Stormtrooper
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2020
- Messages
- 287
- Reaction score
- 2,630
- Points
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- Location
- Herne Bay
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
Hi all. So after nearly 2 years of waiting due to Covid cancellations and such, my two cousins and I finally made it to Oban on Saturday 31st May.
Saturday night we fished a mark relatively close to our accommodation and as it started to get dark, I managed to drop a doggie on the edge whilst Ian caught a bright red kelp codling of about 2lbs. Both Ian and Dave also landed baby thornies soon after but our evening was cut short due to the midges.
I’d heard about them being an issue up here before but had forgotten all about it and was really unprepared for just how bad they’d get. I rarely suffer with bites from insects but my skin felt like it was on fire and it became insufferable for all of us.
The following day our intent was to drive round to Lochaline to have a proper go for a shore Skate but disaster no.2 happened. We got as far as the Corran but (apparently very unusually) the ferry wasn’t running!!!
It was just too far to drive around in the time we had so we were left with no choice but to turn back. We fished a few spots more local to Oban throughout the day and into the night but conditions dictated a very slow day indeed.
so far we’d driven 550 miles for very little reward and the mood was soured to say the least.
Nonetheless, we were up early on the Monday and the day was full of promise, we were booked on a charter out of Dunstaffnagh called ‘Blue Fin’. We met with our skipper, a genuinely nice chap called Roger who I must say was extremely professional and full of knowledge and experience. It was really nice to have the whole boat for just the three of us too. We motored out for about 25mins and finally came to our mark, we were told we’d be fishing in 150m of water!!
The sun blazed down and the sea was like a sheet of glass. Perfect.
The 1kg leads coupled with barbless 12/0 hooks holding whole (very large) mackerel seemed to take a lifetime to sink to the bottom. We each chose a rod and waited. It was so nice just soaking in the scenery and enjoying the weather with an air of anticipation over us.
About half hour passed when Ian’s rod buckled and the ratchet screamed at us. We all leapt to attention as he grabbed his rod and a butt pad was thrust around his waist.
The pull on the rod was phenomenal, all he could do was stand and watch the line strip off, holding on for dear life. After a short time, the fish slowed and he started making on it. Roger suggested he’d maybe want a different butt-pad, one with a rod harness/ clips. He declined, determined to land the fish with as little aid as possible.
He was doing a sterling job but I won’t lie, we all sniggered a little when after about 20mins he sheepishly asked Roger if he could have the harness after all!
Another short period passed as he continued to pump the fish and eventually we assisted Roger as he expertly brought the fish on board. He checked the skate for a tag and confirmed it had one, stating ‘new fish’ didn’t often get caught any more. We measured it and waited patiently for the conversion. At 90lbs it was by far the biggest fish any of us had seen, much less caught!! What a sight! Suddenly all the previous disappointments faded in to a distant memory and the trip lived up to all we had hoped it would, but we weren’t done yet.
Next up, it was Dave’s turn and he did a grand job of landing his first monster, a shade smaller at 85lbs but we were all buzzing. It all seemed so unreal.
A short time elapsed when my rod slammed down, fish on!! I couldn’t believe the power of the fish on my line, this was amazing... and tiring!
It made some great runs but eventually I got her to the boat and she was a beast! Smashing all pbs I could ever wish for, she came in at 127lbs, my first triple figure fish!!
We’d all caught our target now and were on cloud9, even Roger showed signs of relief that we’d all gotten on the score sheet. It wasn’t over yet though. Ian was next up this time with his second fish of the day going a respectable 45lbs. It’s funny, it seemed small but it’s still bigger than anything any of us had ever caught before.
Soon after the fish was released, Dave was into his second for the day but this one stayed down. He really struggled with it for quite some time and when we eventually landed it, we saw why. She was an absolute leviathan coming in at a staggering 211lbs!! We simply couldn’t believe our eyes, Roger told us it was the 2nd biggest he’d seen this year, the other just pipping it at 214.
The day went on and we ended up with 3 fish each, Dave final one also hitting triple figures at 132lbs. My other two were 66lbs and 77lbs whilst Ian had an 87lbs to complete his rout.
