Whilst up visiting Lillian's parent's who live in the tiny village of Forgue near Huntly in Aberdeenshire I managed to squeeze in an hour on Tues evening fishing the Burn of Forgue, a tributary of the River Deveron.
Fishing small soft lures on a 1.5g #12 Grazyg Wave HD jighead up through the current on my Nories Rockfish Bottom Ultra Light/Daiwa Steez ultra light setup I had a few small trout have a go in the first pool I fished but no hook ups.
Working downstream I changed from a Gulp 1" Fish Fry in red to a Gulp 1" Minnow in Watermelon/Pearl and cast over to the far bank and let it swing round in the current across a nice deep channel and a small brown trout took the lure and was quickly landed.
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| First brown trout of the session. |
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| First cast with the Gulp! 1" Minnow gets a fish. |
Next pool down a second even smaller brown trout fell for the same tactic.
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| Trying to sneak about when you're my size isn't easy! |
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| Isn't it cute! |
I moved a bit further down the burn to a bend and saw a nice deep pool on the outside of the bend with an overhanging tree providing some shade. I cast over to it and the moment the lure hit the water a fish nailed it. Another small brown trout landed.
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| This one took the lure on the drop. |
At this point I decided to change lures and opted for a pink Cultiva Pin Worm. Most anglers would stick with a lure that's working but I like to mix it up! A couple of casts later I had a tentative bite that removed the long thin tail from the lure so I replaced it. Casting back over the same spot and working it back the culprit struck again but this time a quick strike hooked it and my forth small brown trout was quickly landed.
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| A tight squeeze perched quite high above this nice pool. |
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| This little trout couldn't resist the Cultiva Pin Worm. |
With all the fish being caught within the space of 35 min it was a most enjoyable little session although this highland cow didn't seem to appreciate me walking along the edge of his field on the way back.
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| Moo. |
On Wed afternoon, Lillian and I headed north into Moray and to Portknockie Harbour, one of many small fishing harbours that can be found along the coast there.
The weather was lovely with just a slight onshore wind but the water inside the harbour was crystal clear and I could see a lot of small fry swimming around at the edges.
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| The harbour mouth. |
I swapped my Daiwa Steez 2500 onto my Shimano Diafash 237L-S as I felt the extra sensitivity of its solid tip would be useful and rigged up a 2.2g #10 Crazyg Wave HD jighead with a 1" section of large red Power Isome and began exploring the harbour walls. After missing a few bites I hooked my first fish of the session.
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| Hoping to catch something unusual like a rockling, or maybe even a butterfish I had to settle for a common blenny! |
Having caught a few of these already this year I decided to cast a little bit further out, just beyond the weed at the foot of the walls. It was not long before something had a nibble but try as might I couldn't hook whatever it was. Maybe it was a sand goby or two as they have tiny mouths but don't half thrash about when they bite.
After a little while the bites dried up so I began casting out into the harbour and working the lure back along the bottom to see if there were any flounders or dabs there as I know they've been caught there before. A couple if retrieves later i had a couple of gentle taps and paused the retrieve, waited about ten seconds and then lifted the rod tip and felt the weight of a fish. Small jerk to set the hook and I began reeling it in. Just a dead weight initially which had me wondering if it was a flat fish but then I saw it coming up towards the surface and it was and it decided to go motoring off. Great fun and put up a spirited fight, managing to dive down twice before I got it up, seeing the bright orange spots that told me it might be a plaice and lifted it up the harbour wall. I did a quick check to make sure it had a row of bony nodules on its head to confirm the species, a few photos and back it went powering back down to the bottom. This is a new species for me so I was very pleased!
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| My first ever plaice. |
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| Some flounders have plaice like spots but not these bony nodules running from the eyes to the gill cover. |
A then decided to change to a smaller Power Isome and I switched to a whole small pink one that I felt the jighead would work nicely as I retrieved it close to the bottom, a few casts later it worked a treat and I caught another, smaller plaice.
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| Another plaice. |
Shortly after this a big shoal of sandeels came into the harbour. A good sign that fishing in the sea will soon be picking up and the mackerel will be arriving for the summer. There were also a few jellyfish floating in the harbour too and that's usually another good indicator that the stripey missiles will soon be here! I can't wait to catch some on my ultra light tackle.
I also ventured around the back of the harbour and the ground screamed pollock but unfortunately it was time to call an end to another short but very productive session.
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| Pollocktastic. |
Very satisfying to tackle two new marks and get a few fish from them both. With some great trout fishing and many small harbours and rock marks in the area I think I'll be back up here during the summer!
Tight lines, Scott.
