"Insanity is...".

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

I thought this famous quote was made by Albert Einstein. However, a quick search online to confirm this revealed that actually there's no evidence at all that it can be attributed to him. Regardless, the phrase could be applied to my fishing of late. Visiting the same places. Trying to get lucky and catch species that are very rarely caught. Instead, catching the species that you would expect to catch. Does this approach make me insane?

Last month I headed back to St Abbs Harbour again, to try and catch a topknot again. The result was the same, again. I didn't catch one! I did catch some flatfish during the session, but not the one I was after, and only after I abandoned fishing down the harbour walls and turned my focus to the harbour bottom’s sandy areas.

My first flounder of the year was darkly coloured and savagely took a live prawn.

My second and third both took a whole pink mini isome, and had a much paler, what I'd probably describe as honeycomb, colouration.

After catching the flounder, I switched my focus back to fishing vertically down the harbour’s walls again. This only produced one long spined sea scorpion however. I then jumped back in the car and headed off to fish at the inlet area of Torness Power Station. Again. An hour or so there, hoping to catch a topknot, produced the usual suspects, mainly coalfish but also a few goldsinny wrasse.

I find hooking mini isome through the tip is just as effective as threading the hook down into it, but prevents fish pulling it round and spoiling the presentation. 

This goldsinny munched a live prawn. I’ve had great success fishing with them recently, and I’m confident if I present one within striking distance of a topknot, it will take it straight away. 

A few days later I fancied another session, but the wind was blowing pretty hard, limiting my choice of venue. In the end, I decided to visit the inlet area of Torness Power Station. Yet again. With a strong feeling of déjà vu kicking in as I drove down the A1, I decided to grab a loaf of bread en route and began the session by targeting some mullet at the artificially warm outflow over high water. This was a good decision as there were a reasonable amount of them around. With a bit of patience, an essential ingredient when fishing for mullet, I managed to hook three thick lipped mullet. Being on my own and struggling with my long net handle from my elevated position, I only managed to land one of them.

The one that didn’t get away! I think I average about a fifty percent hook up to successfully landed ratio when I’m on my own, so by my own standards it was a slightly below par performance. Having a friend on net duties obviously helps massively.

As the tide dropped, the mullet disappeared and so did I, back around to the inlet to try and catch a topknot. Again. I tried fishing down in the gaps in the sea defence boulders first, but that surprisingly didn't produce any fish at all. Fishing from the gantry was much more productive. Live prawns and then small pieces of ragworm produced a few coalfish, a couple of goldsinny wrasse and a solitary ballan wrasse. A few years ago, the inlet area also used to throw up some very large corkwing wrasse. Thinking about this, I can't remember when I last caught one there.

A nice change from the goldsinny wrasse. I’ve no idea where the big corkwing wrasse have gone. 

Last Sunday, during a trip to St Andrews with my girlfriend Lillian, I got permission to do some scratching about in the rockpools there. Hoping that something weird would turn up, I was sadly disappointed, with only a single blenny popping out of a crack to munch a tiny piece of ragworm.

The only fish of a short and very unproductive rockpool raid. 

So, I've had a few sessions at familiar spots, catching familiar species. All very predictable, but it was good during those trips to break it up by forgetting about catching new species and targetting the flounder and mullet. I’ve realised I can’t just focus on new Scottish species all the time. If I did, I'm pretty sure I’d eventually go just a little bit insane! 

Tight lines, Scott.

Don't stop me now...

