Trying to find a sturgeon in a carp pond.

After hearing that a small diamond backed sturgeon had been donated to the Magiscroft coarse fishery and was now resident in its main loch I decided to head west on Wednesday to try my luck at catching it. After paying for my permit and seeking advice I headed off to the area where I was informed the fish had been caught a few times. As it was fairly windy and sturgeon are bottom feeders I elected to fish using a float ledger setup to ensure my bait was stationary and tight to the bottom. Unfortunately Magiscroft has a rule banning the use of meat so my bait of choice, a chunk of luncheon meat, was not an option and instead I fished triple maggot or double corn. Fishing this method the float can behave in a peculiar manner but when it shot away after about thirty minutes I knew a fish was hooked and a small common carp was landed about five minutes later.

Nice chunky fish.

After that I caught a succession of tiny perch and a couple of small roach, their bites indicated by the float lifting up and then staying there. This probably caused by them picking up the bait and swimming towards me dragging the small drilled bullet I was using along the bottom in the process. 

Triple maggot no problem for this greedy little chap.

Or this equally greedy roach.

Six hours of patiently watching my float for a more positive take came and went before I decided to call it a day. Obviously there is only one sturgeon in the pond and perhaps it's unrealistic to deliberately target it. That being said while it'll require a huge slice of luck I still think it is possible and I will be back to try again. Maybe a change of tactics or bait will improve my chances and trying to figure these things out is part of what I like about fishing and targeting new species.

On the way home I took an alternative route and stopped off at the latest piece of oversized art that has been installed at the side of a motorway to distract drivers. The looming metallic sculpture "The Kelpies" is inspired by the powerful Clydesdale horses that at one time worked the towpaths of Scottish canals and the fields around them. 

"The Kelpies".

The huge horse's heads now stand either side of a lock on the Forth & Clyde Canal and unlike a needle in a haystack or a single sturgeon in Magiscroft main pond they are hard to miss standing at an imposing thirty metres tall. 

Nearby in the canal there were plenty of boats, pontoons and water features for pike to hide under.

Their location on the canal was of course was my real reason for the quick stop, to check out another stretch to try another spot of lure fishing for pike. It looked quite good so I may be fishing in the shadow of the kelpies soon. 

Tight lines, Scott. 

Slippery when wet.

Carrying on with my recent return to freshwater I visited the Forth & Clyde Canal with my mate Nick on Tuesday. The weather was pretty miserable being quite windy and it rained constantly all day. We got a good soaking but enjoyed a day's lure fishing nonetheless. At the first stretch we explored I lost a couple of small jacks before landing my first pike of 2014.

There are lots of these juveniles in the canal which is always a good sign. It does produce pike to over twenty pounds as well though. 

Having added another species to this year's tally I decided to scale up to a bigger lure to try and tempt a bigger fish. My mate Ross gave me a pack of chartreuse Daiwa Tournament D'Swim lures so I went with one of those.

My #2/0 jighead combined with a stinger meant any pike having a go should hopefully get hooked. 

Still not a big lure by pike standards really but it soon did the trick when casting out and working it back close to the end of a moored boat when a jack came hurtling out and grabbed it.

A bit bigger than my first.  

Nick also hooked a small jack but as I arrived with my net it thrashed near the surface and threw the hook. After a while we headed further west and tried a few different stretches. After getting heavier for a while the amount of rain falling dropped off to a light drizzle and the sun made a few attempts at breaking through the cloud cover. Casting along past some reed beds from a mooring pontoon I caught another pike after it wolfed my lure almost at my feet startling me in the process.

The bigger lure seemed to be paying off. I rigged one up for Nick to try. 

Chunky teeth filled jaws.

At the third stretch we tried I caught another small jack, the stinger doing its job nicely as the fish took the tail of my lure. Nick was not getting much action though so switched from the big chartreuse paddletail to a small hard lure. This worked almost straight away but he lost the small jack that grabbed it in some weed just before we decided to turn back. As we made our way along the canal towards the car he kept fishing however and his perseverance paid off when he hooked and landed a tiny specimen thus avoiding a big wet blank.

