Afternoon delight.

The other day I had finished my mornings work and the afternoon lay before me begging to be filled with fishing, so I donned my waders to continue my exploration of the Water of Leith. I decided it was time to search upstream from my normal haunts and started at the stretch above the Dean Village. I was using my LRF gear, ( 7'10" Graphiteleader Corto EX rod, Shimano Technium 3000SFC reel and 8lb Sunline Super PE braid), on the business end I went with the faithful combo of 1" Gulp! Minnow mounted on a #10 1.4g Shirasu Fine jighead.

I must have been wading for about an hour before I saw a fish. I was casting across current and allowing the lure to swing round before retrieving it back upstream. As the lure passed alongside an underwater wall there was a gold flash as a trout slashed at the lure. It missed and chased the lure right to my feet before grabbing it and ripping it off the jighead.

I took my time re-rigging as I was worried it had seen me and this time I went with a tail section of Gulp! Sandworm. I cast across current, gave a couple of turns of the handle and the trout was on it! The trout played merry hell with me in the current but soon it was in the net, another lovely Water of Leith brownie around the 30cm mark. I slipped it back upstream hoping there would be a few more in the pool but I ended up wading really far downstream and there was no more action.

Safely in the net!

Brown trout have some nice markings, this one was no exception.

On release the fish just hovered in the current in front of me, perfect!

I did discover a few more nice runs and pools and as the river warms up I think they may hold some nice fish. As always I can't wait to do it again!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

Spring smolt.

The other day I had forty five minutes free before tea time so I bolted off down to the Water of Leith in order to get a quick fishing fix. It was sunny and warm and the river was running very clear. As I made my way down to fish my two favourite pools it was hard to believe I was in the middle of the city. All the hustle and bustle of city life melted away to the sound of running water and my eyes were soothed with the fresh green of spring.

I rigged up my LRF gear with a Ecogear 1.4g Shirasu Fine jig head and rigged a Gulp! 1" Minnow. I have taken to nipping the head off the gulp minnows as I find it looks a lot better on the jig head, plus it also has the bonus of making the lure a little shorter which can help prevent the fish just nipping the tail without getting hooked. I began to work the pools casting across current and letting the lure swing round whilst slowly twching the lure back. It only took a few casts before a small trout grabbed the lure. The trout instantly thrashed on the surface and threw the hook while I was fumbling with the drag reminding me to make sure it was set before I started to fish!

After all the freezing weather, at last some sunshine!

I worked my way down the pool but that was the only action from this small stretch of the river. Onto the next pool and using the same retrieve technique I began to work my lure down. I had probably only gone a couple of yards down when another little trout chased the lure into the margins before turning back to the main current. Double checking that my drag was set I cast again and this time the trout intercepted the lure and grabbed hold. It was small and cavorted madly on the surface before I quickly hoisted it up to my out stretched hand.

This tiny trout couldn't resist my Gulp! 1" Minnow.

The trout in fact turned out to be a little sea trout smolt, the smallest I have ever caught, but a fish is a fish and I was really pleased to catch it! I slipped the little thing back wondering if it was going to head back to sea or stay and become a proper Water of Leith brownie. Time was up at that point and I had to get back for tea but I left feeling pretty chuffed with myself as I do love these little short sessions, especially when they throw up unusual fish!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

LRF : Dropshot eel!

On Sunday I headed back to East Lothian to corkwing corner with the aim of catching a possible record breaker. High tide was at 9.30 am but it was a very weak neap tide so I was unsure how the wrasse would react. It was however nice and calm with bright sunshine which is usually good conditions to catch wrasse. Drop shotting had been working well on my past visits, so I rigged up a 2 inch section of Gulp! Sandworm on a #8 offset hook and a 6g lead and began to fish the kelp below the gantry. The water was crystal clear and I could see my lure working among the kelp fronds below me. It was really interesting to see the lure reacting  to the current. Just holding it stationary amongst the kelp would have it swaying and randomly changing direction. Dropping the rod tip ever so slightly to give the lure some slack line would allow it to fall slowly into the weed, before giving a twitch back up to bounce it out the kelp and into a new resting place. I became almost hypnotised watching the lure and 45 minutes must have passed before I realised I wasn't getting any bites! I decided to walk down the gantry a bit and see if there was anything where Scott and I had caught mackerel on our previous visits. Earlier I had noticed large shoals of sandeels swimming past and as I walked down the gantry I saw swirls and rises as a shoal of fish worked the surface. I suspected mackerel so I made a cast beyond the shoal and began a quick retrieve to jig the lure back in the top 6 foot of water. As soon as the lure entered the shoal I felt the familiar rattly bites of coalfish and straight away one grabbed the lure.

