Submarines and butterflies.

I haven’t been out fishing too many times since getting back from Gran Canaria. At the beginning of this month, I had another session in Greenock with my mate Ryan. I was hoping to catch a topknot, whilst Ryan wanted a tadpole fish. It was pretty tough going, but we caught some fish. Mainly small wrasse, but I did also catch a tompot blenny, which made making the drive across the country to hunt for the two more unusual fish worthwhile because I absolutely love tompot blenny!

The bulk of our fish were goldsinny wrasse. 

Tompot blenny are awesome! This one was my first from East India Harbour. 

Towards the end of the afternoon, a few photographers arrived armed with some ridiculously long lenses. Puzzled by this development, we wondered what they were hoping to photograph. Not long after they showed up, a submarine passed by, solving the mystery.

It’s not everyday you get to see a submarine!

A day or so later, I had a session down at the inlet area of Torness Power Station. Whilst we were fishing in Greenock, Ryan had told me he had hooked and lost a flatfish whilst fishing over a rocky area there. Suspecting it may have been a topknot, off I went, armed with some live prawns and some ragworm. Things were incredibly slow, and over four hours, I only caught two tiny long spined sea scorpions. 

The bigger of the two fish!

On the way back to the car, a lovely peacock butterfly landed on the path in front of me. Quite uncharacteristically, it stayed put whilst I fumbled around getting my phone out and just sat there as I took a few photographs of it. 

Enjoying nature is a big part of fishing. 

So, a couple of tough session where capturing my rock dwelling flatfish nemesis had eluded me yet again. I’m fairly realistic about my chances of catching one but will keep on trying anyway. That’s fishing at the end of the day, especially when you’re after more unusual species!  Also, as happened to me during both these sessions, being outdoors can reward you in other ways too!

Tight lines, Scott.