We got to the bar that evening exhausted but full of excitement and couldn’t help but hit the shore for a few hours.
Ian landed another baby Thornback whilst I mustered a couple more dogs. I had one terrific pull down but forgot to tighten the drag as I lifted in, it caused a slip on the reel and gave enough slack for the fish to swim off. It was a really good pull, possibly a big spur or maybe even a skate, I guess I’ll never know.
Tuesday morning came and we headed back to the marina for day 2 out with Roger on Blue Fin.
Praying for a day like the one before, we set out in anticipation. Things were slow to start, in fact, our first bite didn’t come for nearly 2hrs and despite the enthusiastic fight by the fish, it was our smallest of the trip at just 25lbs for Dave. Ian soon followed this up with a 37lber before I had a slight improvement with a fish of 55lbs. This was the 4th ‘new fish’ of our trip now which were all duly tagged and recorded by Roger.
Things got busy for a while after this with us having two fish on at once on a couple of occasions.
Ian landed a 46lbs fish whilst Dave battled in yet another monster of 182lbs, a truly awe inspiring creature.
Next up it was me again but this fish had other ideas, halfway through the fight, my rod snapped!! Left with no choice, I continued to fight the ray up from some 100m or so and miraculously managed to get him on board. A decent size male coming in at 117lbs. Roger very kindly let me keep the broken tip section as a memento of the occasion, I was proper made up!
All too quickly, the day was fast approaching the end but not before Ian had a final fish of 79lbs, Dave another of 68lbs and the final fish fell for me. Another male and a really strong fight, I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed not to land one the same calibre as Dave’s but as far as males go, it was still a good size fish and my biggest of the trip at 128lbs.
Too tired and burnt out, we all opted for an early night before the long drive home back to Kent early Wednesday morning.
Without doubt, this was the best fishing experience of my life and one I will never forget, even if I do some how better it in the future. All in all, we landed 18 skate (6 each) totalling 1674lbs!! My thanks go out to Roger should he ever read this, I can’t recommend a trip like this highly enough. It’s just a shame I’m back to normality already!!
Saturday night we fished a mark relatively close to our accommodation and as it started to get dark, I managed to drop a doggie on the edge whilst Ian caught a bright red kelp codling of about 2lbs. Both Ian and Dave also landed baby thornies soon after but our evening was cut short due to the midges.
I’d heard about them being an issue up here before but had forgotten all about it and was really unprepared for just how bad they’d get. I rarely suffer with bites from insects but my skin felt like it was on fire and it became insufferable for all of us.
The following day our intent was to drive round to Lochaline to have a proper go for a shore Skate but disaster no.2 happened. We got as far as the Corran but (apparently very unusually) the ferry wasn’t running!!!
It was just too far to drive around in the time we had so we were left with no choice but to turn back. We fished a few spots more local to Oban throughout the day and into the night but conditions dictated a very slow day indeed.
so far we’d driven 550 miles for very little reward and the mood was soured to say the least.
Nonetheless, we were up early on the Monday and the day was full of promise, we were booked on a charter out of Dunstaffnagh called ‘Blue Fin’. We met with our skipper, a genuinely nice chap called Roger who I must say was extremely professional and full of knowledge and experience. It was really nice to have the whole boat for just the three of us too. We motored out for about 25mins and finally came to our mark, we were told we’d be fishing in 150m of water!!
The sun blazed down and the sea was like a sheet of glass. Perfect.
The 1kg leads coupled with barbless 12/0 hooks holding whole (very large) mackerel seemed to take a lifetime to sink to the bottom. We each chose a rod and waited. It was so nice just soaking in the scenery and enjoying the weather with an air of anticipation over us.
About half hour passed when Ian’s rod buckled and the ratchet screamed at us. We all leapt to attention as he grabbed his rod and a butt pad was thrust around his waist.
