon. He'd caught corkwing wrasse in the Mediterranean before but one of his was the most turquise coloured example I've ever seen!

Another very colourful UK wrasse species, the rock cook is probably my favourite.

Brandon caught this bright turquoise corkwing wrasse.

The Tupperware tub put to good use again. Look at those colours!

We didn't catch as many goldsinny wrasse as I was expecting. They normally make up the bulk of catches over the rough ground close in.

As the sun got a little higher in the sky, things really slowed down. We watched as all the wrasse that had been cruising around headed down into the gaps in between the boulders to seek shade. A few shoals of sand smelt turned up at this point, and we caught a few of those, another new species for Brandon. Before we began fishing on the outside again, Brandon caught a rock goby, a black goby and a two spotted goby. The last two being new to him.

The Tupperware tub is great for capturing the detail of fish's fins like those of this sand smelt.

Switching back to fishing the outside of the harbour the bites dried up almost completely, and I only caught three fish in a couple of hours, a common dragonet, a goldsinny wrasse and a black goby.

I'd have preferred to catch a rock goby as I'd already caught a few black goby this year.

It was the early afternoon by this point, and as the fishing had slowed to a crawl, we decided to switch to freshwater targets and headed back east to Magiscroft Coarse Fishery. Brandon wanted to catch his first gudgeon and it's probably the best place to catch them that I know. On the way we hit heavy traffic as we approached the middle of Glasgow. Brandon took the opportunity to have a nap.

A tired species hunter.

Before long the traffic started moving again and we soon arrived at Magiscroft. It didn't take us too long to set up some puddle chucker floats and catch a few gudgeon from a shallow peg on the venue's main loch. All mine were pretty average in size, but Brandon managed to catch a couple that were pretty chunky!

An average gudgeon. Size doesn't matter to species hunters. They all count.

A large gudgeon. Size doesn't matter to species hunters. They all count.

Having caught what we came for, as well as a few roach and perch, we then jumped back in the car and headed to the River Forth so we could spend an hour or so trying to catch dace. I thought it might be tough as the water levels were very low due to the lack of rain recently and this proved to be the case. We trotted maggots down the faster flowing water but all we caught were lots of minnow and the odd salmon parr.

An Atlantic salmon parr in my photo tank. Another species towards this year's challenge.

Soon it was time to go, so we packed up and headed back to the capital where I dropped Brandon off at his Airbnb. It was great to meet him and I really enjoyed both our fishing and our conversations about fish, fishing and species hunting. I hope our paths cross again in the future, and we'll hopefully keep in touch in the meantime.  I enjoyed helping him add ten species to his life list whilst we were together and also gave him advice that helped him add two more in the shape of the ballan wrasse he caught from Granton Breakwater and I also gave him information that led to him catching his first bitterling a couple of days after he left Edinburgh on his way to Manchester. Furthermore, whilst playing at being a guide, I'd also added another two species to my 2023 species hunting challenge, catching my first plaice and Atlantic salmon of the year. The large male common dragonet was probably my own highlight of our time together and is a capture I won't forget.

Tight lines, Scott.

Subtle differences.

Looking at the photos of the little silver fish I caught in Eyemouth Harbour last week I noticed that a couple of them looked subtly different to the others. After doing a bit of research I now think the two fish in question may not have been sea trout. Here they both are.

Two little silver fish. With both note the small mouth, single large spot on the gill plate, the long pectoral fin (more obvious in the first photo), the lack of spots beneath the lateral line, the plainly coloured adipose, pelvic and anal fins and finally the forked shape of the tail. On the second photo note the markings on the flank towards the tail.

Comparing them to these fish which are most certainly sea trout.

Note the larger mouths, multiple spots on the gill plates, the short pectoral fins, the spots below the lateral line and the less deeply forked tail fin. On the first fish note the red colouration on the adipose fin.

Then consulting the following very useful drawing that can be used to distinguish salmon parr from juvenile brown trout.

Salmon parr top and brown trout below. Salmon parr have (a) a sharper snout, (b) a smaller mouth, (c) only one to four spots on the gill cover with often one larger one, (d) a longer pectoral fin, (e) highly defined "parr marks" and no spots below the lateral line, (f) plainly coloured adipose, pelvic and anal fins and finally (g) a deeper pointed tail.

I have come to the conclusion that both of them were in fact salmon smolts. Obviously I'll be quite happy if I am correct as it will be another species towards to my fifty species from Scottish saltwater challenge but before I amend my catch records I'd welcome any comments on my identification of these two fish.

Tight lines, Scott.

A bit of ruffe would be nice.

