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.