With only one species left to catch from Scottish saltwater to reach my goal of fifty I decided to head west on Tuesday. I arranged to meet up with Oban angler Jonny who I have been exchanging emails with for a while now. He got in touch to ask me about my rock cook wrasse captures from Ganavan just to the north of Oban when he first got into light game and we've kept in touch ever since. After making the drive through and picking him up we headed to one of his mini species marks to try and find some fifteen spined sticklebacks. When we arrived Jonny spotted a couple of small ones but they quickly disappeared into the kelp fronds never to be seen again. The crystal clear water was teeming with poor cod, there were also a few goldsinny wrasse around and a healthy population of leopard spotted gobies as well. Fishing was fun and rather frantic but it was very hard to get through all the poor cod. Jonny has also caught a couple of Connemara clingfish at the mark in the past so we stuck it out for a couple of hours, trying to get our rigs down into likely looking hiding holes. I knew catching one would be highly unlikely but you never know, I never thought I'd catch scad, herring and two spotted gobies from Dunbar Harbour but had done exactly that only two days previously!

Royal Mail still haven't delivered my Tanago hooks. My one yen coin has arrived though and my quest for a fish that will fit onto it got off to a reasonable start with a small leopard spotted goby that managed to cram a #10 hook into its mouth.

As expected, after a couple of hours and several dozen poor cod, no Connemara clingfish had been caught. No more fifteen spined stickleback were sighted either so I suggested we head up to Kelly's Pier at Taynuilt on the southern shore of Loch Etive. I thought this would be another good spot to hunt fifteen spined sticklebacks as the entire length of the pier is lined with bladderwrack and the rotting wooden pilings at the end of it are covered in it too providing a perfect habitat for the weed impersonating fish. Upon arrival we spotted some tiny gobies moving along the sand, heading to slightly deeper water as the tide finished ebbing. By the time we had set up rigs with #26 hooks though they had all disappeared from the area we had seen them over so we started fishing from the small wooden jetty and before long Jonny had caught a small goby. I was expecting it to be a sand goby or small black goby but when he showed it to me I was excited because I suspected it was in fact a painted goby. I had my little observation tank with me, we popped it in to get a better look and my suspicions were confirmed. Obviously this was quite a rare capture but when Jonny caught a second I was sure I would get one too. To begin with I struggled to locate one but with a bit of perseverance and after trying a few different spots I eventually caught one myself by fishing my tiny bait close to one of the pilings. To say I was over the moon would be an understatement.

Species number fifty from Scottish saltwater in 2015. Mission accomplished!

Without the use of a little tank we may have struggled to positively identify them so I was glad I had brought it with me. The light coloured saddles and the distinctive colouration on the dorsal fins, deep red and light blue stripes over black spots, are their key distinguishing features. These were more prominent on Jonny's painted goby.

Very attractive markings and quite distinctive too.

After popping the fish back and taking a brief moment to reflect on my achievement I rejoined Jonny and we decided to find out what a shoal of small fish congregated around one of the  jetty's wooden pilings were. As we were right at the end of the pier we were slightly surprised to discover that they were three spined stickleback. They were very easy to catch, eagerly attacking a little piece of  Isome on my #26 hook.

Similar to fish like trout, common eels and flounder, three spined sticklebacks can be found in fresh or saltwater. This is a fact I had completely forgotten and whilst I was hoping that species number fifty one was going to be a stickleback I was expecting it to be the three spined's longer, even more spiny cousin.

I spent a little time amusing myself and caught a few more, trying to catch the small ones. This one was the smallest but still not small enough to fit on my one yen coin.

We fished away and after a few breaks wandering along the pier trying to spot fifteen spined sticklebacks unsuccessfully we scaled up a bit and had a few casts off the end of the jetty into the deeper water there which produced a few grey gurnards and small cod. As the tide began to flood and more of the bladderwrack along the side of the pier became submerged I spent a bit more time slowly working my way along it looking for my target but didn't spot any. Returning to fish on the jetty again we got a laugh watching a common eel fighting with a crab before snaking off into the weed as we caught a few more three spined sticklebacks. Then I caught a rather large two spotted goby and put my tank to good use again.

A bit of an old warrior, his spots were not very visible but you can make out the pale blue spots along his lateral line. At 6cm this two spotted goby was a real monster. Far too big to get my coin out.

