Mission accomplished!

Hearing reports of numerous bluemouth being caught recently on a charter boat running out of Burghead, I booked a couple of places for myself and my mate Nick out with skipper Barry of Moray Firth Fishing Charters on Saturday. With a nasty storm on the way, it was touch and go whether or not the trip would be cancelled, but in the end it went ahead. We drove up the evening before and stayed in a hotel so that we wouldn’t have to make the four hour drive up there early in the morning on the day. It was a good decision and as the boat didn’t depart until 10:00 we were up, had breakfast and headed down to the harbour early, feeling well rested and were both raring to go. 

I had a short stroll on the beach to take a look at the rotten remains of an old boat. 

I’m not sure why, but I had a really good feeling about the trip. Over thirty bluemouth had been caught over the last two rough ground trips, and when I told Barry I was hoping to catch one, he boldly told me I was guaranteed to catch one. Within an hour of reaching the rough ground mark, about ten miles to the north of Burghead, he was proved right. Fishing mackerel strips close to the rocky bottom, after catching a few cod, ling, poor cod and pouting, I saw a bright red rockfish coming to the surface and very quickly swung it up into the boat. 

My first ever bluemouth, also known as the blackbelly rosefish. Much more importantly though, I’d caught my one hundredth species of fish in Scotland!

Mission accomplished! A small specimen, but I was over the moon!

I’ll be honest, I would happily have headed back to dry land there and then. Not because I had caught what I’d wanted, but because the sea was pretty rough and the boat was rolling around as it drifted, making fishing pretty challenging, and at times, quite uncomfortable. One person was soon suffering with sea sickness and decided to stop fishing. I don’t know how more people didn’t get ill to be honest. Being so far off shore in a strong southerly wind, it was very rough. Probably the roughest sea I’ve ever fished afloat in! As the day went on, a steady stream of fish were boated. I think everyone on board caught at least one bluemouth, Nick caught a few and I ended up catching five in total. In addition to lots of ling and cod I also caught some nice male cuckoo wrasse and a solitary short spined sea scorpion. 

Bluemouth weren’t the only colourful fish down there.  

I was hoping to catch a really big short spined sea scorpion, but this small one was still most welcome. 

Towards the end of the trip, we decided as a group to head back in an hour early. I think the swell had taken its toll on most. Despite the difficult conditions, it had still been an enjoyable day out with Barry, and I’d caught my one hundredth Scottish fish species. So what now? Having reached this personal milestone, I’ve every intention to keep trying to add further species to my Scottish tally. Next year though, I’m going shift my focus a little and spend time trying to add to my UK saltwater species tally. I’m currently on eighty six and I sure you can guess what my target is? No doubt a few trips to the south coast of the UK will be on the cards, although I can still catch new Scottish species that will also add to my UK tally too. 

Tight lines, Scott.

A day at the dogs.

Earlier this week, my species hunting mate Gordon invited me for a day out afloat aboard his Warrior 165. After a fairly early start we arrived at the slipway of Crinan Harbour over on the west coast of Scotland. It was a nice day weather wise and the sea conditions were pretty good too. We were both hoping to get lucky and perhaps catch black mouthed dogfish and maybe even luckier still and catch cuckoo ray but we both knew that a certain other shark species would no doubt dominate the day, the much maligned lesser spotted dogfish. We were also aware that some skate might pick up our small baits too. Not really what you want to happen in several hundred feet of water when your fishing fairly light tackle! 

Well, things went pretty much as we expected, we had no luck locating any black mouthed dogfish or cuckoo ray, and by the end of the day we'd caught so many lesser spotted dogfish we'd lost count. Gordon caught a solitary spurdog and we both caught one thornback ray each. Thankfully, no skate gobbled our small mackerel and squid baits!

Baby shark, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo!

I love the eyes on thornback rays.

So, no unusual shark species were caught. Still, I enjoyed the fishing, and it was a relaxing day out in good company and weather. I've got a couple more boat trips coming up soon that I'm excited about later this month. A day species hunting around the Mull of Galloway is first up, followed by a day out of Weymouth targeting butterfly blenny, red band fish and other small unusual species. I'm quite looking forward to stretching my sea legs again!

Tight lines, Scott.

Mission accomplished! Or is it?...

I received some information from a couple of fellow species hunting anglers at the end of August about two potential targets that they suspected/knew had been caught/observed down in the southwest of Scotland. The first one I thought was a little far-fetched. Juvenile brill from the shore? Amazing if true, but it was a friend of a friend type account of the fish caught and there were no photos to back it up. The second piece of info was that bass anglers down there were repeatedly having their lures hit by garfish. I have a friend who has hooked and landed garfish down there so that I could believe.

