Mackerel jacuzzi.

The weather was quite nice yesterday so I went for a walk with my girlfriend, my sister and her partner. On the advice of a mate the chosen route was from St Abbs to Eyemouth via a coastal path that runs along the clifftops and down to some nice beaches. Obviously the opportunity to do a quick spot of fishing was a possibility so I took an ultralight rod and popped the bare minimum of tackle along with a single pack of large pink Isome into my pocket. We arrived in St Abbs just after 12pm and set off along the path. After a short walk the path headed down to surfers' mecca Coldingham Bay before heading back up again and running along the clifftop. As we walked along I made a few mental notes on potential marks for future visits.

The whole coast looks very fishy.

About half way along the girls wanted a break so whilst they sat on a large bit of driftwood for twenty minutes I went to see what was in the rockpools nearby. Blennies and long spined sea scorpions unsurprisingly and they were being very shy, darting off under rocks and into weed and I couldn't tempt any of them to take my offering so we headed on our way again. As we approached Eyemouth and headed along the cliffs at the back of the caravan park I spotted a lot of surface activity and quickly hopped down the rocks. A massive shoal of mackerel was swimming just under the surface and very close in. 

The shoal erupts on the surface to my left just as I'm about to cast into it.

I can only assume that something was underneath hunting them. It wasn't long before I had hooked one and followed that up with another two before the shoal moved off out of range. I headed back up the rocks to the path with our dinner.

The humble mackerel. Great sport on ultra light tackle and delicious too.

We then headed down to Eyemouth harbour and while the girls enjoyed a hot drink in small cafe I had a go in the harbour. Not much sign of any fish though apart from a few small coalfish that weren't interested in my lure. Probably more concerned by the resident seal.

The inner harbour. Easy access fishing via pontoons.

I wasn't the only one after the fish.

The girls then rejoined me and we jumped on the bus back to St Abbs. A very enjoyable walk with the nice bonus of stumbling on the mackerel jacuzzi at just the right time at an accessible spot and catching our dinner. Good to see such a big shoal of mackerel relatively late in the year. I'll also be back to this stretch of coastline to do further exploration with some heavier tackle for sure.

Tight lines, Scott.