Jonny had never caught one before so spent a bit of time trying and soon got one as well. By early evening there was a fair amount of water around the pier and a few slightly bigger fish started to arrive, mainly skulking in the shadows under the pier although the odd fish ventured out to search the sandy bottom for food. I couldn't believe my eyes however when I spotted one doing so which had the unmistakable banding of a pouting. Eagerly casting my tiny hook towards the fish it ignored my bait a few times and continued swimming around the area. I recast a couple more times, trying to put my rig in its path so it would come across it as it foraged. It ignored it a few more times before finally stopping and pausing briefly before taking it. Striking quickly the fish was hooked and was quickly wound in and swung up to hand.

Species number fifty two and only my second pouting from Scottish water, both were caught at this spot though.

Catching the pouting had been quite a bizarre, almost surreal, turn of events and I couldn't quite believe my luck. As light began to fade I had another look along the side of the pier for a fifteen spined stickleback.

While I pinched myself repeatedly and stared at the bladderwrack for long thin fish, Jonny fished the deep water at the end of the jetty in front of a rather stunning vista.

Soon it was getting dark and as I seemed to be on a roll I suggested we try one last spot for fifteen spined stickleback. We jumped in the car and went around the loch to Bonawe Quarry. I thought we would at least see some fifteen spined sticklebacks as the last time I fished it with my mate Mike we saw several, their eyes reflecting the light back from our headtorches giving their positions away.  My luck it would seem had all been used up however and we left after thirty minutes or so without finding any to target. After dropping Jonny off I made the long drive home quite happy with how the day's fishing had panned out. Like the session before it had been full of surprises and whilst I had failed to catch my target I had added three species to my 2015 Scottish saltwater tally. It was nice to meet up with Jonny for the first time and I hope we can meet up again. I seem to be enjoying a bit of good fortune at the moment, have caught some unexpected species that have seen me reach my goal and with some boat trips planned soon I'm started to wonder how many more species I can add to my tally before the end of the year. Perhaps reaching sixty might be achievable?

Tight lines, Scott.

Cliffhanger.

I met up with my mate Col on Tuesday for a day's light game fun in the crystal clear waters of St Abbs Head. It was Col's first time up there and we started out on the large rock beneath the lighthouse. Col was keen to catch his first ballan wrasse of the year so fished a large Gulp Sandworm wacky rigged on a drop shot rig at close range. I started off fishing metals and had three coalfish on my first three casts. They seemed to wise up after that and after catching a few more I switched to a Z-Man paddle tail rigged weedless on a cheburashka lead. I worked this close to the bottom but reeling it up past the kelp on the rocks below me at the end of my retrieves was what resulted in yet more coalfish.

I've been using these lures a fair bit recently. The are very durable but nice and soft with a great action even when worked slowly.

Col then caught a coalfish too before we decided to move around the rock to try another spot. I switched to a small junebug stickbait on my weedless cheburashka rig and started dead sticking it on the bottom to try and tempt any wrasse that might be down there. After a while I had a solid take but I could tell it wasn't a wrasse and after a couple of dives a nice pollock was on the surface and quickly netted by Col.

Stickbaits are a classic wrasse lure. Less is more too I find. Just give them the odd little twitch. This pollock found it irresistible and hoovered it up.

A nice fish on light game tackle. Fishing vertically into deep water always gives you an advantage in the fight though.

Shortly afterwards both Col and I had a few very distinctive bites that we were both sure were from ballans. The type of bite that to me suggests a wrasse isn't feeding but is instead pecking at what it sees as an intruder into its territory that it wants gone.

Col gets comfortable and patiently feels for more short sharp taps.

Col's persistence eventually paid off when a few bites in rapid succession resulted in a hooked fish. I grabbed the net and his first ballan wrasse of the year was soon being unhooked.

This little burgundy ballan had a mouth crambed full of crushed up food so was obviously in feeding mode. Not sure how it managed to fit Col's Gulp in there as well, the greedy swine.