A small Rapala worked quite quickly with little jerks tempted this micro pike.

They all count when you are blanking!

Not the most pleasant summer day to be out fishing but we still had a laugh and a bit of fun. I love seeing pike appearing from the murky water of the canal and launching an attack. They are beautiful fish and I really should spend more time targeting them. This is something I shall try to remedy soon. 

Tight lines, Scott. 

Fisherman's Friends.

No, this post has nothing to do with the brand of strong menthol lozenges produced by Lofthouse company in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England that no self respecting skipper will leave port without. It's me being soft and reflecting upon how lucky I am to have met many people I now consider friends through my love of fishing. I suppose this is true when you indulge in any hobby but for me my rather obsessive love of fishing has led me to meet some fantastic people who all to some degree also have an angling addiction problem too.

Can you even still buy these?

This week on my two days off and also after work on Thursday I went fishing with three of my fishing pals, meeting up with a different one each day. Unfortunately my best fishing friend of all Jake couldn't make any of these trips. He was supposed to be coming along on one of them but unfortunately his van broke down whilst he was working that day which meant he couldn't make it. We'll catch up soon enough though no doubt!

On Tuesday I headed down to St Abbs Head to meet up with local rockhopping angler Richie to try our luck from the rocks beneath the lighthouse up there. Before meeting him however I popped into Dunbar on my way down the coast and enjoyed an hour or so messing about in the rockpools and in the harbour at "flattie corner". There were plenty of long spined sea scorpions around. Dangling chunks of Isome on a 0.9g #10  Ecogear Shirasu Fine jighead in likely looking spots I had in no time at all racked up ten of them and a solitary blenny. A few casts over the clean sandy bottom of the harbour soon had loads of little flat fish in pursuit of my lure and two of them were soon hooked and landed. I was hoping for a plaice as last year Dunbar harbour was full of them but both of them were flounders.

I caught these two oddly coloured long spined sea scorpions from the same hiding place.

Blennies are ace. If you don't like them there's something wrong with you.

Small but perfectly formed, these little flounder are pretty cool too. Watching groups of them chase your lure and fight over it is great fun.

Quite pleased with my fish filled start to the evening I jumped back in the car and drove down to meet up with Richie hoping to catch some bigger fish. After a short drive up to the car park next to the lighthouse we were soon making our way down a fairly well worn path to the rocks below. The climb down to the mark was fairly easy.

The lighthouse and fog horn on the cliff top high up above us.

Once down there we were met by the hundreds of sea birds who are resident on some of the cliff faces down there. The gully in front of us was almost like a busy airport with birds flying out to sea and returning with small baitfish in their mouths before swooping up and perching on tiny ledges closely huddled together. Some of the birds also flew down and landed in the water fairly close in. Some of the landing were not very graceful to say the least and a few were so bad they had me in fits of laughter. Setting up our gear Richie headed to the point and fishing a small metal with a piece of red Gulp! Sandworm attached had soon caught a few coalfish and a couple of pollock. I was keen on fishing the gully with a Lunker City Swimmin Ribster on a weedless jighead smeared in Captain Mike's Sardine scent and was twitching it along the bottom in front of me. I had just had a couple of bites that I was sure was a wrasse when Richie hooked a nice fish, his rod bent right over and the fish started stripping line from his reel.

Richie puts his ultra light rod and his reel's drag through their paces.

After a few power dives the fish was played out and came to the surface. Landing it would be tricky from our elevated position but I scrambled down the rocks as far as I could and handlined the fish up for Richie. It was a cracking pollock and Richie was very pleased.

Richie's best pollock so far this year.

