• Becoming a member is completely free!

    • Join the community and start contributing to a large source of sea angling information.
    • Become an active member and you can enter member exclusive competitions.

    REGISTER FOR FREE HERE

Kishorn Dock - a unique mark

Skaterboy

Skaterboy

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 15, 2021
Messages
944
Reaction score
7,098
Points
93
Location
Yorkshire
Favourite Fishing
Shore
In 1975 a huge 180m diameter dry dock was cut out of the mountain side on Loch Kishorn for the construction of North Sea oil rigs and the yard was in production until 1987 with a maximum workforce of around 3000 .When work dried up it remained unused until 1992 when sections of the Skye bridge were fabricated there. From 1994 the dry dock remained closed but the dock was tidal and was refreshed on every tide through two very large pipes in the fixed end sections of the dock gate. For many years small fish would enter the dock through the pipes. There was nothing to prevent the fish getting back out through the pipes and I'm sure many did but some fish took up residence and began to put on weight taking advantage of the constant supply of food through the pipes.

I first fished there in 2003 when I heard rumours of some 10 - 15lb cod being caught there. The site was closed but I discovered that a small number of mostly local responsible anglers were allowed to fish there and I was told where the secret hole in the fence was. On my first session I couldn't believe that the big fish would be inside the dock and I blanked fishing into the deep waters of the sea loch. That night my local contact suggested I try fishing inside the dock at one of the inflow pipes on the flood tide. I spent the next day fishing various lures at one one of the inlets and ground baiting with chunks of squid thrown into the inflow.I'd picked a few mussels off the rocks on the way to the mark so when lures didn't produce any fish I lobbed out a big mussel bait to the area I thought the ground bait would have been settling.

I started getting bites straight away and landing small codling with a couple over 2lbs. After another similar bite I struck into what at first felt like a snag but the snag started to move and I felt the typical thumps of a big cod. After a long struggle an obvious 20lb+ cod surfaced. I shouted to a couple of lads fishing the inlet at the other end of the dock gates and after a few dangerous moves we got the fish to the side of the dock where one of them could get down to land it. It weighed in at 23lbs and when I gutted it the stomach was full of the chunks of squid I'd been feeding in all day. In the 9 years the dock had remained closed the fish had grown to an impressive size. I spoke to anglers who had pollack to 12lbs and a local angler had several conger to over 40lbs.

I went back a few times in the following years and you just never knew what fish would be in there. The best cod I managed after my first success was 5lbs but sometimes the dock was full of coalfish and I had some great sport freelining strips of squid in the inflow and taking big bags of coalies to 6lb 8oz.

The dock has now been refurbished and is again being used for work on oil rigs. wind turbines and ship dismantling and no access is allowed. Even if it was the regular draining of the dock means that there will be no resident fish.
DSCN2720.JPGiimage069.jpg
 
Skaterboy said:
In 1975 a huge 180m diameter dry dock was cut out of the mountain side on Loch Kishorn for the construction of North Sea oil rigs and the yard was in production until 1987 with a maximum workforce of around 3000 .When work dried up it remained unused until 1992 when sections of the Skye bridge were fabricated there. From 1994 the dry dock remained closed but the dock was tidal and was refreshed on every tide through two very large pipes in the fixed end sections of the dock gate. For many years small fish would enter the dock through the pipes. There was nothing to prevent the fish getting back out through the pipes and I'm sure many did but some fish took up residence and began to put on weight taking advantage of the constant supply of food through the pipes.

I first fished there in 2003 when I heard rumours of some 10 - 15lb cod being caught there. The site was closed but I discovered that a small number of mostly local responsible anglers were allowed to fish there and I was told where the secret hole in the fence was. On my first session I couldn't believe that the big fish would be inside the dock and I blanked fishing into the deep waters of the sea loch. That night my local contact suggested I try fishing inside the dock at one of the inflow pipes on the flood tide. I spent the next day fishing various lures at one one of the inlets and ground baiting with chunks of squid thrown into the inflow.I'd picked a few mussels off the rocks on the way to the mark so when lures didn't produce any fish I lobbed out a big mussel bait to the area I thought the ground bait would have been settling.

I started getting bites straight away and landing small codling with a couple over 2lbs. After another similar bite I struck into what at first felt like a snag but the snag started to move and I felt the typical thumps of a big cod. After a long struggle an obvious 20lb+ cod surfaced. I shouted to a couple of lads fishing the inlet at the other end of the dock gates and after a few dangerous moves we got the fish to the side of the dock where one of them could get down to land it. It weighed in at 23lbs and when I gutted it the stomach was full of the chunks of squid I'd been feeding in all day. In the 9 years the dock had remained closed the fish had grown to an impressive size. I spoke to anglers who had pollack to 12lbs and a local angler had several conger to over 40lbs.

I went back a few times in the following years and you just never knew what fish would be in there. The best cod I managed after my first success was 5lbs but sometimes the dock was full of coalfish and I had some great sport freelining strips of squid in the inflow and taking big bags of coalies to 6lb 8oz.

The dock has now been refurbished and is again being used for work on oil rigs. wind turbines and ship dismantling and no access is allowed. Even if it was the regular draining of the dock means that there will be no resident fish.
View attachment 13045View attachment 13046
Click to expand...
Fantastic read thanks for sharing that mate ????
 
Wow, it’s amazing what fish will colonise, given half a chance.
Sad it’s no longer a viable mark but I suppose they can’t be blamed for using their dock again lol.
 
Great report & write up thanks Skaterboy! I'd never heard of the place, being down here in the far South West so did a little digging.
The company have got a great website with some history and good photos. Apparently planning has been passed to dig out & extend the dry dock to accomodate ships for dismantling from 160m to 250m!
www.kishornport.co.uk

Home - Kishorn Port

With one of Europe’s largest dry docks, Kishorn Port Ltd provide services for decommissioning, oil & gas, floating offshore wind, drilling rig life extensions and upgrades, and renewables.
www.kishornport.co.uk www.kishornport.co.uk
 
Thanks lads. I first saw the yard in about 1980 when Howard Doris were still operating there. The site was like a small town and there were all sorts of vessels and structures in the loch. At the peak of the worker numbers I believe they used a couple of old cruise ships for accommodation anchored in the loch. It was hard to imagine then that it would become one of the best marks in Scotland. It's a shame that the mark was lost but it's good to see quality well paid jobs coming back to the area. I'm just grateful that I was able to be there at the right time.
 
They were just pretending to be teuchters then Stan ? I managed a verse or two then had to delete it from my mind. The exaggerated pronunciation makes it even more utterly dreadful.
 
Have a watch of Rigs of Nigg,very interesting if you like this sort of thing?
Was on bbc Scotland the other night so should be on the iPlayer.
 
Back
Top