I then switched to a drop shot rig to try and get myself one too but stuck with my stickbait on a weedless hook. Neither of us had any further luck though and after a quiet spell we decided to head to the other end of the cliffs to try another mark. On the way back up to the top of the cliff however we spotted an area down to our right that looked like a great wrasse holding spot.

Submerged boulders and weed. Must be full of wrasse surely?

Getting down looked a bit tricky but Col was confident we could do it so we gave it a bash.

Col leads the way. Why follow a path when you can blaze a trail?

Getting to the rocks below was quite difficult but we slowly made our way down, wedging ourselves into a crack and easing down it and then carefully making our way down a steep slopping rocky section. Sadly however our efforts weren't rewarded and after losing some end tackle to snags we decided to climb back up which turned out to be even more tricky than the climb down. Loose soil and crumbling rocks that had slowed our descent seemed to be a lot worse and Col slipped at one point. Luckily he managed the stop his fall before he reached me and I dodged the falling rocks that had given way causing him to slip. The final few meters slowly working our way back up the crevice was simply hellish. Back up on the well worn path we caught our breath and reflected on our decision to go down. A lesson learned and I don't think we'll be going down there again at least not using that particular route.

Safely back in the car we drove along to St Abbs but the rock mark that I wanted to go to can only be accessed over low water so we spent an hour or so sight fishing for flounders in the crystal clear waters of St Abbs Harbour. It didn't take us long to catch a few.

Flounders love a tasty worm. Or a lure that looks like one. Col caught this one using a Crazy Fish Cruel Leech. If I didn't have way too many lures already I might have bought myself some.

Another flounder comes to the surface. Mouths of harbours are bottlenecks that flounders must swim through when they move from one part of the harbour to another. This makes them a great place to try and tempt passing fish.

This chunky chap had a big set of juicy lips.

It also had a few "birth marks" too. These spots are caused when pigments that are meant to be on their "backs" form on their "stomachs". I have in the past caught a flounder that was entirely brown due to this.

Before long the tide had dropped enough for us to visit the second rock mark. Making our way along to the start of the clifftop path we then took the slowly slopping path down to the shingle beach of Starney Bay before making the easy scramble over the rocks to the point on the bay's eastern side.

The path down was still easily negotiable despite a recent large landslip. No where near as risky as our earlier escapades so two adrenaline junkies like us took it in our stride.

Once out on the rocks we both fished Gulp on a drop shot rig to try and tempt any wrasse that might have been around. We didn't have any joy but eventually Col was rewarded with another species.

The sea floor where we were fishing has large sandy areas that sometimes produce the odd flounder as Col discovered.

Towards the end of the session we both switched to other methods. Col went with a small pink curly tail grub on a jighead and I jigged a light game metal fitted with an assist hook close to the bottom. Casting around I caught a few coalfish before Col hooked a nice fish at range. It turned out to be a cod but unfortunately while we were getting ready to land it the fish thrashed on the surface and threw the hook before slowly swimming back down through the kelp to freedom. After that I had a few more small coalfish and then a couple of nice pollock smashed my metal on the drop as it was just about to hit the bottom. Both fish gave a great account of themselves but the fight the second one in particular put up was awesome. Because the water was not as deep here the fish made a few charges to the left and right instead of the usual dives down. Col and I both watched the fish making these surges at an incredible speed. The final run to my right almost saw the fish go round the rocks into a gully where I don't doubt my braid would have stood no chance against the barnacles but luckily for me the fish ran out of steam, I turned it and once I got its head up out of the water it was beaten.

A truely awesome adversary. Having a bent rod and a screaming drag is one thing but seeing the fish charging around underwater made the battle even more epic.

I'm really enjoying fishing light game metals at the moment I must say.