So, a plan was quickly formulated, and my mate Ryan and I drove down there for a full day fishing at two different venues. At the first spot, a beautiful sandy beach on the western side of the Rhins of Galloway, we fished the incoming tide with beachcasters using three hook flappers baited with mackerel strips and ragworm. It was a great session. In fact, I've never caught so many turbot in such a short space of time! We caught plenty of flounder too. Dozens in fact! We must have had over fifty flatfish between us! Some of the turbot were relatively dark in colouration, so I could see why someone could possibly mistake them for brill, but as I suspected, none of the fish we caught were.

Quite dark turbot with markings to match the sand they were living over.

Packing up the gear but staying in the Rhins of Galloway, we headed to the second venue over their eastern shore. The plan was to fish it over high tide, but it quickly became obvious that the wind had coloured up the sea and there was lots of weed suspended in the water too. Not ideal for targetting garfish. Thanks to some more information Ryan received from a fellow angler via WhatsApp, a backup plan was quickly hatched, and we drove north up to the old military pier and breakers yard at Cairnryan. When we arrived and climbed through the fences, there were two other people fishing on it already. When I asked if they had caught anything, I was told all they'd managed to catch was a single garfish. Just what I wanted to hear! Getting into position, I set up a float rig and baited up my three hooks with long, thin slivers of mackerel belly. Ryan set about catching some wrasse straight down the side, using what was left of our ragworm.

While Ryan landed some nice ballan wrasse and corkwing wrasse, I patiently watched my float as it drifted from right to left, taking up any slack line as it formed. It took a while for my float to go under, and when it did, I wound it in to discover it was a solitary cannibalistic mackerel on one of the hooks. It was quickly dispatched so that some fresh belly slivers could be put on my small Aberdeen hooks before my rig was cast out again. The next drift had just about ended when the float slowly went under again. I paused to allow the culprit to get the hook before winding down, feeling the weight of a fish. When a garfish came into sight as the rig came back in towards the side of the pier, my heart was racing. It was a nervous moment as I swung the fish up onto the platform, but I need not have worried as it was well hooked.

My first Scottish garfish.

What a bizarre mouth with hundreds of small fine teeth.

A well deserved trophy shot. I'd definitely caught my 100th species from Scottish venues now, right?

Well, technically no. Here's why. Saltwater species aren't the issue. I've caught at least 66 of those (67 if I have indeed caught a Corbin's sandeel.).

Saltwater species.

Atlantic Horse Mackerel Ballan Wrasse Bass Black Goby Black Mouthed Dogfish Butterfish Coalfish Cod Common Blenny Common Dragonet Common Eel Common Goby Conger Eel Connemarra Clingfish Corbin's Sandeel* Corkwing Wrasse Cuckoo Ray Cuckoo Wrasse Dab European Smelt/Sparling Fifteen Spined Stickleback Five Bearded Rockling Flapper Skate Flounder Garfish Gilthead Seabream Golden Grey Mullet Goldsinny Wrasse Greater Sandeel/Launce Greater Spotted Dogfish/Bull Huss Grey Gurnard Haddock Herring Hooknose/Pogge/Armed Bullhead

Leopard Spotted Goby Lesser Sandeel Lesser Spotted Dogfish Lesser Weever Ling Long Spined Sea Scorpion Mackerel Painted Goby Plaice Pollock Poor Cod Pouting/Bib Red Gurnard Rock Cook Wrasse Rock Goby Sand Goby Sand Smelt Shore Rockling Short Spined Sea Scorpion Spotted Ray Spurdog Starry Smoothhound Tadpole Fish Thick Lipped Grey Mullet Thornback Ray Tompot Blenny Tope Tub Gurnard Turbot Two Spotted Goby Viviparous Blenny Whiting Yarrell's Blenny *Still not 100% on this ID being correct.

The issue lies with freshwater species. Technically, some of the freshwater fish I've counted as separate species are not. 

Common carp, koi carp and mirror carp are all the same species.

Ide, blue orfe and golden orfe are all the same species.

Rainbow trout, blue trout and golden trout are all the same species.

Tench and golden tench are both the same species.

F1 carp and tiger trout are not species at all, they are hybrids.