After Richie had returned the fish I went back to where I had been fishing and cast back to the spot where I had registered the bites. I didn't get anymore though so I joined Richie at the point and switched to a new style of jighead I've bought to try, a 3g #6 AquaWave Rock Bait, and threaded on a long section of red Gulp! Sandworm. Richie was on a bit of a roll by now and had caught a few more nice coalfish but for some reason I just wasn't having any joy so I switched to a small metal and finally caught a coalfish too. I then hooked a decent coalfish that went ballistic just as it got close but it managed to throw the hook just as I was about to try and lift it up. Richie then hooked another nice fish, its headshakes led him to believe it was a cod but unfortunately he lost it. We carried on fishing for a while and I caught a few more coalfish and a single pollock whilst Richie tried fishing in the gully where I had been earlier but before we knew it the sun had begun to dip over the horizon and we decided to call it a night and climb back up to the top while it was still light.

Time to climb back up before it gets dark.

On the way back up we spotted a few gullies that had some nice big boulders in them that look like they'll be great for wrasse so I'd like to figure out how to access those spots. I really enjoy fishing in places like that. Rockpooling and messing around in harbours is great fun but there's something special about fishing from secluded rock marks surrounded by cliffs that I really love. I really want to spend a lot more time up St Abbs Head this summer as I feel it has massive potential for both lure and bait fishing especially if you are prepared to try different tactics than those normally employed by others who fish that type of mark. It's the type of place you could spend a lifetime exploring and still only barely scratch the surface. I'm sure Richie will be up for a few more trips up there to explore it with me. So my first fishing trip to St Abbs over, I drove Richie back to his van and we both headed home.

On Wednesday afternoon I met up with Mark, one of the lads I've been going up to Applecross with in Aug the last few years. This years fishing trip isn't looking likely so instead we've agreed to meet up a few times and go fishing for the day. Wednesday was the first time this year we've met up and we decided to go for a spot of lure fishing for freshwater predators and hopefully get Mark his first ever pike and perch. First stop was the Falkirk Wheel section of the Forth & Clyde Canal but when we got there the sun was shining, a fairly constant wind was blowing straight along the canal and the water was quite coloured up too, all of which made me think we might struggle a bit.

Lovely day but not ideal conditions for catching pike.

My concerns were soon justified and after an hour or so of working our way along the canal trying different lures we decided to move to another stretch about eight miles further west that had a few more natural water features and shady spots that I hoped would hold some fish.

I was hopeful that some pike would be lurking under the lily pads or in the reeds and shade provided by overhanging trees on the opposite bank.

Arriving there we spoke to another angler who told us that he hadn't caught anything. Not the news we wanted but with a few more clouds now overhead and the wind dying down slightly I was hopeful we would get some interest in our lures. Working our way along it was a while before I finally spotted some fish, a few roach and called along to Mark to let him know there were some signs of life at last. Finishing my next retrieve I was just about to lift my lure out when a small jack quickly appeared from the middle of the canal and had a rather half hearted go at it before hovering next to it. Letting it drop to the bottom I gave it a few tiny twitches and the little pike had a second and then a third more aggressive go at it. Not sure if it had the hook in its mouth or not I gently struck and succeeded in hooking it. Soon landed, it was a little bit of encouragement that perhaps there were a few pike around that were active after all, so we decided to continue fishing the canal for a bit longer to try and get Mark a pike too.

A small jack but a most welcome one.

We continued heading along towards a large basin with quite a lot of lily pads and reed beds on the far side. Mark then hooked a fish and his rod tip started nodding away. I told him to take his time and just as I got the net ready it came to the surface and we were both quite surprised to see an eel! Instead of waiting for the net Mark just lifted it out onto the bank. Having caught one recently I knew how difficult they can be to handle but Mark told me he knew how to calm them down. What happened next had me in stitches. Mark placed the eel on its back and began rubbing it from head to tail. This had the desired effect rather quickly and the fish was soon rather limp and easy to handle. After a quick photo of the "Eel Stroker" with his victim, the eel was popped back and quickly came around before it slowly slithered off through the rocks and other debris on the bottom.

Mark the eel stroker with a fairly limp easy to handle eel. I wish I had known about this technique when I caught one the other week!