Inevitably the first fish is a coalie!

I caught a couple more before the shoal moved on and then turned my attention back to the mackerel. I was working the lure deeper letting it hit the bottom before jigging it back when everything went solid and the rod arched over. At first I thought it was a pollock as it was diving and hooping the rod over, then as the fish began to kite away from me I felt the tail shaking of a mackerel. I landed it after a good fight and promptly dispatched it as I am very partial to fresh mackerel! Realising time was passing I decided to head back along to the corkwing spot to see if they had made an appearance. It was slow again but after about 20 minutes I felt a wrasse tapping at the lure before seizing it and trying to make off with it. I set the hook and was delighted to see a good size corkwing  rising out the kelp. I landed, weighed it and at 161g it was 14g off the record, so a good sized fish indeed!

This corkwing wrasse is just 14g below the Scottish record and beautifully marked.

I carried on for another hour but no further wrasse were showing. I decided to get another couple of mackerel for tea so made my way down on to the rocks below me. I swapped the LRF gear for my 9'6" Major Craft Crostage 15 to 42 g and 14g Hansen Pilgrim spoon and began whacking it as far as I could before jigging it slowly back. Pretty soon I had located the mackerel and had three in quick succession, these I dispatched before putting in a draining rock pool to keep cool. I fished on for another ten minutes and managed to pick up another mackerel which I released. I was enjoying casting and playing with the new rod and was pleasantly surprised at how it performed with the mackerel, even for a "heavier" rod it still went into a fighting curve and the mackerel could give a good account of themselves. I was casting and retrieving the lure when I happened to glance down. There one meter away from my foot lay the dark sinuous S shape of an eel!  I watched with disbelief as it swam slowly over the submerged part of the rock where the blood from the mackerel had drained out the pool. The eel was obviously attracted by the blood from the mackerel, so I quickly grabbed my LRF rod which was still set up with my drop shot rig. The eel had just disappeared back under the boulder when I returned so I dropped the sandworm down beside the rock. I got a couple of little bites straight away so I gave a flick of the wrist to set the hook. A greedy sea scorpion had nailed it before the eel could get anywhere near it. To make matters worse he had torn the lure off the hook. I quickly unhooked and released him before feverishly fumbling in my tackle bag for another lure. This time I chose a Gulp 1" Minnow and quickly rigged it up and dropped it along the edge of the huge boulder I was standing on. I dropped the rod tip to allow the lure to flutter down in front of the gap at the bottom of the rock. After a couple of minutes I felt some little bites, followed by a gentle tugging on the line. Yet another sea scorpion had got the lure before the eel! 

This is not the eel I was looking for...

I quickly unhooked it in a state of panic, as it had been 10 minutes since my sighting of the eel and I was worried it had moved on. In order to keep the eel interested I grabbed another mackerel and quickly gutted it, before washing the blood out at the edge of the boulder. I then threw a few small pieces of gut in besides the rock, re-rigged the lure and dropped it back down. Again I dropped the rod tip to allow the dropshot rigged minnow to sink in front of the gap. The lure lay there for a very short while before the tip slowly nodded down and the line went tight as something tried to drag the lure back under the rock! I struck and pulled the lure out of the fish's mouth losing my last drop shot lead in the process. Cursing my keenness I found an old 2.3g jighead that had a broken hook. I quickly tied this on, smeared the lure with blood from the gutted mackerel and dropped it down to lay with the pieces of gut. By this point I really thought I had blown my chances as I was sure the fish had felt the hook on its last attempt and I didn't think it would take again. I was wrong though, a couple of minutes later I saw the line tightening and moving away from the rock! It was slightly confusing as I had expected the fish to take the lure back under the rock. The rod tip nodded so I struck and out of the bladder wrack rose an extremely angry eel! I managed to hold the fish up above the weed as it went into reverse, its big mouth open as it shook its head. Before the fish knew what was going on I had it on the rock beside me, where upon chaos ensued! I had hold of the leader above the fish and it quickly balled up and started to spin, rapidly tangling the line. The fish was a good sized eel about 1.5/2lb but it was very feisty as it had not been played out. Eventually I managed to get it under control and get a couple of photos before turning my attention to unhooking it.

...this is though!

Not a conger but still capable of giving a good bite!