Freshwater species.
Variations counted individually and hybrids included.	Variations counted together and hybrids excluded.
Arctic Char Atlantic Salmon Blue Orfe Blue Trout Bream Brook Char Brown Trout Bullhead Chub Common Carp Crucian Dace F1 Carp Goldfish Golden Orfe Golden Tench Golden Trout Gudgeon Grayling Ide Koi Carp Minnow Mirror Carp Perch Pike Powan Rainbow Trout Roach Rudd Ruffe Stone Loach Tench Three Spined Stickleback Tiger Trout	Arctic Char Atlantic Salmon Bream Brook Char Brown Trout Bullhead Chub Common Carp Koi Carp Mirror Carp Crucian Dace F1 Carp Goldfish Gudgeon Grayling Ide Blue Orfe Golden Orfe Minnow Perch Pike Powan Rainbow Trout Blue Trout Golden Trout Roach Rudd Ruffe Stone Loach Tench Golden Tench Three Spined Stickleback Tiger Trout
Total = 101.	Total = 92.

So I've caught at least one hundred different kinds of fish from Scottish venues. If I want to be able to say I've truly caught one hundred species of fish from Scottish venues, I need to catch at least another nine true species, which is going to be incredibly tough. It's just as well that I like a species hunting challenge! So, what's next? I shall keep species hunting around Scotland of course! I'll be doing a few posts on potential target species soon...

Tight lines, Scott.

How many is that now?

A few days after my sessions with Nick on Belhaven Beach I headed west with a few of the lads from work to have day out with Blue Fin Charters out of Dunstaffnage Marina. The rest of the lads fancied a go for skate but I was after my first black mouthed dogfish. After a morning of catching mackerel for bait and then winding up lots of spurdogs and lesser spotted dogfish from the depths a few black mouth dogfish began being caught by the other lads, much to their amusement. After a few hours had passed and I'd listened to a fair amount of abuse from them all I eventually caught one myself, much to my relief!

I take a look at my first ever black mouthed dogfish, admiring its lovely markings,...

...beautiful eyes, a rather prominent nose covered in sensors,...

...and then showed the inside of its black mouth to the camera. 

I'd made several attempts to catch one of these unusual deep water sharks over the last few years and having also had several trips cancelled due to the weather it was great to get out and tick this one off. Straight after this the gear was swapped out for some heavier outfits and some big baits were sent off to the bottom for skate. Having caught what I came for I was more than happy to let the others take any skate runs as none of them had caught one before. Sadly over the next few hours the conditions began to deteriorate as a storm approached from the south and only one very small skate at 27lb was caught by my mate John before we had to head back in. Still John was chuffed to catch his first one and the other lads are all very keen to go back again next year for another go. I might tag along and try something a little different to see what else is lurking down in the depths. Adding further species to my all time Scottish tally from saltwater is now going to be quite difficult and I may have to think outside of the box. Since the trip I've figured out how many Scottish species I've caught over the years and will be discussing this in my next post.

Tight lines, Scott.

...three bearded by nature.

I headed down North Devon at the end of last month to spend six days fishing from Ilfracombe Pier. That was the plan anyway but upon arrival early in the afternoon I discovered that the town was really busy. I hadn't realised that it was the English schools' half term holidays. I spent a few hours dodging crabbing net wielding children trying to catch a clingfish down the side of the lower section of the pier but had no luck. I did catch a few fish the majority being juvenile pollock and sand smelt. After checking into my accommodation I headed back down to the pier to fish into darkness for three bearded rockling. The ground close in that I decided to fish was pretty rough so I fished a one hook paternoster rig with a rotten bottom to try and minimise tackle losses. A strip of mackerel was the bait of choice and I tossed a few small pieces down the side of the pier to help attract my target. Having spoken to a few local anglers before arriving and a few more on the pier earlier in the day who all told me there were plenty three bearded rockling around I was confident about catching one but I didn't expect to catch one after only half an hour.

Success! My first ever three bearded rockling.

As the lower deck of the pier where I was fishing was soon to be covered by the rising tide, having caught my target and feeling pretty tired having left Edinburgh at 04:00 to make the drive down, I headed back to my accommodation to get some well earned sleep. The next day I headed back down to the pier and waited on the tide to drop so I could get onto the lower section again to try for clingfish once more. Whilst I waited I fished straight down the walls of the upper platform and caught loads of blennies. The pier is home to a huge bronze sculpture by artist Damien Hirst so I took some time out to have a look at it.

"Verity". A rather large and equally strange piece of art.

