Video Roundup #2 : Flounder, Sea Trout and Brownies.

Another week and the fishing is really starting to pick up now. First session of the week saw me back at the coast with the intention of LRF flounder and bass. Conditions were pretty good, nice and calm with a slowly flooding tide and I rigged up a dropshot rig with a section of Gulp! sandworm. It probably only took about 10 minutes before I was into my first fish. It was a strange soft take and then the fish ran towards me making it hard to be sure I had even hooked it! When it did break the surface I was relieved to see a hand-sized flounder. I made the schoolboy error of thinking there would be better fish about so I decided to not take pictures and let the video tell the tale. A foolish move on my part as there were no more flounders biting and after an hour I headed off to the bass mark. This too proved fruitless and after a couple of hours I headed further down the coast to hook up with Ritchie and hopefully beat the blank by hitting the sea trout again. Never in a million years would I have thought that sea trout would be a blank-saving choice but sure enough they were there in numbers and we had some ridiculous sport with them. This time to confound things the video camera's battery had run out and I went back to good old stills for the sea trout, balancing both types of media is hard to do, especially when in full-fevered fishing mode!

This "finnock" took a 5gram Xesta After Burner...

and this one took a Ecogearaqua Katsu Aji Straight mounted on a Xesta Starhead Slowdown 1 gram jighead...

as did this one...

River to Sea tungsten 2.5gram trout spoon did for this one.

As the week ground on I had limited time to fish and when I was presented with a spare hour before tea I grabbed it and bolted to the river. One of the many joys of light rock fishing tackle is the ability to just grab my rod and lures and I can be fishing the moment I reach the water. As I only had an hour I decided to fish three pools and rather brilliantly I managed a trout from each of the pools before heading home for tea. Yet again I messed up with the camera stupidly leaving the memory card at home and  again I had to rely on the Veho MUVI action cam to capture the action. I am still finding it difficult to focus on filming , taking photos and fishing but barring silly mistakes I am getting the hang of it!

I have put together a short film compilation of the weeks fishing, I hope you enjoy watching (it can be viewed in 1080p).

Tackle used -

Rod: GraphiteLeader Corto EX 7'9" 0.5-8gram Tubular tipped.

Reel: Shimano Technium 3000

Line: Pontoon Exteer braid PE. 1

Leader: 6lb Greylon Fluorocarbon

Tight Lines

Jake

The fickle loch

October and November last year saw Ritchie and I heading back to hunt perch with the boat. We managed two sessions, the first was a couple of weeks after our ridiculous perch haul a session that resulted in over 80 fish between us. So needless to say we were really looking forward to it. This time we were armed with a new second hand 2hp petrol outboard and I was really keen to see how it would perform.

When we arrived at the loch we quickly got our gear stowed and launched the boat. As we drifted out from the shore I readied the engine and gave it a single pull and it roared into life. This produced a couple of whoops from Ritchie and I, as we hadn't actually got over rowing speed with the boat before! Our powered elation was cut short 30 seconds later when the engine lost all power and cut out, stubbornly refusing to live again.

We were a bit disappointed we couldn't continue our speedy journey across the loch but luckily I had my electric outboard and this was quickly put into place and we continued to our perch marks.

As we slowly whirred our way to the place where the perch had been on our last session the rain began and with nothing but thick grey cloud cloaking the land it would be there to stay. We arrived at our chosen mark and began the first drift. Both of us use our LRF setups for perching and I went with my standard dropshot rig. This consists of a 3 foot 8lb fluro leader with a size 8 offset wormhook, tied via a palomar knot halfway down. I then clip a 7g dropshot weight about a foot from the hook and rigged a Lake Fork live baby shad. Ritchie meanwhile had rigged a 3" Sluggo on a  2g Xesta jighead and he began to work all areas of the water column while I concentrated on working the deeper reaches.

After about 20 minutes we drifted past the opening to a burn and I saw Ritchie's rod suddenly snap upwards as he set the hook on a fish. The rod tip bucked about as the fish thrashed erratically on the end of the line. This instantly aroused suspicion that it wasn't a perch as they tend to try to bore down deep when hooked. Indeed, as the fish came closer, we could see it was a nice brown trout, the first one Ritchie had had on the sluggo and his first from this loch.

