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Fishing the Firth of Forth (Edinburgh, East of Scotland)


taz

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Hello, I am new to anglers net and was hoping some of you out there could help me out. My father in law has just purchased an old Shetland 535 boat with 55 BHP engine. Our intention is to take it out into the Firth of Forth to go fishing.

 

I am not a novice fisherman but am by no means an expert. I was hoping to get advice on the following:-

 

1. Where are best places to fish on the Firth of Forth (we will be launching the boat anywhere from Granton to North Berwick).

 

2. What kind of fish (if any) should be expect to catch?

 

3. How will we catch them? I mean what tackle, bait and techniques should we use?

 

I hope someone out there has experience of fishing these waters and could help me out.

 

Thanks

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Hi there,

 

I would drive the short distance to dunbar, launch about 3 hours either side of high tide and find some nice gullies to drift along, use small pirks, 6-8oz, or a 2 hook rig with a large silver spoon built into the rig body (causes mental vibrations that the fish love), bait with either small chunks of mackerel, mussels or lugworm, and you should get into plenty cod, ling, coalies, and the odd catfish!!! can have a right good day out there. Ive found the bigger tides best

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Hi Taz, Welcome to AN.I would agree with Dans post.... I have only ever done charter trips around Dunbar, but they have all been decent trips. I/we use Mussel,Mackeral,Rag, on Hokkais,to get Cod,Coalies,and Pollock,you will also get Mackeral,Scorpion Fish,and once my mate got a beaut of a Plaice, and a Catfish (or Wolffish)in the same day.....I do a bit of dinghy fishing off the Fife coast now and then,and catch the same species of fish. Hope this is of some help to you ... :D

In sleep every dog dreams of food,and I, a fisherman,dream of fish..

Theocritis..

For Fantastic rods,and rebuilds. http://www.alba-rods.co.uk/

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I would agree with Norrie and Dan. Dunbar can be very good , you can do long drifts catching many fish as you go over the reefs. I would take some precautions when the bottom is rough, use Aberdeen hooks which will bend if snagged (with muppets on them for attraction) and use a big paper clip or similar to attach your weight. If possible try to make up some sort of inexpensive weights eg spark plugs or something similar.

I have always found lug or mussel best for codling but all the baits Norrie mentions will work.

A bad days fishing is better than a good day at the office. Tight lines all.

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I'm Edinburgh based, and I'd agree that Dunbar is your best bet. Best fishing is probably June to September, although it'll be picking up nicely during May. Slipway cost is about £8 per launch, with a season ticket around £55 or so.

 

I normally fish on the drift within half a mile of the shore, mainly between West Barns lighthouse and Torness, and you're talking 40-70 feet of water. Species mainly mackerel, codling, ling, pollock, coalfish and wrasse with other odds and sods as well.

 

Bait-wise I use lug, rag, mussel and mackerel. Rag is good for pollock, and the mussel for wrasse. Mackerel best for ling, whilst cod'll munch any of these. In practice, during the summer, I'm happy going out without bait and simply picking up mackerel for bait.

 

Anytime from June onwards I'll tend to leave a set of feathers/flasher style lures fishing by themselves in mid-water to get a supply of mackerel. Pollock and cod will often have a go at 4-6" long x quarter inch belly strip of mackerel fished anything up to 20 feet off the bottom.

 

That said, my basic rig is a two hook muppet rig fished as hard on the bottom as possible. Usually try to fish mackerel strip on the bottom hook for ling/cod (usually use 50-60lb line to combat teeth damage) and maybe another bait on the top hook to try for other species as well as cod. A leadhead with jellyworm will also work well at times, especially for cod/pollock.

 

Don't expect huge fish - most are under 4lbs, and I've only seen one over 10lbs, but you can get good numbers.

 

There are plenty of other options, but this should get you started.

 

Regards,

Doug

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