Gillies

cant see anything ... oh see it now, since you've edited. Gillies

Welcome Sonja, hope you enjoy the banter on here ... I certainly do Best, Gillies

Any reel will do that holds sufficient amount of line, but some may soon start having problems - agree with suggestions of using a Baitrunner also ..... and the Daiwa Emblem may also be worth a look if you prefer a front drag system. Gillies

I got an email from someone seconds after I posted this, saying its a Female Stonechat ... looking at more info on the bird, a summer visitor to the Lewis. Dave - Cant seem to get that link to work for young Robin ... any ideas? Gillies

As many of you know Im useless with birds ..... anyone got any idea what this one is? Is it a young Robin? I was photoing it at quite a distance so could not get a crisper shot. Gillies

Had a poor day from the shore yesterday, blaming the Easterly Winds (have to blame something) ... had two LSD (1lb 13oz & 1lb 15oz ..... always throw on scales before putting them back) ... small Whiting were a real problem, shredding big baits in seconds .... my pal was casting Mackerel Flys out to see if he could get any Mackerel, he did get 2 ...but almost every cast was bringing in 2-3 small Whiting if he bounced them along the bottom. My pals catch was better than mine, a plump Flounder of 1lb and a small Thornback with a stumpy tail. Cold wind and rain eventually got the best of us - so packed it in. Gillies

Supposed to have a boat match tomorrow ... Force 9 blowing just now, and harldy any tide to get mussels and lug ... very much hoping tomorrow will be cancelled but the winds dropping for tomorrow ... will be a nasty swell. If cancelled will be shore fishing somewhere ... either where I was last week, or trying other marks. Gillies

I eat quite a bit of fish - but nothing compared to my dad and some of my friends ... of the top of my head, it has to be a Herring done in any way ..... Salt Herring or Kippers come out tops though I catch plenty of Haddock, but Im not a big fan of them on the plate, though everyone I know loves them .... after the Herring it has to be Sword Fish, Bass, Bream, Hake, Megrim, Turbot, and Halibut. Oh, yes I do like Haddock ...... when in Arbroath earlier this year got some Arbroath Smokies, they were fantastic. Bought 2 boxes of them - and gave a few out to some hardened fish eaters with toned palettes - all agreed the Arbroath Smokie is amazing. Gillies ps: one of the old boys I know smokes Coalies and Pollack - they are lovely to eat also, very surprised when I had them, they were so good.

Im saying Long Rough Dab ....................... no way is it a Megrim anyway. Gillies

Happy Birthday Shaun - hope you have a good few drams .... dont let SS lead you astray in the pubs before a nights fishing !!!! Best, Gillies

Am over the moon the Murray won - I really thought that he would of had so much fire in his belly that he would of made plenty of mistakes and lost it. He's coming of age fast, and getting better and better all the time. So glad that Posh Boy Tiger Tim got taken down a peg or two - have never liked him since he went crazy at that young girl .... am sure he's at home licking his paws and wondering if hes over the "Henman Hill". Gillies

Zinky - Great photo, I really like it ... in my eyes possibly one of the the nicest I've seen on here yet. Gillies

Nice Photos Dave ..... you sure like your birds Gillies

Dont know if anyone follows the Tennis ... but I see Tim Henman is playing Andy Murray, who do you think would will win? Im hoping Murray will tear Henman apart .... but think Henman will win ... hope Im wrong. Not a Henman fan at all. Gillies

Ha Ha - Ken the Blunt Hook Theory is coming to my mind .... it was a new just out of the box Mustad 3261 BLN ... maybe it got a nick on something on way in or something like that, or maybe the nashing jaws on Thornie I had beforehand had blunted the hook somewhat. I left the single hook rig and all other tackle I used that day with some kid whom turned up as we left .... hope he didnt loose any fish with it! The Thornies do go some when they get into fighting mood - loosing one after 15 mins, it must have been some fish, bet your glad you got to see it at least ... must of an "oh no" or words to that sort moment when it spat out the hook !!!!!! ... my worst blunt hook experience was a 20-30 Cod from shore on the bluntest piece of metal known to man to be called a hook ... had it one for a few mins until it let go. Gillies

Mine is one of my dog .... resized a photo I took of him last week. Gillies

Myself and my pal were shore fishing on Saturday, had a pretty enjoyable day - between the two of us we had 7 species .... Thornback Ray, Dab, Tub Gurnard, Cod, Coalfish, Mackerel and Whiting. We were there mainly for the Rays, none overly great in size caught (biggest 5 lb 10 oz) .... I was pretty happy with my first Tub from the shore which weighed in at 1 lb 3 oz (3oz short of Scottish Record). We had 5 Rays each .... and I also lost 4 in a row, dont ask me how ... they just fell off !!!!!!! What made the day interesting was that the bottom seemed to be carpeted in small to medium sized Whiting and when they would would attempt to devour the large chunk of Mackerel on a 4/0 hook they would become hooked ..... this in turn would seem to attract a Ray and as they would enjoy their free Whiting meal they became hooked (kind of accidental live baiting) ... around half the Rays caught on the day came in with a half munched whiting on the the hook also. For the conservation minded among you, to put your minds at rest - All Rays caught between us were returned apart from 2 extremely deep hooked ones. Gillies

Snapped this Goldfinch - very bonnie bird .... wish I could of got closer for a better shot. Gillies

Lovely Catch - Well Done ...... bet you enjoy them both, I know I would !!!!! Gillies

Heres a flowery one from day before yesterday. Gillies

Good ones Newt Gillies

Mike, yep - Cod are 6lb and over I think that is known by most sea anglers ... but thanks for the re-education. We are generally getting them in the 5 lb to 7 lb range from the marks we normally fish ... not seen much over 8 lb though ... and the numbers been caught seem to be descreasing since beginning of September (normal for this kind of year). The other mark I know of thats producing Cod, its mainly "Codling" thats been caught - but it has produced a 14 lb and 16 lb in same day August ... dont think its been fished properly in over a month due to the weather. There is the fair share of smaller "Codling" around also on the mark we normally fish, there are also more juvenile Codling in the 20cm to 30cm length range than I have seen in recent years ... hoping this is a good sign. Gillies

Was more the sky I was photoed in this one .... nothing to exciting. Gillies

We've been getting them in pretty good numbers of the West Coast of the Isle of Lewis, and they always seem to be in good numbers pretty close to the north of the island. Out today - fishing not to great due to big tide ebbing all day, but I managed 8 Cod. Gillies

Judy - that platefull making me very hungry !!!! The moon photo is taken on a tripod, zoomed in with a 300mm lens .... if you have creative modes on your camera - (manual mode, F11, 1/125 @ ISO 100) ... with a non-slr camera, use a tripod and and timer on camera so no shake when taking photo, play with settings until you get correct shutter speed ... to slow and it blows out (moon to white and you loose detail), to fast and its very faint ... its finding a happy medium. Spent my lunch today trying to photo a Robin Red Breast that has been around for weeks now, it's making a fool of me though ... not got any good shots of it yet, is so fast and nippy, hard to get decent photo. Took this one of some of the Starlings while waiting for the Robin to appear. Gillies