For the first time since I got them my hPa Minigrips had a job to do. I used the grips to grab the fish by the mouth keeping my fingers free of its powerful jaws. The fish bit down on the grips, muscles bulging on its head like a pit bull before relaxing and allowing me to search for the hook.

The hPa Mini grips came into their own for helping control the fish.

It was deeply hooked at the back of its throat and try as I might I could not get at the hook without damaging the fish. I now felt incredibly guilty for hesitating when the fish took as I had to cut the line above the hook and release it with the hook still in it. It was a very light wire  hook and will corrode very quickly but I hate the fact I couldn't unhook it cleanly before release. It was a strange mix of emotions triumph, excitement and sadness that I left the hook in the fish, but overall I was really pleased to catch it. Big eels were always the stuff of childhood legends for me and to get one on a lure, all be it with the help of blood and guts, was immensely satisfying. Last year I managed to catch a Moray on a lure whilst in Crete and wondered how I could top it, this comes pretty close!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

All along the towpath.

Jake and I met up yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours up the Union Canal targeting pike with our favourite soft plastic, the deadly 9.5cm Savage Gear Soft 4Play in Dirty Roach. Both of us elected to lob them with ultra light tackle and fish them using the weightless Savage Gear "Ready to fish" rigs. 

The weather was overcast and there was the odd light shower but despite this the water was quite clear so I thought it looked promising and hopefully the pike wouldn't be as lethargic as they had been last time when the sun was shining brightly. We worked our way along the towpath and things were very slow with no signs of any activity at all until we reached a point where we had seen a few pike during our last trip. Jake had a follow but like last time the fish seemed a little lethargic, just following behind the lure then stopping and staring at it without actually striking. Jake had a few more casts to try and tempt it but it eventually swam back under the overhanging branches of the tree it had come out from. I had a couple of casts to the other side of the tree and felt what I thought was a snag but then it started to strip some line. Fish on, but it didn't feel quite right and the fight was strange. Only when the pike came into view did we realise it was foul hooked in the underside of its jaw. I played it carefully to the edge so as not to rip the hooks out and damage the fish and Jake chinned it out for me.

At last!

We fished the area for a bit longer but had no further action so we doubled back and started heading towards the car. Again there was no any sign of any fish for a while. We got about half way back to the car when I hooked a second fish at a spot where I'd hooked and lost a big fish several weeks ago. A very subtle take but the pike was hooked in the corner of the mouth this time and put up a spirited little fight before Jake chinned it out and we unhooked it over on the grass.

Slightly bigger second fish. Same happy bloke.

Savage Gear 4 Play in Dirty Roach destroyed I switched over to the Perch colour and we carried on. A bit further along Jake had a follow from a decent perch so he quickly scaled down and rigged up a Gulp! 1" Minnow on a small jighead and tried to tempt it again but unfortunately had no luck doing so. Time was soon up and we headed back to the car. Quite a contrast to all the action we had during our last session on the canal and a rare blank for Jake.

Tight lines, Hutch.

Edinburgh : Street Piking

On Monday Scott and I found ourselves in the vicinity of the Union Canal due to a job we were doing. With the work over by 11.00 and having had the foresight to bring our tackle, we headed to the canal for a short session. I went with my LRF kit, my 7'9" Graphiteleader Corto Ex rod, Shimano Technium 3000SFC reel spooled with Sunline Super PE 0.6 braid and Scott went with a heavier setup of his 9' Daiwa Powermesh X-Spin rod, Daiwa Exceler X-3000 reel spooled with 20lb Power Pro braid.

When we got to the canal we were surprised to see the water was crystal clear! This is very unusual as the canal is normally a pretty murky place and is constantly stirred up by the barges that travel along it. The clear water and bright sunshine meant we could see all the features we normally fish over such as tangles of mountain bikes, traffic cones, shopping trolleys and the odd lamp post!

We both went with the same lure, a Savage Gear 9.5cm Soft 4Play in Dirty Roach, but with 2 different approaches. Scott rigged his with an AGM 7g #2/0 Ultra Ball jighead and I rigged mine weightless on the Savage Gear "ready to fish " single treble hook rig. We began working our lures along the canal and it was great to see them working in the clear water. The lures are so life like that small roach were following the lure about trying to shoal up with it! It wasn't long before Scott spotted a Jack lazily following his lure across the canal. It stopped following and hung motionless in the middle of the canal, Scott made another cast bringing the lure right past it with a slow twitched retrieve but the pike just turned and looked at it before swimming slowly back to the reeds. Frustrating but exiting to be able to see the pikes reactions to the lure! A few minutes later, while searching the far bank with my lure a jack suddenly fired out from the reeds and seized the lure. He shook his head and instantly spat the lure out then went and sulked in the weeds. I consoled myself with the fact that at least this pike had played ball and continued to fish on.

