Look what’s been caught!

Since getting back from the Canary Islands last month, I’ve not been out fishing that often. One evening session locally with my mate Ryan only produced two fish. Tough going and a reminder of why I don’t fish much here at this time of year. Receiving photos of yet another topknot and also a reticulated dragonet that had been caught by anglers I know in Greenock, inspired me to travel through a couple of times to try my luck. I’ve caught both these species before, but not in Scotland. Fishing over the spot where the reticulated dragonet was caught for a few hours at the start of the first session, produced a single black goby and over a dozen sand goby. 

This black goby was my first fish of the two sesssions. 

Twitching my tiny bait along the bottom, I caught loads of sand goby. 

Turning my attention to targeting topknot as high water approached for the last couple of hours of the first session, I wasn’t overly surprised when I caught a few small wrasse from down in amongst the gaps in the rocks I was dropping my rig into. 

Goldsinny wrasse are plentiful all along the rocky edges of the venue. Over the summer months, they become a bit of a nuisance. 

Corkwing wrasse are also present in great numbers. 

For my second visit, my mate Ryan decided to join me. I spent the entire session targeting a topknot down in the rocks, whilst Ryan fished a bigger bait at the edge of them, hoping to catch his first ever tadpole fish, another species the venue is known to produce. A brisk easterly wind made it a fairly cold day and to make matters worse the fish weren’t really in the mood. A few wrasse were caught between the two of us, and towards the end of the session, I caught a solitary Yarrell’s blenny. 

Yarrell’s blenny are a strange fish. I love catching them. 

Their head in particular is quite odd. I think it looks a little too small for their body!

So, the hunt for my first Scottish topknot will have to continue. Quite a few have been caught there now, so I’m fairly confident that I’ll get one eventually. A Scottish reticulated dragonet would also be most welcome, although I think that may require a massive slice of luck. Also falling into this category are streaked gurnard, lumpsucker and small-headed clingfish, three other species that have also been caught around Greenock that I’ve never caught before. So, I dare say I’ll be fishing there quite a lot this year. 

Tight lines, Scott.