"Do you want the net?" I asked

"Nah, should be cool." said Ritchie .

"Bugger that!" said the trout, promptly spitting the hook and with a gleeful flick of its tail he disappeared into the depths.

We laughed off the loss of the trout and soldiered on with not even the rain dampening our enthusiasm. We searched and searched for the fish, hours passed with not even a bite for all our efforts. By this stage we were slumped soullessly at either end of the boat, our conversation had descended into a few wheezed expletives of frustration punctuated by damp coughs. Cold, wet and miserable we decided to start making our way back to the slipway.

We stopped off for one last drift in the rocky bay, an area we had steamed passed without trying. Pretty much as soon as we cast out we were getting bites but with our numb hands and damp spirits it took a while to connect. Eventually we manged to land a couple of Perch each and with honour saved we damply motored back to the van and with the heater on full, headed back home.

It was hard going but we each managed a couple in the end.

A couple more weeks passed and we had another window to get the boat out onto the loch and I for one was looking forward to the challenge of finding where the perch had gone. When we arrived at the slipway conditions couldn't have been more different, flat calm and clear blue skies, a lovely Autumn day. Again I had come with another new outboard engine except this one started first time and kept running! The little 2hp engine got us to our first mark really quickly and this gave us scope to really get around the loch to search for the fish.

Using the fishfinder and my knowledge of the loch we tried all the usual perch haunts but all were devoid of fish. We then started on new ground trying bays we had never been able to reach before but again with the same result, nothing!

Flat calm

We went through a host of lures and it was about 4 hours in when Ritchie manged to finally get a bite and promptly landed an out-of-season brownie. He had tempted the fish on a 5g Xesta After Burner jig tipped with white Isome, an innovative and effective approach. We grabbed a picture then he released the trout while I carried on fishing.

Ritchie managed to catch an out of season Brownie

We had drifted into the rocky bay where we had caught perch previously and I had changed lure to a Jackson Cymo vibe lure. I was hoping a noisier more aggressive lure may get some reaction and it wasn't long before a fish nailed the lure. This turned out to be another wee out-of-season brownie which, after a quick pic, was put back. We fished on for a bit but with nothing else doing we called it a day and headed back.

I managed one too!

What a contrast to our previous trips, where the water had been thick with perch and it was a fish a chuck on any lure! I have my ideas as to where the fish have moved; one is that they may have headed to the bottom end of the loch where the flow is greater. This is one of the puzzles I love about getting to know a loch's seasonal fluctuations and these two relatively fruitless sessions should prove more valuable in terms of getting to know the loch.

I hope to put that knowledge gained to the test on my next visit!

Tight Lines

Jake

Slimey surprise.

With Scott away to the mull of Galloway on a boat trip, I headed down to St Abbs again hoping to find the resident wrasse. I had had a couple of brief forays there after my PB wrasse session but the wrasse hadn't been around, although the coalies, codling, flounders and scorpions had been in abundance. Ritchie had had his cast removed so I picked up the newly footed Ritchie and we headed down to the harbour hoping to fish the ebb. The tide was a neap which wasn't ideal for targeting the wrasse but the joys of LRF meant there were plenty of other fish to target. I rigged my LRF gear with a simple dropshot rig, I rigged the #8 hook with a gulp sandworm and clipped a lead on a mere 2" from the hook. This presentation keeps the lure very close to the bottom and it would seem the wrasse like this set up.

The Coalfish were everywhere!

The coalies were everywhere as usual and I was soon into double figures while searching the fringes of the kelp. While I was working the lure I had noticed some dark shapes moving through the kelp, wrasse! I concentrated my efforts where the fish had been and it wasn't long before I was into a proper fish. As soon as it was hooked the fish tried to dive between a rope and the wall. I managed to turn it and  then let the rod soak up its dives for cover. It soon tired and I guided it into the waiting dropnet, bingo first wrasse of the session, target achieved!