With another day of glorious sunshine forecast on Tuesday I arranged to meet up with fellow angler Keith for a trip to Balmaha for another attempt at catching the small cousin of the perch, the ruffe. Unfortunately by the time I got to the point where I was to pick him up he had text me to say he had slept in and just to go without him. Disappointed as I've not seen him for a while and I was looking forward to catching up I headed off on my own. My first stop was Angling Active near Stirling to get some maggots. Driving along the M9 I realised I was going to arrive before the shop opened so I made a slight detour and had a quick hour at the Forth & Clyde Canal. The result of which was a couple of small jacks. One took a Kopyto Shad and the other a small Soft 4Play. Both were being lazy and took the lures worked very slowly but soon woke up when hooked, suddenly feeling rather energetic and putting up some acrobatic resistance to being landed. A third threw the hook doing exactly the same.

You smell that? Do you smell that? Pike, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of pike in the morning.

Quite pleased with the start to the day and with my hands smelling of CK Croc I headed to Angling Active and bought a pint of maggots as well as some new Savage Gear Soft 4Plays in Dirty Roach, my favourite pike lure, as the ones I have are slightly chewed up now. I also picked up a few small delicate insert wagglers as on the way west I planned to stop off at the river I fished recently for dace.

A nice new Drennan float with a very thin insert tip for maximum sensitivity.

I was soon on the bank and whilst setting up my float and fine tuning the shotting in the margin I spotted some small fish that I assumed were minnows so I put a tiny maggot on and lowered it in. Several of the little fish started attacking it and I soon hooked one. Hoisting it up I realised that it wasn't a minnow but was actually a small salmon parr.

My first ever salmon. How cute. Carefully unhooked and quickly returned to provide future sport when a bit bigger!

If it just looks like a brown trout to you here's how to tell them apart. Salmon parr top and brown trout below. Salmon parr have (a) a sharper snout, (b) a smaller mouth, (c) only one to four spots on the gill cover with often one larger one, (d) a longer pectoral fin, (e) highly defined "parr marks" and no spots below the lateral line, (f) plainly coloured adipose, pelvic and anal fins and finally (g) a deeper pointed tail.

Sure that some of the small fish were minnows I carried on messing about close to the bank and eventually I got through the very aggressive juvenile salmon and a few small brownies as well and caught my first minnows of this years species hunt.

Some of the small fish I thought were minnows were actually minnows!

Quite pleased with adding two species to my tally and catching my first salmon I remembered what I had come for and whilst the dace didn't seem to be present in quite the same numbers as during my last visit I still caught eight of them in a fairly short time.

When I finally got round to catching some dace they were in nice condition.

Jumping back in the car I had soon made the final leg of my journey and arrived in Balmaha on the east side of Loch Lomond. Heading straight to the pier I found it rather busy which is to be expected at this time of year I suppose. I therefore opted to try fishing around the boatyard. I chose to fish from the wooden viewing platform and the plan was to fish around the moored boats and in close to some water features to my left, setting my float so my maggot would just touch the bottom. Before doing so though I applied a generous amount of sun protection cream.

Greased up and ready for a bit of ruffe.

A likely fish holding spot in front of those reeds.

Flicking my float over a dark patch of wood debris on the bottom I soon had a bite and connected with the fish. Reeling it in I could make out a small dark fish and as it got closer I could make out a spiky fin too. Could I have caught my target species with my first cast?! No.

Ruffe sized perch. How infuriating!

This perch set the tone for the next couple of hours. I caught fifteen of them all about this size so every time I hooked one I thought it just might be a ruffe only to be disappointed. Being on the platform also meant a steady stream of tourists asking question. Two Japanese girls were very bemused to see me returning the little fish. Perhaps they fancied trying some perch sashimi! They also wanted a photograph of me with one of them and a perch so I duly obliged. Two Dutch guys also showed a real interest too especially when I explained that I was trying to catch Ruffe. They quickly Googled the fish and told me the Dutch name for them is "pos" and that they had caught one or two of them in the past from canals. Next up some kids asking questions about the maggots in my tub as they prodded them whilst screwing up their faces. All these interruptions and the endless stream of small perch meant a change of spot was in order so I headed along the shore a bit. I spoke to another couple of anglers as I went who told me that the ruffe population seemed to be in decline backing up this claim by  informing me they hadn't caught any for quite some time. Undeterred I carried on past the pier and found a quiet spot.

A lovely unspoilt view.

The water here was much deeper so I switched over to a swim feeder set up. Reeling it in and recasting regularly to build up a baited area I didn't get any bites and when someone arrived on a jet ski and started fooling around in front if me I decided to call it a day. Perhaps this part of the Loch isn't such a great choice during the summer.

So, the supposedly massive ruffe population of Loch Lomond had eluded capture once again, it was still an enjoyable days fishing though! Next time I may avoid the crowds though and might try fishing for ruffe on the River Endrick which flows into Loch Lomond to the south of Balmaha. I've also been told about a basin on the Forth & Clyde Canal that holds them too so I may try there as well soon.

Tight lines, Scott.