Opening a new account.

Well the weather so far this year has on the most part been absolutely dreadful. So bad in fact that I didn't venture out at all in January. Very frustrating so when I spotted some flights to Santander on the north coast of Spain for the bargain price of £45 return I treated my girlfriend Lillian and my light game travel rod to a short break there at the start of February. When we arrived the temperature was certainly an improvement on Edinburgh but there was no escape from the latest Atlantic storm system and its strong winds. After dropping our bags off at our hotel we went for a walk around the Peninsula de la Magdalena. Its coastline was being battered by the sea and all the spots I had picked out on Google Maps to wet a line were unfishable really.

Big waves breaking right up the rocks meant a rethink was in order.

A bit disappointed we headed up the estuary into town so I could fish for an hour or so. I tried at a few spots as we rambled along but there didn't seem to be any fish around. My persistence finally paid off though when I was rewarded with a very aggressive take that completely took me by surprise. The fish that had attacked my Angleworm was soon landed.

Opening my Santander account was real struggle.

A rather colourful little common comber. A nice first fish of 2016.

The next day it was still very windy but the sun was shining again so we went for a nice walk along the coast to Faro de Cabo Mayor, a lighthouse that sits above the cliffs to the west of Santander. I took my gear but suspected that the swell would make fishing impossible again. I was proved right.

Not really light game conditions. A stunning stretch of coastline though and the power of the sea was impressive too.

Eventually we reached the lighthouse. In calmer conditions I think there would be some nice fishing to be had where the sea could be accessed.

Arriving back at the hotel Lillian wanted an afternoon siesta so I jumped on a bus and headed back to where I had caught the comber the previous day. Things were slow again so I walked further into town. Passing an unusual set of sculptures I started getting a few little taps on my Angleworm and caught a few little fish. 

Normally I hate it when kids jump in next to where I'm fishing and spook all the fish.

My hard work was finally rewarded with an Atlantic horse mackerel.

I also managed to catch three of these little black seabream before heading back to the hotel.

On days three it rained heavily so Lillian suggested we head to the Maritime Museum. From the outside it didn't look like it would be that good but we were pleasantly surprised by the whale skeletons on display inside and the aquariums in the basement. As well as the usual seabream, bass and shark species in the main tank there were some large Atlantic wreckfish. 

Wish I could have caught some of these. They'd have put a real good bend in my rod!

These were very curious and came right up to the glass to have a look at us.

Our last day in Santander saw more heavy rain battering the city so we sought shelter and enjoyed some tasty tapas and drinks before heading to the airport to fly home. It had been a pleasant relaxing trip to a lovely place. The fishing wasn't great but I'm sure in the summer the estuary and the open sea would provide many excellent fishing opportunities so I may return sometime in the future to find out. 

Tight lines, Scott. 

2015. Whatever the weather.

Well another year has come and gone and despite the weather being generally pretty dire, the wind in particular at times making getting out tough, it was quite a good year. A few planned trips were cancelled but I still managed to get out a lot and caught a few fish. Species hunting was again a focus and I did rather well catching over one hundred species from saltwater alone. I did a lot more fishing in saltwater than I did freshwater as a result of setting myself some saltwater species hunting targets at the start of the year. Here's a summary of everything I caught with new species asterisked;

From freshwater I caught...

1. Blue Tilapia x 4*
2. Brown Trout x 3
3. Chub x 5
4. Common Carp x 2
5. F1 Carp x 5
6. Largemouth Bass x 3*
7. Minnow x 3
8. Perch x 23
9. Pike x 1
10. Powan x 1
11. Pumpkinseed x 5
12. Roach x 41
13. Sea Trout x 1
14. Wels Catfish x 4*
15. Zander x 4

From saltwater I caught...

