Testing the water.

I popped down to Galloway’s Pier at the back of North Berwick Harbour at the weekend whilst Lillian and I were in the area. During the week, I’d heard that quite a lot of lesser weever had been caught there recently. 

Galloway's Pier. This was once the base of an old wooden pier. It was in a poor condition until it was extended in a few years ago. Boats use it when the tide is out and they cannot get into the harbour due to lack of water.

It was a little bit windy, so I fished about a metre out from the concrete structure’s edge. Small pieces of dried ragworm were soon being attacked and in about fifteen minutes I hooked four of the target species. The first three fell off as I was lifting them from the water. I find lesser weever sometimes just have a hold of the bait and let go when they are wound in. Fish number four was well hooked however, and was carefully unhooked and popped into my new photo tank. 

Lesser weever are actually a very pretty little fish in my opinion.

Having established that there were plenty around, mainly for an upcoming visit with my mate Ryan who wants to catch his first, and managing to not get stung in the process, we headed off to enjoy a spot of lunch on the town’s high street. 

Tight lines, Scott.

Lucky Horseshoe?

The rather windy weather of late is making it rather difficult to get out fishing so when I looked at the forecast and spotted a slight lull in it on Tuesday night off I went. With a three bearded rockling still on my radar I picked a spot near North Berwick known as "The Horseshoe", arriving about an hour before sunset.

I don't have a superstitious bone in my body but maybe some luck would rub off on me anyway?

Simple running ledger setups incorporating rotten bottoms were my chosen approach on both rods. Black lug tipped off with squid was the bait for the evening and I decided to fish it on #1/0 hooks to try and stop small coalfish from taking them. This of course did not stop them from tapping away and before long one managed to get the hook in its greedy mouth. Quickly unhooked and put back I think it was at this point I spotted an odd light coming from behind the bass rock. I soon realised it was the moon and as it rose up and tried to get through the clouds it was quite a nice sight so I tried my best to capture it with my camera, taking loads of photos in the process.

This image is probably the best but try as I might I couldn't really capture the scene with my camera. It was one of those moments when you forget you're there fishing and are just glad to be out.

After messing about and probably missing loads of bites I couldn't miss the next one. It was a right good rattle and I quickly lifted my rod and felt the weight of a fish. As it came towards me I was of course hoping it was a nice big three bearded rockling but I knew from it thumping away that in all likelihood it was a small codling and was soon proved to be correct.

Bloody pest! Now I know how those targeting cod feel when they catch rockling!

As the tide continued to drop the wind picked up a bit and I found myself hunkering down behind some rock. It was hard to see bites and what bites i did see were few and far between and were no doubt small coalfish slowly stripping the bait from my hooks. As low water arrived even these seemed to become increasingly sparse so I called it a day at about 20:30. With my first rod broken down I lifted the second to find my end tackle was snagged. Pulling for a break the rotten bottom did its job and I felt a little bit of extra weight as I reeled in. Probably another greedy coalfish I guessed or could it be a small rockling perhaps?

No. It was a rather plump starfish. 

Well there's no sign of a let up in these strong winds and if anything they are going to get stronger. The only positive thing is that if they remain offshore they'll flatten the sea on the East Lothian coastline. If I'm to brave these howling winds I'll have to try and fish from a mark that offers a lot of shelter. Luckily my mate Nick is off work at the moment and he may know a spot or two that fit the bill nicely.

Tight lines, Scott.

Are the mackerel in yet?...

It always makes me laugh when lazy buggers ask this question on various message boards. It should result in a ban from said forums if you ask me. Instead of relying on others wetting their lines and finding out people should go out and find out for themselves! Anyway, rant over, I went out on Wednesday to see if there were any mackerel around armed with my ultra light gear and a silver 7g IMA Gun metal to thrash the water with. Before targeting mackerel however I had a bone to pick with the sand gobies I had spotted the day before whilst at Dunbar Harbour with Keith. Setting up a simple running ledger with a small 5g drilled bullet lead and tempting the tiny gobies with a small piece of pink Isome threaded onto a #22 hook I cast it out and slowly twitched it back along the bottom. It wasn't long before I had some flatfish chasing the lure and soon landed one which turned out to be my first plaice of the year.