As soon as the tide dropped far enough I started fishing on the lower section for clingfish but before too long the hordes of noisy kids had arrived and started throwing their crab nets in. Later in the day the navy also arrived and started training divers around the pier too forcing all the anglers who were there to move over to where I was, making it a little cramped. The fishing over the next few hours was pretty dire and eventually I decided to retreat to the B&B to rethink my plans for the next few days' fishing.

Tight lines, Scott.

Three bearded by name...

I drove down the A1 to Cove last night for a session targeting three bearded rockling. Quite often in the past fellow anglers have told me they've caught them on the east coast only for them to show me photos of shore rockling. Despite having never caught a three bearded rockling, to my mind the two species cannot really be mistaken for each other. Having seen a photo of an actual three bearded rockling that was caught from the mouth of Cove's harbour, I was hopeful that I might get lucky and catch one myself. Ledgering strips of mackerel things were very slow, and I spent six hours basically feeding the crabs and winding in to put a fresh piece of bait on every twenty minutes. I only caught one fish all night just after the tide began to ebb and whilst it was a rockling with three beards it was sadly not a three bearded rockling!

The fish I caught last night was a shore rockling. It is a pretty drab looking fish, not pink with brown spots like its three bearded cousin.

As well as having a lovely purple ring around the eyes, it also has three "beards" which I think is why some anglers who aren't really interested in rockling misidentify them.

For the avoidance of doubt, the fish above is a three bearded rockling. Pretty hard to confuse the two, given the three bearded rockling's much more colourful appearance.

I've been doing more research recently into potential hotspots for targeting three bearded rockling. They seem to be much more prolific on the west coast of the country, so that's where I'm going to try next. I'm off to the north coast of Devon next week to try my luck at Ilfracombe Pier for six days. As well as holding plenty of three bearded rockling, it seems that this venue is also known to produce clingfish, so I'll be fishing tiny baits straight down the side of the pier to try and get lucky during the day.

The Connemarra clingfish has banded eyes and orange markings on its cheeks.

The shore clingfish has two bright blue spots on the top of its head.

I'm really looking forward to this trip. It's always exciting fishing somewhere new. It's a long way to drive, and it's also been a while since I was down there, so depending on how I get on catching my three main new species targets I might try and visit some other more familiar venues while I'm down there.

Tight lines, Scott.

Finally!

Over the last few years I've been down to the Mull of Galloway several times and have never had any luck whatsoever when targeting tope in either Luce Bay or the Irish Sea. On Sunday the 24th last month I went down there again with two of my mates to have another go. The forecast looked terrible right up until the day before the trip but luckily it changed in our favour. Heading out of East Tarbet the weather was still pretty poor for the time of year being cloudy and it also rained a few times too but there was hardly any wind and more importantly the fishing was great with several periods of intense action.

Nick was first to catch a tope. His first ever. 

Stewart was next to catch one. Also his first ever. 

Some of them were rather grumpy. Can't blame them I suppose.

A fantastic day's fishing was had and when the time came to head back to dry land we'd had over twenty tope between us and a few more had dropped baits too. I also had a few whiting, grey gurnard and dogfish during quiet spells on a second rod and lost a nice bull Huss at the side of the boat when it spat my bait as they often do. The early start and the seven hour round trip makes it a long day but it's always well worth it and it was great to finally catch some tope down there and bust the hoodoo. 

Tight lines, Scott.

Everything clicking into place.

Last Wednesday despite a pretty grim weather forecast I drove across the country to Loch Linnhe and had an evening session targeting conger eels. Driving up through Glencoe the colours of Autumn were very evident and there was snow on the mountain peaks. 

Winter is on its way.

The imposing Buachaille Etive Mor never fails to impress.

Sure enough once I got to Loch Linnhe conditions were far from ideal but I gave it a go from a small stone pier on the eastern shore of a small bay. Five hours soldiering on in very strong wind and moderately heavy rain showers only produced a single dogfish and I left questioning my decision to leave the house to fish on such a horrible night.

On Sunday there was a break in the weather and it turned out to be a lovely sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. I headed south west to a rock mark north of Port Logan with my mate Martin to have another go for a conger eel with three bearded rockling also being a possible catch. It was our first time visiting the mark and after parking the car we discovered that to reach the grassy clifftop above the rocky shoreline we had to negotiate a few stone walls, a field that had a bull in it and as I would discover a few live electric fences as well. Ouch! Once we finally got along to the mark we clambered down and started fishing two rods each, one with a big bait for conger eels and the other with smaller baits for three bearded rockling. There was a slight swell breaking on the rocks but apart from that it was a lovely evening and as we waited on darkness we caught a few small pollock and coalfish. 

