Elsie May V1 2-3-4/11/07

[davem2005]

Well...as some of you may have read Jeff, Oblikta and me were supposed to be going sharking at scrabster for 4 days but windguru was predicting a 5 metre swell in that area and the skipper called it off.

So...since we had all booked days off for the trip we had a plan B. That was to take my boat to the west coast of Scotland. For the purposes of a public forum I will describe the area as "just south of Oban". If anyone wants exact locations PM me for details. This area is far more sheltered than scabster and a wind affecting scrabster would not affect this area.

The slipway I use is terrible to say the least but the tides were slack ( .9m ) yep...thats less than a metre tide flow! so arrival at high tide for launching is important. Once the boat is in I put it on a mooring untill its time to bring it out. The high tide friday was 10.30 am so we planned a 4.30 am departure...but a post on another forum informed me of the closure of the A83 due to a landslide and this meant an extra hours detour...3.30 start!

Day 1

Despite the early start jeff and graham arrived on time and off we went. We arrived with half an hour to spare for the tide so booked into a hotel in town , filled the tanks and launched the boat. All was set for the weekend.

The wind was coming from a SW'erly direction ...the worst direction possible for this mark...any other and it would be fine. We headed out and tried for mackrel at a known mark...nothing...but we had about 20 kg of frozen mackrel from the summer and during one drift we got about 20 coalies which make an ideal bait. We headed out about 3/4 mile to the chosen skate mark and dropped the anchor in about 410 ft of water. the chosen mark was about 1/2 mile from where I had previosly caught skate. Dropped the anchor and put out the rods.

Due to the high winds the anchor was dragging and this is not ideal for skate fishing...its far better if you can nail the boat down and let the fish come to you. But over went the rods and we sat back to wait. Baits were a variation of coalies and frozen mackrel. We did not have to wait long before one of the rods hade a bite which was hooked up by me and the rod handed to Jeff who was kitted out with the butt pad and harness. About 35 mins later he had a huge male skate at the surface which as I reached for the gaff slipped the hook. It was a 100lb + fish but annoyingly jeff never even got to see it as he was stood back in the boat but as I had hold of the hook trace we will count it as a "catch and release fish" of over 80 lb. Jeff had has his first skate and never even got to see it. Fortunately this was something that would be rectified very soon.

The wind picked up ...the sea got rougher and we decided to move to more sheltered fishing. We moved to an area sheltered behind some islands in 100' of water wich I am told gives many small skate...we maybe got the area wrong but it did not produce anything but doggie s and mackrel which where a welcome addition to the bait box. As darkness fell and after a long day we went back to the harbour and the curry house to reflect on the one that got away and the day in general. A few beers and an early night for all.

At this stage we had not got a single picture worth posting...things were about to change and when I have chance to upload them to a server I will continue the post as we still had two more days and one unexpected one.

All I will say is it gets better and then worse.

Cheers
Dave

 

[gazzawill]

looking forward to the pics and the other reports dave
keep them coming bud

 

[northeast1]

Gutted you never got out Dave, was looking forward to that shark catch report. Still it beats my day of being stuck at work.

At least you got out and caught some fish in the end.

 

[volante]

Dave,
If your having problems with the photos just send one of Jeff in the curry house, doubt if the guys have seen a 250lb er thrashing about in a feeding frenzy.

 

[jeff]

By jove.......Mr Volante has actually posted........!!!! After 4 years of lurking it's actually happened.

Wait for the photo's and full report mate........you'll be impressed.

We actually spent two nights in a curry house. I tempered my eating habits as I was in new company...!!!

Also, I've sent you a Private Message Mr Volante.

Jeff.

 

[davem2005]

Before I go onto day two there is the fine picture taken of the first pollock caught on the trip by Jeff.

He just needs to get the size thing right now.

The times on the camera are an hour out but you will notice how hectic the fishing can be when the fish do decide to feed

Day two dawned and the previous days winds had dropped and moved to a far kinder westerly direction. With the boat already tied up on a mooring it didn't take long to get out on the water. We failed to get any mackrel but we had some coalies from the previous day and some frozen mackrel we had taken with.