As we both worked our way down the canal we kept getting follows from pike but they were very lethargic and the bright clear conditions were not helping even though it made it pleasant to fish in! 12 pike follows later and half a mile down the canal a young guy approached me saying he could see a wee jack sitting in a reed bed. He showed me where it was and left me to get on with it. The jack was very small, so I rigged up Berkley gulp 1" minnow on a Ecogear 2.3g #8 Shirasu Fine jighead. I cast over him and brought the lure past him with a twitchy slow retrieve. In a flash he seized it, I set the hook and he tried to dive back into the weed bed but being tiny I just reeled him in! Unfortunately the little pike had other ideas and just as I was about to lift him out launched into a little tail walk and threw the hooks!

Meanwhile Scott had been experimenting with some other lures and had manged to get a couple of jacks to attack but with the same results as me, no hook ups. I decided to stick with the micro lures and see if the small perch we had passed were interested. Scott pointed out yet another tiny jack lurking right in close to the reeds. Needing no encouragement I jigged the little lure in front of his face and he totally nailed it! I quickly lifted him out of the water and held possibly the smallest pike I have ever caught!

This micro pike is my new personal worst!

Oh well at least the blank was off! A few minutes later a wee perch fell for the minnow, my first ever perch from the Union Canal! Brilliant! I have a real soft spot for perch no matter how small.

My first Union Canal perch, perfection in miniature.

Another ten minutes later I had another slightly larger jack on the Gulp! 1" Minnow who gave a spirited little fight on my light gear before he was unhooked, photographed and released.

This jack couldn't resist a Berkley Gulp! 1" Minnow!

As we approached our starting point I changed lures and went back to the soft 4 play to try and tempt the first fish I saw again. I had just cast my lure beneath an over hanging tree on the far bank and given a couple of twitches when an unseen pike shot out at speed and grabbed the lure! This time he was well hooked and tore off heading for the reeds. It was a better fish and put a nice bend in my rod. The reel played its part too, with the smooth drag giving line as he darted for cover. After a couple of runs and some impressive tail walking he was soon landed, photographed and returned.

This pike though small put up a great fight on the LRF gear.

It was a bigger pike about 2.5lb which was enormous fun on my light gear! The pike had torn the Soft 4Play off its mount and it was no where to be seen, so I reached into my back pocket for my little lure box. It wasn't there! I checked my other pockets with that horrible cold realisation that my little treasure trove was no longer in my possession! I quickly ran back along the canal to where I remembered last having it but sadly I couldn't find it. In all likelihood someone had found it and taken it! It was a blow to lose some of my lures and I had a few that I'd owned for years in the box. I doubt whoever found it would appreciate what they had.

Oh well It was still an enjoyable few hours and although someone had made off with some of my lures and Scott had blanked it was still good to experience the clear water action of the canal. It beats working all day that's for sure!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

LRF : Flounder hunt.

On Monday, as we had the afternoon free, we decided to head down the coast to Dunbar to see if we could target some flounders in the harbour. They have been noticeably absent from the harbour over the winter and with Scott catching a plaice at North Berwick harbour recently we hoped they may be back in Dunbar harbour as well.

It was very hot in Edinburgh and not a cloud in the sky. This changed on the way down the A1 however and by the time we got to Dunbar it was cloudy with a chilly easterly wind. Not so much fun in the sun more like fun in the fog! We arrived at low tide and armed with our LRF gear we headed to the sandy areas of the harbour. Scott had rigged up a small silver spinner with a single #6 Aberdeen hook which he then tipped with a red Isome. I went with my tried and trusted combo of the 2.3gm  #8 Ecogear Shirasu Fine jighead and small pink Power Isome.

Technique is straight forward enough, cast out and allow the lure to drop and hit the sea bed. Then slowly retrieve allowing the lure to crawl enticingly along the sand. Add in the odd pause and twitch and it's usually a recipe that proves irresistible to flounders. Within a couple of casts we could see small flounders chasing the lures and nipping at the Isomes. Try as we might we just couldn't get them to attack in their normal fashion and they were being very picky. We worked around the harbour and after about 45mins I saw the familiar dark shape of a sea scorpion rise up from the sea bed and nail my Isome! He was quickly lifted up, photographed and returned and it was great to see our first harbour sea scorpion in months.