As the sun set we were both hopeful that our two targets would start feeding.

As it got dark I got a bite pretty much as soon as I cast out after rebaiting and reeling in I had a double shot of fish on my rig. A shore rockling and a mackerel, possibly the oddest double shot I've ever caught. It was even odder because I had literally just said to Martin that visiting in the summer and catching some fresh mackerel would perhaps make a difference to the success of a conger eel trip. The fishing gods having heard my comment and delivered me some I was keen to take advantage so the mackerel was dispatched and a nice fresh fillet was used along with a whole squid for my next conger bait. It was out for a while when my reel's ratchet clicked rapidly in short bursts twice in fairly quick succession. Martin said it was an eel straight away and I picket up the rod and put it into gear. Waiting a little longer I struck into the fish and feeling the weight of it began winding in quickly to get it up away from the bottom. The fish felt small though, was no match for my rough ground setup and was quickly wound in. Coming into view Martin was proved correct and we made our way down the rocks closer to the water to land it. Martin was ready to lift it out but as it was so small and it looked like it had the bait far enough inside its mouth I took a risk and just quickly lifted it up with my rod. Luckily it stayed on and was swung up behind us where it couldn't fall off and make an escape.

Scottish saltwater species number sixty this year.

Yes!

My heart was pounding and as well as being very happy I also felt a great sense of relief. Relief that I had reached a milestone that I may never get the opportunity to reach again. We fished on for a couple of hours more and I switched my attention to fishing smaller baits closer in to try and tempt a three bearded rockling but things went rather quiet so we called it a night and headed back to the car, thankfully avoiding any nasty shocks or angry bulls. This year's Scottish saltwater species hunt has been an epic adventure but I now plan on having a short break until I go to Tenerife next month on holiday. Switching off might be tough though and I may find this difficult! In the back of my mind I'm wondering if I could add any more saltwater species to my Scottish 2015 tally between now and the end of the year. The list of potential targets is now very short so it would be tough but if the conditions are right and an opportunity to do so presents itself I'll no doubt abandon my self imposed fishing ban and give it a bash.

Tight lines, Scott.

The sweet smelt of success.

I drove up to Dundee yesterday to have another session fishing the Tay Estuary in the hope that I would get lucky and catch a smelt. I decided to fish a bit further up the river than my last visit, mainly so I could fish out of the boot of my car and quickly pack up and head to a second spot should the first not prove productive. In contrast to my last session things were very slow, perhaps because the water was a bit more coloured, and it took quite a while before I got any bites. I missed the first few but on my third cast my rod tip nodded a couple of times and I wound in to find a double shot of a small flounder and a smelt on my rig. Needless to say both were quickly swung up the wall.

Only my second ever European smelt, known in Scotland as a sparling. My fifty ninth species from Scottish saltwater this year.

To say I was over the moon would be a massive understatement and I felt like jumping around shouting like an idiot, but didn't want to startle a nearby dog walker. After putting the fish back I took a moment to compose myself before rebaiting and casting out again. I carried on fishing but after a while with no more interest shown in my small cocktail baits, having caught my target, with rain beginning to fall and more dark clouds heading towards me, I decided to end the session prematurely, quickly packed up and headed back down the road. Only one more species stands between me and a tally of sixty saltwater species from Scottish waters. A conger eel seems the most likely species to see me achieve this but a three bearded rockling, black mouthed dogfish or fifteen spined stickleback are also possible targets over the next few weeks that might also get me there. I can't see myself being in this position again so will be going all out to get the final species. 

Tight lines, Scott.

Fishing flat out.

On Tuesday evening, taking advantage of a drop in the wind, I had another go for a conger eel from an Eyemouth rock mark. This unfortunately only resulted in lots of lost gear and a blank so the following day I headed up to Dundee to fish the Tay estuary. I've been told that a few European smelt were caught recently during a match so I was hoping to get lucky and catch one myself. To increase my chances I fished two rods. Three hook flappers were my rig of choice and I went with light snoods and Nordic bend hooks baited with black lug and tipped with a mackerel sliver. My first rod tip was going before I had finished baiting up the rig on my second and the first fish of a hectic session was a dab. This was soon followed by a sea trout and then more dab and flounder. More flatfish followed and I was kept busy unhooking dabs and flounders, the rod still in the rest often registering interest as I was rebaiting the other one.

The first dab of many. 

A nice looking fish. 

Lots of flounder were around too. 

