Thunderpants
Well-known member
We have been planning a trip up to the borders for a while but have been waiting for the conditions to be right. Yesterday they were right. So me, Pete from Shields, Fishingmark and Outcast76 headed up for our first trip of the year. Light gear mainly lures but a little bit of bait. Me and Pete headed up early for a couple of hours at Pettico Wick looking for mini species. The water was nice and clear with only a very slight swell almost flat so it looked like we should be in for a good day. I didn't get any minis but Pete caught a couple of sea scorpions to get him started.
So we moved on and met up with Mark and Chris on the road back to the national trust car park where we parked up and walked to our next mark, Bell Hill. This was the first time any of us had fished that mark and getting down the steep grass bank (almost a cliff) was an experience. Very high, scary and slippy lol. We tried zig zagging down but ended up doing most of it on sliding down on our arses
Chris came flying past me at one point and but luckily managed to stop himself. Anyway, we made it to the bottom in one piece although Pete's bottle of pop had got lost during the decent.
It was about half an hour until high water so we set up on the rocks alongside the gulley. I put on a pearl white sidewinder and on the first cast I saw a lovely pollack come up from the depths turn and grab my lure then try to dive only for me to pull it in. First cast, first fish, 2lb 6oz. A good start. The next half a dozen or so casts I landed two more slightly smaller but still over 2lb. Pete and Chris were both getting pollack too with Chris losing a really big one maybe 6lb when his line snapped. Mark caught a lovely wrasse, a PB for him, on a piece of black lug dropped close in to the side.
The fishing quietened off after a while so we started on the daunting task of getting back up that hill. Weighed down with gear and a bag of fish the only way I could do it was climb up on all fours. I made sure I maintained three points of contact and slowly made my way up huffing and puffing while the other lads did the same. That is some climb if you are not super fit which we were not Amazingly about two thirds of the way up I almost put my hand on Pete's missing bottle of pop so it was saved! Eventually we all hauled ourselves up onto the path. My face was so red you could probably see it from the village. Time for a sit down.
So a quick lunch break then we headed to Eyemouth to fish the Cannons mark. I put bait out on one rod (Mackie and bluey) and used various lures on another rod. The other lads were on the lures. The Pollack were there and we could see them coming up and turning away but just couldn't seem to hook them. Pete landed a nice two pounder and also lost a good one when his hook straightened. I had something on the bait rod which came off as I tried to drag it through a bunch of kelp. That was it for this mark. What a load of pollacks! We met Regpude who was bait fishing with crab and pulling in some nice red cod. Nice to meet you Reg.
The tide started coming in so we made our way off the mark while we still could. Mark and Chris headed off home, so me and Pete went to the most excellent Eyemouth chippy then headed for an evening session at our last mark. Due to our legs aching from the previous marks we decided on the easy access shot that is St Abbs harbour. A couple of hours spinning up to last light. There were plenty of small fish about and we were both getting undersized coleys and pollack. I caught a particularly unusual looking coley which had lots of small spots a bit like a trout and a greenish colour from living in the kelp. Pete ended up getting the fish of the day with a small spinner and his LRF rod ... a 4lb 10oz Pollack! A cracking fish and a PB for him. He didn't dare try to lift it on his light rod so I climbed down and grabbed it for him. What a great end to the day.
So we moved on and met up with Mark and Chris on the road back to the national trust car park where we parked up and walked to our next mark, Bell Hill. This was the first time any of us had fished that mark and getting down the steep grass bank (almost a cliff) was an experience. Very high, scary and slippy lol. We tried zig zagging down but ended up doing most of it on sliding down on our arses
Chris came flying past me at one point and but luckily managed to stop himself. Anyway, we made it to the bottom in one piece although Pete's bottle of pop had got lost during the decent.
It was about half an hour until high water so we set up on the rocks alongside the gulley. I put on a pearl white sidewinder and on the first cast I saw a lovely pollack come up from the depths turn and grab my lure then try to dive only for me to pull it in. First cast, first fish, 2lb 6oz. A good start. The next half a dozen or so casts I landed two more slightly smaller but still over 2lb. Pete and Chris were both getting pollack too with Chris losing a really big one maybe 6lb when his line snapped. Mark caught a lovely wrasse, a PB for him, on a piece of black lug dropped close in to the side.
The fishing quietened off after a while so we started on the daunting task of getting back up that hill. Weighed down with gear and a bag of fish the only way I could do it was climb up on all fours. I made sure I maintained three points of contact and slowly made my way up huffing and puffing while the other lads did the same. That is some climb if you are not super fit which we were not
Amazingly about two thirds of the way up I almost put my hand on Pete's missing bottle of pop so it was saved! Eventually we all hauled ourselves up onto the path. My face was so red you could probably see it from the village. Time for a sit down.So a quick lunch break then we headed to Eyemouth to fish the Cannons mark. I put bait out on one rod (Mackie and bluey) and used various lures on another rod. The other lads were on the lures. The Pollack were there and we could see them coming up and turning away but just couldn't seem to hook them. Pete landed a nice two pounder and also lost a good one when his hook straightened. I had something on the bait rod which came off as I tried to drag it through a bunch of kelp. That was it for this mark. What a load of pollacks! We met Regpude who was bait fishing with crab and pulling in some nice red cod. Nice to meet you Reg.
The tide started coming in so we made our way off the mark while we still could. Mark and Chris headed off home, so me and Pete went to the most excellent Eyemouth chippy then headed for an evening session at our last mark. Due to our legs aching from the previous marks we decided on the easy access shot that is St Abbs harbour. A couple of hours spinning up to last light. There were plenty of small fish about and we were both getting undersized coleys and pollack. I caught a particularly unusual looking coley which had lots of small spots a bit like a trout and a greenish colour from living in the kelp. Pete ended up getting the fish of the day with a small spinner and his LRF rod ... a 4lb 10oz Pollack! A cracking fish and a PB for him. He didn't dare try to lift it on his light rod so I climbed down and grabbed it for him. What a great end to the day.
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