Latest Fishing Reports: Scotland
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22/12/2013
Fishing Report by dominic wilson
on Dawn Venture (Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway)
22 Dec 2013 by dominic wilson
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managed another uptiding trip,again the predicted forecast was wrong and the wind gusted more than anticipated along with hail and sleet but we managed to lay wind with tide for the majority of the 8hr trip.
in the poor conditions we still managed worthy catch........1 cod @ 11.5lb / 3 cod @ 8lb / 6 cod @ 7lb and another 18 at 2-4lb.
I fished myself and had 9 cod for 19kg and lost a further 6 on the way up. only 2 of the cod were "gut hooked" and all others were hooked on the top hook of the pennel rig.....again the preffered top hook being 3/0 circle.
All baits fished but quality crab cart was definitely required as my catch rate was double anyone else and had I landed the other 6 I would have had a 4:1 ratio in favour against the next highest catching customer
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12/2013
Fishing Report by reg lewis
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
Dec 2013 by reg lewis
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with our final trip of the year coming up one can only thank our skipper Kevin MacKie for some really good sport this year for our club members. Finding the fish doesn't seem to be a problem with good thornbacks, bullhuss and smoothounds prominent in our catches since july. New members and visitors alike are impressed with both the boat and Kevin's non stop activities making for a pleasant fishing trip while the old hands have never had it so good with such good baits to fish with. Looking forward to next years trips. Reg Lewis, sec Bold Sac.
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11/2013
Fishing Report by Kevin McKie
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
Nov 2013 by Kevin McKie
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November 2013
Species caught: Cod, Dab, Dogfish, Pouting, Thornback Ray, Whiting.
November has not been as good as previous years - it has been far too mild. There have been lots of 1lb+ whiting in the river and if you fish for them you can catch them all day long in certain places, along with dabs and the odd thornback ray. As far as the cod fishing goes it's still a bit patchy and there are loads of tiny codling in the river from 5oz to 10oz - these little fellas still manage to steal your cod bait on 5/0 hooks along with the whiting and dabs so it makes it harder to catch the better fish. But all these little codling is a good sign for the future stocks.
Notable Charter:
On 23rd November the lads just wanted to fish for cod all day as the conditions where perfect. We caught 17 codling, the best being 4lb 6oz, and we had 7 keepers - the rest where returned alive. We also lost 5 good fish as well, just didn't get a good hook hold. Better luck next time. View Boats Page
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01/12/2013
Fishing Report by dominic wilson
on Dawn Venture (Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway)
1 Dec 2013 by dominic wilson
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uptiding.....managed to sneak out after Fridays storm on the back of a swell forecast that was 50/50. however juris and his guys came up from derby for uptiding. early on with wind against tide made it nigh on impossible to fish with the boat swinging on the anchor but a move into 38ft of water and the first push of the flood saw 15 fish landed,biggest 9lb.
then it was a case of hunting for the fish!
we were out 7.30 til 4.30 and we managed 32 cod,biggest 9lb,3 at 7lb and the rest in the 1.5 - 3lb bracket.we also got a box of whiting,some the size of "bin lids"(about 2-3lb) and 3 jumbo whiting(2.5lb+)
no single bait was overly productive but calamari squid with a black lug "wrap around" seems to be taking its fair share...always handy to have some crab cart in your "back pocket" View Boats Page
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09/11/2013
Fishing Report by dominic wilson
on Dawn Venture (Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway)
9 Nov 2013 by dominic wilson
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uptiding is well established and this weekend we had 3 local lads out for uptiding under the cliffs at robin hoods bay and the lighthouse at hawsker.
squid and crab cart was the killer combination with nicky from Whitby having 10 cod for 36lb
this was the third of my "proper uptiding trips and by far the most productive....19 fish for the day with biggest at 8lb 7oz and it was a 5 hour trip.
all fish were hooked on the top hook of the pennel rig and the hook of choice is a 3/0 circle hook View Boats Page
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07/10/2013
Fishing Report by dominic wilson
on Dawn Venture (Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway)
7 Oct 2013 by dominic wilson
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summer summary.....a bit late in the year,but better late than never!
cod were scarce this year but the whiting made up for it in numbers and size(biggest 3lb!).mackerel turned up late and then in their thousands and then became sporadic...the latest I caught them in the boat was the 7th October and then poor weather finished them off.
ling came in vast numbers off the rough ground in late august til early autumn with a trip averaging 50 ling,mostly 5-8lb lots in the 10-14lb and the largest went 21lb 7oz (caught on a chrome Norwegian pirk with muppet and mackerel on the bottom....pirk was dragged! not worked,a favourite method of my Latvian customers)...we are now well into uptiding.....reports to follow.
fish statistics: largest of species caught
ling 21lb 7oz
cod 14lb 7oz
haddock 4lb 10oz
whiting 3lb
dab 1lb
mackerel 2lb 12oz
red gurnard 12oz
and all of these fish were caught inside 5 miles offshore!