As the tide picked up weed and debris building up on my line became a pain and I began to wish I had mono mainline as removing it from my braid was a real chore. I ended up cutting off my rig, sliding the weed off from my braid and tying my rig back on again repeatedly to speed up removal. As the tide dropped off this became less of a problem again and I caught a second sea trout. As high tide approached it started raining and did so constantly for an hour or so. Looking like a drowned rat I fished away and had caught just short of fifty flatfish by the time I eventually run out of bait. This was no big deal as by that point the tide was ebbing and combined with the flow of the river had produced a down stream current that was gradually becoming too strong to fish effectively so I packed up and headed off. It had been an enjoyable session despite not catching any smelt. I might return and try from Broughty Ferry or from the Fife side at Tayport. I might also try a night time session as well. The Estuary offers reasonably sheltered fishing in windy weather and looking at the forecast there's plenty more of that over the next few days.

Tight lines, Scott.

The hunt continues...

Over the last two weeks I've been out a few times trying to add to my 2015 Scottish saltwater species tally of fifty eight. Fifteen spined sticklebacks are proving elusive but I suspect that the conditions are a major factor and having treated myself to new waders and a new headtorch I plan on doing some shallow night time wading in weedy areas if there is a period of settled weather. Two spotted gobies however seem to be around whatever the tide and weather throws at them. I'm spotting them all over the place at the moment and have caught a few whilst trying to tempt fifteen spined sticklebacks out of hiding using my micro fishing float rig.

Dunbar Harbour produced this specimen two spotted goby. 

I've also had a few sessions targeting conger eels and three bearded rocklings. The first was locally with my mate Nick at the back of Dunbar Harbour but unfortunately we both blanked. On Sunday I headed down to the Mull of Galloway to explore some new marks there. This first two were on the northern side and involved descending a fairly steep grassy bank before carefully climbing down the rocks at the bottom. A misty morning had left the ground damp which meant I had to take my time so as not to slip. Once down however both offered a comfortable grassy fishing platform, I quickly set up and the waiting game began. 

East Tarbet along to my left. 

Reel in free spool with the ratchet on. I waited for clicks. 

The sea floor was very rough so I fished a mackerel fillet on a #8/0 hook at the end of a 200lb mono hooklength on a running ledger incorporating a rotten bottom. Standard shore fishing conger tactics really. My battered old Ron Thompson Axellerator sat motionless for a while and winding in to change bait the rocks and kelp claimed some tackle before I finally got a bite and landed the rather greedy culprit. It never fails to amaze me how big a bait a dogfish will try and munch. 

I don't care what other anglers think about dogfish, I still like catching them. 

They are quite adorable really. 

Over the next few hours more end tackle was lost and two more ravenous little sharks were landed but sadly my ratchet gave no indication that a conger eel had taken my bait. As I wanted to head up to West Tarbet while it was still light to find a spot on the rocks to fish for three bearded rockling into darkness, I packed up just before 16:00, climbed back up and headed back across the cow filled field to the car. Soon on the southern side of the peninsula I found a comfortable spot just as light faded and got as comfortable as I could wedged into a ledge. Focusing on three bearded rockling I swapped my hooklength out for a much lighter one with a #1 hook and fished strips of mackerel straight down the side. It was not as snaggy as the afternoon's marks and I was soon catching a few more dogfish. Then I felt a slow pull and reeling my rig up felt a dead weight which turned out to be an octopus. I carefully unhooked and put it down next to me to photograph. Trying to pick it up again to put it back the octopus turned white, went fairly rigid and refused to let go of the rocks so I let it make its own way back to the water. Watching it slowly makes its way down the rocks, squeezing through narrow cracks on the way, was fascinating.

 A highly skilled contortionist.

It went quiet after that but sitting on the rocks holding my rod I suddenly realised I had some company. A few rather large sea slaters had emerged from their hiding places for an evening snack on small mackerel chunks that I had dropped whilst preparing my baits.

Most fish will readily take mackerel. So do sea slaters. 

With a long drive home to make it was soon time to head off. I hadn't caught either of my two targets but it was good to fish some new marks and I'll be back to try them again.

On Tuesday I returned to the area, popping into the tackle shop in Stranraer for a box of ragworm and some advice on my targets from the shop's owner Eric. After receiving both I headed to Port Logan and made my way south looking for a new mark to try for three bearded rockling. Once I found a jagged rocky skeer that I could safely access I set up my rod and started fishing. The sun had not yet set and trying a section of ragworm on my hook saw me hooking a fish almost straight away. Given it's November I was slightly surprised to reel in a chunky ballan wrasse. It was followed by a few more. I guess the warmest start to November since records  began has delayed their departure to deeper water. 

