Kyle of Tongue & Durness

I spent a couple of days in the NW of Scotland this week. Its a rugged and remote place which has good Sea Trout and some Bass fishing.

There are some pristine beaches that will throw up Turbot and Flounders.

As expected I was too early for the Bass so focused on the Sea Trout. I met one other local angler on my visit who took this picture of my first fish of the trip.

The weather was mixed with strong Northerly winds which took out the beach options I had. I fished the Kyle and Naver estuary as well as a trip over to Durness. The estuary fishing  unsurprisingly is focused on short tidal windows 2/3 hour sessions.

When the weather allowed it I had some sessions on the beaches on the more sheltered bays I could find. This is where I hooked played and lost a beast of a fish on my first night. The water quality is great and I lost count of the amount of fish I saw following my  lures when the light and waves allowed me to see into the water.

Tactics due to the weather were long casting lures to cover the water some of which I have painted one side white to dampen the flash and provide a more natural look.I also added some mother of pearl glitz and with the action of the lure moving this it got a lot of attention. They dont look much but apart from the pencil bait second from the left they are proven ST catchers with a Danish background and have a great action, compact profile and cast for mile on my 8 strand braid.

Sea Trout can be difficult at times and I switched lure profiles, colours and  added a teaser on the dropper when the weed allowed me to.You need to be sensible especially at the Kyle on an incoming tide and its not advisable without intimate knowledge of the tides/heights

To target Sea Trout you need permission. This  can be obtained from the Ben Loyal Hotel in Tongue for the Kyle, the Store in Bettyhill for the Naver and Martin Mackay in Durness for the Kyle of Durness. The tickets cost buttons. I took one fish for my supper which was superb so if you visit make sure you keep yourself on the right side of the law.

The bottom Kyle is heavly corrugated with some deep ruts, this little chap got out there eventually.Peter the angler pictured above explained that the fish sit in these ruts as the tide drops. Some of them are pretty deep in points but overall its a shallow area.

I'm not great with a camera but if thats your thing and apart from the landscape you have a lot of opportunity

If you thinks it's right it probably is

It's harsh environment sometimes. One of my favourite films and this scene is one reason to stick to your guns if you think what you're doing is right. But its always healthy to ask a few questions....

The things people ask you about

Like anyone that has more than a passing interest and can get focused on their fishing they will get asked from time to time from non anglers, friends and family what do you do when you go fishing? What do you think about?

It’s an easy answer which is nothing really (Travel, Tide, weather, wind direction, time, disengage, engage, watch, repetition, colour, size, movement, light, moon, change, watch, keep moving, more repetition, take the beatings, enjoy the highs, look what you could have won, things break, things don’t work, that was a surprise, did anyone else see that? appreciation, satisfaction) Yeah not much really….

Slow evening..again

Not much to report, tried a variety of presentations, colours, styles, shapes and sizes but the tides and the continuing north easterly winds will not have helped.

These little  micro Savage Gear Nail lures look promising fished Scandinavian style on a Bombarda you can cover huge distances if you need to but the fish need to be there and in the mood in the first place. In the end this tiny Sea Trout took a small 7g metal and that and one other bump on the Nail was it for the night.

Lynne bought me this Patagonia Retro X vest at Christmas and its ideal for this time of year being wind proof it keeps the core of your body warm but enables unrestricted movement. Ideal for the amount of casting you do in a session. I like their gear and while I'm not into buying brands for the sake of it their kit is as good as it gets in my opinion. Not sure how their eco policy sits having previously made the MARS system for the American military quite a strange partnership really.

Perfect camouflage

I picked this up on a bait meant for Turbot in the NE of Scotland last year

Jack Crevalle

Having watched Robson Green this week its got me in the notion for Mexico again. I was there in 2000 and in 2010...good times.

As you can see below you can do ok without spending much ( on fishing anyway) . I took this on a little Megabass lure, one of the best scraps ever on what was a four piece Mullet rod. It went on for a while and covered hundreds of yards of beach, you can see the rocks where I hooked it in the distance. It was so far offshore on a run that when Harold walked by he couldn't believe it  "dis is ze fish ?" in his English/ German accent. This was also the first day of a storm that turned into a hurricane which wrecked the last two days of the holiday. The pictures don't do it justice as the rain was horizontal and straight at me I could hardly see...what a buzz this fish was a thug!

Nothing doing

The estuary  seemed devoid of life tonight having got that feeling within about five minutes I shouldn't have stuck at it for 2.5 hours.It only needs one decent fish to change the outcome but tonight was not the night. The rain over the last 24 hours having maybe pushed the fresh fish up the system and they ones that fancied feeding up out to sea, who knows? Back to the hotel and no winners juice for me tonight : (

Tick tock...

Some things don't have a battery and have no idea know what GMT is or use Outlook to set them a reminder.

For the last five of the six years I've lived here they have arrived on the 23rd of April, uncanny really. I noticed the date the first year as it was a friends birthday. It's a sure sign and a natural marker summer is just down the line sometime very soon.They were late this year. Might cut them a bit of slack as they don't use public transport, have a passport or wear a watch. The humble Swallow has arrived. I asked myself why today especially on a damp day in Ayrshire. Then again  they've been doing it longer than I've been here so must have reason enough.

