I know this joke is a bit long in the tooth now, but Fraserburgh really is a pretty chilly spot much of the time. However, once or twice a year I head north for a crack at Trev’s haddock – and a growing population of common skate 🙂
A late tide meant it was almost 11 before we threaded our way out of Rosehearty harbour. Robbed of my Freezerburgh jokes by calm seas and clear skies, I could only enjoy the sunshine.
After picking up some decent sized mackerel we ventured a little further to the haddock grounds in around 50 metres. Although the occasional larger fish turns up, most are pretty small – but plentiful! We kept some better specimens but the large majority went back to grow a bit bigger.
Unlike previous trips, we caught almost as many whiting as haddock, a species I could do without. Gannets and gulls quickly grabbed any that didn’t swim away quickly!
There were a few other odds and sods – a ling for Trev and a couple of codling plus a smattering of dabs. Ian could catch a dogfish in a goldfish bowl, and he maintained his King Dog title with the only LSD of the trip.
Local commercials working mackerel shoals close by treated us to the sights (and sounds!) of masses of gannets grabbing an easy feed.
Skate
After a few hours of haddie bashing we opted to try for some of Trev’s pet skate. Even here we encountered good numbers of haddock and had the plenty of action as we waited for the big girls to show up.
Finally Trev had a great screaming run which jolted us awake – but the skate threw the hook after a few seconds 🙁 Thirty minutes passed before his ratchet complained again as another skate was tempted. No mistake this time! The usual tug of war commenced as the hook was driven home.
A minute later and Ian’s rod also doubled over as a skate grabbed his bait too. I was a mere spectator 🙁
After a few minutes however, it became clear that both of them had hooked into the same fish. This was a decent skate but it stood little chance against two experienced anglers and heavy gear. A matter of minutes later it appeared alongside Trev’s boat. She was a nicely coloured female, comfortably into three figures – as almost all skate are on this mark. We didn’t take her aboard and simply released her at the side of the boat.
By now the sun was sinking fast, so we didn’t hang around too much longer before heading for home. I think I finally made it back to Edinburgh around 1 in the morning!
A long day trip, but a great looking day out, well done. You should have taken a tent?
I’d have died of frostbite 🙂
Just the way the tides worked out really – a late start and a late finish this time around. 20 years ago I’d have managed just fine and cheerfully skipped into work a few hours later stinking of decomposing haddock…