Another fine Scottish ballan wrasse

I released the fish and began to target the flatties which was quite hard as the scorpions were really on the feed and we had loads of them! Ritchie was busy hunting for wrasse when I noticed a cod carcass moving about in the clear water. The carcass was jerking and twitching as three eels writhed around it. There were two dark ones and a pale big one, I presumed that the pale one was a small conger. I cast over the top of the carcass and gently twitched the lure over where they were feeding, I saw a dark eel snake up and grab the lure. I struck and quickly got it up off the bottom whereby the eel hit reverse and hung snaking in the water. A bit more pressure and it was quickly swung up into my eager hands. Brilliant, a common eel on a lure for the second year in a row and sight fished too! After wrestling with the eel to get a photo I released it back to the harbour.

For the second year in a row I managed to bag a common eel on a lure.

It wouldn't behave for its photograph though!

I tried back for the conger but it had spooked when the eel had been hooked. We kept seeing it though and soon I manged to get a lure in front of it. I was twitching the rod gently causing the sandworm to flutter invitingly above the fish. I saw the eel slowly come up off the bottom and approach the lure. My heart was in my mouth as it got closer suddenly a small scorpion tore on front of the eel, gobbled up the lure and dived back into the kelp. Argggh, to make matters worse the wee thing would not open its little mouth and was biting down on the hook shank. It must have taken at least a couple of minutes before it actually opened its gob for long enough to unhook it and by the time I dropped the fish back the eel had disappeared.

The tide had dropped quite considerably so I moved back to some deeper water. Fishing right alongside the kelp a felt a couple of electric taps instantly recognisable as wrasse bites. I let the tapping develop and when I noticed the line move I struck and manged to bully another lovely wrasse out from its kelpy lair.

I love catching wrasse on LRF gear, even a modest size fish puts up a great fight.

I love the colours too!

We then concentrated on some more flatties and had a few, one out of the kelp itself! Ritchie manged to get a wee pollock and another nice wee wrasse from the kelp before bagging a really fat flounder that must of weighed well over a pound .

St Abbs produces some great flounders!

Wrasse and flounder in the same session, brilliant!

Ritchie displays one of the many flounder he  had caught.

A jig head and large Isome lured this handsome flounder

I have never seen as many codling as this year, winter should be fun!

My last flounder of the session.

That signalled the end of the session as I had to get back for the kids tea time, so we packed up and headed back. Both of us were really chuffed the action had been constant and the bonus eel added extra excitement. Not only had we managed to catch wrasse and flatties but we had sight fished the majority of fish, which just made the whole experience even more intense. It won't be long now before the wrasse become dormant for the winter, however with the vast amount of tiny codling about I can only surmise that winter may well provide a lot of sport with them. Here's hoping!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

Back home, back to business!

After the Cornish Lure Festival I had a couple of days of no fishing before I had to get out again! My youngest son Isaac had been asking to go fishing so we headed off to the Water of Leith to try and find some minnows for his fish tank. I rigged up a #16 hook to nylon, 1g split shot and rigged up a small section of pink Isome. We messed about for half an hour and soon we had three fat minnows swimming around in his jam jar. These were quickly taken home and put into Isaac's fish tank where they are now doing very well indeed. It was a lovely way to spend an hour but it didn't quite cure my fishing desire!

An Isome caught Water of Leith minnow.

That's ma boy!

I completed my fatherly duties for the afternoon and I had a couple of hours before the kids bedtime, just enough time to fish the high tide at Corkwing corner. It didn't take long to get down to the mark and I quickly rigged up my LRF gear with a dropshot rig, #8 offset worm hook tied via a palomar knot and a 7g dropshot weight clipped on a foot from the hook. This was rigged with a small section of bloody Gulp! Sandworm and dropped straight down beneath my feet. I started to twitch and shake the lure and very soon I could see some fish swimming over the white rock below me. As I watched I could see some pretty big pollock cruising around as well as some smaller fish that I hoped were wrasse. I kept gently twitching the lure and noticed the silhouette of a fish approach the lure. It made a couple of electric pecks at the lure alerting me to the fact it was a wrasse, before it grabbed it and tried to get into the kelp beds. I struck and quickly manged to steer it away from them and as it rose up through the clear water my heart skipped a beat, if it was a corkwing it was huge! I quickly swung the fish up and it quickly became apparent that it was a small ballan, not the target species but a lovely fish none the less.

