Ah well, the short version is “not a lot to report”, but I’d a good day out anyway, and there were a few fish around as well.
I didn’t fancy the sea lochs this weekend, and Dunbar looked to still have a northerly swell running, so I decided to give the south west a shot instead. I couldn’t be bothered hauling the Warrior all the way down there just for a day, especially since I didn’t expect fantastic fishing, so I packed the inflatable in the boot of the car and headed off about 5 a.m. The plan was to spend a few hours fishing Luce Bay off Ardwell and then swap across to Port Logan and see if there were any haddock about.
First task on arrival was to extract a few lugworm from the bay before heading out – Ardwell’s not the best spot for worms, but it didn’t take too long to get enough for the day. Then it didn’t take too long to get the Avon sorted out for the morning, so I was soon heading out onto a very calm Luce Bay with only a hint of a breeze.
I did a slow troll out to the southern side of the bay, in the hope that something might be interested in a Rapala, but only picked up a modest sized coalie so I didn’t carry on for too long. Next up was an anchored session to see what was swimming around the sandier ground – answer, doggies and plenty of them. A couple of small thornbacks also put in an appearance but that was all. Another slow troll inshore with a string of feathers produced no interest at all, so I dropped the anchor over some rougher ground and tried again. Same result as the first time, with a series of doggies but without the bonus of any rays. Enough was enough, so it was round to Port Logan for a second try.
There was a little more wind, but nothing to worry about so it was out towards the mouth of the bay and try a bit of drifting. Things were desperately slow to start with, with nothing but snags on the drift at the edge of the bay, and no sign of plaice in the bays north of Mull Head, so a couple of hours passed with nothing to show for it. Heading out a little further produced a couple of mini-codling and an octopus and the tide seemed surprisingly slack, so I decided to head out to the banks a couple of miles offshore for a final session before heading home. I wouldn’t normally take the inflatable out here, but with little or no wind and a slow tide the fishing was pretty easy and the sea pretty much calm. Fish came almost immediately and a succession of smallish whiting, haddock and a couple more codling took worm and fish baits, together with a mini-ling and another two octopus. I wasn’t using mackerel lures at all, but there were a good number of large shoals of fish showing off the bottom, so I’d be surprised if mackerel weren’t around in numbers.
Grand total for the day, just under 20 LSDs plus a around the same again in small coddies/whiting and haddock. And 3 octopus – my best day with them for a while FWIW.
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