Put on ice.

I met up with my mate Nick on Wednesday and we headed down to the rocks at the back of Eyemouth golf course to try for pollock and wrasse. Arriving at the sea however we were both surprised given how calm a day it was by the slow rolling swell that was running and the slightly coloured state of the water. Undeterred but knowing that realistically this would make fishing tricky and drastically reduce our chances of catching our targets we climbed down and gave it a bash anyway. We decided to give the Savage Gear Sandeels a day off and started off with some classic pollock lures.

Still looks fishy. 

Firetail jellyworms and rhubarb and custard shads. Classic pollock catchers.

Unfortunately after an hour or so our fears were confirmed so I decided to tie on a metal to cover a bit more water. Jigging this back towards me I soon caught a couple of coalfish before moving to join Nick who was fishing in a slightly calmer small rocky gully. Changing to a drop shot rig with a 15g lead and a #6 Sakuma Chinu hook baited with a whole Gulp! Sandworm my first cast resulted in another small and greedy coalfish.

Still a fair bit of water movement as Nick seeks fish in this nice deep gully.

Gulp! Aptly named.

After another coalfish the bites dried up completely though and we decided to have an amble further along the cliff and try another spot. It didn't take long for us to find one and figure out how to get down.

No doubt this whole stretch of coast will produce fish in the right conditions. It's just a matter of finding a way down.

Climbing down was fairly easy but the uneven surfaces created by the areas warped rock layers meant a twisted ankle was a distinct possibility so we took our time.

Once down I started drop shotting again and Nick went with a firetail jellyworm fished on a jighead. I quickly caught another coalfish and was just about to work my way along the rocks to our left when Nick's rod arched over. A pollock had taken his lure at close range and had got into the kelp beneath him but applying some pressure he soon freed it and hand lined it up.

Nick proves that pollock love firetail jellyworms. 

Nick gets off the mark with a nice fish. 

We carried on working our way around the area but didn't tempt anything else so after a while we decided to head off east to explore the cliffs to the east of Eyemouth Caravan Park. We both thought the open sea there might be a little less coloured and perhaps casting a metal might give us the chance of some mackerel too. Parking at the caravan site and walking around the cliffs past the old cannons that sit on them we soon found a nice easily accessible mark and climbed down. The water was a bit cleared but there was still a long rolling swell to contend and ever so often a wave would break and water would race up the rocks forcing us to make a hasty retreat up them to safety. Starting with metals to try and catch our dinner Nick soon hooked a surprise fish on a mackerel patterned TronixPro casting jig.

This very greedy launce took a lure almost half its length!

Just to prove that this wasn't a fluke Nick promptly caught a second! Keen to catch one too for this years' species tally and to hopefully increase my chances I tied on a 12g Dennet Super Sprat in a sandeel colour. Casting this around and working it back using a slow steady retrieve it was soon taken by a mackerel. Nick then caught one too.

Dinner in hand I run back up the rocks with it away from another wave. 

Canniballistic. Nick's dinner sorted too and on a mackerel patterned metal.

I then caught a second mackerel shortly afterwards but then things went quiet again so I tied on a rhubarb and custard shad to try for pollock but sadly had no joy. With the tide now making its way up the rocks at an ever increasing pace we headed back up to the cliff top and decided to head up the coast to St Abbs Harbour to try for flounders for an hour. Before leaving Eyemouth we grabbed a bite to eat, a bag of ice to keep our mackerel fresh and Nick grabbed four bottles of Corona to quench his thirst.

St Abbs Harbour. Known to throw up some nice fish on a fairly regular basis. 

Tying up another drop shot rig and fishing a whole Gulp! Sandworm my first cast produced another small coalfish. Nick had a few casts but then settled down in the shade to enjoy a couple of his beers whilst they were still cold. I carried on casting around the harbour and was rewarded with another coalfish and a couple of nice pollock.

The harbour is normally full of coalfish. The odd pollock does turn up though. 

Probably the biggest I've had from inside the harbour. 

No flounders were biting but I was fairly happy. After an hour or so we headed back to Dunbar and I dropped Nick off before heading home to enjoy my grilled mackerel fillets with Lillian who had prepared a nice beetroot, celery and potato salad to have with it.

One of my goals this year is to fish locally more often and to be honest I'm failing miserably on that front but I'm keen to fish around Eyemouth again with Nick when the conditions are better so that'll be a small step towards my target. That being said I'm off to begin a eleven day fishing trip tomorrow starting in Dorset, then heading to Cornwall for a few days fishing aboard Bite Adventures out of Penzance before flying over to Alderney next Friday with my mate Ross. Oh well, fishing locally will just have to be put on ice too I suppose!

Tight lines, Scott.