Not the corkwing I was after but a great fish none the less.

I quickly took a photo, unhooked it and released the fish before rigging another section of Gulp! and dropping it back down again. As the rig dropped down through the clear water a big pollock came up and intercepted my dropshot lead, grabbing it with a sharp tug before spitting it out! My heart was in my mouth and it came back for a second go at the gulp before turning lazily away. To be honest I was slightly relieved as it was a good size and due to my high vantage point it would have been a real pain to land. I carried on dropshotting my corkwing hotspot but I could see there were another couple of big pollock patrolling the area. I thought there wouldn't be much chance of the little corkwings being about as they would probably be keeping a low profile with the big pollock on the feed. I quickly rigged up a Lunker City Swimmin Ribster on a #2/0 10g football jighead, cast out and began to work the lure back with a jigged retrieve. Pretty much straight away a pollock rose up and grabbed the lure, but when I struck I pulled the lure right out of its mouth! I should have waited till I felt the fish but I got over excited. I tried again and it made a couple of half hearted attempts but I couldn't persuade it to take a second time. I decided to spend the last half hour looking for mackerel so I rigged up a 12g Savage Gear Fat Pencil Prey and began casting out and working it back towards me using a sink and draw retrieve. It didn't take long to hit and soon there was a nice big mackerel charging about on the end of my line.

First mackerel this year!

This was to be eaten for tea so it was promptly dispatched and I carried on fishing. I managed to hook and lose another before I hooked a half decent coalie. This was landed and returned and then it was time to head back.

It was a fun couple of hours but slightly disappointing to find the mark populated with big pollock, the ballan wrasse was a nice find though and I hope to get back soon to see if those big corkwings have returned!

The next day I had some time in the morning so I popped down the coast hoping for a crack at the bass. I was at the mark by 08:30 and for once I had it to myself, the conditions looked good with a slight swell running and a slowly flooding tide. I rigged up a Lunker City Ribster in Arkansas Shiner on a #2/0 10g jighead and began working the lure in the channel. Things were very slow for the first hour and it was hard to work the lure back without it picking up loads of suspended weed. As the tide began to flood stronger the weed began to clear and I was soon into a small bass which took the lure very close in. A brief fight and it was quickly landed, photographed and released and I quickly followed it up with another around the 40cm mark.

First bass of the session fell to a Lunker City Ribster...

...as did the second!

The fishing went quiet again for another hour and I swapped rods to my shimano Yasei dropshot rod as I was keen to experiment with it to see how sensitive it was. While my savage gear dropshot is definitely more sensitive I could still feel the lure working as I bounced it back along the sea bed. I was then joined by another angler who on his first cast manged to hook my lure, both of us got annoyed and we argued over whose fault it was. After a while we resolved our differences and had a chat about the fishing, John said he had found one of my lost Slug-Gos complete with jighead, he had tried using it but hadn't had any joy so he gave it back to me which was a nice gesture. I rigged it up and cast it out while saying to john that my biggest bass had fallen to a Slug-Go here. I then got a tip wrap and had to put the rod down while I released the line from the tip ring and when it was freed I picked up the rod and a bass grabbed the lure. This accidental dead sticking of the lure had done the business and a nice bass of 45cm was landed after a good fight. This fish was taken for the table and with that I called it a day and said cheerio to John and headed back to town.

A long lost reclaimed Slug-Go worked its magic on this 45cm bass.

The fishing may have been quite slow to start with but it was great to get some bass again, I just wish they had made an appearance during the Cornish Lure Festival!

Tight lines, Schogsky.

A quick perch pick me up.

Work has been pretty dull since I returned from my ten day trip down south and whilst I've certainly been enjoying the hot weather during the day when I'm not there the last few nights it's been awfully hard trying to get to sleep. This meant I was in two minds about going fishing yesterday evening with Jake as I had a few things to do as well as feeling pretty tired. Despite this I decided to go anyway and after picking up Jake and driving west we were soon on the shore of Loch Lubnaig, our favourite perch venue and perhaps one of my favourite places to fish due to the stunning surroundings. We fished for a few hours and had a great time as usual catching lots of beautiful perch in the process.

