A couple of weeks ago I headed off to Skye, armed with just a spinning rod and lures. My plan was to try a few different marks around the island, with a couple of overnight camps chucked in.
Despite leaving before five, it was nearly eleven by the time I snuck into the little carpark at Kilmaluag Bay. Sorting out my fishing and camera gear, I set off to my mark.
Surprise at The Aird
I wanted to cast a lure on a few spots around The Aird, on the northern tip of Skye. However it quickly became obvious that much of the coastline was unfishable due to a decent swell rolling in, so I shifted a few hundred metres westwards.
I bagged a coffee as I watched the waves for a few minutes before hitting the rocks. Armed with a heavy spinning rod and 60g Dexter wedge lookalike I started chucking lures seawards. Deep water and a run of tide meant a good wait until the Dexter sank to the bottom!
However, pollack and coalies soon obliged and I picked away happily. Their size was disappointing but it was good fun, even if the biggest just scraped over the 4lb mark.
Prize of the afternoon went to this lovely looking cod, which came as a complete surprise. I’ve never caught one from the shore on Skye so it was a slight shock when it surfaced! Luckily for him, the catch’n’cook session was planned for night two, so he was returned safely to the water.
One downside of autumn fishing are the lengthening nights. I’ve never fished Staffin before and didn’t fancy finding a tent pitch in the dark. Therefore I packed in around half-four, heading back to my car and then down the road a few miles.
Faffing at Staffin
A modest yomp along from Staffin slip revealed a few camping spots that weren’t just tussocky bog. 🙂 I could also see another angler materialising out of the gloom, who turned out to be one of my YT subscribers. We updated each other on the day and Gary helpfully pointed out the way down the rocks. I then set up my tent whilst Gary did the sensible thing and headed off to a warm fire and a dram.
I’d planned a lightweight overnight camp, with dinner to match. This meant using a dehydrated meal left over from my Cape Wrath Trail hike instead of my usual campfire cremations. It was at this point it dawned on me that I’d gone more lightweight than intended. Knives/forks/spoons and sporks were all still sitting in the car. 🙄 🙄 My little Swiss army knife wasn’t going to help much either. Even worse, my hip flask was also AWOL. However, it was now almost dark and I was way too lazy to stumble back for them. Sandwiches and chocolate would have to do!
Defeat!
Next morning, and a couple of coffees later, I gingerly made my way down onto the rocks. A decent swell was still breaking but some parts were fishable in the falling tide. Being somewhat plump and out of practice in rock hopping, I took my time but was soon casting away into the white water.
I kept this up for another ninety minutes, as rain showers came and went and my boots filled with seawater. Nothing. Absolutely no reward except a couple of lost lures 🙁
Taking the hint I retreated to my tent and packed up, before fishing my way back towards the car. I gave it another couple of hours before admitting defeat. Total catch was a single tiny pollack (and I mean tiny).
I still needed a pollack for dinner, and planned to camp two hours away down the south of Skye. My dilemma was that I could go back to yesterday’s mark, catch dinner, but then probably run out of time to set up camp before dark. Alternatively I could head south and try marks nearer my campsite that might hold a few fish. I opted to head south, not least because I’d be more sheltered from the northwesterly wind.
A different Aird
“Down there” was actually the other Aird on Skye – the Aird of Sleat, about thirty minutes hiking beyond the carpark at the end of the road. Only about 2 hours driving from Staffin!
Here the sea was calm and clear – but I’d less than 2 hours to catch my dinner or lose the light… My first 30 minutes saw zip by way of activity, so I was getting a little anxious by the time my Westin sandeel finally got hammered. This turned out to be a perfect-for-eating sized little pollack which promptly got bumped on the head.
Over the next wee while I’d trio of larger pollack around the 4lb mark on the Westin. Time marches on however and before long I had to call it quits and find somewhere to spend the night.
On the beach
I pitched up at a stony beach I’d picked up on OS aerial photography. Not far from Leitir Fura, it lies directly opposite the Sandaig Islands I visited just a fortnight before.
Access involved hiking a forest track and then scrambling down through thick woodland to the shoreline. Luckily I found a little path down from the track, otherwise I’d have struggled to plough through the undergrowth.
The beach turned out largely as I hoped and was both deserted and very scenic. However it was studded with plenty of rocks, so thoughts of an overnight mooring in future were quickly shelved. Even finding a decent pitch proved tricky as everything was covered in shingle or thick mats of vegetation. In the end I settled on a slightly sloping site a little way above high water.
I collected wood from the beach and got a fire going to ward off the midges (this was the last day of September and there were still plenty).
Sitting alongside a chunky campfire and watching the stars, I discovered that pollack don’t taste too bad, even when cooked to near destruction! Mind you, I was near starving by this point 🙂
I woke up with the sun on my tent and lazed around for a couple of hours. Plenty of coffee and a two course breakfast! Eventually I forced myself into action, in order to get a final fishing session in before I lost the entire day. Hiking back to my car I reversed course back down to Aird again.
Point of Sleat
Today I wanted to try a headland guarding the eastern side of the fine sandy beach at Camas Daraich. This lovely little beach lies down very near to the Point of Sleat and needs a decent walk to reach it.
I didn’t follow that track all the way before cutting over a section of heather and bog to reach my mark. Definitely rough going! Eventually I made it and fished as much of the headland as I could over the next 3 hours or so.
I certainly felt cheated to extract just a single pollack for my efforts, although this was the biggest of my trip, at a little under 5lbs.
It was a beautiful day, with spectacular views in the sunshine – and definitely too hot to be yomping over this sort of ground!
I took the hint when one of the Mallaig creelers dropped a line of pots in front of me. With a long drive home it was probably time to quit 🙂
Despite slightly underwhelming fishing, I’d a great time adding a little more to my very limited knowledge of Skye. I don’t think I’ll leave it too long before I have another go at the pollack.
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