1. Annular Seabream x 10
2. Atlantic Lizardfish x 14
3. Atlantic Horse Mackerel x 1
4. Atlantic Salmon x 2
5. Baillon's Wrasse  x 1
6. Ballan Wrasse x 54
7. Bass x 6
8. Bastard Grunt x 13*
9. Bighead Goby x 19*
10. Black Goby x 29
11. Black Scorpionfish x 1
12. Blacktail Comber x 4*
13. Butterfish x 3
14. Canary Damselfish x 41
15. Cardinalfish x 6
16. Cleaver Wrasse/Pearly Razorfish x 1
17. Coalfish x 376
18. Cod x 108
19. Comber x 3
20. Common Blenny x 68
21. Common Dragonet x 1
22. Common Eel x 1
23. Common Goby x 2
24. Common Pandora x 1
25. Common Two Banded Seabream x 10
26. Conger Eel x 1
27. Corkwing Wrasse x 93
28. Cuckoo Wrasse x 15
29. Dab x 58
30. Damselfish x 4
31. Diamond Lizardfish x 12
32. Dover Sole x 1*
33. East Atlantic Peacock Wrasse x 1
34. Emerald Wrasse/Atlantic Wrasse x 3*
35. European Smelt/Sparling x 1
36. Five Bearded Rockling x 1
37. Five Spotted Wrasse x 23
38. Flapper Skate x 1
39. Flounder x 81
40. Gilthead Seabream x 1
41. Golden Grey Mullet x 1
42. Goldsinny Wrasse x 35
43. Greater Sandeel/Launce x 3
44. Greater Spotted Dogfish/Bull Huss x 1
45. Greater Weever x 16
46. Grey Gurnard x 84
47. Grey Wrasse x 24
48. Guinean Puffer x 9
49. Haddock x 23
50. Herring x 7
51. Knout Goby x 1*
52. Leopard Spotted Goby x 10
53. Lesser Sandeel x 1
54. Lesser Spotted Dogfish x 91
55. Lesser Weever x 15
56. Ling x 1
57. Long Spined Sea Scorpion x 15
58. Mackerel x 130
59. Macronesian Sharpnose Puffer x 6
60. Madeira Goby x 11
    
61. Madeira Rockfish x 16
62. Mediterranean Rainbow Wrasse x 13
63. Mystery Blenny x 7*
64. Ocellated Wrasse x 47*
65. Ornate Wrasse x 142
66. Painted Comber x 1
    
67. Painted Goby x 1
68. Parrotfish x 2
69. Peacock Blenny x 2
70. Pink Dentex/Lumphead Seabream x 2*
71. Plaice x 22
72. Pollock x 56
73. Poor Cod x 80
74. Pouting x 11
75. Red Gurnard x 1
76. Red Mullet x 4*
77. Ringneck Blenny x 8
78. Rock Goby x 10
79. Rock Cook Wrasse x 3
80. Rockpool Blenny x 9
81. Round Goby x 39*
82. Rusty Blenny x 18
83. Saddled Seabream x 10
84. Sand Goby x 1
85. Sand Smelt x 26
86. Sea Trout x 16
87. Shore Rockling x 4
88. Short Spined Sea Scorpion x 6
89. Slender Goby x 1*
90. Spotted Ray x 1*
91. Starry Smoothhound x 2*
92. Spurdog x 2
93. Striped Red Mullet x 2
94. Striped Seabream x 1
95. Tentacled Blenny x 20*
96. Thick Lipped Grey Mullet x 8
97. Thin Lipped Grey Mullet x 2*
98. Thornback Ray x 5
99. Three Spined Stickleback x 10
100. Tompot Blenny x 8
101. Tope x 1
102. Turbot x 1
103. Two Spotted Goby x 23
104. Tub Gurnard x 1
105. Viviparous Blenny/Eelpout x 6
106. White Seabream x 3
107. Whiting x 88
108. Yarrell's Blenny x 2

One of my targets for 2015 was to fish "locally" more often and with this in mind I set myself the goal of catching fifty species from saltwater around Scotland. This kept me busy and formed the main focus of my fishing throughout the year. By the end of September I had reached my goal but looking at what I could still potentially catch I decided to keep going and try to hit sixty. At the end of November I caught a conger eel whilst out fishing with my mate Martin and reached this milestone. It's something that I don't think anyone else has done before, it took a lot of time and effort to do and towards the end my sanity was at risk so I don't think I'll be trying to do it again in a hurry! It's something I'm very proud to say I've achieved though and the challenge provided me with many great memories. Here are a few fish that stand out for various reasons from the sixty. The full list is here.

Nought to sixty in 2015.

I'd only ever caught one butterfish before so I knew the chances of catching one were very slim. They're not really a species you can deliberately target, or so I thought. I ended up catching three of them throughout the year and two were at the same spot so perhaps they can be targeted! When I caught the first one though it was the first time I remember thinking that with a bit of luck I could reach fifty.

By June I had passed the twenty mark catching species I'd caught before. A day out with skipper Spike in Luce Bay with my mate Martin was a good opportunity to catch something new in the shape of a starry smoothhound and we managed a few brightening up an otherwise grey afternoon afloat.

During the same boat session I also got lucky with an unexpected bonus spotted ray which was also my first. Another moment when I thought I could hit my target of fifty.

By August I was making great progress and had caught almost forty species from Scottish saltwater. During an unsuccessful session targeting golden grey mullet I spotted some smaller fish that I thought I recognised. I'd caught lots of sand smelt on the south coast of England and on Jersey before but after a quick change of rig I'd caught my first Scottish ones. 

