Gillies

Hi Fishy1. Wishing a Merry Christmas right back at you. Gillies

Hey HOPPY Hope you and all your loved ones have a great one. Gillies

I find Sky is way way overpriced ... but is generally good, one habit you develop when you get it, is turning into a major "channel hopper" ... skipping through hundreds of channels in as short period of time just to find something to watch. Also the fishing is pretty good on it Gillies

I do the same thing as Newt ... short replies directly, and compose larger ones in a text editor to be on safe side. Reason it dissapears ... blame Mr Gates! Gillies

While bored at work on Friday, instead of doing the boring stuff I was supposed to do, thought I would make a very quick "Merry Christmas" message to everyone here on AnglersNet. You can view it here: www.gilliesmackenzie.com/xmasan.htm Its "very very" rough and rugged since I was doing it with what I had available on my office PC during my last hour in the office ... but it passed the time Gillies

I have photos of a 67lb Halibut that a friend of mine caught back in the 80s when cod fishing. When he got ashore all the old commerical fishermen laughed and called it a right tiddler ... they used to get so many of the monster ones up here on the Isle of Lewis that they would some how preserve the body of the fish and use it to launch small boats from the shore. I would be happy catching any size of Halibut. Gillies

About 5 years ago, a youg boy out fishing with us one summers evening caught a small one of around 10 lbs ... It was caught while catching Whiting, everyone was wondering why he was struggling so much as he wound in his fish ... One of the main things I would say that has to be watched out for is their teeth, they have a fine set ... and when you get your hand close to their mouth they will snap at you. Gillies

Only ever caught a Flounder once, that was when Salmon fishing with worms in a small loch which is joined to the sea when there is a high tide. My two friends both had a Salmon each that moring before the gamekeepers came to chase us away ... I had my hungry wee Flounder which I returned alive. Gillies

I'll probably get ridiculed ... but think of the challenge And I'm sure they are very nice girls !!!!!!

just e-mailed it to you .... think its the one you want. Gillies

Sure are a lot of smart people here ... am finding it a great place, and am really enjoying hearing and learing about sea fishing everywhere else!!! I have quite often come across the skins of Lumpsuckers on the shore after they have been half eaten by gulls. I have never caught one though ... infact the only one I heard of been caught up here on the Isle of Lewis turned out to be a 10 and a half pound one in 97, which turned out to be the British Record I think ... not sure. Not sure if the above, was a male or a female ... Gillies

Ive only ever caught 2 Rockling, both were caught from the shore, whilst fishing for Conger from the shore. The strange thing is though, neither of them were hooked, they were both such greedy little things they had the 7/0 hooks and baits wedged completely inside their mouths with the hook not stuck in them at all. Gillies

Hi Rob Welcome .... Fishing sounds great down your neck of the woods right now !!!!! Look forward to hearing more about your catches. Gillies

To catch a Bass in any depth of water I would be happy ... they are not to common around my parts of the country, must of been great to catch them in such shallow water! Bet your mates were VERY jealous. One technique I use to catch Pollack from the shore is on calm nights when the tide is out, and casting into shallow water is using one of these cigar floats as a lure, sticking a treble hook at either end, and a bullet weight to give it some weight for casting ... and casting it over the top of the semi-submerged kelp and retrieving it slowly over the surface ... my friends used to laugh at me, but it has proved itself time and time again, and is kind of exciting when you see the Pollack attack it on the surface. To bad ... fish aren't so abundant any more that they can be caught in a bucket, must of been a sight to behold at that age. I remember one summer when I was a kid, catching Mackerel with our hands by chasing them ashore when they had caught themselves in a shallow area of water chasing sandeels. Gillies

That was jammy, and if you were trying it ... "very skillfully done" A great catch !!! Gillies

Hi Davy The conger catch must of been fun !!!!! Mackerel catch is a cracker .... how it got the feathers of, must of been really baffling when the snaplink came up with no feathers ... maybe just a very intellegent Mackerel. Ive seen my friend catching a Salmon by accidentally lassoeing it .... to this day, he still claims he was trying it !!!!! Gillies

I'm wondering what is the strangest way people have, or have ever seen a fish been caught? I remember fishing one day of the boat, and the guy next to me was jigging a pirk and he caught a Mackerel half way up his line. He could not understand it ... on closer inspection his mono line had somehow bowed and lasooed around the head of the Mackerel ... one of the strangest things I've ever seen at sea. I'm sure this has been asked before, before I joined the forum ... but I'm curious. Gillies

I recently bought a 2 new 60 gig ones from E-Buyer (www.ebuyer.com) They were pretty cheap, and came very quickly, anywhere like ebuyer or dabs should give you a good deal. Gillies

Two new acronyms I recently learned and now use a lot at work are: STFW RTFM For an explation of these, email me (lol) ... I hear they are becoming more and more often used in the IT industry. I hope my boss does not learn what they mean, as I occasionally put them in e-mails to him ... and he never questions them, so I guess he doesnt know what they mean Gillies

