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Well, back from another challenging week up north. Here's how the week panned out:
Day 1 (last Thursday) - arrived in time to capture a few fresh crab and go fishing. The south easterly wind gusting to 20 knots was unhelpful so we opted for the Mains of Usan, not the best mark but somewhere you could fish without getting washed away. First cast, two minutes, a codling about 2lb. Good start? As we all know, a fish first cast is sure to clean them out and so it proved because that was it, other than an undersized little one.
Day 2 - no change in the weather , except the sea had increased and the wind had turned to the east, excellent for January but challenging for August. We tried both Fishtown of Usan and the Mains of Usan and we had one fish between us.
Day 3 - No change in the weather so we tramped over the skeers to the south of Fishtown. One more codling for a days fishing........strangely and to Rod's annoyance all the fish have fallen to one of us. Had a night session on my own on the flat rock at Usan. The sea was wild, some of the rolls must have been 15 feet. I managed two small codling.
Day 4 - I drop Rod off at Usan because, guess what, the sea is still running from the east, so I leave him there and spend a couple of hours getting some more fresh crab to see us through the week. Happily when I catch up with him he's caught a codling so the blank avoided. We spend the afternoon on the Black Rock, which has more pots around it than I've ever seen and I manage a small codling. 4 days gone and yet to take a picture of a fish. Here's a few of the sea:
Day 5 - We wake up to a quiet day so we try the old and trusted Boddin Point, it's amazing how quickly the sea can fall away. First cast I get one about 4lb, second cast I lose a really good one and third cast I get one about 6lb. Another one followed.
Add a couple of wrasse and there's nearly 20lb of fish. Unfortunately Rod was fishless.
Day 6 - They always say that no two days fishing are the same and how right they are. Having gained some success at Boddin and faced with the same conditions we opted for the same location, only getting there a little earlier in the tide. There is a gulley fishable about half tide on the ebb and Rod got a codling out first cast:
He stayed in the gulley and then into the hole it feeds into, catching 4 fish to my none. The hole that produced all the fish previously now consisted of a continual flow of wrasse bites that continually pulled me fast in the increasingly shallow water.
I spend the evening with the spinning rod and catch a dozen mackerel within half an hour. The place is alive with sprats, seals and dolphin.
Day 7 - off early and stop at Coldingham on the way home. Rod is given the option of Castle Rock or Yellow Craig. He opts for the latter so off we go, across the beach, over the burn, up the cliff, along the tops and onto Deep Gut. I get a codling first cast Rod gets one next, then it goes quiet so I go off annd have a couple of hours at the Point End, ending up in the Lagoon where I have a wonderfully reflective hour, sun shining, sea gleaming, just like being a teenager again. Another codling sort of finishes everything off.
Day 1 (last Thursday) - arrived in time to capture a few fresh crab and go fishing. The south easterly wind gusting to 20 knots was unhelpful so we opted for the Mains of Usan, not the best mark but somewhere you could fish without getting washed away. First cast, two minutes, a codling about 2lb. Good start? As we all know, a fish first cast is sure to clean them out and so it proved because that was it, other than an undersized little one.
Day 2 - no change in the weather , except the sea had increased and the wind had turned to the east, excellent for January but challenging for August. We tried both Fishtown of Usan and the Mains of Usan and we had one fish between us.
Day 3 - No change in the weather so we tramped over the skeers to the south of Fishtown. One more codling for a days fishing........strangely and to Rod's annoyance all the fish have fallen to one of us. Had a night session on my own on the flat rock at Usan. The sea was wild, some of the rolls must have been 15 feet. I managed two small codling.
Day 4 - I drop Rod off at Usan because, guess what, the sea is still running from the east, so I leave him there and spend a couple of hours getting some more fresh crab to see us through the week. Happily when I catch up with him he's caught a codling so the blank avoided. We spend the afternoon on the Black Rock, which has more pots around it than I've ever seen and I manage a small codling. 4 days gone and yet to take a picture of a fish. Here's a few of the sea:
Day 5 - We wake up to a quiet day so we try the old and trusted Boddin Point, it's amazing how quickly the sea can fall away. First cast I get one about 4lb, second cast I lose a really good one and third cast I get one about 6lb. Another one followed.
Add a couple of wrasse and there's nearly 20lb of fish. Unfortunately Rod was fishless.
Day 6 - They always say that no two days fishing are the same and how right they are. Having gained some success at Boddin and faced with the same conditions we opted for the same location, only getting there a little earlier in the tide. There is a gulley fishable about half tide on the ebb and Rod got a codling out first cast:
He stayed in the gulley and then into the hole it feeds into, catching 4 fish to my none. The hole that produced all the fish previously now consisted of a continual flow of wrasse bites that continually pulled me fast in the increasingly shallow water.
I spend the evening with the spinning rod and catch a dozen mackerel within half an hour. The place is alive with sprats, seals and dolphin.
Day 7 - off early and stop at Coldingham on the way home. Rod is given the option of Castle Rock or Yellow Craig. He opts for the latter so off we go, across the beach, over the burn, up the cliff, along the tops and onto Deep Gut. I get a codling first cast Rod gets one next, then it goes quiet so I go off annd have a couple of hours at the Point End, ending up in the Lagoon where I have a wonderfully reflective hour, sun shining, sea gleaming, just like being a teenager again. Another codling sort of finishes everything off.
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