Shortly afterwards I had a small pike nipping at my lure again and let Mark have a go in the spot where I thought it was. He had no luck trying to tempt it though so we started heading back to the car. I had one more small jack follow my lure and again Mark had a few casts in the vicinity without reward so we decided to head to our next venue, Loch Lubnaig, to try and get Mark his first perch. Having been there recently with Jake and caught over twenty between us I was very confident getting Mark one would be easier than the search for pike had turned out to be. Having learnt an itchy lesson during that visit I had brought both of us midge nets ready for the little buggers should they appear and we were quickly fishing at my favourite spot. My rod was already set up and I cockily told Mark I'd probably have a perch by the time he had set up his. Pretty soon Mark was fishing next to me though and the lack of bites was quite worrying at first until I felt a few taps and then the weight of a fish. I smiled over at Mark who was concentrating on his own fishing and hadn't noticed the bend in my rod. With the fish at my feet I was just about to lift it out of the water when it spat the jighead out of its mouth and shot off back into the weeds in front of us. Bugger. I was hopeful it would be the first of a few but after a while with no more bites we decided to move along the shore to the small peninsula at the bend in the loch. Once there we carried on searching and after a while Mark called over to me that he was in. I didn't want a second perch to escape so I quickly reeled in and ran over with the net and Mark soon had his first ever perch safely in it.

Mark was very pleased with his first perch. I was quite relieved.

Another lovely Loch Lubnaig perch. Mark caught it on a Savage Gear Cannibal Shad.

Mark thought the perch was a lovely looking fish and was now keen to catch some more. I just wanted to catch my first one of the evening so we both kept searching the area. After deciding to try some metal lures I finally found a weedy area that held some fish and caught one on Jake's favourite lure for the venue, a Jackson Cymo, and soon after followed it up with a second perch after switching to my favourite lure for perch, the Lake Fork Live Baby Shad in golden shiner.

I continue working my lure through the weeds.

Finally I land a perch. Again a small but most welcome catch.

Shortly afterwards I caught a third small perch and by now the wind had dropped right off and the surface of the loch was like a sheet of glass, so much so we could see loads of trout rising all around us. Checking the time though it was getting quite late and I was just about to tell Mark it was probably time to call it a night and head home when his rod hooped over into another fish. He could tell it was a good one and after landing it he brought it over and we popped it in the net and kept it in the water while Mark got his camera to take a photo of it.

As light fades and the midges appear Mark dons his net and keeps trying for a second perch.

A much bigger specimen than his first he was over the moon. Just reward for his efforts.

Dusk over Lubnaig. What a backdrop to fish in front of.

Popping his perch back and watching it quickly shoot of over the drop off in front of us Mark was quite pleased and we both agreed it was the perfect way to end the session so we packed up and headed back to the car. The fishing may have been quite hard going but it was great to catch up with Mark again and whilst it's a shame that we probably won't be going to Applecross for our annual week long break the prospect of a day trip here and there is quite exciting and will allow me to take Mark to some more nice venues that will see him enjoying his fishing and hopefully catching a few more new species too.

After work on Thursday afternoon I met up with Keith, who I haven't fished with for a while as he's just started a new job, for a totally stress free evening drowning maggots at Eliburn Reservoir. Upon arrival we were shocked to find that we had the entire venue to ourselves and so we picked the newly refurbished and very comfortable double peg on the western side at the bottom end. With trees behind us providing some shade and hardly any wind the conditions were absolutely ideal for a spot of waggler fishing. The action was immediate and fishing about a rod length out and feeding maggots constantly kept the fish coming at a steady rate. Perch in particular were out in force and after a few of them, a roach each and an ide for me, Keith landed a rather nice rudd, the first I've seen caught from the venue.

Eliburn Rudd. Lovely.

Keith with his nice golden nugget.

After this we caught a load more perch, it didn't seem to matter what we did they kept coming and it seems they have almost reached plague proportions in the venue. They were all a fairly consistent small size until I caught one that was a bit of a bruiser by comparison.

A monster perch by Eliburn standards though as I've said before I'm sure there are bigger perch lurking in there waiting to be caught.