A plump long spined sea scorpion all puffed up and defiant.

Our first Dunbar harbour scorpion for a while, we are very pleased to see them back! It doesn't look quite so happy to see us!

Scott had switched over to a section of red Gulp! Sandworm on an 3.5g #6 AGM finesse jighead and quickly caught our second harbour long spined sea scorpion. Brilliant! One of our favourite summer haunts seems to be coming back to life!

Scott charms another sea scorpion from the depths.

With the tide flooding the flounders had began to move further towards the old harbour so we decided to go there to see if we could find them. The water was very clear in the old harbour and we could see our lures working across the muddy bottom. Scott was working his lures near to the wall when we saw a large blenny appear out of the mud and grab Scotts lure. Annoyingly though, it dropped off as it was being swung in. Still no sign of the flounders so we continued teasing the blennys that were lurking along the wall. I landed three and Scott had one too then he decided to head to the rockpools at the back of the harbour hoping to catch something there.

An old harbour blenny in a surprisingly regal pose!

Scott's old harbour blenny fell for Gulp! 1" Minnow in chartreuse.

I opted to stay in the old harbour and keep a look out for flatties whilst annoying the blennys. I had changed lure to a Gulp! 1" fish fry mounted on an 2.2g Crazyg wave HD jig head. As I was bouncing it along past the bottom of a ladder I saw a large dark coloured flounder swimming towards the ladder and settle in the mud about 8ft out from me. It was a big fish for the harbour and with shaking hands I cast beyond it and began a slow twitchy retrieve along the bottom. The lure got within about 8ft of the flounder when it rose out of the mud and glided over to the lure. It circled around behind the lure as it crawled along then in a puff of mud pounced, only to miss the lure. I just kept the slow retrieve going and the flounder seeing the lure escaping made sure this time with a flash of its white mouth engulfed the lure. I struck and felt the satisfying thump as the hook hit and held. The fish rose up shaking his head, whilst my murmered pleadings begged the hook to hold, then bolted off towards the boats taking line and putting a good bend in my rod. I turned it fearing for the fine hook and then it "yo-yoed" towards me constantly coming up then diving for the bottom. Soon it was beneath my feet and wallowing on the surface. So far so good, the next trick was to lift and swing the fish in. Fearing for my little rod and the small hook I pointed the rod at the fish tightened the drag a bit then in one movement lifted the rod and swung the fish up the nine foot wall to my hands. Success! The biggest flounder yet from Dunbar harbour and a really chunky thick set fish over a pound. I popped round the back to show Scott and after a couple of shots quickly took it back up to the harbour and released it, watching as it swam quickly back under the boats.

Success! The flounders are back and this one is my biggest yet from Dunbar harbour.

My first flounder of 2012. A very pleasing fish indeed!

Scott meanwhile had managed another long spined sea scorpion but we had run out of time and so we called it a day and headed back. A very good short session showing us that the mini species and flounders are back in the harbour, a real sign that summer is just about upon us. Flounder were an almost certain catch there last summer, I cant wait to find out if they will be as obliging this year!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

Shimano Technium 3000SFC : Trout Test.

On Tuesday I took delivery of my new reel, a Shimano Technium 3000SFC. After spooling it up with some new 6lb Sunline Super PE braid I was itching to test it out.

Shiny new tackle!

Time has been very limited for me this week so I opted for an hours fishing on The Water of Leith. The reel marries very well with my 7'9" Graphiteleader Corto EX rod and is only a couple of grams heavier than my Exage. Recently I have been experimenting with trying to keep the trout deeper in the water when hooked as they have an uncanny habit of throwing the hook when they come to the surface and thrash about. This is where a lightly set reliable drag comes in and I hoped to test the new reels capabilities.

I attached a Gulp! 1" Minnow in watermelon/pearl to an EcoGear Shirasu fine jighead and I was ready to rock! 10 minutes later I was at the Water of Leith in Stockbridge and after a brief wade had reached my first pool. Technique was pretty straight forward just cast across current and with a slow twitchy retrieve allow the lure to swing back across the current towards you. This particular pool was full of features, a fast flow of water under some trees into a deeper slower glide with a ledge running down the full length of the pool. I started at the top and began working the lure downstream. Sure enough when I was about a third of the way down the pool a trout dashed out from under the ledge and seized the lure. The jighead hooks are amazingly sharp and even with the drag set lightly the fish was hooked well. Keeping the rod low as I was playing him persuaded the fish to stay deeper in the water and the light drag allowed him a foot or so of line each time to soak up his little darting runs. He stayed deep till he was level with me then calmly came up to the surface where I brought him to hand! Another beautifully conditioned Water of Leith brown trout of about a pound.