My first plaice of 2013. Just the right size to blend into the Isome packet's artwork.

This was followed by a second small plaice before I managed to attract a goby or two in a little patch of sand that seemed to hold a few of them. After a few attempts I managed to hook one and quickly hoisted it up only to find out upon closer inspection that it was in fact a common goby, a species that I've already caught this year, so I kept casting out and twitching the lure back through the little goby hot spot. Again I missed a few bites. These small gobies have a habit of nipping at the lure and thrashing it about as if they are trying to tear chunks out of the tiny piece of fruity plastic. Being very patient eventually paid off though and I got my target species.

Last year I went all the way to Oban to catch a sand goby only to get one from Dunbar Harbour a few days later.

Quite pleased with myself I decided to try and catch a few more but as the tide began to flood into the harbour lots of small coalfish appeared and it was very hard to target the gobies without them grabbing my lure. After catching five of them I decided to head off west to Seacliff Beach to fish from the rocks for mackerel.

A nice view from the road leading down to Seacliff Beach. Tantallon Castle, the Bass Rock and the Isle of May.

Seacliff Beach from the rocks at the western end. Well worth the £2 it costs to access it!

Arriving at the back of the big rock that the tiny harbour there is cut out of I tied on a fresh 6lb leader and my IMA Gun metal lure before launching it towards the horizon and deeper water. Working it back at different depths and fan casting to try and locate any mackerel that may have been there it quickly became apparent that there weren't any around. I did however locate a pocket of small coalfish quite close in and caught five of them in quick succession.

Slightly bigger than the tiny ones I caught at Dunbar but no monster that's for sure. Still fun though.

Slightly disappointed that I might not be enjoying grilled mackerel for my supper I stopped off at North Berwick on the way home and headed along to the mark known locally as "The Horseshoe" to have another go for them. The result was the same though and despite there being several other anglers there trying to catch them in the more traditional manner, lobbing a set of feathers using fairly heavy gear, no mackerel were caught. In fact the only fish I saw being caught were a few sandeels that a puffin kept appearing in front of me with in its mouth. Alas every time it did and I reached for my camera it dove back down to hunt again so I couldn't get a photo of the little bird with the brightly coloured beak. Still it was nice to see one so close though. I headed home quite pleased with the days efforts as the sand goby and plaice had taken my 2013 species tally to 40 and despite not catching any mackerel it's always better to go out and enjoy trying to catch them and find out for yourself if they are in or not!

Tight lines, Scott.

Bass Rock!

Sorry to disappoint anyone who is looking for a fix of spiky silver fish! I appreciate some anglers think that Dicentrarchus Labrax is the only fish that swims and other species are not worth the effort but I beg to differ. All species of fish are interesting and beautiful in their own right and variety is the spice of life! Anyway, rant over. I went to East Lothian today to do a bit of exploring at low water and had some great views of the Bass Rock. Hence the mischievous misleading post title.

Bass Rock! I'll get my coat.

I took advantage of the big spring tide and went down there early this morning to dangle some Power Isome into likely looking hiding places.

Long spined sea scorpion rock too. Especially this little blank saver.

Cool white spots on its flanks.

This was the only fish caught from the rockpools and gullies exposed to the east and west of North Berwick harbour. Sadly there was very little sign of any fish. In fact apart from a cast iron seal sculpture that I hadn't noticed before there was very little sign of any life at all.

He doesn't seem to bothered by the lack of fish!

Pretty much all I saw was a solitary tern diving and a cormorant fishing so maybe there are a few bait fish arriving and hopefully things will liven up soon if the weather starts to improve and the water temperature starts to rise with it. Fingers crossed!

Tight lines, Scott.

Mini sessions, mini species, mini report.

Lillian's Mum came down to visit on Mon and I wasn't expecting to do any fishing for a couple of days. However with the very nice, if a little windy weather, we decided to visit a few coastal spots and the ultra light gear went in the back of the car just in case! On Monday we went down to East Lothian and headed to North Berwick. Lillian and her Mum went to look at the antiques shops on the high street so I had an hours fishing off the rocks at the back of the harbour. Fishing down the sides I was hoping for something unusual but all I managed was a blenny which spat the hook on its way up and a long spined sea scorpion which I managed to hoist up successfully.

Blennies sometimes come off. Sea scorpions do not!