At this point a fleet of ducklings swam through our swim and gobbled up some of the maggots we were tossing in. We didn't mind and tossed them a few more handfuls which they greedily gobbled up as their mother watched from a distance.

How cute.

A few young lads turned up and set up opposite us. After a while it became apparent that they weren't catching anything. Keith and I have discussed this before and we still cannot work out how people struggle to catch fish there, especially when there are so many perch in it at the moment! Keith then caught an ide, I had a roach/bream hybrid and we both caught a load more perch with the odd roach managing to beat the little rampant spiky predators to our baits. When we had just about run out of maggots we started to pack up our gear and I had one last cast. Packing up the last few pieces of my gear into my seatbox I saw my float disappear out of the corner of my eye and gently lifted into a nice fish which turned out to be a roach.

A plump Eliburn roach. A nice way to end the session.

It was good to catch up with Keith again and whilst the bulk of the fish we caught were small perch, over fifty between us, with a few other species in amongst them the relaxing session was exactly what I had been looking for and I'm looking forward to meeting up with him again soon for a trip to Magiscroft to try for some carp. I'm also looking forward to fishing some new freshwater destinations with him because his new job has taken him to some potentially great places to fish where he has been doing a bit of reconnaissance and gathering information by speaking to the locals. More trips to the Trossachs and the Highlands await!

So three quite different sessions with three good friends. I'm looking forward to fishing with these three guys again soon, also with some of my other fisherman's friends in the future as well and hopefully meeting some new ones to go fishing with too.

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.

Esox elusive.

As my few trips to target pike this year have sadly resulted in not much action and only one pike hooked, that I managed to lose due to not having a net handy, I fancied getting the growing green stripey monkey off of my back. A quick text to see if my mate Jake was free and an hour or so later we hit the road. Arriving at the Forth & Clyde Canal a short drive later we were soon fishing and both decided to test out some Gulp! Alive Swimming Eels that Jake had procured recently.

Like most Gulp! lures these stink but have a fantastic swimming action. Surely the pike wouldn't be able to resist?

We thrashed the basin in front of us and cast around the pontoons and moored boats but no bites were forthcoming. After about an hour or so we both scaled down to smaller lures. The water was slightly murky so I went with a Savage Gear Soft 4Play in Firetiger. As we wandered along the canal a bit further we spotted hundreds of tadpoles in the margins and I then switched to an even smaller lure, a Lake Fork Live Baby Shad in Golden Shiner. This again yielded no results unfortunately. By this point Jake had switched to drops shotting Gulp! Sandworm sections for perch, which normally results in pike being caught but this didn't seem to be having the same effect for a change! Heading all the way back to where we started we were both pretty fed up with the lack of action when Jake finally hooked a fish and after I carried out netting duties a nicely coloured perch was on the bank.

A nice golden hue to this spiky little worm gobbling predator and it had nice bright red fins too.

Encouraged by this we carried on fishing heading in the opposite direction along the canal. I scaled up a bit and went with a 3" Kopyto Shad in Roach like colour. Casting to the pontoons and boats on the far side I slowly worked it back across towards me using a slow steady retrieve keeping it close to the bottom but imparting the odd twitch just to try and hopefully illicit a response form any fish it passed by. Plodding along about a metre at a time I finally felt a couple of sharp little tugs and hooked a fish. It soon broke the surface and I could see it was a small jack. I could also see that it didn't look very well hooked. I didn't apply any real pressure to the fish and called along the canal to Jake who had the net. Unfortunately whilst he came along with it the fish took the opportunity to thrash in front of me and spit the lure out before slowly swimming off. After several of hours of fishing with no action at all I was pretty annoyed to lose a second consecutive pike due to not having a net handy! With only a short time left before we had to leave I went back to my methodical approach, standing on a pontoon and casting to a long section of reeds opposite me and with pretty much my last cast I was rewarded with a second bite at the swimming croc cherry. Being a complete idiot though I suddenly realised that the net was further along the pontoon, a fair bit away from me. I had to quickly decide whether to play the fish along there or chance lifting it up the short distance to my hands. I opted for the later and luckily the fish was well hooked this time and stayed on.