The pull on the rod was phenomenal, all he could do was stand and watch the line strip off, holding on for dear life. After a short time, the fish slowed and he started making on it. Roger suggested he’d maybe want a different butt-pad, one with a rod harness/ clips. He declined, determined to land the fish with as little aid as possible.
He was doing a sterling job but I won’t lie, we all sniggered a little when after about 20mins he sheepishly asked Roger if he could have the harness after all!
Another short period passed as he continued to pump the fish and eventually we assisted Roger as he expertly brought the fish on board. He checked the skate for a tag and confirmed it had one, stating ‘new fish’ didn’t often get caught any more. We measured it and waited patiently for the conversion. At 90lbs it was by far the biggest fish any of us had seen, much less caught!! What a sight! Suddenly all the previous disappointments faded in to a distant memory and the trip lived up to all we had hoped it would, but we weren’t done yet.
Next up, it was Dave’s turn and he did a grand job of landing his first monster, a shade smaller at 85lbs but we were all buzzing. It all seemed so unreal.
A short time elapsed when my rod slammed down, fish on!! I couldn’t believe the power of the fish on my line, this was amazing... and tiring!
It made some great runs but eventually I got her to the boat and she was a beast! Smashing all pbs I could ever wish for, she came in at 127lbs, my first triple figure fish!!
We’d all caught our target now and were on cloud9, even Roger showed signs of relief that we’d all gotten on the score sheet. It wasn’t over yet though. Ian was next up this time with his second fish of the day going a respectable 45lbs. It’s funny, it seemed small but it’s still bigger than anything any of us had ever caught before.
Soon after the fish was released, Dave was into his second for the day but this one stayed down. He really struggled with it for quite some time and when we eventually landed it, we saw why. She was an absolute leviathan coming in at a staggering 211lbs!! We simply couldn’t believe our eyes, Roger told us it was the 2nd biggest he’d seen this year, the other just pipping it at 214.
The day went on and we ended up with 3 fish each, Dave final one also hitting triple figures at 132lbs. My other two were 66lbs and 77lbs whilst Ian had an 87lbs to complete his rout.
We got to the bar that evening exhausted but full of excitement and couldn’t help but hit the shore for a few hours.
Ian landed another baby Thornback whilst I mustered a couple more dogs. I had one terrific pull down but forgot to tighten the drag as I lifted in, it caused a slip on the reel and gave enough slack for the fish to swim off. It was a really good pull, possibly a big spur or maybe even a skate, I guess I’ll never know.
Tuesday morning came and we headed back to the marina for day 2 out with Roger on Blue Fin.
Praying for a day like the one before, we set out in anticipation. Things were slow to start, in fact, our first bite didn’t come for nearly 2hrs and despite the enthusiastic fight by the fish, it was our smallest of the trip at just 25lbs for Dave. Ian soon followed this up with a 37lber before I had a slight improvement with a fish of 55lbs. This was the 4th ‘new fish’ of our trip now which were all duly tagged and recorded by Roger.
Things got busy for a while after this with us having two fish on at once on a couple of occasions.
Ian landed a 46lbs fish whilst Dave battled in yet another monster of 182lbs, a truly awe inspiring creature.
Next up it was me again but this fish had other ideas, halfway through the fight, my rod snapped!! Left with no choice, I continued to fight the ray up from some 100m or so and miraculously managed to get him on board. A decent size male coming in at 117lbs. Roger very kindly let me keep the broken tip section as a memento of the occasion, I was proper made up!
All too quickly, the day was fast approaching the end but not before Ian had a final fish of 79lbs, Dave another of 68lbs and the final fish fell for me. Another male and a really strong fight, I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed not to land one the same calibre as Dave’s but as far as males go, it was still a good size fish and my biggest of the trip at 128lbs.
Too tired and burnt out, we all opted for an early night before the long drive home back to Kent early Wednesday morning.
Without doubt, this was the best fishing experience of my life and one I will never forget, even if I do some how better it in the future. All in all, we landed 18 skate (6 each) totalling 1674lbs!! My thanks go out to Roger should he ever read this, I can’t recommend a trip like this highly enough. It’s just a shame I’m back to normality already!!
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