Blogging again.

So, it's been a while. Over two years in fact have passed since my last post on the blog. I've still been fishing with varying regularity during that time but just haven't felt inclined to write about it. As well as catching a few fish I also manged to catch Covid recently too, not a pleasant experience but I'm almost back to normal now. Over the summer I achieved a personal fishing milestone that I'm quite proud of so I've decided to start rambling on here again and will be posting a few reports covering a few trips I've done in the last two years and also sessions working towards the goal I reached. My trumpet isn't going to blow itself and I figure some fellow anglers out there may even like to see some photos of my captures or read about my exploits perhaps. Anyway, I'll get started...

At the end of August last year I headed to the west coast of Scotland with my mate Nick for a few day's relaxation, camping and fishing. We based ourselves in Auchindarroch Touring Park and headed out each day to various different spots to see how many species we could catch. We fished various styles, everything from jigs on light tackle to big baits on heavy ground beachcasters and it didn't take us long to start racking the species up. During the daytime we caught lots of fish, all five main UK wrasse species, most members of the cod family and various mini species. Those who know me or read this blog will already be aware that I love mini species!

A short session at Ganavan Sands beach saw us catching lots of sand gobies using a simple split shot rig, tiny hooks and tiny pieces of raw prawn.

Sticking with the small hooks and little chunks of raw prawn the next day, I caught this stunning rook cook wrasse when we visited Lochaline West Pier.

Lochaline West Pier is one of the best spots I know to catch an incredibly wide variety of mini species. Nick caught this leopard spotted goby while we fished there.

I also caught this large butterfish which was also tempted by some raw prawn on a small hook.

Heading out after dark a few times also saw us adding to our species hunt tally. I was hopeful that I might catch a three bearded rockling, a species I've caught before but never in Scotland. Unfortunately our night time sessions weren't as productive as our daylight ones. I caught a three bearded rockling sized ling which I briefly thought was a three bearded rockling when it surfaced but my excitement didn't last long when I realised what it actually was. Nick landed a couple of dogfish and he then caught a tadpole fish which he was over the moon about.

We were on the rocks, set up and fishing at close range into deep kelpy ground by sunset. Who needs a tripod?

Not Nick's first tadpole fish but still a great catch nonetheless. Probably the coolest fish of the trip.

All too soon though the day arrived when we had to get up, pack the tents away and make the drive home. The species hunting had been very enjoyable and we ended up catching just over twenty species between the two of us. On our way back to the east coast we stopped off at Loch Lubnaig for a couple of hours for a spot of ultralight sport targeting it's pristine perch.

Pink has always been a successful colour choice for me to dropshot for these lovely Loch Lubnaig perch.

It was also good to discover that the three big hairy beasts that live by the loch were still around. They must be getting on a bit now.

All in all it was a very enjoyable, much needed short break in good company in a beautiful part of Scotland, even if the pesky three bearded rockling had eluded me yet again. I was determined to add new species to my Scottish tally so I'd return again earlier this year to have another crack at catching one.

Tight lines, Scott.