I thought David Seaman should of got the Personality of the Year award this year for giving us Scots great cheers this year !!!!!! We know we have a poor team .. infact we are a terrible team with nothing to cheer about with the national team but I think the English team and the arrogant, cheating Beckham are vastly over rated ... just look at their past few games. Anyway, Paula in my eyes still is head and shoulders above everyone else ... her acheivements for the year are fantastic, and when interviewed she seems a generally nice person. Gillies

Allegedly the UK shore caught record Common Skate that was caught up here on the Isle of Lewis, was caught and then taken on a journey of over 12 miles in the back of a pick-up to be legitimately weighed by proper scales at the local fish mart in Stornoway, and then the fish was let loose in Stornoway Harbour ......... whether the fish survived the ordeal or not, I do not know. In my eyes this was unjustified, and caused enormous amount of stress to the fish. The angler whom caught it was allegedly targeting them all week ... so in my eyes should of be equipped better to get an accurate measurement of the fish, without the fish having to through all the un-necessary stress ... just so an angler could get the glory. I did fish a club knockout competition out of Thurso last year, and it used the specimen fish points system, where you caught a fish and showed the skipper and he took note of it and it was thrown back alive, regardless of its size you got the points. I found the points system a complete sham and a joke, as an angler catching a 10 pound Cod got the same points as one catching a tiny wee 20cm long Codling. In my eyes it promoted targeting smaller fish in a sense, as they can be wound up quicker ... and gives you more time to catch more fish, where as if you were into a bigger fish it takes more time to wind up the fish, and less time to fish for other fish ... in a sense. Also another problem I found with this system is that when there was a number of fish coming aboard, it was open to flaws ... with a number of anglers not having fish they caught recorded, on a boat of around 12 anglers. I think for a catch and release points system in competition, possibly using length of fish and specimen of fish points would be a better idea. There are lots of different points of views that can promoted regarding this, each one with valid points, but trying to get accuracy is the problem. Despite the accuracy problems I would like to see is another way of recording skate and shark, possible going by measurements and girths, and in this day and age possibly photographic evidence. This topics a real thinker, as there is so many different ways of looking upon it, each with different points of view. Gillies

Me been Scottish, why on earth would I vote for Beckham ... scoring a penalty for England in the World Cup does not merit winning the Personality of the Year title, though I sure it was a great day for English people. Over the past year his arrogance, and unsportsmanship has not done his personality any good in my views. Paula though, has had an amazing year in my view and thourghly deserved to win Sports Personality of the Year, above anyone else, shes been a insperational breath of fresh air in British Athletics. If Beckham had got it, it would of been a joke in my eyes ... if England had won the World Cup maybe then he might have a look in, but I dont think he even should of been on shortlist. Was great to see George Best get something also, he was without a doubt the best footballer to grace a British football pitch. Gillies

I once seen a woman catch a cod, and when the fish was cleaned, the fish contained an old Spanish coin. Also have been Pollack fishing, and seen a Pollack come aboard with a thrown over board 90% eaten spicey chicken leg that the guy beside me had eaten stuck half way down its throat. Gillies

Here on the Isle of Lewis, there have been a few Common Skate caught from the shore, including the UK shore record. We are lucky enough to have a sea loch which holds a large number of skate, but for some reason or another us boat anglers never seem to go fishing for them. When in the boat and anglers fish for them though, they usually catch them. As for the shore, people I know who has put the time and effort into fishing for them have got ones … the tides have to be right though, and the fish have been caught in the summer months. Fishing for them, the tackle I know that people have used is an Abu 9000 reel filled with 40lbs line, and casting out a large Mackerel bait as far as they could. In the area up here anglers normally fish for them … there is a hole in the muddy bottom that they are said to often frequent that anglers aim to cast their baits into. Just a quick point, I’ve been late to respond to this thread as I’ve been across the pond for a week and a bit … and could not remember my password to log onto Anglers Net I was also amazed at how badly treated the “so called” 230 skate was during its capture that featured in Sea Angler magazine, I was going to comment about what I know of capture of one shore caught Common Skate up here on the Isle of Lewis which can only be described as … well awful. (sorry to comment on an other thread) One guy I know who caught one from the shore described it as like trying to drag something through a bed of very thick bed kelp, there is just no give. I’ve never been lucky enough to be present when one has been caught, and can’t say I know very much about fishing for them, but I guess the only things I could say, is find somewhere that is known for producing them, have the right tide conditions, and just keep at it hoping to get lucky. When fishing for them up here, it usually done of Breasclete Pier, a well known Thornback mark on the Island, I do know of one guy whom a couple of years ago, cast out his bait, and stuck the rod out of the boot of his car, and forgot to set his drag properly … it was too loose, and when he went to check his rod a wee while later he found all the line had been stripped from the reel. I always say to myself, I should set time a side to fish for one, it must be incredible from boat or shore ... but I am yet to fish for one. Gillies

Turning up for work each day seems to be the most stupid thing I currently do ... that and the mistake most men do, "trying to understand women". Gillies