On Tuesday we went to Cramond Island, a small tidal island about 3/4 of a mile of shore that can be accessed via a causeway two hours either side of low water. After having a look around I had thirty minutes rockpooling whilst Lillian and her Mum relaxed in a sheltered spot behind one of the many derelict military installations. I saw a few fish darting under rocks as I approached the rockpools and after a while caught a single blenny. 

Many people get stranded on the island when the tide cuts it off. Mostly intentionally for an overnight drinking session during the summer.

Once housing machine guns during times of war, these concrete buildings now serve as accommodation for those spending the night.

Most people think that drunken youths and a few rats are all that live on the island.  I was pleased to discover a healthy blenny population lives there too!

Opportunistic fishing at its best and I'm thinking about maybe getting a travel ultra light rod and just leaving it in the car with a reel, a few pieces of end tackle and a few packets of Isome so I'm never without gear should an unexpected chance to fish arise.

Tight lines, Scott.

I can't believe it's not a long spined sea scorpion!

Suffering from withdrawal symptoms after three days without wetting a line I decided to jump on the train to Dunbar this afternoon. Low water was about 13:00 and I fancied a crack at the flounders and sand gobies in the old harbour. Recalling that the trains down there normally leave just past the hour I set off with the intention of catching the one just after 12:00 to get there for low water only to discover when I reached the station that there was no train running until after 13:00. Instead of hanging around I made the decision to jump on the 12:12 to North Berwick instead.

33 minutes later I was in North Berwick and a ten minute stroll took me down to the beach to the west of the harbour. Being low water the harbour was empty and lots of nice rocks and boulders were exposed. I decided to explore them and wait for the tide to flood into the harbour before headed there to target flounders.

Mini species paradise!

I quickly setup my Diaflash and Steez combo and as I knew I may come across some gobies or other small mouthed species I went for a Kamasan Animal #14 barbed hook to 4lb nylon with a couple of 0.8g split shot a few inches above it. On this I stuck a red Gulp! 1" Fish Fry and began plopping it into any rockpool I thought looked likely to hold a fish or two.

After a while I dropped the lure down in front of  a large rock only for a long spined sea scorpion to shoot out from some inconspicuous weed and nail it. It thrashed out of my grasp though unhooking itself in the process and falling into the water at my feet whilst I was fumbling for my camera in my pocket. Oops!

I carried on exploring what I thought were promising spots and found a nice deep pool with plenty of weed and kelp around the edges. I dropped the lure down through the kelp. Just letting it sit still and giving it the odd twitch I felt a bit of resistance and lifted the rod tip. I thought I was hooked in a piece of kelp until it started thrashing around. I quickly lifted it up to discover it was a darkly coloured butterfish. I remember finding them as a child but this was my first ever line caught one!

9" of slippery pleasure!

I continued to explore, wondering what else might turn up. A steady stream of long spined sea scorpions was my answer. I caught another three of them and saw a few more. They attack so aggressively, normally hook themselves first time and if they don't they come right back for another go! Great fun.

No two are alike.

Subtle light olive colouring on this one.

Then I found a huge deep pool with a sandy bottom. Jigging the lure about I could see a few little flounders moving around but I couldn't hook any of them so I headed over to the harbour but when I got there the water was quite dirty and had a fair amount of weed floating around in it. I decided to head over the back of the harbour and found a nice long deep gully. It wasn't long before I had caught my fifth long spined sea scorpion from it. As I turned to head over to a nice deep bit of water I spotted some graffiti on a wall that I thought was actually quite nice as far as graffiti goes!

Some are peppered with little spots.

Me too.

I headed over to the nice deep water and thought I'd have a go for wrasse as it looked like it may hold some. I quickly texas rigged an IMA Trilobite in Pro Blue on a size 8 Aberdeen hook with a 5g drilled bullet and began casting out, letting it hit the bottom and twitching it a few times before working it back towards me. I covered a fairly large area and had no bites so decided to try over by a concrete landing pier. I went down the side of this where there were some nice boulders, tied on a 2.3g #8 Shirasu Fine jighead, threaded on a section of pink Isome and dropped it in. Straight away I had a blenny attacking it and he was soon hooked. Next up was another long spined sea scorpion. The water level was fairly high now so I headed along the outer harbour wall and dropped my lure down the side. Working my way along the wall bouncing the lure along the bottom, I was soon getting bites. I missed a few of them before finally hooking another long spined sea scorpion.