I had a couple of perch from the weeds in front of these rocks on my go to Lake Fork Live Baby Shad in Golden Shiner fished on a 3.5g #4 jighead.

Jake was fishing a bigger Lunker City Swimmin Ribster on a 10g #2/0 football jighead in the hope of singling out some larger specimens. He also brought an unhooking mat. We talked about using them more often, even for saltwater species, as we believe fish care is important if you practice catch and release.

With the unhooking mat beneath me I figured out a good way to present my catch to the camera safe in the knowledge that should the fish fall it wasn't landing on rocks. Another good reason to use one.

Jake admires another beautiful Loch Lubnaig perch.

I prepare to land another feisty fish.

I figure out a one handed way to hold a perch to show it off in all its glory.

We released a few of our fish via a small stream that ran into the loch. This gave us the opportunity to take some cool "Jaws" shots. This one shows the power of the fish as with one swish of its tail it creates a wake and heads at speed back towards the loch.

Jake managed to resist the temptation to go smaller and lighter for a change.

No need really as the perch were loving his Lunker City Swimmin Ribster.

When he wasn't looking I stole a Fish Arrow Flash J lure in Black Gold out of Jake's bag. Cool lures that look like minnows and sit horizontally when fished on a drop shot rig due to an air pocket inside. That's exactly how I caught this perch.

Drop shotting a Lake Fork Live Baby Shad in Sun Perch also proved irresistable. You can just about see it in the back of this perch's mouth!

Catching a load of these pristine perch is hard to beat and to be honest we weren't even really trying that hard!

Jake got the heaviest catch of the night after bullying this lump up from the depths.

I caught this little chap on a Live Baby Shad in Pink & Pearl, again stolen from Jake, and whilst experimenting with a retrieve twitching pattern I'm calling "The Pink Panther". He bought these pink ones due to all the fish he's had with his Jackson Cymo in pink. The success of my new twitching pattern caused me to go a bit "Kenneth Williams".

As darkness fell and the moon shone in the sky we reluctantly headed home rather pleased with the evenings exploits.

It was really good to fish with Jake again as apart from briefly meeting up for an hour or two down in Cornwall it's been a over a month since we have fished together and I must say I had a nice relaxing time fishing, enjoyed a good chat about what we'd both been up to recently and it was just what I needed really. I was glad I'd made the choice to go.

Tight lines, Hutch.

LRF : Bass.

After my last foray for sea bass turned into more of a wrasse hunt, I needed to get back and see if I could find some bass. My time off coincided with a lovely warm day and a rising tide, so rods and tackle were quickly stowed in the car and off I went! On arrival I went with my go to bass lures, Lunker City Slug-Go and Ribster mounted on a 10g #2/0 football jighead, I chopped and changed between them for a couple of hours but there was no interest. I had been seeing lots of very small sandeels about so I decided to reach for my beloved LRF gear and quickly rigged up a little 5g Maria Mucho Lucir metal jig. I began to cast and jig it back in and on the very first cast I saw two schoolies chasing after it before turning away at my feet! Filled with hope I recast and jigged it back towards me where upon it was seized by a small bass which after a thrash about was quickly landed.

This was a better sized fish than my last bass and went just over 38cm on the lure forum ruler.

Small metal trumps soft plastic.

A couple of pics and back the fish went, leaving me to recast and see if I could tempt any of its bigger shoal mates. The change to a smaller lure had certainly paid off and a further couple of small bass were caught and released before the shoal moved off. Things had been quiet for about an hour when I saw two bass literally right below my feet working along the ledge I was standing on. With no cast required I just dropped the lure down a rod length out and gave a couple of jigs. I watched the jig flutter down and saw a silver flash as a bass grabbed the lure hooking itself in the process! The rod hooped over as the fiesty little bass tried to make a run for it but it was quickly and rather unceremoniously hoisted up to my waiting hands. It was again a small bass only about 35cm but fun none the less on the light gear! With the fish quickly released I carried on casting the jig about but the only action I received was foul hooking a load of sandeels! There must have been a big thick shoal about 30m out and when ever the lure came into that area it came back with a sandeel attached!