My first pike of 2013. Hard earned to say the least!

We headed home, both quite disappointed with the fishing overall, but at the same time glad to have avoided a blank. I was pleased though to get my first pike of the year and whilst canal jacks are good fun I think perhaps we need to start trying some new stretches to try and locate some bigger specimens to work the Gulp! Alive Swimming Eels past. Maybe a less uniform stretch would be nice with a few more natural holding features. Some lily pads would be great as well because after seeing all the tadpoles I'm keen to try some frog lures soon as well for some surface fun.

Tight lines, Scott.

Big girl you are beautiful.

After my first taste of skate fishing last December I was keen to do it again and land one this time! The MV North Star, the same boat we chartered last time, was booked earlier this year for Monday the 20th of May with myself and Ad, who landed his first skate on the December trip hoping to fill a few more spaces on board. This wasn't to be however with a couple of people saying they'd like to go only to pull out and other people not being able to make it on that date. With a weekend in Oban and the surrounding area proceeding the boat trip my girlfriend Lillian managed to get the Monday off work and came along with us keen to do some fishing this time instead of just her usual ghillie duties. Just the three of us going out on the boat would make the day on the boat quite an expensive one but I wasn't bothered as long as I landed a skate!

Ad came down from Aberdeen early on Friday evening. I was working so he met up with Jake and they went fishing down at St Abbs and Jake will do a short report on their session soon. On Saturday morning we were planning on heading off early but a quick look at the weather forecast forced a change of plan. The east coast was wet and the west coast was very windy but there seemed to be a small window of better conditions half way across the country so we decided to stop off at the Forth & Clyde Canal for a few hours in the afternoon. Well as is often the case the weather forecast was not very accurate and from the moment we arrived it rained non stop, quite heavily at times and we all got thoroughly soaked. Also when we arrived we realised we didn't have a net with us which would prove making landing fish tricky. After only ten minutes or so I hooked a small jack on a Savage Gear Reel Eel. After a short scrap I thought the fish was beaten only for it to thrash and come off when I was lifting it up onto the bank. Ad then hooked a larger jack. With a small crowd watching it put on quite a show, tailwalking several times before coming to the edge. I went down the bank and slipped a finger under its jaw before carefully unhooking it with my forceps. Like my fish however it escaped my grasp with a powerful thrash and got away before I could grab it so we didn't get a picture of it. We continued heading along the canal but there wasn't any further action. Lillian was getting the occasional wind knot in her line. About halfway along she got another wind knot in her braid and Ad sorted it out. Whilst he was doing this her small diving crankbait sank to the bottom. When Ad finished unpicking the knot and handed the rod back to her there was a fish on the end which she quickly reeled in and lifted out.

Soaked but smiling. Lillian with her first pike.

We continued working our way along to the end of the pontoon but with no reward for our efforts until my bright yellow Kopyto Shad found the gaping mouth of something big at the far side of the canal that soon had by rod bent right over. A bit of a battle ensued with my tackle being really tested to its limit. After a lengthy and tiring fight I eventually landed the culprit.

Easily over a double (yellow line at some point).

After this we headed back towards our starting point and Ad hooked another jack on the way but it managed to threw the hooks whilst he was trying to land it. So after about five soggy and frustrating netless hours we called it a day, jumped in Ad's car, put the heaters on to try and dry off a bit, made the drive to Oban and booked into a hostel. With the wind blowing very strongly but forecast to drop off almost completely in the morning we grabbed something to eat and had an early night.

Getting up on Sunday morning we were relieved to find that the weather was indeed much nicer. We popped along to Ganavan Sands as I wanted to see if there were any mini species around specifically with sand gobies in mind as it normally holds lots of them. Sadly there were no sign of any sand gobies but I thought that was perhaps due to the water being very low. Ad and I both managed to catch a tiny long spined sea scorpion each before we left.

Tiny long spined sea scorpions took our tiny Power Isome sections that were meant for tiny sand gobies.