The first and largest of seven. 

As light faded the wrasse stopped feeding and I started catching a few small pollock. It wasn't until it was really dark that my bait got the opportunity to sit unmolested on the bottom long enough to attract a rockling but unfortunately when it did it wasn't the three bearded variety.

A small shore rockling. Not the species I was after. 

Almost as greedy as a dogfish. This little chap managed to cram a #2/0 hook into its mouth. 

Shortly afterwards I caught a second shore rockling and then it went very quiet for a couple of hours so I made my way back to the car and headed north to Portpatrick Harbour. Eric had suggested that fishing a certain area inside it from low water up might produce a conger eel. As the chances were that any eel that I came into contact with would be relatively small one I scaled down my hooklength to 135lb mono with a #6/0 hook and fished mackerel fillets. Lowering my bait down the side close to some submerged blocks I got comfortable and waited for the ratchet to click. Sadly over the next four and a half hours it remained silent.

Feeding the crabs with mackerel fillets.

I was almost out of bait when it started to rain just after 03:30 and I was struggling to stay awake too so I decided to end the session and made the long drive back to the capital stopping for a sleep on the way. The seven hours plus of driving to and from the area is a the only thing I dislike and I really wish I had a good conger mark a lot closer to home. I do think the area offers me the best chance of catching both a conger eel and a three bearded rockling though so I'll be making the drive again soon when the conditions are favourable.

Tight lines, Scott.

Missing the boat?

After Sunday's superb skate trip aboard "Reel Deal" with Willie and Gordon I headed out locally on Tuesday to try and add yet more, but much smaller species to this year's tally. I had two targets in mind and arranged to fish a few marks around East Lothian with my mate Mikey. First stop was Eyemouth Harbour where I was hoping to locate a fifteen spined stickleback. The water in the harbour was the clearest I've ever seen it but alas there was a distinct lack of fish. I had to resort to fishing in an isolated pool of water trapped amongst some boulders to open my account. The fish had spines but it wasn't a stickleback. 

This little brute charged out of a crack to wolf my piece of Angleworm.

Next on our little tour of East Lothian was Dunbar Harbour, again I did a spot of stickleback hunting whilst Mikey focused on flatfish. The tide was about half way in and whilst the bladderwrack on the walls was partially covered I couldn't see any of my target species to lower my rig in front of. There were dozens of two spotted gobies though so I amused myself trying to catch them using a micro fishing float rig. They were being quite fussy though and my tiny pieces of mackerel and squid had to be twitched by lifting the float ever so slightly to get them biting. 

Not quite small enough but the closest fish yet to fitting on my one yen coin.

After I caught a couple I joined Mikey pestering the flatfish and we caught a few small flounder and plaice. By early evening I still hadn't spotted any sticklebacks moving around in the weed and the flatfish were being less aggressive with their bites. With the sun getting fairly low in the sky it was time to head to our final mark, Ravenshuegh Beach. My target there was the lesser weever and the conditions once we walked down to it looked great, the sea being flat calm with small waves gently rolling in. I went with half a set of herring hooks, four small hooks with small blobs of fluorescent paint at the top of their shanks and baited two of them with tiny strips of mackerel and the other two with slithers of squid. Mikey meanwhile decided to fish Angleworm on a split shot rig. Twitching our rigs back towards us bites were few and far between to begin with as we wandered along the beach but once it got dark we finally got a few. When I  connected with one it was a small fish and reeling it in I had high hopes but it wasn't my target species and instead I beached a palm sized flat fish. Shining my head torch on it I did get a little surprise though when I discovered it was a plaice, quite an unusual capture for the area. 

The first plaice I've caught from East Lothian outwith the little corner that produces them in Dunbar Harbour.

After a while the few bites we were getting petered out again so we ended the session. I haven't seen a fifteen spined stickleback for a few weeks now and I'm wondering if I perhaps have missed the opportunity to catch one? I've also had about half a dozen attempts at catching a lesser weever on marks I know hold them. I don't think they are present in great numbers but I'm also not sure if they are resident all year round or only move inshore when the water temperature rises in the summer? I have a pair of waders on order that I plan to use in my efforts to catch both these species so I'll have a few more attempts but my thoughts are beginning to turn to switching my focus to conger eels and three bearded rocklings, two species that I can definitely expect to catch over the coming colder months. 

Tight lines, Scott.

