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.

Fifty shades of grey.

With adding a few more species to my 2015 Scottish saltwater challenge tally in mind I grabbed my sun cream and hat and headed west on Tuesday. Sadly neither were required as this year's rather dreadful weather continued. 

The summer sun nowhere to be seen on Loch (not so) Fyne.

All of the recent stormy weather had dumped a lot of water into the loch and as a result the water was quite peaty and had a fair amount of loose weed suspended in it. Removing this from my scaled down two hook flapper was a bit of a pain but fishing small raw prawn chunks on some very light tackle had me catching fish from the first cast. The only species that were on the feed were dabs which I caught a steady procession of. 

Goggle eyed dabs. Another species added to my 2015 tally.

On most flatfish the second eye seems to make it all the way over but not on a dab. Their eyes are quite large and there's not really enough room for two of them on one side!

In the past I've also caught haddock, common dragonets, black gobies and sand gobies from the area I was fishing but after wandering along the weedy shoreline as the tide creeped up it all I had caught were more dabs. Keen to catch something else I headed up to Loch Etive to fish around Kelly's Pier at Taynuilt. In the past amongst other species I've caught black gobies, sand gobies and pouting from it but there was no sign of any gobies so I started fishing off the end of it into deeper water. This resulted in a steady stream of fish. 

Some quite dark grey gurnards.

A few small codling put up a good fight on my light rod.

It was soon apparent that grey gurnards were present in large numbers including this very darkly coloured, almost black old warrior.

After a whle I caught a string of poor cod. They can be quite pretty little fish with their pearlescent pink flanks. 

With seemingly no pouting around I returned my attention to hunting for gobies and plopped my rig into the rotten remains of what used to be the main part of the pier. 

Full of hiding holes and covered in weed. The perfect place for mini species like gobies to hang out.

Trying different spots close in to the decaying timber pilings I eventually had a few taps and hooked a fish. My first black goby from Scottish waters this year was soon in hand.

Species number thirty one successfully added. Much darker in colour than the ones I caught from the Black Sea last month.

Before leaving I tried in the deep water again which resulted in a few more grey gurnard, cod, poor cod, a coalfish and a whiting. No pouting though.

Not the member of the cod family I was hoping for but I was happy to provide a free of charge parasite removal service before releasing it again. 

The miserable grey sky overhead and a few showers hadn't stopped me having fun catching plenty of fish and I lost track of the time before remembering I had a fairly long drive home to do and checked what time it was. Two species added to my tally meant it had been quite a productive day really. I'll no doubt return to these two venues later in the year and perhaps by then the summer will have gotten its act together and my sun cream and hat can come out of retirement as that would be nice but I'm not counting on it.

Tight lines, Scott.

I wanna rock! (A few sand gobies and a fifteen spined stickleback too).

Since getting back from Jersey last week, where my mate Ross managed to catch a fifteen spined stickleback and I didn't, I've been having nightmares about them. I'm not even kidding! I can't stop thinking about them, so on Sunday I decided to go and try and catch one after being told that there were a couple of spots on the shore of Loch Etive where they can usually be found. Armed with my ultra light gear I set off at 5:00 so I could get through there for 8:00. Before heading to Loch Etive I wanted to pop down to Ganavan Sands near Oban over high water to catch a few sand gobies and then head along to the rocks to the north of Ganavan Bay to try and catch a rock cook wrasse.

The small pier at Ganavan Bay. Sand Goby lovers Mecca.

Catching sand gobies didn't take long. The clean sandy bottom next to the small pier there is covered with hundreds of them along with a few tiny plaice and the water is crystal clear so you can watch them attacking your bait. Sight fishing like this is a good way to learn about fish behaviour and twitching the bait seemed to attract more fish and incite more bites than fishing it in a static manner.

Small hooks are required to catch sand gobies. Today I fished a #18 Kamasan Animal hook baited with a piece of squid tentacle on a running ledger rig. 

This plaice is only a few centimetres long. You can't really tell that from the photo and it always amazes me how such tiny specimens are perfectly formed miniature versions of adult fish. 

Having caught a couple of each very quickly I briskly walked along the coastal path to the place where I caught my only rock cook last year hopeful that I'd quickly get one so I could spend more time hunting my new nemesis.

The rocks to the north of Ganavan Bay where I went hunting rock cook wrasse.

Fishing a single Sabpolo Wormer hook baited with a small piece of raw prawn on a simple paternoster rig with a single short snood I was soon getting the distinctive wrasse bites and as the tide started ebbing these bites became a bit more positive and I started catching a few ballan wrasse.

First of many and great fun on ultra light gear. 

Another nice ballan. Brown with turquoise spots...

...beautiful eyes and big juicy lips. 