Skate baits are big

Normally the hook would be covered by a whole mackrel flapper but with a limited bait supply we initially used just one bait per hook.

The fish fish of the day was taken at 10.10 and since Jeff still hadn't got his photo he was harnessed up and played the first fish. Which he landed in a little under 1/2 an hour. A fine male fish of 88 lb

Mission accomplished as far as catching skate is concerned but whilst jeff was playing his fish another rod went and Graham was into another good fish. This is where it gets hectic as we still had a third rod down and the last thing we wanted was three fish on at once as you need one person to assist landing the skate. So my job was to wind up the third rod and get the boat deck cleared for bringing the fish onboard. This proved to be a female which went 188 lb according to the charts. BIggest fish brought aboard my boat so far

With the rods rebaited and down again another run at 10.55 it was my turn and I boated a huge male (they are smaller than the females) of 133lb.

Not a bad hours fishing with over 400 lb of fish landed.

At 11.45 another bite produced the much sought after ton up fish for Jeff. But it only just made it at exactly 100 lb

The last skate of the day was hooked at 13.20 by Graham and was another large male of 123 lb. No picture of that one.

After a quiet hour we decided to try for pollock/mackrel for the last hour, so a fast run across the bay to a whirlpool and after a slow start the action was soon good using shads and jelly eels (thanks mark )

It was time to head back to the pub and the curry house but not before being treated to a candlelit parade organised by the locals in honour of Jeffs first skate I think.

So onto the sunday. Once again the wind was kind to us but the forecasted 5mph southerlies were a 5 mph northerly. We headed further south than any of my previous attempts and dropped anchor. This time we had plenty of bait to use up so the rods went out with coalies and mackrel flappers and it wasnt long before one rod and then another had almost simultanious bites. IT turned out that the fish had taken both rods and with the efforts of me and Jeff and two 50 class rods it wasn't long before another huge fish came alongside. My hook had dropped out of it so it was credited to Jeff and went 187.5 lb on the charts.

After this the baits were being attacked by smaller species so we put out the bait rods and graham caught a nice 10 lb 12 oz thornback.

And I caught my first spurdog of the year. Not huge but a very pretty fish.

I will leave this post for now and finish the report later.

Cheers
Dave

 

[The Great Wallsendo]

Excellent story so far...keep it coming

 

[jeff]

I knew that effing Pollock would make it on here somewhere....!!!!!

Just realised why my nephew calls me Uncle Festa as well.

 

[STEVO]

Crackin reports and pics so far dave lookin forward to the final episode well done lads certainly a weekend to remember

 

[mick dunn]

Well done guys and some nice photos.

Mick.

 

[davem2005]

Jeff...you have to be credited with the quote of the weekend.

" I like skate fishing ...the pictures make me look slim"

So.. to finish the story. The wind turned southerly as predicted and we had to catch the tide on the slipway to recover the boat ready for the journey home. "Last cast " was called and a clean up started.

The sea became rougher as southerly is the worst direction for the mark we had chosen, but just as we had started to reel in the skate rods one of them had a slight knock.

Another spurdog attack?

I picked the rod up and the other two were being reeled in. The bite developed into a good hard tug and I wound down into the final fish. Grahams turn.

That is one of the best sights on a fishing trip.

This fish turned out to be unusual in that it had a very thick rope wound round its tail in about four half hitches. This had obviously caused the tail to rot and drop off. But despite this hideous wound the fish seemed very healthy in every other way.

Not a pretty sight but the fish was obviously feeding and seemed well in all other ways.

Since the weight of skate is arrived at by a measurement of width and length it was obviously impossible to put a figure on this fish but its width indicated a fish in the 180 lb region. The rope was removed and the fish returned.

So it was time to go. We motored back to the slipway and Graham and Jeff struggled to get the trailer down the slipway as one wheel was stuck. Its not unusual for the auto reverse mechanism to lock up and it was freed by towing it with the van. Recovery of the boat went well and we were on our way home.

We stopped after about 3/4 of an hour at Inverrary for fish and chips and the smell alone told me all was not well (and I am not talking about the two nights on the curry) The wheel was smoking and the hub was smashed...basically there was absolutely nothing holding the wheel on the trailer other than the brake shoes. We were certainly going no further that night.

