I'll be back!

Well, I said earlier in the year I'd be back down to the outflow of Torness Power Station, and earlier this month I did return with my mate Ryan. Having caught some golden grey mullet during one of my previous visits, I still had a few other species to tick off for this year's species hunting challenge that can be caught there. Corkwing wrasse was not one of them, but I caught four from the sea defence boulders next to the outflow, which was quite unusual.  I also spotted a leopard spotted goby, but it was being pretty skittish, and I could not tempt it. The corkwing wrasse were followed by a few common blenny.

An unexpected bonus. This the largest and most colourful.

To be expected. Ryan and I caught lots of them whilst we waited on the tide to come in.

Once the tide came in a bit, we turned our attention to targeting mullet using bread on float and freelining tactics. I was hoping to catch a thick lipped mullet and Ryan and I both hooked one each, only for both of them to throw the hook right at the net. Next to take my bread flake was a golden grey mullet, and then we both caught a bass each. Ryan's bass, which was his first, took his bread from under a float, whilst mine took a whole ragworm freelined.

Ryan was over the moon to catch his first ever bass!

I was just happy to add another species to my 2023 tally.

We carried on fishing and both of us hooked and lost a few more mullet in what turned out to be a frustrating day's fishing. Seven hooked and only one landed, I think. For me, landing half of the mullet I hook is about average, so our luck had deserted us somewhat. To further frustrate us we saw so many mullet swimming in the outflow, perhaps the most I've ever seen there, so really we should probably have hooked more than seven. Anyway, we eventually ran out of bread, so we headed home, popping briefly into Dunbar harbour on the way. It was very quiet there, I caught the only fish, a small cod.

I would have preferred to catch a flounder, but there will be plenty of opportunity to catch one of those later in the year.

The following day, I returned again on my own. The Easterly wind that has been blowing the day before, had doubled in strength and I thought the accompanying increased swell might make things tricky, but the sun was out and I went anyway. I was glad I did as it turned into a productive day. With little expectation, I enjoyed a relaxing session, flicking bread flake out into the current all day and waiting for bites. They were harder to spot with the increased surface movement, but there were a few fish around again and after hooking and losing two golden grey mullet, I landed the third.

Not the mullet I was after, and they were stripping all the bread off my hook.

After a while, I hooked a thick lipped mullet, but it threw the hook after thrashing about in the current for thirty seconds or so. A short while later, I hooked another bigger fish that was too big to be a golden grey mullet, but when it started swimming directly towards me, I knew it wasn't a thick lipped mullet either.

This bread munching bass didn't want to show off its spiky dorsal fin.

Here it is.

A couple of hours passed, and I was down to my last slice of bread, when my rod tip was aggressively pulled round. This time I knew it was a thick lipped mullet. After a few minutes, I managed to play it out and drew it along the surface into my waiting net. It was a decent size and was great fun on my trusty HTO Rock Rover.

Probably the biggest thick lipped mullet I've caught at the outflow.

Probably the thickest top lip I've ever seen on a thick lipped mullet!

Mission accomplished! My bread ran out shortly afterward, so I packed up and left, popping into Dunbar Harbour on the way home again to see if I could tempt a flounder using the last of my ragworm. The water was crystal clear and very flat too and despite slowly twitching my bait along the bottom at a few different spots, I didn't catch anything. I had a stroll around before I left and did find one interesting fish. 

Small fish are bycatch in the local prawn boat's nets, and rather than waste them, they leave them so that fisherman using lobster pots can use them inside their traps for bait. In amongst a fish box of pin whiting, small dab and flounder, a long thin flat fish caught my eye, so I picked it out to have a closer look at it. It was a long rough dab, also known as the American plaice.

Dunbar is a very busy working harbour.

This is a partially decomposed juvenile long rough dab. I wonder how far offshore the prawn boats go? Maybe I could get out to their fishing grounds?

So an enjoyable and productive couple of sessions with a few more species ticked off in this year's species hunt. In the past I probably wouldn't even have bothered going down to Torness Power Station when easterly winds were blowing right up its outflow, but I might have to rethink that in future as there were plenty of fish around. I don't think the fishing elsewhere on the East Coast is quite there yet, the water temperatures need to rise a few more degrees first. I did also see what I suspect were shoals of sand smelt too whilst Ryan and I were there, so I'll be back down to Torness Power Station yet again soon no doubt!

Tight lines, Scott.