The real deal.

My mate Martin recently put me in touch with his fellow Ayr Sea Angling Club member Willie who very generously invited me out for a day targeting skate aboard his boat "reel deal".On Sunday I set of at 5:00 to get myself down to Ardfern on the Sound of Jura where Willie and Gordon were waiting for me having fished down there the previous day. With no traffic on the road I made the journey in good time and we launched just after 8:30. It was a lovely day as we cruised south towards our first mark.

Conditions were perfect.

It didn't take us long at all to get to the first spot and we were soon tied up on a buoy that had been left in place by the lads the day before. Six large baits were soon prepared for the skate rods and were lowered down over four hundred feet to the sea floor. With the opportunity to also perhaps catch a black mouthed dogfish or a cuckoo ray I fished a second lighter rod, opting for a spreader boom at the business end. Plenty of luminous beads were placed on my snoods and two #2/0 Sakuma Manta hooks were baited with sandeel, a favourite bait of dogfish. The lads assured me that catching a black mouthed dogfish was simply a matter of playing the numbers game and ploughing through the lesser spotted dogfish. Sure enough I was soon catching a few of the much more abundant of the two sharks. While I plugged away there was no action on the skate rods and when the tide increased we did a bait change to find that our the end tackle was picking up lots of weed so we lifted the anchor and moved to a second mark.

Anchored up again more big baits were lowered to the bottom and we waited for signs of skate showing an interest in them but after a while with no movement on any of the rod tips we reeled them up. There was very little left of the baits as they had been ravaged by the small slater like crustaceans that are found in the area so more fresh ones were prepared and dropped down. Gordon then began fishing a lighter rod too and after a couple of lesser spotted dogfish he caught a black mouthed dogfish.

Gordon shows off his black mouthed dogfish. It was a very cool looking shark.

The inside of their mouths is indeed black.

Some species hunters get frustrated when a fellow angler fishing along side them catches a fish they are after. I prefer to see it as an encouraging sign that the target is present and can be caught so I kept fishing away. By that point I had used up all my sandeel so I switched to mackerel strips on my hooks and caught a few more lesser spotted dogfish and a couple of thornback rays. 

A nice change from the procession of lesser spotted dogfish. 

With not much happening on the skate rods I was now pretty focused on catching a black mouthed dogfish but I soon forgot about them when a bit of interest was eventually shown in one of the big baits. Gordon put a butt pad and harness on me, Willie handed me the rod and the battle commenced.

Skate fights can last over an hour and are physically demanding. As the fight had only just started I managed a smile for the camera.

Having played skate before I knew what to expect, including the banter from the lads. In amongst the "Why are you taking so long?" and "It must be a big dogfish!" patter they kindly gave me a few pointers on my stance and my pumping and winding technique. I found this a big help and after getting the fish off the bottom only for it to swim back down again a few times I eventually got it off the bottom and kept it off, slowly gaining line and getting into a nice rhythm. The fish, a large male, eventually appeared from the depths and was quickly brought on board by Willie and Gordon before quickly being measured, photographed and returned. 

Despite taking on board the advice given and improving my technique my muscles were still aching but it was well worth the effort.

I love watching them go back. A few strokes of their wings and they gracefully glide back towards the bottom.

I was a very happy angler and had added another saltwater species to my tally from Scotland this year. No rest for the wicked though and I wanted to add another by catching my first black mouthed dogfish. As a few clouds rolled overhead Willie joined Gordon and I fishing a lighter rod and after a few obligatory lesser spotted dogfish he caught what he suspected was a ray as he retrieved it but it turned out to be a small skate. 

At just over 6lb this was easily the smallest skate I've seen caught by quite a margin.

The tide then really started to pick up and as it got stronger it was harder to hold bottom and the dogfish bites dried up. One of the big baits was picked up by something and Willie had a fish on for a brief period but it dropped the bait. He suspected it might have been a conger just holding on. Soon it was time to wind up the skate baits and head back in. 

Another cracking view as the sun disappears behind some clouds as we headed back to dry land.

It had been a great day and I can't thank Willie enough for the opportunity to spend the day out on his boat. When it comes to anglers who know their stuff the boys from the Ayr Sea Angling Club are certainly the real deal, great guys too who have gone out of their way to help me catch fish on several occasions this year. Without their generosity, experience, knowledge and advice I don't think I'd have reached my target of fifty Scottish saltwater species this year, let alone be approaching sixty and I hope I get the opportunity to fish with them again in the not too distant future.

Tight lines, Scott.