May-June 2013 Update - Various Locations

The reef at Torness at low tide

The lack of blogs has coincided with a new job but that doesn't mean I've not been wetting a line whenever I've had the chance. Rather than update loads of trips individually through a hazy memory into individual blogs, I'm going to roll them all into this one blog and provide details where I can recall them. Here goes.





St Abbs Harbour - 18/05

After some success with Pollock I was keen to return to the Harbour, but the weather wasn't playing ball.

Driech personified

It was raining when I arrived, requiring me to take shelter in some old outbuilding whose door opened when I was trying to keep dry.

Once the rain stopped, the wind made things difficult. An explore all round the harbour bore nothing and I cut the session short.

But not before discovering a seemingly abandoned gulls nest.



Loch Lubnaig/Falkirk Wheel - 23/05

Keen to give Lubnaig a shot I headed up for an evening session.

There are two permits for opposing banks and I opted for the western side which is looked after by the Forestry Commission. Knowing there are Perch as well as brownies and Char I decided on the spinning rod which was just as well as the wind was a little too stiff for casting flies.

I covered a fair amount from the southern tip upwards but didn't find a thing. In the face of the incessant wind I decided to cut my losses and head off home.

The Falkirk Wheel - we're not all trams and parliament shambles

Not content with one blank in the evening, on the way back I decided to have a quick thrash in the basin at the Falkirk wheel. Nowt.


Union Canal - 24/05

Heading out with all my kit but not quite knowing where I'd end up, I finally alighted at the Union Canal just to the west of Edinburgh at a spot known as Wilkies Basin.

Nice day for it, but no fish

I've heard of Pike being taken in here and had an offer once from a wee jack, but otherwise it's really living up to the tag 'looks better than it fishes'.

As usual I fished the entire stretch but couldn't find a fish. But I'm sure it'll get another visit at some point.


St Abbs Harbour - 30/05

In much better conditions I gave St Abbs harbour another go.

A bit more like it

The Coalies are as good as bankers here with a chance of all sorts of other fish like Pollock, flatties, Wrasse and many more no doubt.

I was in straight away at the harbour entrance and quickly hauled three small Coalfish up next to me.

Sample Pollock

The action tailed off though as the returned fish passed on the message there was a predator about so I began to explore around the outside walls of the harbour. This involves standing even higher and more precariously around the outer wall. I soon found another couple of willing coalies as I progressed around before trying the harbour mouth again from the opposite wall but still no more luck there. On the way back I hooked another wee coalie at the same spot as before making it 6 small Coalfis for the evening.


Dunbar Harbour - 11/06

There is a corner in Dunbar that I've been reliably informed held flatfish from 2 or 4 different species.

First ever flattie

I arrived at Dunbar intent on breaking my duck with these weirdly formed fish and found conditions to be excellent. I could see all the way to the bottom on a rising tide and began twitching some Isome along the bottom.

Second ever flattie

Soon I felt a little tremble and was into a fish which turned out to be a Flounder. I followed this up 10 minutes later with another and growing in confidence I almost immediately felt another bite. Expecting another flattie I was amused to find I'd connected with an aggressive wee Long Spined Sea Scorpion with two tone markings. He went back to patrol the deep and quite soon I lifted out my third Flounder.

Peculiar fellies

There were to be no more though so I decided to explore around the other side of Dunbar Castle to see what if anything it offered. I drove round to West Barns and started following the Biel burn for the mile or so until it joins the sea.

Likes his Ska

There were scores of small trout about, but nothing to get overly excited about.

Flounder number 3, come in, your time is up

Unless you're a Heron. I followed the stream all the way down to the sea and suspect it will be good for flatties or finnock in the right conditions.

Fish munching machine at work

Torness/Dunbar Harbour - 17/06

Spoiling for some Blenny action I went down to the outlfow at Torness and found I had the place to myself at low tide. I explored the whole reef but only located the odd fish in a couple of pools and couldn't get any to take my Isome.

The quickest Blenny in the pool

By the time I reached the breakwater another guy with standard Bass gear had appeared. As I lobbed my Isome down the hole next to the rock he was on, some Blenny action finally began. About 3 or 4 very decent Blennies came charging out with about double that number of small ones all looking to take my bait. Thinking a biggie had it, I struck and pulled out a little booger. Releasing him into another pool, I was back in the same spot.

PB, 6 inch Blenny

Again there was plenty of action. This time I managed to hook one of the bigger ones, probably not the biggest, but a full 6 inches long. Definitely a new PB. After a few near misses, the bigger specimens seemed to have grown a bit more suspicious and showed themselves a lot less.

The wee ones were beasting my Isome, although in time they too became more suspicious and I had to be more patient. I rebaited with a new piece of Isome and chucked the old shredded piece into the same hole, watching as it slowly sank. An inch or two off the bottom it provoked a renewed frenzy and a little bulb went on in my head.

With the weight of the jighead, my bait was plummeting to the bottom and taking them a wee while to work themselves up to the take. So I  lowered my hook into the water as if it was slowly sinking and it was met just off the bottom by a frenzied Blenny mob. I ended with 6 Blennies before it was time to head up the road to Dunbar where I was meeting a few mates later after their work for a session in the harbour.