Feeling rather pleased with myself for playing the fish as I had planned I waded up stream a bit to find a dry area to take a picture. A large stone presented me with a good place and the trout was duly laid down whilst I fumbled for my camera. I continued fumbling with my camera as the trout, with a gleeful flick of its tail, flipped back into the water and sped away down stream. Oh well camera shy trout, but at least I managed to catch from this new pool. I headed further upstream and again using the same technique caught a couple more lovely brownies and managed to get a picture of these ones!

Brown trout in a fast current was great fun on the new reel.

Another brownie caught and released after a fun fast water fight.

I had a final 10 minutes in the weir pool and again hooked another trout who when landed had obviously heard of the first trouts strategy and promptly jumped back into the water whilst I was yet again fumbling for my camera!

Not to worry though, whilst my hour was up, it had been a blast! The new reel performed admirably and testing the light drag did add a new dimension to fighting the humble Leith trout! I cant wait to see how it handles some other fish!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

Light Rock Fishing. Not just for little fish!

Jake and I had the pleasure of meeting fellow The Lure Forum member, Iain Mortimer yesterday. A self exiled Scot of some 33 years he now lives down in Sussex where he primarily enjoys bass fishing. A business trip to Glasgow presented him with the opportunity to travel a day early and meet up with us so we could take him to a couple of our marks and hopefully put him onto a few fish. Iain brought his own tackle with the exception of a rod which Jake and I had promised to lend him for the trip. Iain fancied a go at LRF and so I gave him the use of my Nories Rockfish Bottom Ultra Light 1.8-7g. 

Jake and I picked up Iain up at 8:45 from Edinburgh airport and we set off down the Edinburgh bypass towards East Lothian. A quick stop to grab some lunch, a short drive further down the A1 and we arrived at the first mark. Iain and I rigged up with a section of pink Power Isome and started with a spot of blenny bashing.

Iain searching amongst the boulders for a blenny.

After 10 minutes or so Iain was first to catch one after dropping a couple as he lifted them up from between the boulders we were fishing amongst. Pretty soon I had a couple too. Jake meanwhile began where he left off on Monday and was working a whole small pink Power Isome mounted on a 2.3g #8 shirasu fine jighead trying for a bass. It wasn't long before he got one!

First bass of the day falls to Jake.

Bass love pink Power Isome! Is there a fish that doesn't!

Whilst I moved over to the reef to fish at distance using a small Sidewinder Brill Bait fished behind a 20g sinking caro, Iain joined Jake fishing from the rocks and adopted the same approach and pretty soon was in on the act. They both carried on and over the next hour or two Iain hooked five small bass. He did however manage to drop a one of them before a photograph could be taken and another of them threw the hook at his feet before swimming off. All taken in good spirits though.

A couple of bass gave Iain the slip. One falling from his hand.

We carried on for about another hour with Jake moving over to the reef and I joined Iain for a while but no more bass were caught.

Jake tries to locate bass that may be moving over the submerged reef.

I try working a Brill Bait up through the outflow.

Early afternoon we headed down to one of the many rock marks on the Eyemouth coast. We met up with two of our friends, Richie and Paul who were already fishing.

Most Eyemouth rock marks can only be fished over low water and great care must be taken accessing them.

Richie had already caught a nice coalfish and with a slight swell running conditions looked good for a pollock or two although Jake and I were hoping for a humble coalfish for our species tally! Jake got one on his second cast. Right under his feet, it took a slug-go and was very quickly hoisted up by a grinning Jake!

First coalfish of 2012 for Jake. Won't be the last!

Shortly afterwards Richie caught the first pollock of the day. A decent fish of about 3lb.

A small pollock by Richie's standards. He fishes the Eyemouth coast regularly and his personal best is 8.5lb.

Paul was next to hook a fish although sadly he lost it bringing it in. Richie caught another coalfish and then it was Iain's turn to get in on the action and he did so in spectacular style. I looked over to see the Nories bent over and I knew it was a good fish. Then it bent some more. Then it bent right down to the grip! The fish stripped about 15ft of line as it made a dive for cover but Iain bullied it back up again. Then I caught a glimpse of the beast before it stripped line again as it made another rod testing bid for freedom. I have hooked a 4lb pollock on the rod before so I knew it could handle bigger fish but this fish was big! Iain kept the pressure on and it was soon up on the surface. Whilst we figured out the best place to land it, it made a few final surges to try and get down again but was obviously beaten. I pointed to a gully that the swell was washing into and Iain guided the pollock over to it. Jake jumped down and grabbed the fish as it was washed up inside. The instant he did and the line went slack the hook dropped out! An incredible fish of 6lb 8oz, a great weight for a shore caught pollock and a new PB for Iain, smashing his previous best! A very happy man indeed!