We then headed south down the coast to fish along Gallanach Road. We soon arrived at a nice easily accessible rock mark. Both Ad and I set up two rods. I was fishing with pulley rigs using 5/0 Mustad Demon fine wire circle hooks on them as I'm keen to use circles whenever possible in my bait fishing. Baits used were mackerel, sandeel and squid. Casting out there wasn't much tide running past us and our 6oz leads held in the clean bottom no problem. Having fished a bit further north back in December where we had a busy session catching lesser spotted dogfish and thornback rays we were disappointed to find that the fishing was very slow. Whilst waiting for bites we both fished close in with lures to try and tempt any pollock that may have been in amongst the kelp on the ledges in front of us  but had no luck doing so. After a couple of hours and a few bait changes one of my rods finally started nodding. I let the bite develop for a moment or two before picking it up and steadily reeling in. You don't strike when using circle hooks as due to there design they set themselves in the fishes lip against the weight of the fish. I'm finding this quite hard to get used to as the urge to strike is quite a strong one. I could tell it was a ray as after a head shake or two it felt like a dead weight when it was coming up and it was soon cranked up over the ledge in front of us and lifted out by Ad.

Perfectly hooked in the corner of the mouth. The beauty of circle hooks.

My first thornback ray of 2013.

Sulking in the shallow water in front of us for a while before heading off over the ledge into deeper water.

Another hour or so passed and we had no further bites until I re-baited with squid for a last cast. The baits weren't on the bottom long when one rod started nodding away again and I wound into a second ray.

Fish on.

Another nicely marked thornback ray.

After this we packed up and popped back to Ganavan Sands as it was just after high water and I hoped the sand gobies would hopefully be there. The lack of fish was still apparent however although I did spot two large sand gobies. They weren't interested in my tiny lure though so a return trip in the summer will be required I think when they should be there in greater numbers. At this point we headed back into Oban and dropped Lillian off at the hostel as she wanted to relax and take a break from watching us fishing. Ad and I went up to Loch Etive to the mouth of the River Awe in search of a trout or two. Using our ultra light gear and a selection of small metals we soon had a few knocks casting them across the current and letting them swing around in it before slowly reeling them back towards us. Ad hooked and landed his first ever sea trout after a short scrap. He followed this with a nice little brownie. Both took a copper Hansen Pilgrim spoon. I then hooked a brownie on a pink 4g Prime Area Tiebo Jig but after going aerial for the forth time in quick succession it threw the hooks.

Nice Loch Etive sea trout.

Ad and I wondered if the fish had ever actually been to sea or just in the loch. We'll never know I guess.

This trout whilst quite silver still had a few faint river markings.

Before heading back to the hostel we drove north up the loch and checked out a couple of new marks that we think will be worth trying in the future. They require a bit of a hike though so a couple of days will have to be put aside to make visiting them worthwhile.

On Monday morning we were up early and drove down to Crinan. It was a lovely day and the water in the sea lochs as we drove was like a mirror. It was quite misty too but that would soon lift. We were soon at Crinan Harbour and aboard the boat. Skipper Archie soon had us out and tied up on one of his moorings and several whole mackerel and squid baits were making their way to the sea floor several hundred feet below.

Flat calm sea, a hazy sky and near silence created a strange atmosphere.

After the tide dropped off and our baits settled down it wasn't long before the action started and I was first up to be attached to a skate.

A great start and surely I would land this one right?

Unbelievably, after about forty-five minutes, and just when I had managed to get it up of the bottom and was gaining line, I felt a sudden but sadly familiar release of pressure as the fish came off. Reeling up the trace was still attached so it was a simple case of the hook pulling. This was the second time this had happened to me in two trips, I was absolutely gutted and had a horrible feeling it wasn't going to be my day again but Archie reassured me I'd get another chance. Shortly afterwards another rod started going and Ad was soon into a fish. It was a bit further out from the boat though and he was struggling to get it up off the bottom. Whilst he maintained pressure to get it moving another rod started going and I was soon attached to my second fish of the day. Surely this would be third time lucky?

Ad battling to get his skate off the bottom.