I was buzzing after that fight but we left soon after as Col had a train to catch. It had been a great day out with some nice fish being caught and Col and I had learnt a valuable lesson about foolishly taking our lives into our own hands for the sake of a few fish. I'd also kind of forgotten how strong pollock can be too and my third one has renewed my respect for them and their pure raw power. They are an underrated species in my mind as are ballan wrasse. Both offer fantastic sport on the right tackle and I'm looking forward to catching them over the next few months. Before that though I have sharks in my sights and I'm off to Dumfries tomorrow for a session out in local skipper Spike's boat with my mate Martin to hopefully catch a few of them. I also have Monday and Tuesday off as well so if the weather is reasonable I might stay down there to target some other species from the shore as well.

Tight lines, Scott.

The swimming wounded.

The second meeting of Fish Club took place last Sunday. Unfortunately there were fewer anglers in attendance than the first meeting with just new member Ryan available and turning up to join me at Dunbar to fish for flounders. Not what I'd hoped for but on the bright side that's now two new anglers I've met through starting the group and if I get someone new coming along to every session the group will grow and hopefully so will the numbers attending future outings. Anyway, it was nice to meet up with Ryan for the first time and we were soon chatting and fishing away. The fishing was pretty slow  though until Ryan decided to give drop shotting a try for the first time and caught a small flounder on his first cast using the method. After that fish bites were pretty much non existent however so we headed around to the old harbour to try there. There wasn't much happening there either so I switched to a Carolina rig and slowly moved it along the bottom close to the harbour wall hoping to catch a blenny. Eventually I got a decent bite, hooked the fish that had decided my half section of Angleworm was a tasty snack and got a pleasant surprise when it emerged from the depths into view.

My first viviparous blenny from the old harbour, in daylight and on a lure, well Gulp anyway.

It had the end part missing from its tail and it was a fairly fresh looking wound but the fish was still a lively little slimy chap.

Quite pleased with my slippery bonus fish we carried on fishing and eventually the sun managed to start poking through the clouds. Its arrival in the sky seemed to wake up the flounders and pretty soon we were both catching lots of them on drop shotted Angleworm and Isome and having fun watching some of them appear from the bottom to investigate what was disturbing the bottom and then swimming up to grab our scented worm like offerings.

A second small flounder for Ryan.

My first few flounders were fairly small too but good fun on my light game tackle.

Yet another small flounder for Ryan. We were both hopeful we would catch some slightly bigger one.

As the afternoon went on the clouds thinned out even further and as the tide dropped the sunlight and clear water meant we could see a few bigger ones moving around on the bottom. It was quite exciting watching them appearing from the silt and shooting over to attack. One flounder in particular had a very aggressive go at my drop shot lead before suddenly turning and lurching up to attack my white Isome which it engulfed rather quickly, hooking itself in the process. 

A nice fish and the second one of the day to be sporting an injury. This time it was older and well healed around a chunk that had been removed from one side.

Not long after this Ryan caught a flounder that a mouth shaped abrasion on both sides of it and we discussed the tough eat or be eaten life of some fish. As the water levels dropped out of the old harbour we moved around to the bridge and standing on it watched a few flounders as they swam out of the old harbour and into the deeper water of the main harbour. I spotted a larger one that was quite well camouflaged sitting motionless on the flat concrete bottom and dropped my rig down in front of it. Being honest I was just trying to get it to move so some people standing next to us could see it but it obligingly came up, took my Isome and was soon being more closely inspected by some of the interested spectators. It was rather amusing and a nice way to end the session.

It was a really nice day by the time we left and truth be told I think we both would have liked to have fished for a bit longer if we could have but we had to go.

So a slow and rather grey start to the day had turned into a fantastic bright sunny flounder filled session and I think it's safe to say Ryan is now a convert to drop shotting for flounder. I enjoyed his company and it was a pleasure fishing with him. Hopefully he can come to Fish Club meetings on a regular basis. The next one will be on the 28th of June and I have a session targetting wrasse in mind if the conditions are right so if you fancy coming along please get in touch.

Tight lines, Scott.