less travelling,more fishing View Boats Page
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10/2013
Fishing Report by Kevin McKie
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
Oct 2013 by Kevin McKie
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Species caught: Bull Huss, Cod, Conger Eel, Dabs, Dogfish, Plaice, Rays, Whiting
Weather wise, October was not great. We only managed to get off-shore once; the rest of the charters were in-shore. The Cod only started to show in numbers during the last week of October. All of the trips in October were very similar with Rays to 8lb 12oz, Whiting to 1lb 10oz, Dabs to 1lb, Dogfish and the odd Cod up to 3lb. The Cod seem to be arriving later this year, roughly 4 to 6 weeks behind previous years - this may coincide with the Mackerel being late earlier this year.
Hopefully, November should see good numbers of Cod now that they have finally arrived. Things should only get better now as the cold weather persists.
Only a few days remain for November so book now! View Boats Page
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09/2013
Fishing Report by Kevin McKie
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
Sep 2013 by Kevin McKie
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Species caught: Ballan Wrasse, Cod, Dabs, Dogs, Flounder, Gurnard (Red, Tub & Streaky), Huss, Ling, Mackerel, Pollack, Poor Cod, Pouting, Sprat, Thornback Rays, Tope, Weaver and Whiting.
For the first week of September, Kev was away with the Bold Sea Angling Club fishing in the Shetland Isles for big Cod and Turbot, but the rest of the month saw some good catches on Brigand.
Although this time of year is ideal for wreck fishing for Pollack, the weather was not very favorable so we only managed to get to the wrecks on a few occasions. The remainder of the charters saw us mostly finishing in-shore.
If the weather permits, wreck fishing will continue during October in the hope to land the last of the autumn Pollock before they migrate for the winter.
Notable Charters:
On the 12th we had a party from Tasker’s Angling who fish with us every month. The plan was to go Tope fishing, but the Mackerel seemed scarce, so we decided to go wreck fishing instead as the weather was ideal. We had 16 Pollack from 3lb to 6lb, 4 Cod up to 4lb, and a Ling. When slack water arrived, we decided to drop anchor and spend the rest of the day bottom-fishing. This seen us catch a 29lb Tope, plenty of Bullhuss up to 10lb, Ballan Wrasse, Whiting, Dabs, Pouting, Poor Cod, Gurnard (Tub & Red), Dogfish, Mackerel and Sprat. We totaled 15 species in one day!
On the 29th we had a group of individuals on board. The weather conditions were not suited for off-shore, seeing strong south-easterly winds, so we had to fish in-shore around Burbo Bank wind farm and then in the River Mersey. We caught 4 Bullhuss up to 11lb 10oz, 8 Thornback Rays up to 8lb 5oz, Gurnard (Streaky), Mackerel and plenty of Dogfish, Whiting and Dabs.
Even though we didn’t get off-shore as much as we’d have liked to, the in-shore fishing is still very good. View Boats Page
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08/2013
Fishing Report by Kevin McKie
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
Aug 2013 by Kevin McKie
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August 2013
Species caught: Dab, Dogfish, Gurnard (Red, Tub & Gray), Huss, Mackerel, Poor Cod, Pouting, Sprat, Thornback Ray, Weaver and Whiting.
August was a slow month for Brigand due to Kev being on Holiday for the first two weeks, fishing for big Tuna in Canada. The weather also played a part, with the Mackerel being spread out in small shoals making them hard to find. Though once located, they were a decent size of 1lb to 2lb.
From August through to early October is a good time to catch big lone Tope but not many people fish for them. Lets hope the weather settles for September so we can get out for the last of the summer fishing.
Notable Charters:
On the 27th we hooked into a big fish, had it on for 5 minutes and could not stop it before it bit through 150lb mono. It would have to be a very big Tope to have done that, or it could have been a Porbeagle Shark. A similar thing happened to Kev last September, which suggests there are some very big fish out there this time of year but we won’t know what until we land one. From now on we will be using wire traces which will give us a better chance of landing one.
On the 28th, 7 members of Bold Sea Angling Club booked a charter and caught 18 Bullhuss up to 11lb and a Thornback Ray of 9lb. Also caught were Tub Gurnard, Dabs, Whiting, Mackerel and Dogfish.
All fish caught were returned to the water alive. View Boats Page
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07/2013
Fishing Report by keith gray
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
Jul 2013 by keith gray
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had a great day with kevin and the boys,, weather was great and so was the fishing, plenty of mackerel, dabs dogs whiting and a lot of stonking good bull huss averaging over 12lb each..good boat and skipper, lots of hot drinks and food as well,,,, would recommend this boat very highly,, cant wait to go out with kevin again,,,, 5 stars **************************************************8
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