What with lockdowns and life generally, it’s over a year since I was afloat on Etive. I finally remedied that last month with an overnight trip with Ian. The local swans hassled for a payout as we launched at Taynuilt and headed out into a calm loch. We planned to camp well up the loch… Continue reading Etive Spurdog – and a Hot Tent Overnight Camp
A Corkwing for Corkwing (finally)
The early part of October saw me out on Ian’s Raider, fishing out of St. Andrews. The pollack and cod played a little hard to get so we ended up spending 2 or 3 hours chasing wrasse. Ian’s hard-dug rag proved highly successful and a rapid succession of small to middling ballans appeared alongside the… Continue reading A Corkwing for Corkwing (finally)
A Couple of Late St. Andrews Reports
I’m way behind in writing up my fishing reports, so the next couple are a pair of late summer/early autumn sessions out of St. Andrews. I’ve still got another three or four to catch up on! Mackerel “Mackerel – no problem, there’s tons around!” I exaggerate Ian’s words slightly but you have no doubt already… Continue reading A Couple of Late St. Andrews Reports
Exploring Rum, Eigg and Skye
The Small Isles – Rum & Eigg When the wind and sea allow, I like to take a longer trip in the boat. Normally I potter around doing a little fishing, a little fossicking about and quite a lot of general chilling. Generally that means somewhere up the west coast of Scotland, usually exploring one… Continue reading Exploring Rum, Eigg and Skye
Sea Fishing Off Dunbar
I’ve not had a day out sea fishing off Dunbar for 10 months, so I was well out of touch. To try and rectify this I slipped the Longliner into the harbour on a quiet Monday morning a couple of weeks ago. Edging out of the harbour my first target was to catch a few… Continue reading Sea Fishing Off Dunbar
Wrassling at St. Andrews
I was debating what to last weekend when Ian dropped me an email suggesting a trip out of St. Andrews with Trevor. The forecast was for a fine sunny day but with a stiff westerly breeze – not perfect, but much easier than an east wind. We duly met up on the harbour pontoons, after… Continue reading Wrassling at St. Andrews
East Coast Haddock
Normally icy winds blow across the steppes north of Peterhead but today was an exception. Sunshine and light winds promised a fine day afloat and the thermals were left behind. Ian and I were up visiting Trevor to pinch some of his local haddock and top up our freezers. Trev was reporting good numbers from… Continue reading East Coast Haddock
Galloway Weekend
I’m falling behind reporting things, as Galloway Weekend was almost three weeks ago now, at the beginning of June. It’s the first time in two years that we’ve managed to spend time there, so I was looking forward to the trip. Reality rarely matches the fantasy of tope, bass and smoothounds but there’s no harm… Continue reading Galloway Weekend
Spring Codling on the East Coast
St. Andrews appeared a bit more cheerful than the last time I visited, away back in the early winter. Ian had caught decent numbers of codling over the previous week, and they were our main goal for this afternoon/evening session. I haven’t seen a cod all winter so was looking forward to some tasty spring… Continue reading Spring Codling on the East Coast
Rannoch Trout – an Overnight Catch and Cook
I’ve been fairly busy since lockdown ended but I haven’t been camping for 6 months now. Even longer since the kayak got wet, so it was definitely time to do something about that! Rannoch Moor is a wide expanse of heather and bog, covered with small pools and shallow lochs. The main road to Fort… Continue reading Rannoch Trout – an Overnight Catch and Cook