Last year when I fished this spot I didn't catch any ballans and was able to see lots of goldsinny and a few rock cooks feeding on the rocks so I was slightly puzzled as to why all these ballans had moved in and the smaller wrasse species were nowhere to be seen. Next up was a pollock that grabbed my bait before it hit the bottom and tore off seaward before being tamed, turned around and landed.

This particularly grumpy looking pollock grabbed my bait as it fell through the water. It would seem it's not only lures they like to take "on the drop".

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As the sun appeared over the cliffs behind me and illuminated the water I was fishing into, I started getting smaller bites that I knew were smaller wrasse and got quite excited. One was soon hooked and with my fingers crossed on my reel seat I reeled it in, but I knew it wasn't a rock cook and if it was it was a huge one! At first glance my instincts were proven correct and I thought the darkly coloured fish was a small ballan but closer inspection revealed it to be a female corkwing instead.

A good example of a female corkwing. Weird how the overwhelming vast majority I catch are males. Maybe the females are on nest guarding duties most of the time or are less aggressive?

I carried on fishing and the tiny bites kept coming. I had to keep rebaiting as the culprits were stealing the tiny raw prawn chunks from my hook rather quickly. I was beginning to contemplate switching to a smaller hook when I hooked one of the little thieves responsible. Again with fingers crossed I reeled my catch up, this time it was certainly small enough to be my target species and as it came into view the brilliant blue colours told me I had got the wrasse I had come for.

Mission accomplished! My sixth wrasse species from UK waters in 2013. The bright blue markings and golden hues of the rock cook wrasse are stunning.

Vivid blues and violet facial stripes are rather nice too. Also known as the small mouthed wrasse for obvious reasons.

I carried on fishing and quickly caught a second, then switched bait to a piece of squid tentacle to keep my bait on the hook longer which worked quite well and saw me catch a third rock cook followed by a lovely ballan with my "last cast" before heading off to try and locate some fifteen spined sticklebacks. 

One final "last cast" produced this lovely ballan. This one had some lovely mint green spotted markings on it.

I headed back to the car and a short drive later I was at a rocky outcrop next to the Connel Bridge. The bridge crosses the narrowest point of Loch Etive and the currents flowing under it, known as the Falls of Lora, can be incredibly strong indeed although when I was there they weren't too violent. I planned on fishing an eddy forming as the tide ebbed.  Armed with a rig made up using one of my goby bashing #26 Kamansan hooks to 1lb nylon baited with a tiny sliver of mackerel fished underneath a 0.4g pole float I began searching the area looking for my very distinctive yet quite hard to spot target.

Connel Bridge. The tide racing out of Loch Etive into the open sea is quite a spectacular sight.

After a while it became apparent that either my fifteen spined stickleback spotting skills weren't up to scratch or there weren't any around so I decided to try fishing a 7g Daiwa Prisoner II metal for a while before heading to a second spot. Casting it across the powerful current and letting it swing around soon saw me catching small pollock and coalfish which was good fun.

My new ultra light metal is aptly named. 

After catching quite a few small pollock and coalfish on my new metal I decided to try the second spot where I've been told fifteen spined sticklebacks can be found and headed further up the Loch's southern shore to the Taynuilt Ferry Jetty. The water here was also crystal clear and whilst I couldn't see any fifteen spined sticklebacks I could see several small gobies and little flatfish moving around on the bottom between weeds and what was left of parts of the pier.

The rotting remnants of the end of Taynuilt Jetty. Home to lots of gobies, flatfish and well hidden fifteen spined sticklebacks.

Resigned to not locating any fifteen spined sticklebacks and with time running out I switched over to a running ledger rig and soon caught a few of the gobies. Two of them were black gobies, a third was a sand goby and a forth goby may have been a painted goby, which would have been an addition to my 2013 species tally, but it was very small and whilst I was inspecting it and getting my camera ready to take some photos it flipped out of my hand, landed back into the water and escaped! 

A Loch Etive black goby.

It was now getting fairly late in the afternoon and the fifteen spined stickleback had eluded me. I had to leave because I wanted to pop into the Glasgow Angling Centre on the way home to pick up a few bits of end tackle for a species hunting boat trip I'm doing on Wednesday this week. Not overly disappointed not to catch a new species as I had caught some lovely fish and rock cook wrasse are perhaps my favourite UK wrasse species. Besides, I have seen fifteen spined sticklebacks locally, just not on a regular basis at any one spot and maybe that's the case generally speaking and therefore going out to find them isn't such a good idea. Perhaps it'll just be a case of having my tiny hooks and pole float rig with me the next time I happen to spot one whilst fishing for other species so I don't think I'll travel 200 miles to try and catch one again! That being said, a return visit to Taynuilt Jetty may not be out of the question. There were lots of gobies there and one may turn up that I haven't caught before. I'll definitely take the goby inspection tank with me next time! 

Tight lines, Scott.