My precious!

Then I went around to the inner harbour wall and began casting out across the harbour mouth to see if there were any flounders or plaice around. After a while I had a solid bite but I knew straight away what it was. Another long spined sea scorpion! Then I tried in a corner of the harbour for viviparous blennies as I caught a small one there last year. As soon as my lure hit the bottom I was getting loads of tiny bites. I thought it might be sand gobies until I hooked one. A tiny coalfish. Greedy little swine had swallowed half the lure! Burst out in fits of laughter. Easily a new PW! Quickly unhooked and put back to grow bigger!

Eyes and mouth bigger than its belly!

Finally I had a quick go down the outside of harbour wall as I hooked a couple of blennies there last time I fished here but they came off when I was lifting them up the wall. Not this time though!

One for the road.

At this point I called it a day as I had to get home to get ready to go to work. A very enjoyable afternoon spent exploring a new area and catching plenty of mini species including a rather nice surprise bonus fish!

Tight lines, Scott.

Ultra light fun.

Saturday and it was an absolutely lovely day and Lillian had the day off work so we headed to the beautiful Yellowcraig beach in East Lothian to enjoy the weather and relax. When we arrived I opened the boot of the car to get our lunch and a blanket to sit on and was shocked to find my ultra light gear in there too!

We headed down to the beach and over to the rocks with pleasant views of the small island of Fidra opposite us I spotted some nice deep rockpools and dropped a 1" Gulp! Fish Fry in red on a 1.8g #10 Decoy Rocket jighead . 

Fidra island, reputedly the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island".

Deep rockpools with weed around the edges and rocks in the bottom provide cover for sea scorpions.

Every hole can contain fish. This one did!

As soon as it had entered the water a sea scorpion shot out and grabbed it. This would set the scene for the next 30 minutes and I caught a few more all of the long spined variety.

Gulp! Fish Fry. Yum yum.

Greedy little fish are quite aggressive.

Quite unusual colouration on this one. All one tone with just a few spots.

Then I started to fish around a small bay exploring the edges and working the lure around boulders and weedy patches.

Lots of places for fish to hide here.

As I dropped the lure down onto a light coloured rock a strange looking fish came out of some weed and paused at the lure. My first though was that it was a pipefish or a fifteen spined stickleback. Excited I gave the lure a little twitch and it had a bite or two but it had a tiny mouth and as I tried to hook it I only succeeded in pulling the lure away from it and sending it back into the weed. I managed to coax it out a few more times, getting a better look at it in the process and identifying it as a fifteen spined stickleback, but the end result was the same. Eventually it vanished into the weed for good. Very frustrating and I was kicking myself for not having any smaller hooks with me.

I caught one more long spined sea scorpion and then we sat on the rocks and has some lunch before walking along the beach and then back to the car. Next we drove a bit further East for a quick stop at North Berwick harbour so I could see if there were any flounders around. Small pink Isome was the lure of choice and as the water was crystal clear it was quickly evident that there was plenty of flatfish on the bottom as they chased the lure as I jerked it along the sandy bottom.

Bites were coming thick and fast but frustratingly I had no hook ups. Decided to have a break and try straight down the side of the wall. Switched to a section of Gulp! Sandworm in red and dropped it down, then began jigging it a few inches out from the weed. As I worked it along the wall a big sea scorpion charged out and attacked it but missed. He headed back into the weed and despite my efforts I couldn't tempt him out again. After a while with no further interest I went back to the flatties. Couple of casts later I felt a few little taps and hooked the culprit. To my surprise it was a tiny plaice. 

Spots not so obvious on such a lightly coloured fish but bony nodules on its head tell me it's a plaice.

I had another quick jig down the side as we left the harbour and located a little blenny hotspot that held a few. Fighting over my lure, I managed to hook three of them in quick succession but dropped all three when I was lifting them up the wall.

Great little session and the #24 hooks to nylon are now in my hPa Sooper Trooper along with some split shot to improve my chances of hooking surprise species with small mouths like sand gobies and fifteen spined sticklebacks!

Tight lines, Scott.