Making good progress.

I popped out last night for a couple of hours to try and catch a minnow and a bullhead from the Water of Leith. Lillian came along to keep me company, get some fresh air and ended up taking a few photos for me as I accidentally left my phone in the flat. The session got off to a good start. Ledgering small maggots on a size 18 hook tied to a 2lb hook length at the first spot in the hope of catching a minnow, my first cast instead produced a small brown trout.

A very welcome bonus capture.

Things were slow after that, with my rod tip only twitching a few times ever so slightly. Possibly small fish having a go, but I suspect it may have been debris heading downstream bumping into my line, as none of the knocks developed into repeated rod tip movement. Once it got dark, I got my head torch out and began scanning the bottom close in for bullheads. They hide under rocks during the day, but once the sun goes down they come out into the open and are easy to spot despite their relatively good camouflage. The light reflecting from their eyes giving their position away. In the Water of Leith, as I’ve discovered over the last few years, there are lots of them. I saw dozens in the one small section I searched.

Sitting motionless on the bottom, even the full beam of my head torch doesn't spook them!

Catching them is very simple. You just have to lower a maggot in front of their faces and they usually eagerly snaffle it in one go!

There were plenty of small bullhead around, but I selectively targeted the bigger ones.

This was the biggest one I caught.

They are pretty greedy, aggressive little fish when presented with a wriggling maggot.

Just before we left, I spotted a fish that looked a little different. Suspecting it was perhaps a stone loach, I set about catching it. The fish wasn't too interested in my bait, but after a bit of persistence it eventually ate it. It turned out to be a minnow.

Resting in the shallow water, this minnow exhibited colours and tubercles on its head associated with spawning.

So, an enjoyable little session, and I’d successfully caught the two species I was after during it. Species caught whilst I'm on holiday this year will no doubt make up the majority of my 2023 tally, but if I’m to reach my goal of two hundred I’ll have to keep adding UK ones fairly regularly too. I’ve caught twenty eight here so far and think seventy is probably where I should be aiming for in UK species, so a third of the way into 2023 I’m probably on target to achieve that.

Tight lines, Scott.