Bonus Flounder

Arriving first I was able to pull another flounder out of 'flattie corner' and also lose a flatfish that was about the size of a limpet. Then a choir turned up and began singing Moon River. Can't say that happens too often whilst fishing.

Jolly entertaining

I then went to the rocks outside the harbour mouth to see what was about. Immediately I hooked into something half decent and was delighted to find a Coalfish measuring 14 inches. Another of the same size quickly followed, then another smaller one.

Example Pollock

After the initial success, the big ones seemed to move away, but I still managed to catch and release 7 in total. One last hopeful attempt was made on flattie corner without success as I happily toddled back to the car and headed home.

Rock in the sea with birds on it

6 Blennies, 1 Flounder and 7 Coalies.


Eliburn 26/06

First Rudd for a while

My first visit to Eliburn for about 3 months came about after H requested an evening session to use up some leftover maggots. Notoriously difficult to raise in the AM, this suited me fine. We arrived to find nobody else fishing and quickly set up at my favourite peg.

In no time we were under assault from the Perca Perca. On occasion the Perch Army would let a maggot slip through their cordon and we'd snaffle another species. I caught a couple of Roach, an Ide and a bonus Rudd, first one for a couple of years, with the rest of my 15 or so fish being Perch. Hutch motored off into the distance with over 50 fish, around 40 of whom were the stripy anger merchants.

Ducklings providing some fun

An excellent wee session, but once again, as Hutch mentions in his blog of the day, we were left scratching our heads at the blank experienced by 3 boys on the opposite bank. To reiterate, we were under assault by the Perch. I fail to see how it would be possible to blank in there in those conditions short of using a ships anchor as a hook. And even then...Genuinely perplexing.

30/08/2012 - Forth & Clyde Canal

Looking towards Kilsyth Basin

Time -
Water - Darkish but clear enough
Weather - Very nice
Method - Jelly Minnow/wire trace
Total - 3
Species - Pike (8.5 & 14 inch), Perch (8 inch)
Companion - H (inter-blog madness)

Three different locations were attacked: Falkirk Wheel, Kilsyth Basin & Banknock Lock.

Falkirk Wheel - Started off with a recent purchase of Jelly Sandeel on a weighted hook, but two factors elicited a change. Firstly I wasn't looking like taking anything, secondly, H sprinted quickly into a 2 fish lead using a wee Jelly Minnow. Borrowing one of the offending lures, I didn't take long to take a small Jack of 8.5 inches, probably a smallest ever!!! In the meantime I managed to lose an even smaller one as well as getting a little bit of interest from smallish Perch. The (bottom) basin itself held an impressive amount of Roach with some Perch in amongst them, although it wasn't until we ventured along the jetties on the opposite side that we started connecting with some regularity. Probably lost a couple of Perch & Pike each, one of the Perch extremely amateurishly, all no bigger than anything I successfully landed.

Inflow near Kilsyth Basin

I've used Jelly Perch's in the past on the Union Canal with a little bit of success, however their price and their (lack of) longevity curtailed their use. But I was well impressed with the minnows H gave me. The way they sit in the water when just suspended looks outstanding and I wouldn't be surprised if they would work simply suspended under a float, almost like a cross between livebait & deadbait, but with no baitfish being harmed.

H switched lures regularly and had much the same mixture of success and loss.

14 inch Pikey

Kilsyth Basin - Like the Wheel at Falkirk, I'd also fished here once before. Two guys were already in situ, one had a Perch livebait on but didn't appear to have much success whilst the other guy had apparently taken a Pike of about a pound and a half on his first cast. As they were at the inflow, we worked towards the basin itself. Access was a bit better than I remembered, but still a pain in places. H was working through his entire lure box including using some floating efforts that stirred a lurking Pike or two in the far margins, but couldn't add to his two Falkirk fish. With a smallish lure I wasn't able to cast too far, so worked the near reeds a bit. At the end of a retrieve I was dangling the minnow a bit from a reed overhanging the water when I though I'd snagged. However the lift produced a slightly more respectable Jack of 14 inch.

8 inch Perch

After working back to the inflow, we also tried the opposite side of the road bridge, which looked good, but didn't produce.

Banknock Lock - H had fished here previously on the advice it was stuffed full of Perch and naturally him and his mate had filled their boots with Pike.

On approach we passed an Artist painting at the picnic bench who enquired after the time. What a delight to be spending some time in such a lovely spot without having to worry about such trivialities as a timepiece.

View towards Banknock Lock

The canal was narrower than at Kilsyth and after a few fruitless casts, I fancied there might be a Perch or two staying close in to the lock wall. So I dropped the minnow down and slowly 'walked' it about no more than a couple of feet from the brickwork and hey presto, I was into a Perch. Then it was off. The same tactic almost immediately paid off again and a perfectly respectable (by my standards) 8 inch Perca was on the bank. We worked along to the 'bridge' spotting some Roach and both getting some interest. Almost done on the way back to the car, H had one last hopeful cast and was into a Perch. 3-3 and an excellent way to finish an excellent days fishing.