Spin stop style

I put some homework into practice tonight with a variation on an old method.

A long day for me today having been in Aberdeen I made a pitsop in Disco City on the way home  but it was worth it. I went 2 from 3 in three hours including this mint fish below which I intially thought was a small Grilse it was so silver and almost spotless.

Tay estuary ticket

http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/a2z/fishingpermits/

Only....

Never post about music as a rule and this song has been about for a while but  always wanted to go to SXSW

Cold morning...no fish

I cleared a heavy frost from the windscreen this morning and set off at 6am and with hopes high after watching a fishing DVD late last night.

The waves deposited no bounty today. Only one sign of interest from a fish that followed the lure right to my feet, paused for a second in the back tow of the wave and then about turned and was gone.

I did see some Gannets working in two places which is a good sign and there have been some Mackerel caught in two places that I know of so the season is moving on despite the sharp overnight frost.

Time to wash the ST metals down and keep the hooks sharp for the next session.

Sea Trout Action in my underwear

I'm away from home again...one night, one suit no trousers to fish in! I got organised last night but forgot to pack a pair of strides so i left the hotel with my leaky breathables and my boots on....nice look going through reception.

I have to say it was a bit chilly when wading especially with a few leaks in important strategic areas such as knee level. I could have opted not to wade but why come home dry when I never do ??

3 from 5 tonight best fish around 1 1/2 cracking scrap with lots of jumps.

 I've decided to try and take better and more interesting pictures if I can. Here are a couple of standard pics

(I will post them up when I get back home) I also have another video clip, not much better than the last. I might get a Go Pro camera set up at some point, would be great for getting some Sea Trout video action and would be spot on for surface fishing for Bass in the months ahead. The Olympus is hanging in there but with it getting a dunking in saltwater its only a matter of time.

I used the HPR for Sea Trout for the first time tonight, really good. The outfit certainly put the 18g Hansen Fight lures out there and the whole outfit has a nice balanced, smooth and sensitive feel to it.

First Bass of 2012

I hooked up with a few guys from TLF today for an overdue session with the prospect of a few fish into the bargain. Prospects were ok but the water was a little dirty and we hoped that it would clear as the tide rose, it did and we got a few fish. There was actually a fair amount activity at a few points with some Bass showing up in patches on the surface chasing sandeels.

So it was good to eventually meet you face to face Richie, Jason, Jake and Scott I 'm sure we'll get a few sessions in here and there over the coming months.

A different angle part 2

Another snippet where the anglers hooks a double shot of Sea Trout !

You've got to get up to get down

Headed north with work today then back south again, pit stop disco city. For some reason  a 7ft  Savage Gear  was found in my boot... 3 nice fish from 4 offers tonight then home. I managed to press record on my camera this time. The new Scandanavian metals seem pretty good, even caught a fish on the jaffa pattern that I bought for a laugh, its got a mental action.


Here is the 1st little chap about a pound.

I took a picture of this fish and a little bit of video and then my camera just about died.

The lures that did the damage with the Merlot that might just do some damage as well ....

Gear- 7ft Savage Gear Bushwacker

Daiwa Caldia 3000 & 10 pound Copolymer and some Norse metal

I've not used the HPR for Sea Trout yet but might give it a run out on my next session. Its 9ft and casts 5-28 so it should put the light end lures out there better than the whacker.

A different angle

My mate Rodney put me onto these videos a couple of years back. I also had a discussion with Jim Hendrick in Ireland about them last year. Jim commented that it made it look easy, we both laughed and agreed that reality is very different from the movies. Having been in touch with a couple of people who have been to Denmark they confirmed that the sea is not strewn with Sea Trout.  It does however look tempting.

I need the water to warm up and some Bass to arrive soon before I get involved :-)

1 from 9 on the ST

A bit more activity out there today and it’s the first time I’ve seen any baitfish this year. It was a nice day for fishing mild with good cloud cover that helped extend the morning session a bit and a nice light wind. I also saw two fish on the surface a good way off the beach so all in starting to feel a bit more like it despite snow apparently being on its way.


I put in 5 hours today and went 1 from 9 on the Sea Trout. Only one of the 8 other fish felt the hook and it nearly gave me a heart attack. The last thing you should be doing at the end of a retrieve is day dreaming which is exactly what I was doing. I was watching some ducks when the fish hit me with about 12 feet of line from the rod tip and the fish went vertical straight away at about eye level to where I was wading, probably 5 pounds. I’m unlikely to see another fish like that for some time but that’s fishing!

I had this fish earlier in the morning on a copper and red Pilgrim spoon. I guess it’s about 2 pounds. I took some nice video of the release only to find out I hadn’t hit the record button


The balance of the action came by way of follows and boils. An enjoyable day made more so by the fact that it was a Monday.