Cracking fish tamed on LRF tackle.

A satisfied angler and a rather grumpy fish.

After a few photos it was put back and we all had a chance to calm down. Sadly after this though, the tide flow began dropping off and so did the action. Jake, Iain and I did a spot of vertical jigging in a large rockpool and after exploring amongst the boulders and kelp for a little while Iain caught a long spined sea scorpion.

Not a test of rod strength really!

This would be turn out to be the last fish caught on the mark. We returned to the rocks and fished on for a hour or so more but decided to call it a day there and mad the short climb back up from the rocks. We said goodbye to Richie and Paul and headed back to Edinburgh

We ended the day with a short session on the Water of Leith as Iain fancied a very quick go for a brown trout. Gulp! 1" Minnow rigged up and after a bit of advice from Jake on I about the best way to fish the first pool and the likely location of any trout Iain began casting downstream, allowing the lure to swing across the current and imparted a few twitches to try and entice a take. Working his way down the pool as he swung the lure across the bottom of it we thought we saw some activity but after working the lure across the spot thoroughly with no further movement seen we moved down the the next pool. Iain repeated the process, covering the entire pool but unfortunately there weren't any fish in it either. We did see a kingfisher as it flew up and down the river in a flash of brilliant dazzling blue which made a nice end to the day even if it was a feathered instead of a fishy one.

It was great to meet and fish with Iain and whilst I have the humble blenny to thank for avoiding a blank the sight of Iain taming a superb shore pollock with what some would refer to as a "Fairy Wand" made my day.

Tight lines, Hutch.

East Lothian : Bass, Sea Trout and Blennies.

On Monday, as we had some free time we decided to head down the coast to do a bit of reconnaissance for a forthcoming trip. Light rock fishing (LRF) would be my theme for the trip and I was keen to test my 7'9" Graphiteleader Corto EX rod some more. After a short drive we arrived at Dunbar harbour, one of our favourite summer haunts, in the hope of some sport with flounders. The "new" harbour unfortunately was very hard to fish due to the strong wind, which made keeping in contact with my Power Isome/2.3g jighead combo very hard indeed. Scott decided to try a spot of drop shotting with his Shimano Speedmaster Drop Shot rod as he didn't like the weather conditions. However even this approach didn't pay off and we decided to seek the more sheltered waters of the "old " harbour. We both stuck with our chosen techniques and I started casting and retrieving along the muddy harbour bottom in the hope of attracting a flounder. Scott was working the bottom of the harbour walls and around the ladders and within minutes was getting a few bites! This was great as this particular mark has been devoid of fish over the winter and coupled with the sighting of lots of small fry swimming about the edges and around the hulls of the fishing boats was signs that summer is almost upon us. A few minutes later Scott had hooked a good sized blenny, but it got into some weed on the harbour wall and he lost it trying to pull it free. On the next drop as he gently worked the lure he hooked another but it managed to throw the hook as it was being swung in. Scott moved along a bit and suggested that I have a try and a few casts later I managed to hook what was probably the same blenny!

Our first fish from Dunbar Harbour in a while. Hopefully it will be livening up again soon!

After we released him we had another 30 minutes exploring the old harbour but with no more bites we headed off further down the coast to our other prospective mark. Upon arrival Scott rather predictably headed to the large rockpools to do a bit more experimentation with his drop shot setup. I also decided to stay with the same set up I began flicking the Isome out into the current and letting it drift along whilst gently twitching and retrieving slowly. My intended target was bass but I was pleasantly surprised to see a sea trout suddenly leap about 2 feet out of the water in front of me! I had heard they sometimes frequent the mark but I had never seen them there before. I quickly reeled in and recast to over where the fish had leapt and began working the lure. As it got into the same area I felt a sharp bite but no hook up and the trout had ripped the Isome off the hook. I quickly threaded another Isome onto the jighead and cast out again, working the lure continually. Three or four casts later another bite but this time a hook up! The sea trout took off and decided to put on a nice arial display before being landed. Excellent fun on my light set up and my first sea trout of 2012. Not a big fish just over a pound at best.

