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Highlands Report two

So .. had a quick look at the tides.. farm work is done at certain times.. and if the tides are not good then I can’t go fishing. Basically if I hurried up then I would get to the mark I had already chosen about three hours before high.
Jobs done early and away I went.
 
Parked up at a local harbour and pier.. and went outside to the pier… lovely sunny day.. not a breath of wind.. until I went through the arch to the pier.
Blast of wind said bye bye hat.. sunglasses nearly followed.
 
The sea was a bit jiggly but ok. the wind was basically coming right into the harbour and at right angles to the coast..
I had my bait and tripod with me.. usual stuff.. lug.. mackerel.. squid..and some flounder.. but I reckoned it was way too windy for such a venture.
 
So there I was on this windy harbour.. deep water both sides of me.. with the tide about three hours to high.
I know next to nothing about sea fishing but I tried a fiish minnow alongside the walls and let it drop well down and let the tide take it round with me retrieving slowly to see if there were any pollack or coalies about hiding in the structure.
Worked it hard all along the walls then gradually covered the water further out.. where rocks and kelp turned the tide through the channels.
Not a touch.
 
After an hour nothing doing so I got out some fish skin sabikis
583C8F08-929C-4616-99D6-77EE4CF45F24.jpeg

They usually catch small pollack or mackerel if any are about.
So on went a three ounce arlesey bomb and jigged them about… inside and outside the walls for a while.
 
Zilch was the result.
I watched a boat coming in.. didn’t realise how choppy the sea was.. the boat was pitching and rolling all over the place took ages to line it up to enter the harbour and I got a good look at it.. mackerel lines and reels all over it.
Haha I thought.. I could buy some fish.
Left my gear on the harbour side and went to see. Skipper said I could buy all the mackerel they had caught.. he reckons usually they catch four dustbins full in a day… but he said twenty was all they had and all from about half a mile out.. scarce was the word he used.
So twenty macks for 3 quid.. result.
 
Not what I was expecting but a good result in the end. Some of the set ups on those small mackerel boats up there look very complicated. I was trying to work out how they worked but gave up.DSC_0927.JPG
 
So fish safely stashed I went back to my gear and fished on with the sabikis.. about an hour before high.
Then my peace was spoiled somewhat by another fisherman turning up
 
Then another and then another…so four of us on the end of an harbour wall.. toby lures.. shads.. feathers going all over the shop.
I took the opportunity to swap rigs and put on a four ounce watch lead with some lug on a pulley rig as there wasn’t enough space..
Got chatting to one bloke who said the mackerel and haddock were being caught on the harbour most days.
Now I know nothing about sea fishing but I don’t think you can catch haddock from the shore.. maybe one of you gentlemen can put me right.
Another angler turned up.. lit up a massive spliff and set up next to me.
I decided enough was enough and began to pack up. A few minutes later he said his lure wasn’t heavy enough so I gave him a metal pirky thing and told him to keep it.
Next thing he gave me a spliff of pure weed..so I lit up and carried on packing away…three more anglers turned up and it turned silly.. no space at all.
Any way.. I got to the car which was parked right at the end of the pier.. and every one else has parked behind me..so I had to reverse around 250 yards along the pier.. some people couldn’t park so after my cough had stopped ? I had to reverse along with about 2 feet to spare before I dropped into the sea..
Nobody caught anything but I already had the fish in my car.5426AEA0-C373-4943-8264-E4ED9B50BC0C.jpeg
 
Bummer about your hat mate. I've lost two to the wind and waves over the years. A limited edition Budweiser fishing team baseball cap blown off my head at Dunbar, and the other one..... Well I was really gutted about its loss. A beautiful kangaroo leather cowboy hat that ended up in the middle of Tweedale millennium trout fishery. ☹️ Those smoked mackerel look seriously tasty. ?
 
flappy said:
Then another and then another…so four of us on the end of an harbour wall.. toby lures.. shads.. feathers going all over the shop.
I took the opportunity to swap rigs and put on a four ounce watch lead with some lug on a pulley rig as there wasn’t enough space..
Got chatting to one bloke who said the mackerel and haddock were being caught on the harbour most days.
Now I know nothing about sea fishing but I don’t think you can catch haddock from the shore.. maybe one of you gentlemen can put me right.
Another angler turned up.. lit up a massive spliff and set up next to me.
I decided enough was enough and began to pack up. A few minutes later he said his lure wasn’t heavy enough so I gave him a metal pirky thing and told him to keep it.
Next thing he gave me a spliff of pure weed..so I lit up and carried on packing away…three more anglers turned up and it turned silly.. no space at all.
Any way.. I got to the car which was parked right at the end of the pier.. and every one else has parked behind me..so I had to reverse around 250 yards along the pier.. some people couldn’t park so after my cough had stopped ? I had to reverse along with about 2 feet to spare before I dropped into the sea..
Nobody caught anything but I already had the fish in my car.View attachment 28939
Click to expand...
where’s the picture gone ?
 
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