So we found a very expensive hotel with off road parking as there was no other choice and made arrangements to get things home!!

At this point I would like to say a big thankyou to Elton and Mark. I got elton to send a message to Mark to ask him to ring me. I had been doing some work on his trailer earlier in the week and knew he had a spare. He offered it to us without hesitation and I arranged for my son to tow it up the next day.

We dropped the boat off my trailer onto a grass verge then winched it up onto Marks trailer and adjusted the rollers to fit. We then dismantled my trailer and put the axle and hitch in the van and the other bits in the boat ...sorted

Jeff and Graham set off home in my sons car as he had already driven for 7 hours that morning and we set off in the van. To add insult to injury about 15 miles down the road I got pulled by the law who were carrying out a spot check on trailers!!! I have towed for many thousands of miles and of all times to get pulled it had to be this day. They pulled me up on not having an orange bag on the prop and the engine was covering part of the number plate. I explained that the trailer was an emergency measure and fitting the lighting board had been the best we could do with the limited resources available on the side of the A83. Normally the board mounts on bars which bring it out beyond the engine but be warned it appears you need a prop cover on an outboard. Warning given and an otherwise uneventfull trip home.

On inspection today the trailer axle is totally scrapped and a replacement is 350 plus vat!! Oh and 3 to four weeks delivery...DON'T BUY AN INDESPENSION TRAILER...would be my advice to anyone considering a new trailer.

Well thats all folks...a good weekend spoiled by the trip home and shoddy build quaility by Indespension.

We still have the Sharking trip to re arrange but it is doubtfull if we will make it before xmas.

Cheers
Dave

 

[mark]

only too happy to help, your lad seemed none to happy coming out here in the dead of night then having to treck up to scotland to fetch you the trailer though.


nice to hear those jelly things actually worked a well seeing as I'm the accidentally proud owner of several thousand of em

 

[davem2005]

Mark,
He's 18 that = never happy.

He did enjoy the scenery on the drive though

The jellies certainly worked. I will be dropping the boat off the trailer onto some tyres as its 3- 4 weeks delivery on the new axle. I hope to get the trailer back this evening.

Many thanks.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Norman]

Well done Dave and Jeff & Graham, great post enjoyed every word and picture. Excellent few days fishing and all to the masterplan with the right fish at the right time in the right place ............ oh except for jeffs baby pollack of course

shame about the trailer

well done lads !

 

[mark]

its one of the greatest things about NESA, the people you get to meet, friendships made etc.

not often there's a problem that someone somewhere on here isn't willing to do what they can to help out

If it makes life easier I can come through for the trailer and give you a hand to shove it off. Gonna ring the RQ in a mo, to arrange a lift out for the boat, as its sold and on its way to Ireland this weekend, so can pick it up on the way through to the marina

 

[STEVO]

As norman has already said dave, enjoyed it all and many thanks for sharing it.. sorry to hear bout the problems on the way home

 

[KeithB]

Crackin read & great pics Dave, well done lads.

 

[davem2005]

Glad you enjoyed it.

The fishing up that way is superb and inexpensive ( apart from the trailer parts)

My next planned trip is for Easter when the nights have got longer so if anyone fancies giving it a go just let me know. It would be nice to get a couple of boats together for a road trip , and it isn't too difficult fishing given the right advice.

Something to think about over the winter.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Charlie_Thompson]

Fantastic post thank you very much

Sorry to hear you got booted off that "Strictly Come Dancing" programme Jeff :exclam:

 

[Oblickta]

Great report and pics Dave. I must confess to catching a smaller pollack than Jeff's but managed to return it before anyone got their hands on the camera.

The 188 skate and the double thorny were both PB's for me so I was chuffed to bits. I'd like to add that in spite of the last fish missing half it's tail, it was the hardest fighting skate I've had to date. Maybe the lack of tail power encourages the fish to flap harder with it's wings or maybe it was just a plain nutter, who knows?

Many thanks to Dave and Jeff for a great weekend and also to Mark and Paul for their help