Video from yesterday

Loch Ken -Perch, Bream and Pike from Martin A on Vimeo.

A day where one GoPro battery just wasn't enough!

Feed them- they will come

Not much I could do wrong yesterday. I decided to anchor up and let the fish come to me. The forecast indicated it would be windy and at points it was, pushing 20mph from the NW, it was a good call.  I did the same thing once last year, early season and the results were ok.  Stewart and I did the same two years ago and also from a boat last autumn. The action was non-stop when we found the fish.

The tactics were simple- dropshot worm and lure over a bed of maggots. When Stewart and I fished this spot last year we didn’t see a Bream all day. My thinking was the Perch gave them too much competition. The Bream were on the scene first, and then the Perch and they seemed to come and go in flurries. Considering dropshot isn’t a preferred presentation for this species, they scoffed the worms like there was no tomorrow. I alternated between lure and bait but the lure side of things just didn’t seem to be doing it for the Perch. When I’ve done this before and had them competing they seemed happy to hit the lure, on each occasion it’s also been the best fish of the day that’s came via this route.

 

By late afternoon I moved operation having had enough of the wind and the Bream. I only had one decent Perch which might have gone 2 pounds. My drysuit, rods, kayak and everything in it was a disaster zone. Messy this bait fishing! I’ve got some serious cleaning to do today at some point and I might need to take a chisel to my drysuit, Bream smear, yuk! After ten minutes, I was back in business catching fish regularly (minus the Bream) I decided to have a couple of drifts over the spot I had been feeding with a lure.

 

The best comes to the lure again

It was brief but brutal battle with the fish ducking for a snag, tearing off under the kayak and leaving me spinning around in the wind, just brilliant.

I worked a few trees/snags as I peddled back and momentarily thought I had hit the jackpot in extra time. About ten seconds later I realised it was a Pike.

 

This was one of my favourite spots for Perch last year. I’ve been here each time I’ve visited the loch in 2016 and not had a Perch. I think I’ve hooked this fish on every visit. The first time it came off, second time I think I possibly foul hooked it as there wasn’t a tooth mark on the lure. So this time after a quick picture I swam it upright in the net 50 yards away. Let’s see if the Perch relocate themselves, it’s a nice piece of real estate for a fish.

This structure extends a fair bit to the left of the screen coming together in a point and merging on the bottom. A good example of traditional sonar and downscan providng structure separation. Not so long ago this was cutting edge. When you have a look at what some people are running today it's now legacy tech. Still does a good job mind. I've saw this dotted with Perch which appear as little spots, most of the time in clusters of 3-5 fish.

A super days fishing. I'm feeling it today though, 13 hours on the kayak , well and truly rinsed.

 

 

 

 

Not that we’re competitive

Anyone who has fished out of Port Logan knows it has the potential to deliver a variety of species. On any given day almost any fish that swims in the seas around Scotland can be caught here.

I couldn't catch Wrasse for toffee but eventually managed one, Gordon's bogey fish was a Dab.

There were plenty of Haddock  when we drifted over the right type of ground.

We lost count of the Grey Gurnard we both caught. Who would manage a Red or Tub?

I got two Tub Gurnard before Gordon pulled this one back

The solitary and unexpected tiny Ling was one of the deciders!

 

Poor Cod, Cod, Whiting, Pollack, Ballan Wrasse, Cuckoo Wrasse, LSD, Ling, Dab, Tub Gurnard, Grey Gurnard, Mackerel, Thornback, Plaice, Haddock and Short Spined Sea Scorpion.

 

So Gordon took the honours on the day with a 14 to 12 victory and a total of 16 species to the boat. With a little more time and better weather in the late afternoon we might have got the total to 20.We didn't get around to  targeting any of the main predatory species but ended up having a laugh and a great days fishing scratching around for the small stuff. It was good to catch up with Gordon again and our trip of course, was not without incident! ;0)

 

 

 

 

Doubling up

Thankfully I managed to find the time to get a trip in, two in fact Saturday and Sunday. I decided to target Bass launching  late on Saturday afternoon just after low tide. I knew the tide cycle was just about at the bottom of a set of neaps, not a great prospect but I don’t know this area from kayaking perspective so it wasn’t a bad thing first time around. As I made my way along the coast I had my first contact with a fairly large sea mammal. I did get a decent look at it and referring back to some images it looked to me like a white beaked dolphin. Not particularly common apparently and especially not so close to shore, interesting just the same.

It didn’t take me long to get hooked up on my First Pollack which took a trolled Redgill Evo. Catching a few fish seemed to spark the interest of the colony of seals as they slipped off the rocks to come and investigate what was going on. At one point I seemed to be leading a small flotilla with two heads to my right on the inside and two on my left. I made sure the drag was set as I had visions of a snatch job, Power Pro doesn’t break easily and 15 pound strain and a tight drag would possibly be enough to unseat me at close quarters.

I picked up a few of these in the slightly deeper water and rough ground.

They didn't get any bigger and this one took a surface lure closer to the shore in the weeds

Some WW2 structure connected to the Mulbery Harbour project. I could see this holding some fish but not for me on this occasion.

 

As the tide increased in height there were more signs of life in the bay with some bait and a few terns. I think I fished it pretty well covering the weed beds and gullies but the only Bass I saw was a small schoolie that tried to sink my lure. What was interesting was that I saw a few Sea Trout as well.

 

I had another troll in the deeper water and had a few more small Pollack and a little Cod for some variety.

The next leg of the trip saw me sleeping in the car on arrival and then a 5.30am start.

 

I was itching to get amongst some big Perch, another thing I’ve not really made a start on this year. In fact any size of Perch had different ideas as 4 hours later I was yet to have a bite! I tried all my spots, drop shot and shads and I was about call it quits. This was pretty unusual for me here to be fair but gave it another move and caught one about 4 inches- a very late start indeed. This improved my moral a little so I fished with a little more focus and went on a late run of fish before the beating was over at 1pm.

Overall the fishing was a little disappointing but I won’t catch anything sitting at home or working. Great to be out again, till next time.

 

 

 

 

Dodging the showers

Where has the time gone, 1^st of July? After work sessions don’t really cut it for me but that’s all I had time for.

Some spectacular showers on the coast tonight. Thankfully I dodged all but one, not sure how I managed this as I seemed to be surrounded by sheets of rain and black clouds to my left and right. As the sun began to set it made for a nice backdrop with the low angle of sun breaking through the cloud emphasising the grey and pastel colours in the distance. A very cold start to July as well with two layers and a shell- fantastic!

It’s been two years since I’ve been here but things haven’t changed much. I’m still a seal magnet which told me there were probably a few a fish around.

 
I appreciated catching a couple of Bass tonight, yep, not very large but certainly welcome.  With the pace of life at the minute I can feel the season moving faster than I want it to.  I’m not sure being relaxed about my objectives is working for me… : 0)