Keep calm and carry on fishing.

For most anglers winter is a difficult time. Usually because the species they choose to target are no longer around or they don't want to fish through the colder months. I also find it pretty tough but I still like to get out and try and catch something and there are still fish around to be caught. During the week I headed down the coast to St Abbs Harbour. At this time of year there are plenty of coalfish around and plenty of fun to be had catching them on ultra light tackle. It's very easy to catch them too so the action can be fast paced. I debarb my hooks to aid unhooking and prevent damaging the fish. On the first night I fished with my current favourite and perhaps the most convenient of baits, raw prawn. On the second night I fished with small lures and mixed it up with some small metals (with the trebles replaced with single hooks), paddletails on jigheads and Gulp! Angleworm and Isome on a dropshot rig. Over the two nights I caught just over one hundred coalfish, most of them only a few ounces but the odd fish about a pound put a good bend in my rod.

The humble coalfish is often overlooked but can give a good scrap on ultra light tackle.

A couple of pollock and a solitary long spined sea scorpion managed to muscle their way through the shoals of ravenous coalfish and in the back of my mind I was hoping that something unusual would turn up but nothing did. Still it was a lot of fun and just goes to show that if you're not too fussy about what you are targeting there are still plenty of fish in the sea and plenty fun to be had catching them!

Tight lines, Scott.

Big or small, love them all.

I was supposed to go to the Shetland Islands to fish aboard Oberon earlier this year but my trip was cancelled due to severe weather. I still wanted to go and managed to book a trip in August and last weekend I set off. Driving up to Aberdeen and getting the overnight ferry on Friday I opted to pay for a sleeping pod for the twelve hour crossing. Having been out fishing the night before until the early hours of the morning trying to catch bass with my mate Martin I was quite tired so just spent the evening relaxing in my pod before trying to go to sleep. I have to say it was not that comfortable, left me wishing I had booked a bed in a cabin instead and resulted in a poor night's sleep. I arrived in Lerwick at 07:00 on Saturday morning before being picked up along with six other anglers by the skipper John Keggie's right hand man Kenny Graham. I opted to hire a rod and buy end tackle from the boat to save me having to transport it. I did however take my ultra light gear and some jigheads, drop shot weights, hooks and some components to make up mini rigs with so I could have a go for mini species in any harbours should the opportunity arise. Gear loaded in the minibus we made the drive up to Cullivoe which involved a short ferry crossing. We stopped off at our accommodation to drop off bags, went down to the boat and we were soon leaving port heading north.

Conditions looked great as we headed out.

The first day would be spent targeting large cod, fishing a mixture of large shads on french booms and heavy pirks with a gummi makk on the bottom instead of a treble hook. As we headed to the first mark we saw a pod of dolphins which was an amazing sight. With new species in mind I spoke to the skipper about what was possible and he told me there was an outside chance of torsk and hake turning up with a few of each being boated recently. Fishing baits might also turn up a few other species too so I had this in the back of my mind as well. To be honest though as soon as we started fishing lots of fish were soon being boated and with the average fish being into double figures the rods were bent double. It was very tiring work pumping and winding them up from the depths but most enjoyable too and I soon forgot about catching new species!

After a double shot of single figure coalfish I landed my first double figure specimen.

Next drop and this huge coalfish grabbed my orange 750g Deep Seeker and got hooked on the #12/0 gummi makk!

Plenty of big cod caught too. I had sixteen of them and most of them were double figure fish.

By the time early evening came we had filled the ships hold with fish and so we headed back to port gutting the fish on the way. This soon attracted a large flock of gulls following behind the boat fighting over everything that was thrown in.

Fast and furious feathered feeding frenzy.