Last year I started up a little group called Fish Club and tried to arrange get togethers when I could. During a group session at Dunbar Harbour one of the other lads caught an Atlantic horse mackerel and excitedly heading over to the spot where he caught it I soon caught one too. I love Dunbar Harbour, I've caught many species from inside it but this Atlantic horse mackerel was another to add to the list and it took me one species closer to my goal. 

A trip west in September to target fifteen spined sticklebacks didn't see me catching any but instead saw me adding three other species to my tally, achieving my goal in the process. This painted goby was my fiftieth saltwater species of 2015 from Scottish venues. 

I had planned on taking a break when I hit fifty but switching off was hard so I just kept going. Lady Luck was on my side when I caught this red gurnard whilst feathering for mackerel. The same day I also added a ling to my tally for the year.

The red gurnard and ling really spurred me on and the next day despite being very tired I headed north to the Pirate's Graveyard with my mate Ad for a second attempt at catching my first Scottish turbot. It didn't take too long to catch a small one making the drive well worth it. I love their markings ,they really are beautiful flatfish. 

With three species left I was treated to a day out on "Reel Deal", Martin's friend Willie's boat, to target flapper skate. It was a beautiful day and this capture was a reminder that without the generous help of other anglers I wouldn't have reached fifty let alone be pushing to hit sixty. It left me with only two species to catch.

European smelt are occassionally caught from the Tay Estuary in spring when they head upstream to spawn. When I heard that a few had been caught in October during a match I headed up to see if I could get lucky. On my second trip I caught one almost straight away. Sadly they are a fairly rare fish that to my knowledge are now only found in three Scottish estuary systems so it was a real privilege to catch one again. 

This conger eel, caught whilst out fishing with my mate Martin was my sixtieth saltwater species from Scottish saltwater. It was nice to reach the milestone in his company and I couldn't have done it without his help and advice throughout the year.

Family holidays and fishing trips outwith Scotland provided a nice break from my Scottish saltwater species hunting at various points throughout the year. When I think about the fact that I spent four weeks out of the country it makes my achievement even more remarkable.

Madeira in March.

A week on Madeira with my girlfriend, sister and my mate Lee saw us catching a few colourful fish. These pink dentex were my favourite. A close relative of Couch's seabream their elongated dorsal ray fins are the obvious difference.

We were fishng light game all week and the average size of fish was fairly small. The fish all give a good account of themselves though and this white trevally that took Lee's small metal put a real nice bend in his rod and a smile on his face. The perfect cure for a Poncha induced hangover.

  Nessebar in June.

A week in Bulgaria with my girlfriend saw me enjoying a few short light game sessions in the Black Sea sun. Gobies, blennies and wrasse made up the majority of my catches. These ocelated wrasse were a new species to me and were very colourful little chaps.

I also managed a few pumpkinseeds from a large pond on the last day. Another very pretty little colourful fish. 

River Ebro in August.

Martin and I enjoyed a week's guided lure fishing on the River Ebro with Pro Predator guide Lee Carpenter. The fishing at times was tough but we both caught our first Wel's catfish on lures.

We also had a few largemouth bass. I'd love to have another trip to target them, they scrap like mad.

Martin got a new PB zander too. He also lost a bigger one. Zander are good at throwing hooks.

South Coast of England in September.

The weather was pretty dire when I headed to Cornwall to meet up with my mate Ross. We lost two out of the three days we had booked out on the charter boat Bite Adventures but when we did get out we both caught our first ever UK greater weevers.

Working our way east, Ross and I headed along to Shoreham to target Dover sole. We managed one each. Another new UK species for us both but as Ross had been trying to catch one for a few years he gave his a kiss. Judging by the fish's reaction I don't think Ross was the sole's type. 

Before heading back up the road we both managed to catch some thin lipped mullet from Weymouth Harbour on Mepps baited with rag worn. Great fun on ultra light tackle and another UK species added to my life list.

Tenerife in December.

By the time I flew out to the Canary Islands I had taken a couple of weeks off after catching my sixtieth species from Scottish saltwater. It was a family holiday and really I was looking forward to some relaxed light game fun. The fishing wasn't fantastic and the puffers were a bit of a nuisance but I did catch my first male parrotfish.

These little buggers make short work of soft plastic lures and 6lb line with their razor sharp teeth. In short they were a bit of a pain.

