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.

They only come out at night.

Jake and I headed down to St Abbs on Tuesday night and met up with our fishing pal Richie to have a go for flounders, coalfish and anything else that was silly enough to swim and take our lures. Fishing was slow to say the least and some divers I spoke to as they came out of the water confirmed what we already knew, there was hardly any fish around. Undeterred we worked our way around the harbour using a variety of methods and lures and finally spotted a fish which Jake promptly caught.

Ever obliging. Greedy little buggers.

Richie and I carry on searching both in the harbour and in the kelp beds below the outer wall.

After reaching the end of the outer harbour we decided to try our luck from the rocks over the kelp beds. After a bit of rockhopping I spotted a few small fish as they came up from the kelp to have a go at my 10cm Savage Gear Sandeel Slug but they weren't much bigger than it and when I switched to a 2" Reins Rockvibe they lost interest. Jake and Richie came over and joined me and tried to tempt them but had no luck either. We all went over onto the rocks at the very mouth of the harbour and carried on the search. As light faded Richie hooked and landed a small coalfish and I switched to a small metal opting for a pink/luminous 5g Quantum Sea Mahi jig. After a few casts I felt a couple of bumps before striking the third, hooked a fish and quickly landed it before heading over to where Jake was so he could take a few photos.

Sunset over St Abbs.

My first coalfish of 2013.

Thanks Quantum Sea Mahi Jig!

Fish popped back we all started fishing at the mouth of the harbour and as the light continued to fade we started spotting coalfish swimming around below us and started targeting them. Before long I had a second and Jake and Richie also caught a few. Nothing big but good fun on the light gear we were all using.

One of Jake's fish caught on a drop shot rig.

Pretty soon it was getting quite late so we called it a night. Despite the slow start it was a pleasant evening spent in good company and no doubt we'll be back again soon for another night time session.

Tight lines, Hutch.