After an hour or so of no bass I decided to rig up a dropshot rig to see if the corkwing wrasse were about. A #8 hook, 8lb leader and a 5g weight were all that was required and I eagerly cast out and began to hop and shake it back towards me. After a couple of casts I started getting little nibbles, I paused and allowed the lure to drop down gently and when the fish pulled the rod tip over I struck. The fish turned out to be a rather angry little blenny who gave me a couple of nips after it was unhooked! I carried on for another half an hour winkling out a couple more blennys but seeing as there were no wrasse about I decided to call it a day and head back.

Blennies, you got to love them or Hutch won't be happy!

Although it was fun to catch some bass and some cheeky blennies, I was a bit disappointed there were not any wrasse about as believe it or not I prefer the fight of a wrasse to a bass! Still it's early in the season so I can only hope for more wrasse to arrive soon.

Tight lines, Schogsky.

Summer species start to show.

A couple of days after our Scott and I went perch fishing I managed to get back to the coast, this time I was hoping to find the perch's spiky cousin, the bass. Conditions seemed perfect as it was calm, warm and the tide was just starting to flood. I rigged up my 7-25g rod with a 4.5" Slug-Go in Arkansas Shiner and mounted it on a #2/0 10.5g football jighead and began to search the slowly flooding tide. I tried bouncing the lure along the bottom as well as swimming it through the water column but it proved a  fruitless exercise. I then swapped to a Ribster as they are a little bit smaller and if the bass are feeling picky then a smaller lure can sometimes illicit a response. I must have worked the lure about for an hour before I swapped to a Swimmin' Ribster as again it is a bit smaller than the Ribster and also throws out more vibration. I worked the lure with a sink and draw retrieve allowing the lure to fall with its tail wiggling enticingly through the current. After about twenty minutes of searching I felt a small tug on the lure as it was dropping through the water, I struck then had to reel like mad as the fish ran towards me. The fish came in very quickly and I was delighted to see a silvery, spiky shape break the surface, my first bass of the year. It was very small but at least it was another species added to my 2013 tally and after a quick photo I slipped it back.

First bass of 2013, small but fun!

I carried on for another half hour or so before I got bored with the lack of action and reached for my LRF gear. I rigged up a dropshot rig with a #8 offset worm hook, 8lb leader and attached a 7g weight. This was rigged with some gulp sandworm and I began to cast out and bounce and jiggle the sandworm back to me. It didn't take long before I was getting some interest and a few small rattles quickly turned into a hookup and I landed a small nicely marked pollock, another addition for my 2013 species hunt!

Rather unbelivably this is my first pollock of 2013! Nice vivid honeycomb marking.

I released the fish and began to fish the same area and again it didn't take long before a felt a sharp pecking at the lure. This bite excited me as I could instantly tell it was wrasse, I let it peck away at the lure and waited for it to pull the rod tip over before I set the hook. Sure enough the rod tip arched down and I was hooked into a feisty little ballan wrasse which did its best to get into the weedy ledge below me before it was landed.

The ballan wrasse patiently waited in a small rockpool whilst I got my camera ready!

I love wrasse and this small ballan had me grinning from ear to ear!

I quickly unhooked and photographed the fish before releasing it and quickly went back to the same spot. A couple of casts later I felt the same pecking at the lure and hooked into another little wrasse and as it came up I could see it was a corkwing.

A stunning little fish indeed.

I love these colourful little wrasse and this one was no exception with colours that would put a parrot to shame. I quickly unhooked and weighed the fish which came in at just over 4oz, a specimen fish for Scotland. Still it needed to be a bit bigger to break the record, which is one of my goals this year, so I'll just have to keep targeting them. I slipped the fish back and quickly followed it up with a plump much darker  corkwing that may have been a female that also had some wonderful green colouration.

This plump corkwing also came in at just over 4oz.

Drop shotting Gulp! Sandworm did the business again.

That was to be the last fish of the session but I was really pleased to catch my first bass of the year and even more so the wrasse and with them arriving back inshore its a sure sign summer is here!

Tight lines, Schogsky.