This poor sea trout had a lot of lice on it.

I flicked off some of the sea lice from it as it was fairly infested with the horrible little parasites and then released it. I then called over to Scott who was still happily bothering blennys and carried on fishing the Isome. The fishing began to follow the same pattern and I found the trout were tearing the Isome off the jighead without getting hooked. I swapped over to a Berkley Gulp 1" minnow and it yielded almost immediate results with another smaller sea trout.

My second slightly smaller sea trout.

By this point Scott had arrived on the scene, quickly rigged up a chartreuse Gulp 1" Minnow on a 2.2g #10 Crazyg Wave HD jighead and was flicking it out. It wasn't long before he too had landed his first sea caught sea trout of 2012. Then I landed another sea trout of about half a pound and quickly released it. Scott then had a better second fish again just over a pound.

The second of Scott's two sea trout.

As Scott was unhooking his fish and taking a photo another "angler" moved into his spot and stupidly started casting a controller float and eel in amongst the fish, spooking them in the process, causing them to move out of range. I was very annoyed but carried on fishing in the hope they may return. Scott went off to catch a few more blennies and after a while I decided to switch back to the Isome. I began to try and work the Isome a bit deeper by casting up current and letting it drift back towards me. After 20 minutes or so as the retrieve drew the lure level with me I had a good bite and hooked into my first bass of the session.

One of my seven bass.

The bass used the current to its full advantage and tried to head to deeper water. I have been keen to test the stopping power of the rod so I really bent into the fish and bullied him back where he was promptly landed, photographed and released. The next 20minutes were pretty hectic with lots of bites and a further six bass landed and released. The fish were not big, most about a pound and a half but each one was a joy to play on the rod.

All of my bass were taken on small pink Power Isome.

Towards the end of this busy period Scott returned and he had managed to catch a few more blennys in the larger rockpools taking his tally to ten, although he commented that many of the usual hiding holes were now full of weed. Another good sign that summer is on it's way along with lots of fish!

Scott's biggest blenny out of the ten he caught. He's rather fond of them in case you didn't realise!

Scott had a bash at the bass with an Isome but they must have moved off as the action stopped just as suddenly as it had started so we called time and headed back to Edinburgh although it was very hard to tear ourselves away! Still a very successful if short session and we hope the sea trout will put in an appearance again soon!

Tight Lines, Schogsky.

Another Forth & Clyde Canal perch hunt ruined by jacks!

Jake and I returned to the Forth & Clyde canal this afternoon to continue our search for perch. After seeing a few chasing my lures during our visit there on Friday afternoon and receiving a bit of local knowledge we decided to try a nice wide stretch just to the west of the small village of Banknock.

Our starting point.

It was quite windy when we arrived but at least it was dry. We both had an LRF setup with us for the perch and a slightly heavier setup (heavier by our standards anyway!) as well to fish larger lures to try and tempt any bigger pike that may be lurking.

We worked our way along the canal and it wasn't long before I had caught a couple of jacks in quick succession and whilst I lost a third Jake joined in the fun landing his first one.

First jack of the session. Feisty little bugger.

Jake joins in the fun with a slightly bigger fish.

Jake had a couple more jacks and then whilst I was slowly working a hard 4" Spro BBZ1 Roach lure I had a larger pike, maybe 4lb, follow my lure in but he turned away at the last moment just when I thought he was going to strike. 

Jake caught two more jacks on a Savage Gear Soft 4Play, bouncing it back along the bottom. The second had a deformed upper jaw. Probably the scars of an attack from a larger pike.

Being a guitarist Jake does the odd power slide with his catch.

Savage Gear Soft 4Play in Dirty Roach on a 7g 2/0 jighead. Pike love them.

Slightly deformed lip and scarring. Goes with being a nasty cannibal!

Shortly afterwards I had another on an Abu Garcia Jointed Tormentor in silver/black. Jake was just admiring the action on the lure when it was smashed quite close in to the reeds by a brutal attack that got the adrenaline pumping a bit. Great fun.

You can't beat seeing the take. Awesome aggression for a small fish.

We headed back along the canal, having a cast or two as we went, adding one more pike to both our tallies.

Jake's final fish and the Gulp! 1" Minnow does the business again.

My last fish took a Lake Fork Live Baby Shad in Golden Shiner.

Jake ending up on 6 and me on 4. No sign of any perch though so back to the drawing board on that front.

Great little session and good to see another section of the canal that's full of pike.

Tight lines, Hutch.