Keeping the pressure on, my second fish of the day came off the bottom fairly quickly.

I'm relived to say that after about thirty minutes, a lot of pumping and winding later and with Ad still locked in a tug of war with his fish, my first skate came into sight and was soon expertly brought on board by Archie much to my relief.

My first skate and it's a cracker. Needless to say I was over the moon.

Skate have almost human like eyes that can also be used to correctly identify specific species.*

Slipped back and off she goes. What a truly majestic sight and probably the best part of the whole experience.

Ad was now steadily gaining line, his fish was slowly coming up and it finally appeared a fair distance away from the boat. The skipper thought it was going to dive again and it looked like it was for a moment or two but Ad managed to put some final pressure on and prevent it doing so.

After quite a battle Ad eventually got the better of this skate.

Again Archie soon had the fish in the boat and Ad was a very happy man!

This was Ad's second skate and this time he managed to win the battle standing up which is just as well as he took a bit of stick for having a seat last time. With us both landing fish next up was Lillian, who having witnessed the physical nature and length of the fight, was slightly reluctant to have a go but I put the harness and butt pad on her and talked her into it. It would be several hours before she would get her chance however as all the action stopped completely.

Watching the rod tips, anticipating them springing into life at any moment.

Skipper Archie hand feeds some of the local sea gulls with mackerel tails which they quickly snatch and fly off with.

The next bird patiently waits to be fed.

The wind had started to pick up by this point making bite detection more difficult but with thirty minutes to go one of the rods started going and Lillian had her chance to experience the awesome power of a skate.

Let battle commence. A bit bigger than the last fish she caught Lillian wasn't smiling for long!

Just as she was starting to regret letting me talk her into it when it became apparent that a tangle had occurred. It would turn out that this had been caused by a dogfish picking up one of the baits and swimming around some of the other lines. This caused problems boating the skate and required a team effort so when it was finally brought on board it was quickly unhooked and put straight back to minimise the stress it was put under. This meant Lillian didn't get a photo with the fish unfortunately, but it was still great that we had all landed one skate each and I think Lillian was quite relieved to get a bit of help landing hers. It was then time to head back to port but due to an electrical fault the engine wouldn't start so Archie rang the boat's owner Sandy and after a short wait he came to the rescue in his rib.

Help arrives.

Whilst being towed back the short distance to the harbour we were lucky to spot a sea eagle. Archie had mentioned earlier in the trip seeing them the day before at very close range and tossed in a whole mackerel which the bird swooped down and grabbed in a rather impressive display. A very nice way to end the trip indeed.

Hovering above the coast line before coming down to get a free meal.

What a fantastic sight!

We headed back to Edinburgh and after dropping us off Ad drove up the road to Aberdeen. Whilst the fishing leading up to the boat trip wasn't great the three of us had a good laugh and still managed to catch some fish. With all three of us landing a skate the boat trip worked out perfectly especially considering I managed to drop a second consecutive fish, a feat that Archie tells me is pretty rare! Skate fishing is definitely a bit different to other styles of fishing and is more of a waiting game followed by a physical battle than anything else and certainly isn't for everyone. The banter on the boat was first class though and I personally think it's a real privilege to catch such rare and beautiful creatures, to briefly admire them and best of all to watch them glide back down to the depths from which they came. It's certainly a sight I hope to be seeing again!

Tight lines, Scott.

*As an interesting side note to this report I recently read a few articles online that highlighted an important discovery. A few years ago through genetic analysis it was discovered that the species that has been known for almost ninty years as common skate (Dipturus Batis) is in fact two distinct species. These have been named Dipturus Intermedia and Dipturus Flossada with common names flapper skate and blue skate respectively. These are the names that were being used up until the 1920's when a study of the time incorrectly grouped both together as only one single species and this went unchallenged until the recent genetic study brought the error to light. From the reading I've done it would seem that whilst both are very similar there are a few ways to distinguish between the two species with iris colour being the simplest method. In flapper skate the iris is dark green/olive, in blue skate it is pale yellow.