Back at port we unloaded the catch and after filleting it all and storing it in iced boxes the rest of the lads retired to the accommodation to unwind and have their dinner. I had other plans however, when I told the skipper about them earlier in the day he informed me I would be too tired to fish upon our return and to be honest I was pretty knackered but I still managed a couple of hours drop shotting around the pier with my ultra light gear. Hoping that something unusual may turn up I caught a couple of long spined sea scorpions followed by a succession of poor cod. Working my way around the rocks opposite the boat I then caught a few small pollock. Most of them were very brightly coloured with a striking orange honeycomb.

Cullivoe Pier. Ultra light species hunting time!

First fish caught. A nice pink long spined sea scorpion.

Followed by this smaller orange one.

Poor cod a plenty as well.

Lovely looking little pollock.

As it got dark a few coalfish started feeding too and were soon taking my Isome when suddenly I heard a splash, turned to see what it was and was confronted by an otter poking its head out of the water. I tried to get my camera but whilst I was fumbling around it swam off out of sight. By this point the wind had dropped off almost completely and the midges were getting rather unbearable so I called it a night and headed up to the accommodation.

It was to be an early start on Sunday morning and we headed north again, this time to target big turbot drifting over huge gravel banks. The fishing would be considerably less frantic than the day before but the stamp of turbot being caught recently was impressive the skipper told us. Stopping briefly on the way, after passing a strange looking installation on the cliffs nearby, we quickly filled a box with mackerel to use as bait. 

An old derelict military listening post sits atop the cliffs on the northern coast.

Soon at the turbot mark we began the first drift. Traces consisting of about five feet of heavy mono with a large spoon and a muppet to act as attractors and a whole fillet of mackerel as bait on a rather large hook were attached to a boom and 2lb of lead to make sure we kept in contact with the sea floor. It wasn't long before the action started and the first turbot of the day was boated. A few big cod as well were taken and when I got my first bite and hooked the culprit I knew by the thumping that's what I had on and a pretty big one too. I took my time and eventually it came up from the depths and was brought aboard by Kenny.

What a monster cod!

During one drift we spotted a whale breaching the surface off in the distance but again I couldn't get a photo. Early afternoon we tried for haddock but could not get through the big cod which smashed our feathers and Hokkais. Time had flown by and before we knew it we had to head back to port as myself and two others were heading home that evening.

On the way back we passed Muckle Flugga, the rocks that house the most northerly lighthouse in the U.K.

Sad to leave, the three of us made the drive back to Lerwick where I got dropped off and I boarded my ferry back to the mainland. Rather tired I managed to sleep a bit better in my sleeping pod and when I woke up it was just about to arrive in Aberdeen at 07:00. Feeling quite refreshed I decided to pop into Stonehaven Harbour on my way home for a spot of ultra light fun.

It was low water when I arrived but the outer harbour still had a reasonable depth of water in it. I'd love to return when the harbour is full.

Drop shotting Isome soon had me catching lots of little codling and coalfish. Given the difference between them and the ones I'd caught up in the Shetland Islands it really brought a smile to my face. 

This tiny codling made me chuckle out loud. Quite a contrast to the ones I'd caught up in the Shetlands!

As was this little coalfish.

Then I got a nice surprise when I caught my first short spined sea scorpion of the year. It was so small that I almost just put it back without realising that it wasn't the long spined variety. I caught a second one a short while later that was just as small as the first so perhaps they have been breeding in the harbour. This was my sixtieth species of 2013 and means I have equalled last years tally already! Quite a nice way to finish the weekends fishing.

Tiny but my first new saltwater species for a while. It almost went back without being recognised.

So, I had great time. The fishing up in the Shetland Islands was quite incredible and John, Kenny and the other lads on the boat were great too. I'd love to go back to do it again and hopefully catch a few other species next time. Having equalled last years species tally my focus for the rest of the year will be on new species. I'm off to the south coast of England again this weekend for six days to fish in Cornwall and Dorset before hopping on the ferry and going over to Jersey to fish with my mate and fellow species hunter Ross Johnson for a few days. Hopefully I can pick up a few new species while I'm away.

Tight lines, Scott.