On Yer Marks Too - Luce bay & Port Logan (9th & 10th June)

[jeff]

Hi All,

Just had a fantastic weekend up in Scotland on Ian Burretts charter boats.

Two of us fished "On Yer Marks Too" skippered by Mally.

On the first day we chose to fish for Tope. Having caught some Mackeral, Mally set us down on one of his Tope Marks. After a short while we started to get the odd run but the fish were just dropping the bait. My mate got a fish only to lose it on the way up. He kept bringing his gear in and right on the surface a Tope of about 20lbs grabbed his mackeral bait and dived. After a short play it let go again so he was left excited but gutted at the same time. Following some runs and bait drops my rod went, (well.....Mally's did. I broke my rod tip and had to borrow his). I hooked into the fish and have never experienced anything like it in my life. With the rod buckled over and the fish taking line from the reel it felt like I was holding on for dear life. After what seemed like an eternity I boated a fish of about 25lbs.....got to say I thought I was bringing in a Killer Whale....what an experience....!! I think I now understand why people get "hooked", (no pun intended) on Tope fishing.....!!!

My mates turn came next. After a similar fight he landed a 20lb fish. He's still smiling now...!!!

Whilst the fish are not the biggest, (compared to some Tope veterans) it's certainly the best fight i have had for a fish..........especially as the gear we were using was lighter than that used for our usual Cod & Ling wreck fishing out of Sunderland.

Towards the end of the first day the skipper took us to a Pollock mark as we said we wanted a bit of extended excitement and do something a bit different. Using 35g Spinning rods and Abu5500 reels we were casting shads into a reef for Pollock. Again, we were not let down. We ended up with about 50 fish to 7lbs and some better fish lost due to our gear not being able to keep fish out of the rock and kelp. Great sport......!!!!!

Day 2.......we fancied something different and asked the skipper if we could go on a species hunt. As is usual with Ian's Charters the skipper was only to eager to please. He set us a target of 13 species over the day and actually named what they should be. We were then given advice on each mark as how to fish in terms of lures and baits and I have to say I learned plenty that day. It just goes to show that you can teach an old dog new tricks, (I'm 35 today).

We ended up with some nice fish.The pick of the bunch being a Cuckoo Wrasse for my mate...........lucky git. The list was--

Launce, Macky, Herring, Cuckoo Wrasse, Whiting, Codling, Dab, Grey Gurnard, Pollock, Coalie, Dogfish. The only one two we missed were Haddock and Conger.

Whilst this type of thing may not appeal to all it made a good change and proved to be quite an angling education. The way we were shown to catch Dabs was quite different to anything I've seen before but meant we landed fish within 1 minute of arriving at the mark.

Whilst not trying to sound like an advertisement, I recomend if you haven't been lucky enough to fish the area on a boat to give Ian Burrett and his team a go. You won't be left wanting. The attitude of the skipper was first rate and refreshing.The fishing........ simply outstanding.

We have already booked another 2 trips.....!!!!

Cheers,
Jeff.

[KeithB]

Great stuff Jeff, Happy Birthday!!!

[alan]

Excellent Jeff,thats a canny list of fish you's landed,well done

[davsut]

Hi Jeff, great report and great fishing. I take it you were out of Port Logan on day two? surprised your were not targetting plaice and huss from there as there are some great marks in that area. Did you see any Basking Sharks?, they used to be common in the eighties when I used to fish there.

Cheers

Davsut

[jeff]

Hi Davsut,

Yeah...it was Port Logan on day two.

Bull Huss have been hard to come by around that side we were told.........when we tried to fish for plaice in the usual marks there was either not enough drift or too much depending on the mark. When we got out there we also found our worms were knackered and were left with just crab, macky and sandeel as bait so our options were slightly more limited than originally planned. I think I'm going to have to get one of those car fridges to keep bait fresher for longer. Cooler boxes are only good up to 24hrs.

I didn't see any Basking Sharks either...in fact thats my third boat trip in that area and I haven't seen one.

Were you around the pubs in Drummore on Saturday night....?

Cheers,
Jeff.

[davem2005]

Jeff,
I was fishing east tarbet whilst you were out of logan. A shore angler on the mull had a basker swim into his line and clear his spool. I was out on the boat and did not see it though.

Cheers
dave

[davsut]

Hi Jeff, shame about the worms as the plaice in Ardwell bay come in canny sizes, have had them up 7 pounds. It depends on the tide but there used to be some good lug by the pier in PL, and all the rag you could want at Stranraer. The car fridge sounds like a good idea. Better luck next time with the Huss as they also make good sport. Me in the pub in Drummore? in my dreams, I was home in Gilling in deepest North Yorkshire, more's the pity.