had a trip yesterday, couldn't get bait so loch fyne was out and the east coast was too rough so it was either etive or oban.

my boy liam wanted another skate so we opted for oban, with a fall back of etive if the weather was pants.

it turned out ok though, bit lumpy with the wind over the biggish tide so instead of going to my #1 mark which was quite exposed i tried over closer to the isle of mull to get a bit of shelter.

anchored in 420 feet we had several spurs before the first skate rod dipped,it was liams rod but he unselfishly let my friend george who has never caught a skate before take the rod, it came up easily enough, when it surfaced we burst out laughing, when i gaffed it i lifted it in with 1 hand....48lb male, never seen one this small before,forgot to tag it though and found we had left my camera in the car and georges camera had a flat battery

soon after the same rod took off and liam found himself atttached to a big fish, it took him a while to get it off the bottom but when he stopped to blow his nose (he's got a cold) the bend came out the rod and the hook fell out, he was gutted.

15 minutes later the same rod took off again...same fish??

i took it this time and really worked on this fish and got it up in 15 minutes, big heavy fish that never took more than 2 feet of line.

after gaffing her i felt so wiped out by the short but hard drag up that i hardly had the strength to put her in the boat, normally i can manage fish this size myself, but it took 3 of us because i was so knackered, after she was in i just collapsed leaving liam and george to measure and tag her at 176lb

soon after my new rod and reel dipped and liam found himself winding up something bigger than a spur but smaller than a big mamma, conger was my thought, but when it came up it was a fantastic skate of.....24lb.....lol

after this it was time to pack up so liam being the youngest and fittest was designated to wind in the last rod and found an LSD about 1.5lb with the 12/0 o'shaughnessy jammed in it gob.

the sea had flattened off with the wind and tide running in the same direction by this time so up came the anchor, first time for a change, and we belted back at 28mph

funny thing about those small male skate we got, they were jet black on the underside, is this usual, it wasn't mud or anything, definitely pigment

not a bad result for ony 4.5 hours fishing in a new (to me) area, though too many spurs for my taste, mind you got my revenge on them for tearing up my baits, we ate 2 for tea tonight and they were excellent...i can see what the skate see in them

[ 01. November 2004, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: Happy Dude ]

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Hey Happy Dude nice report,sounds like a great session.
My biggest skate ever was a thorney bout 10lbs.Not much of a comparison is there!

Hiya,

Well done Les on another successful trip, the wee skate look good don't they.. though you still have a long way to go.. the smallest skate tagged is 3lb

So where`s Stumpy??
Davy. You`re firmly booked for next September in Weymouth. Don`t whimp out.

hi davy,

is that normal then, these small fish being jet black on the bottom??

i think the chart i have in my plotter will really help me in the firth, it is a pretty diverse bit of water, you think its just deep everywhere but there's shallow bits with what looks like banks but they are 2-300 feet deep surrounded by 4-500+

i marked a bit in 300 feet that looked like a wreck or reef with marks above it would that be cod or pollack??

have you tried that 600feet+ deep bit between kerrera and mull?

"anchored in 420 feet" blimey, I'm lucky if I get 42' and thats 2 miles out into Lyme bay!! Still if this weather holds I'm going to see if theres any bass about.

Dan

hi dan,

420 is about average for skate at oban, i have another bit which is 535feet.

the mark i fished on sunday was about 3/4 of a mile from shore

Les, Davy has had us fishing in over 600ft, you should try a LSD from that depth......

I can manage a LSD but a 15' dinghy and a 5hp outboards gotta go a long way to get 600' in the bay, or the channel come to that!!

dan

norrie,

in that depth i'll make the tea