So that was 2015. I didn't do any fishing when I returned from Tenerife and I haven't been out yet this year either, mainly due to the wet and windy weather but I also felt like I needed a break. I did treat myself to a new pair of waders and had planned on kicking off this year with a bit of trotting maggots for grayling but all the rain has put a stop to that. Currently I'm in no rush to get out to be honest, I'm considering which direction I want to take my fishing in this year and I have a few ideas about what I'd like to do. No doubt I'll be doing more species hunting as I really enjoy it but I might structure any targets around single sessions or trips instead of annual ones. This might see me fishing less as a result because really I want to get back to just enjoying my fishing again so that will be a more important factor in determining what I do rather than just fishing all the time. I'd like to have more Fish Club meetings if possible as I'd like to fish in the company of others more often. It's great to share the joy af catching fish with others. On that note, I'm really looking forward to a week long trip to Fuertaventura with my mates Lee and Nick at the end of February. No doubt other holidays later in the year will provide additional opportunities for me to fish abroad as well, something I love. Finally I want to do more fishing in freshwater this year. Hopefully the UK weather will be better than that of 2015 but whatever it throws at us and whatever I get up to in 2016 I'm sure I'll catch a few fish and have a great time in the process.  

Tight lines, Scott.

Light game fun on Tenerife : Part 2.

On day four of our holiday I got up early again and drove back down the coast to San Juan. I arrived before sunrise again but this time the end of the breakwater was already very busy with anglers so I found myself a spot in between two locals who were float fishing on the inside of the breakwater and started fishing down the side. It didn't take too long before I got a few small bites on my Angleworm and landed a few odd looking little red fish.

Cardinalfish have huge eyes and even bigger mouths for their small size. They seem to feed more during darkness. At least that's my experience of catching them.

Once the sun had risen the ornate wrasse, Canary damselfish and puffers became active and it was hard to get through them. I tried small metals for a while but they didn't draw any bites so back on went the Angleworm. The puffers munched it rapidly but eventually a Madeira rockfish beat them to a fresh piece.

I don't think their poison is as nasty as that of a weever but the Madeira rockfish is still another venomous fish to handle with care. I prefer a firm lip grip before unhooking then just drop them back in. 

I had hoped that some of the anglers at the end would maybe leave or move so I could have a go at the spot where I observed the Atlantic trumpetfish but they didn't. I was about to return to Los Gigantes when I had a text from the girls to say that they were going for a walk so I decided to head down the coast to try a new spot.

El Puertito is a tiny secluded village with a small sandy beach and rocks either side.

Sadly this new spot whilst very pretty wasn't very productive and was also relatively shallow and very tackle hungry too. I persevered but after catching a solitary ornate wrasse I drove back up the coast to meet the girls at Playa de Arena. I got there before they did so fished off of the rocks on the southern side of the beach until they arrived.

When they did arrive they found me hiding in the shade.

By this point it was approaching midday and with hardly any cloud cover it was getting rather hot. I think most of the fish were struggling with the heat as well as bites were few and far between although I did catch a couple of lesser weevers. They were very dark in colouration compared to those caught from the golden sandy beaches in the UK. 

Yet another poisonous fish to carefully unhook. They thrash about a lot when you touch them so I usually don't risk a lip grip. Luckily I carry forceps to shake them off the hook. 

The girls had enjoyed their morning stroll and wanted to carry on further down the coast so off they went. I told them just to double back or text me if they wanted me to pick them up and carried on fishing. Things continued to be slow in the afternoon sun but a switch to metals eventually paid off when I caught a couple of fairly big diamond lizardfish.

Toothy but at least they aren't poisonous! It's the teeth on their tongue that I find most bizarre.

Before too long the girls had returned and we headed back to the hotel. Once back they wanted to relax in the pool and use the Spa so I headed out again for an hour or so heading to the rocks at the back of the Barcelo Santiago hotel again. Things were slow there so I wandered along to the tiny harbour next to Santiago-El Puertito. This saw me catch a few ornate wrasse, Canary damselfish, diamond lizardfish and Macronesian sharpnose puffers but nothing new.

On Saturday we decided to visit Santa Cruz in the evening to go to the CD Tenerife v RCD Mallorca football match. Driving along the southern side of the island late that morning we stopped at El Medano so I could have an hour fishing from the end of the small stone pier there whilst the girls had a wander around and a coffee.

Montana Roja in the distance from the end of the pier.

The sea surrounding the pier was fairly shallow, the bottom was rocky and all I caught was a procession of ornate wrasse and a few Canary damselfish. Further east we stopped again at Candelaria where the girls wanted to visit the Basillica to see the Virgin of Candelaria statue inside. Not really something that I was interested in so I fished metal jigs from the rocks at the back of the town's harbour for thirty minutes or so and was rewarded with a single Atlantic lizardfish. The water was quite deep and I was surprised by the lack of action but it was the hottest part of the day so maybe that had something to do with it. 

