Windy, with a chance of topknot and lumpsucker!

I continued my hunt for a new Scottish species this week, but the weather was pretty grim, so I didn't fancy my chances, but went out a couple of times anyway! On Monday evening, I spent an hour or so exploring some rockpools at the western end of Portobello Beach after work. The area didn’t seem to hold many fish, but eventually I caught a small fish from a small sandy patch on the bottom of a larger pool. 

This common goby would turn out to be the only fish of the session. It had some nice markings on it, probably due to breeding.

On Tuesday in work I was told that a lumpsucker and a topknot had been caught from the Clyde from a couple of spots I'm familair with around Greenock, so I headed there on Wednesday to see if I could get lucky and catch one myself. The weather forecast wasn't great and sadly when I arrived it was accurate. It was dry most of the day which was something, but it was very windy and that made things difficult. The water was also coloured up slightly and there was a fair amount of suspended weed. Fishing two rods with my hooks baited up with small pieces of ragworm, raw prawn and black lug, I caught plenty of fish but only two species. All I caught were goldsinny and corkwing wrasse and nothing else!

One of the dozens of goldsinny wrasse I caught.

Easily the most colourful corkwing wrasse of the session.

Despite not catching anything rare or unusual, it was still an enjoyable session and productive too. Having surveyed the area I was fishing at low tide once the rocks were exposed, I have a fair idea which spots to focus my efforts on when I next return. Hopefully I’ll get a a few sessions in before the mackerel arrive! I might try fishing small live prawns when I do. The topknot in particular might find those irresistible, if the multitudes of wrasse don't munch them first!

Tight lines, Scott.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

I popped down to Dunbar on Thursday and spend a few hours species hunting in the rockpools at the back of the old harbour, hoping to catch anything unusual that may have gotten trapped in them. There was no sign of anything in the open water, so I turned my attention to tempting fish out from under boulders and from inside cracks. I had a small amount of ragworm with me but also had some traditional freshwater baits too, and started off fishing a single maggot. This proved irresistable for several long spined sea scorpions. I also had a few small lob worm with me as well. Not a bait I'd ever tried in saltwater, but small sections also proved very effective.

The small piece of lobworm hanging out of this ones mouth looked a bit like a comedy tongue. It looked like it was licking its lips!

After a while I had exhausted all of my favourite rockpools and had caught over a dozen long spined sea scorpions. I then decided to head further down the shore to some rockpools I hadn't fished in before. They were fairly shallow but some had nice crevices at the edges, a good place for small ambush predators to lurk. Dropping a section of ragworm down in front of one such crack produced a rather large common blenny, my first of the year.

At just over 17cm it was a bit of a beast with a chunky head and large mouth.

It also had striking red eyes!

Working my way from rockpool to rockpool, the only fish that I spotted swimming out in the open was a large two spotted goby. I switched over to a tanago hook to try and catch it, but whilst doing so, it swam off and disappeared into some bladderwrack seaweed. Catching a few more long spined sea scorpion and common blenny, I then spotted a set of dark blue claws poking out from a hole.

A lobster, trying, but failing, to hide itself away.

Towards the end of the session, I caught a small reddish-brown coloured common blenny. In readiness for the rare mini species I had failec to catch, I had my photo tank with me, so took the opportunity to use it. 

This juvenile blenny fit in my tank nicely. 

I didn’t realise the common blenny had small structures around its nostrils. The tank is perfect for observing every minor detail on small fish. 

Shortly afterwards I decided to call it a day. On the way back home I visited a pond where I’ve been told that some koi carp have been introduced. I had a slow stroll all the way around it, but didnt spot any colourful, but unwanted pets. There were a few birds nesting however. 

A pair of swans and an ugly duckling. 

Two moorhens had decided to nest in the reeds right next to the path. 

So, two different sessions on consecutive days last week has failed to throw up anything unexpected. Like fishing in Loch Creran, I’m confident that if I spend enough time messing around in rockpools, I’ll eventually catch something unusual. I intend to fish in more rockpools over the coming months and will also be going out after dark later in the summer to see what’s in them as well. The weather forecast for my days off this week isn’t looking great so I’m not sure where I’ll end up fishing.  

Tight lines, Scott.

What's next? Raiding rockpools!

Going forward, what species can I target in Scotland that I haven't caught before? Well, I've been reliably informed that some East Coast rockpools have been known to very occasionally turn up the odd topknot or lumpsucker. This info was shared by a bait collector, who sometimes comes across them when he's out after dark gathering various molluscs and crustaceans. 

A small lumpsucker. These fish are now bred for use as cleaner fish in farmed salmon pens.

A small common topknot clinging to a piece of kelp. I think these are relatively common but due to their lifestyle, hiding in cracks and upside down under rocks, they are not caught often by anglers. They're nocturnal, which might explain them showing up in rockpools after dark as they hunt for food.

It goes without saying that next year I'll be out with my waders and a head torch on to see if I can spot either of these species, ready to drop a baited hook in front of their mouths should I get lucky enough to spot them!

This revelation got me thinking, and whilst doing further research into what other unusual species can sometimes turn up in Scottish rockpools, I stumbled across an interesting video on YouTube. It featured some great underwater footage of several transparent gobies and possibly also a crystal goby too in rockpools. Amazingly, the video was shot in exactly the same area I'd been told to go looking for the juvenile lumpsucker and topknot!

This is a transparent goby. A tiny goby that you've probably never heard of. They are pretty hard to spot because, as their name suggests, they are almost see-through! This has me wondering if they are not uncommon and maybe are overlooked or mistaken for the fry of other species?

This is a crystal goby. Compared to the transparent goby it has a slightly longer body, its second dorsal fin and anal fin have a lot more rays which are shorter and more uniform in height and its first dorsal fin only has two rays or is absent completely.

Finding them let alone catching these diminutive gobies might be extremely difficult, but I like a micro species challenge and besides, I know it can be done as a few very dedicated species hunters in Scandinavia have successfully targeted both. With some patience and a packet of tanago hooks, I think I can catch them too!

Several types of pipefish are also species that I might discover whilst exploring rockpools. I believe there are six species of pipefish that inhabit UK waters.

1. Broadnosed Pipefish (Syngnathus typhle)
2. Greater Pipefish (Syngnathus acus)
3. Lesser or Nilsson's Pipefish (Syngnathus rostellatus)
4. Shortsnout Pipefish (Lissocampus filum)
5. Snake Pipefish (Entelurus aequoreus)
6. Worm Pipefish (Nerophis lumbriciformis)

Related to the seahorses, this family of fish are perfectly adapted to living in seaweed, where they are perfectly camouflaged. Not a group of fish I knew much about until I started writing this blog post, but I've been learning about them in the process. Every day is a school day!

Here's a snake pipefish. Tanago hooks might come in handy if I manage to spot any pipefish.

So, I think rockpools could provide some potentially exciting and unusual additions to my Scottish species tally and as well as the species discussed above, who knows what other weird fish might turn up?

Tight lines, Scott.