Start of the nonsense

First mini species of the year. Having gone down to get some water for my ragworm I couldn't help having a quick dangle to see if there were any Goldsinny or Corkwing Wrasse around yet. The tide had just started to come in but on my visit today there was nothing around except these little chaps ( Common Blenny). Species 4 for the year, said I wouldn't do this again this year :) only42 more to get to beat 2011!

Loch Ken

I had a day trying for Pike and Perch aboard Stuart's boat on Loch Ken yesterday. Its the first time Stuart's managed to skunk out on this venue. Despite it looking warm it was actually pretty cold with a brisk northerly wind and the spawning season possibly cooling down the predators appetite. That was the excuse that we agreed on at the end of the day as you do... the other being it was my fault being a newbie here.

Stuart in desperation deployed " the ultimate one" as you can see its quite a lure but this too failed to provoke a response. The only interest that we had was a Signal Crayfish which took a ledgered Mackerel bait that Davy was fishing. These things appear to be a menace of plague proportions introduced to the Loch they are an invasive species originally from the USA. It seems unlikely that the proposed commercial fishery that might address the problem will be agreed. Greed would get in the way over common sense and set a precedent that would see other people follow suit and introduce the Crayfish as a potential revenue stream.

Sea Trout out'nabout

Managed the first ST of the year tonight with a quick session heading south on the way home from work tonight. The fish showed itself and predictably ( for a ST in the sea anyway) took the lure first time when I managed to eventually put a cast on its nose after snagging the lure and then wrapping the line around the tip at the end of the previous cast. Having made a meal of covering it I thought it would have been long gone. Will put the pic up Thursday as I cant find my cable tonight, looked about a pound and half.

I'm looking forward to making the most of my estuary ticket for the Tay this year. Roll on May when that particular sytem should really get going for lures

Loch Etive Club match 24th

Enjoyed my day out as the weather was fine but the fishing patchy. The attendance dropped a little but Jamie and John were joint 1 st with 7 and 4 fish respectively and I was 3rd with 6 fish. I was missing one decent fish to bump me up....

Species caught were, Spurdog, Thornies, Cod , Whiting and Gurnard

Here is a link to the report and another blog I administrate for my club.

http://ayrseaanglingclub.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00Z&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=18

Football or fishing.....asked again

Having asked this question before ....

Today football is the winner for 75% of the my hometown of Kilmarnock where good days are few and far between football can be life , community and history. With industry down the pan unemployment high and hope is something that rhymes with dope and programmes like "The Scheme" promoting the bad side of Killie its good to see a wee town on top

Celtic 0 Kimarnock 1

League Cup Champs!

A women in waders that can actually catch fish

http://www.whatacatch.net/show_about_kathryn.asp

Holiday + cruise channel on Sky fishing got a wee bit more intersting

Kathryn Maroun my new best fishing buddy

Butter fingers

The form book was not torn up today with no new pictures for the blog...

I am however getting closer and actually put my hands on two fish today getting wet up to my elbows in the process. I fished a dropping tide for Sea Trout and hooked two fish within a couple of minutes of each other. I tend not to carry a net so with both the fish beached I got between the fish and the sea on each occasion only for them to wriggle unbelievably in about an inch of water and shake the hooks out. The fish were just short of a pound each I guess and their tactics at wrestling were spot on Fish 2 - Martin 0 amateur hour on the beach for me as they both slipped out my hands heading seaward from whence they came. Good laugh just the same but the nets going next time.

Chasing ghosts

I had a wander in the moonlight last night, nice night to be out. After two hours of flogging the water chasing ghosts it was time to head home. Its been a lean start to 2012. Nobody said it was easy....3 sessions 2 blanks and a close but no cigar for my efforts.

Club prize giving

There will have been a few sore heads this morning, my own included....

The species trophy I picked up for 2011 is a beauty and the picture here does not do it justice. Its made of Dingwall scalloped edged glass engraved with a variety of species of fish. It made the time I spent catching the 45 Scottish saltwater species worth it. This was a new trophy sponsored by Willie Kennedy Plumbers. For last year it was combined for boat and shore for 2012 it will be the shore only as Willie has donated another and we will run a shore and boat award for this in the year ahead. The silverware was the shore championship and the shield was for the pairs which I won with Jamie.

Top night was had by all. Lynne did here normally good version of Bobby Brown - My Prerogative on the karaoke which was a total disaster. I did my own version of Coldplays -Yellow which was apparently confirmed as OK but it was the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning( never a good sign)

Lynne also bid £65 for a signed Ayr Utd so that her brother Brian a massive Killie fan could set fire to it. Just as well she was outbid as we were in the Ally McLeod suite at Ayr Utd when this was being spoken about. Brian was also with us so it was a close call.

The river....

From around the age of 8 the river Irvine was where I spent a lot of my time on my own throwing Mepps and flies( in hindsight) to the mostly elusive Brown Trout in the Hurlford and Kilmarnock stretches of my local river. The recent trip to the Tay while a completely different animal in terms of scale brought back a few memories of how therapeutic it can be. The repetition of casting and watching a lure swinging around in the current can be hypnotic and when things go your way it gets smashed wide open as the rod in your hand jolts in to life......

I think I'll try and get back up in March chasing the state of mind that got me hooked in the first place.