The only fish interested in my metals. Still another species added to my tally. 

Back on the road again we stopped in Santa Cruz at the stadium and bought our tickets for the evening's match before heading up through the mountains to visit a few picturesque spots on the north coast. Once again the drive and some of the scenery was amazing.

That's me having a few casts from the rocks on the right.

Heading back to the capital we took our seats in the stadium and enjoyed a reasonably good game. The visitors took an early lead but late in the second half after a couple of substitutions CD Tenerife scored twice in quick succession to win the game. 

The game didn't draw a big crowd but the passion displayed by the supporters in attendance was clear to see and listening to their colourful language was also very entertaining. My Spanish is pretty basic but apparently the linesman were very fond of goats!

Despite not getting back to Los Gigantes until fairly late that night the following morning I headed back to San Juan for another dawn session. This time I had the place to myself almost but didn't manage to catch anything I hadn't caught already during the trip before heading back. Over breakfast the girls told me they wanted to do more walking, this time up in a pine forest high up towards the centre of the island. I got them to drop me off near a rocky outcrop at the southern outskirts of Los Cristianos so I could have a few hours fishing. I started off on a small rocky pier. Standing at the edge looking down to see if I could spot some red lip or hairy blennies a few land crabs that were sunbathing down below me hastily made their retreat. 

These land loving crustaceans are very common and very fast making getting a photo quite hard.

Exploring the area I caught the usual suspects for a while and had a load of lures eaten and rigs damaged by the resident pufferfish. Eventually I caught a few of the little buggers including a few Guinean puffers. 

It's hard to exaggerate just how many puffers there were.

Their teeth are razor sharp and most of the time you don't even feel them biting. They make short work of destroying soft plastics and in short they are a pain in the rear if you want to fish light game.

By the time the girls returned I was feeling a little frustrated by the lack of variety in the species I was catching and the fact that I'd caught nothing new throughout the entire holiday. I think I also caught a little too much sun as well which didn't help matters. In the evening when it was cooler I had a wander around the marina in Los Gigantes and spotted some red lip blennies on the marina walls around near the mouth. I decided that the next day I was going to be a little bit naughty. In the afternoon Lillian and I went for a walk around the marina again and this time I was armed with a spool of fluorocarbon, a few split shot, hooks, a jar of Angleworm and wearing my lucky pirate cap. Lillian kept an eye on the movements of the marina's security guards and I began looking for red lip blennies.

I locate my target down the marina wall.

Illegal activity underway.

I stealthily caught three ornate wrasse and a couple of canary damselfish but sadly the rid lip blennies just weren't interested. Every time I presented a lure they just got annoyed and swam off which was quite frustrating. Slightly disappointed that my law breaking antics hadn't produced a new blenny species for me we headed back up to the hotel. On the way however we passed a concrete basin that was full of water. I'm not sure what it was exactly but the water had a green tinge to it and it was full of fish. I couldn't resist finding out what they were and finding a hole in the fence at the side dropped my split shot rig in. Immediately the fish went berserk attacking the Angleworm and four of them were hooked one after another and hoisted up in quick succession.

The biggest fish of the trip. Not much fun on my improvised hand line but it was still nice to catch something new.

I recognised the fish as tilapia but at the time I had no idea which particular species.

I now suspect they are blue tilpaia also known as Israeli tilapia.

Pleased to have finally caught something new we laughed about the day's mischief and headed back up the hill to the hotel for the last time, stopping briefly to catch our breath and to get a photo of "The Giants" to the north of the town.

Imposing.

That evening was our last of the holiday so we had a nice meal in the hotel restaurant and a few beers. It had been an enjoyable, relaxing break and it had also been great to get away from the winter weather back home. The fishing had been fun although I was slightly disappointed not to catch anything new from the sea especially as I saw a couple of species that I've never caught before and couldn't catch either of them. I didn't reach my species hunting targets for the trip of twenty species including three new ones either, ending up on seventeen species including one new one, but to be honest having spent all year chasing species around Scotland I wasn't too bothered. It was nice just to be in the sun, enjoying the island and catching a few fish when the opportunity was there. Landing back in Edinburgh the weather was rather horrible and served as a quick reminder that winter here can be tough. Luckily I don't have to wait too long before I'm back down in the Canary Islands again, I visit Fuertaventura at the end of February next year with two of my mates for a week of non stop fishing. Something to cheer me up on cold, wet and windy winter days to come.

Tight lines, Scott.