Overnight success.

Way back in April I had an enquiry from a fellow angler living in Edinburgh about meeting up for a light game session on the coast. We tried a few times to arrange this but never managed to meet up. Last week I asked Mikey if he fancied a day out in a boat that I had booked but he couldn't make it. During this conversation he told me he was going to Loch Etive to fish through the night and asked me if I fancied going too. I jumped at the chance and finally we met for the first time last Friday night. After putting my gear into his car off we went, chatting about fishing pretty much the whole way there. When we arrived at our preferred mark it was already being fished and a brisk wind was blowing directly onto the second mark we visited so we ended up going all the way around the loch to Bonawe Quarry. Walking through it we arrived at a spot I always do quite well at and got set up. Pulley rigs baited up we cast out our first baits of the night. Mikey fished two rods whilst I elected to fish only one. Our baits hadn't been on the bottom long when Mikey spotted a common eel snaking through the bladderwrack at our feet. I quickly tied a small hook onto a length of 15lb line and baited it with a small piece of mackerel. Flicking this out near the fish saw it eagerly swallowing the bait very aggressively and I quickly yanked the line upwards hooking it. Soon hoisted clear of the water it was a superb start to the session. 

A great unexpected bonus capture, adding to my 2015 tally.  

Action on the bait rods was quite slow to begin with and we amused ourselves watching more eels appear as we tossed scraps of bait in at the water's edge. They fought for these with the resident shore crabs and provided us with a bit of light relief. Eventually one of Mikey's rod tips registered some interest and he struck into the first spurdog of the night. 

The first of a few spurdogs for Mikey. 

I then caught a few dogfish whilst Mikey's rods produced a few more spurdogs. As we were pretty much fishing the same end tackle and baits I was puzzled as to why he was catching spurdogs and I wasn't but a cast over nearer to the spot he was fishing eventually produced one for me.

My first spurdog of the year. 

As the evening progressed we carried on catching fish and as well as more sharks a few cod and whiting were also landed too. The general size of the fish was small but the action was reasonably constant and it was quite a nice night to be out. By about 6am we had caught about twenty fish between us and things had slowed down a bit so we ended the session. We were both pretty tired but as I had to get back to Edinburgh so I could go to work in the afternoon we loaded the car and drove home. It was pretty hard going trying to stay awake but thankfully Mikey just about managed it thanks to a coffee break on the way back and with the help of the the rumble strips on the M9. I enjoyed fishing together and I hope it's not another four months before we meet up again although next time I think we'll stay on the east coast for a spot of light game at a much more sociable time of the day.  

Tight lines, Scott.