That time of year again

For the past few years at roughly the same time of year I've found myself looking at the satellite sea temperature model for the Irish Sea. So being the 1 st of April here it is and as usual at this time of year I wish the nice orange colour was extending up the east coast from Wexford in Ireland around the Isle of Man and up and into Luce Bay but its not, so I'm off to dry my eye's and deal with it...

As you can see the gulf stream water has to circulate Ireland and sort of meet up. As much as I like Ireland it would handy at the moment if it was located about 500 miles north. Here is the 24th of April last year for comparison, still a long way to go till June and 11 c

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.

Tay day Salmon

The lads from the club had a day on the Tay on Friday. Stuart organised this with gillie Colin, good day plenty of laughs along the way as usual.I got into a fish within minutes of starting pictures taken by Eddie as I was playing the fish. Unfortunately when Colin put the fish in to the net it slipped back out and left a hook in the net and the fish was gone. This resulted in some lighthearted abuse from me as well as some incoming from the rest of the guys in our party directed at yours truly.Rodney managed this super fish a 12 pound spring Salmon. The method ?? A Decoy Bachi jig head he borrowed from me used with a black and red firetail jelly Pollack lure.....

Coast to Coast today

Went to an east coast hot spot today to try for the first Bass of the year. It was -3.5 in my driveway and the NW that was forecast seemed to be on plan for later today. Anyway when I arrived the wind was there as well as 4-5ft swell and lots of dirty water. I tried a couple of lipless vibration baits which were probably the only option...no joy. I met some decent lads who were down to target Bass on the fly. We had a chat exchanged some banter and headed off our separate ways... nice to meet you, will check your blog out.

I then headed  off somewhere north  for for two hours at new mark Rodney put me onto after gaining some knowledge from an old timer who is no longer with us. Neither of us had fished it to date but I think that may well change . No doubt its a decent prospect as I had two follows where I had to sweep the rod left to keep the lure working before both fish turned away and these were better than decent fish at that. I also had two separate boils at my lure as well as seeing a fish splash. It was only 40 minutes away and given this was about 1pm today in bright conditions I think you will see some posts with some nice ST caught from it soon.

South Uist

If you fancy something different or can cast a fly check out South Uist. The cost of travelling by ferry has come down somewhat due to RET- road equivalent tariff.

There is some super Seat Trout, Brown Trout and Salmon to be had. The sea angling is just about not done at all. I used to spend my summers up here as a kid and have had holidays up there all too infrequently where I scratched at the surface of the potential. The east coast is deep and the west coast has some fantastic sandy beaches which now hold Bass. There is a cracking tidal race on Benbecula where my cousin Ian and I caught Tope from the shore. Its just really interesting water which screams Bass to me nowadays. Unfortunately the last time I was up there in January was for my aunt Audrey's funeral . She will be sadly missed by us all and I have a lot of good memories of her doing her best to look after both me and Ian as she constantly tried to make sure we were fed watered and washed as we tore about the local beaches an lochs without a care in the world... good times.

If you have your head on and can deal with the weather and environment you will get your rewards.

John Kennedy & Ian Kennedy South Uist- Google them if you want to catch Sea Trout, Salmon and some special Brown Trout fishing. I have included a link from a visiting angler that I just came across.

http://www.fish-wild.co.uk/articles/features/1201-eight-days-in-south-uist

Ian pictured above didn't catch the fish above but did ghillie it... be warned if he has a rod in his hand and you take a break he has the annoying knack of catching fish like this. Good angler and good tier of flies and with the exception of his father probably knows as much as there is to know about the loch fishing up there.

Soft plastic nonsense

This is one good reason to have breathalyser software on your Paypal

Over the last few months I've been buying a few bits and bobs here and there so when May/June comes the spending will be done and the fishing can begin in earnest. I just hadn't realised that so much had been lying around in a variety of small packages in the tackle emporium that is " the garage" Wide gape hooks, weighted jig heads, Wave Worms, Hart Absolute's and the Xlayers, Illex Gambits and Nitros from last year to make up the numbers. To be fair most are pretty cheap which is just as well.

The good news is I've not bought any more hard lures and wont be...don't need them. I will be back out next weekend if the weather's right I will hopefully have something to post.

Only one team in Ayrshire

Had a day out at the League Cup semi final yesterday and there was some banter to be had with some of my Ayr sea angling club mates.

It took an extra time goal to beat the "Honest Men" The pictures got worse as the day went on so sorry about the blurred images of the female contingent of our party of merry supporters. It was probably how the actually appeared to me at the time....out of focus and furry around the edges

Welcome to 2012!

Not much been happening fishing wise so my blog has been neglected. I missed the last club match of 2011 as a result of day surgery on the 28th of December but don't think I missed much due to the weather.

Feeling a little stir crazy so will be out an about within the next two weeks. My blog is now into its 4th year and in 2011 had over 4500 hits and strangely I thought a good number of these from some far flung places...worldwide!

I don't foresee as many posts in the coming year as I had over 90 fishing sessions/days last year and as it stands I don't see that number being repeated this year.

So thank you to all those that have shown an interest in the blog and all the best for 2012

Cheers

Martin