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Nice pics guys Was this fish showing up on your FF or just weed? I've yet to see any cod on mine, I see plenty of pollack and saithe but either the cod are too sparse or they are hiding in amongt the rocks & weed.

GB, I've got the same, or very similar, Wychwood bag and I used it on a couple of trips. Great bag, really handy..... till I found the zips corrode really quickly despite getting rinsed after each trip....

I have an Abu Eon I picked up in the US a couple of years ago. 6:1 and planetary gears give it plenty of cranking power for a small reel, and being composite it doesn't corrode like a lot of the newer Far Eastern Abu reels.

Hi Simon, Nope , I'm not a leftie. I rigged it that way simply because I found I used the paddle clip on my right. I didn't think about it, I just did it. I guess thats because I lead with my right so when I stop paddling and go to stow the paddle I'm holding it in my right hand and just clip it that side. I never sit side saddle. Cheers Paul

I have mounted mine with wellnuts and its rock solid.

If anybody is interested I loaded up all the pics that Norrie took from my skate trip onto photobucket........ skate pics

I use RAM mounts but with the arms and pistol holders rather than the tubes. I've changed it a bit since this pic. I moved the ball onto the top of the side to give my toes a bit more space and I've added 2 more bases further back, just beside the seat. It works really good for me. I tend to fish with the holder out to side so the I dont catch the rod butts, like this

30 ft excess in 400ft of water is what Davy uses on his boat, but he has a lot of chain weight. In reality I end up with more than that, but usually no more than 100ft unless its windy. Consider this for example. When I caught the skate my GPS showed I was towed 70yds while at anchor, i.e. it held and didn't drag, and I know that cos I ended in the same spot after we released the fish. 70yds is 210ft, and it was 380ft deep, so I had 434ft out, thats an excess of 54ft and an angle at the sea bed of over 60deg rather than the 20deg a 3:1 gives you. In reality I was initially downtide of the anchor so that was probably only 35yds, and I was pulled another 35yd uptide past the anchor, which works out to 394ft! Sounds crazy, but it works.... in deep water. You are correct about needing a low angle to get the best performance from the anchor, but in deep water you do that with chain weight, not warp length. Not many yachts anchor in 400ft, they are usually in shallow bays. The tide run is not insignificant, 1 to 3knts, but another factor in The Sound of Mull is the that there are at least 2 tide flows in the water column. While you may be drifting west in the surface current it may be flowing east on the sea bed where your anchor is. If you try putting out a long warp you will end up swinging all over the place.

The Sound Of Mull is mud and crushed shell, very clean ground. Chain is the key to anchoring in deep water..... with a decent amount of chain you can forget the 3:1 stuff in deep water. You can anchor fine with only 30ft excess in 400ft of water, take a look at this discussion: http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53680 Basically I chuck the anchor over and as soon as it hits the bottom I tie off, I will drift enough in the wind and tide to put out enough extra, it really doesn't take much. The last time I did it I put out a bit more than planned as I got in a mess tying it off. I got pulled 70yds uptide by a skate, but the anchor held fine as I stayed put once I got there

This is me Honest, I'm not really that pudgy.... I was wearing my PFD under my cag.... and the grimace was cos I was wrestling with a skate!

Nice report and pics guys. You certainly had better weather than me...... Eeee ... when I were a lad we lived inside the naval base and my dad used to take us fishing at the end of the breakwater there, right beside the Hood. Your pics of Portland Harbour always take me back.....

Haven't posted in a while and only managed to drop in and catch up on things occasionally. Been too busy with work and it has been too windy to get out on the water. I had seen that the tournament was delayed and as a break in the weather was forecast I headed over to the west coast lochs. I figured the best bet for length would be a decent spurdog so I tried to find some shelter in Loch Etive. The forecast was for 5 to 12 mph, and although it was a bit more than that when I launched it appeared to be dropping as it had been much worse overnight and in the early morning. I headed about 3 miles up the loch with the breeze behind me, with the wind picking up all the time. I was being overtaken by white horses by the time I found a buoy in a bit of shelter to tie up to, but that meant I was in the shallower water at only 230ft! As soon as I got the mackerel baits down though the fish were biting and over the next 2-1/2hrs I caught a steady stream of fish. 5 thornback, 4 of them about 3lbs, but the last one was a new PB for me at 7lb4oz, but only 51cm across the wings. 4 spurs, 3 of them only about 2lb but again the last one was the best but only 4lb and still only 64cm. I'm sorry the pics aren't very good but it was a bit wet at the time Only 1 whiting though but the best I have seen in Etive, about 1-1/2lb. No threat to Ozzies there. After the umpteenth rain squall hammered up the loch and the bites dried up I headed to the shore for a break. After a while there was a drop in the wind so I decided to head back. Half a mile later of slow progress at about 1.5mph the wind came back with a vengence and after 10mins of hard work to stay where I was I decided to resort to plan B. As I was on my own, in a remote area, and with dodgy conditions I always have a plan B, just in case. I beached the kayak and walked the 3 miles down the dirt track that runs down the lochside, then drove back up to pick it up This was also the first outing for my Musto Goretex Drysuit, which it passed with flying colours. Not only becasue I stayed warm and dry throughout, but because the Goretex proved its worth on the 3 mile walk in driving rain On Sunday the weather was worse, this time it was driving hail and sleet rather than rain. I did get out in the slightly more sheltered Loch Creran but it wasn't comfortable and I blanked...... good exercise though...... The fishfinder was reading 4 dgeC and I got chilly feet, dry but cold, so I need more socks even with the drysuit. Well done on the Pike Nifty, you whupped my ass this time

I read the letter last night as well and its a shame to see such ignorance. I don't blame the initial writer, he is entitled to his opinion, but an editor should at least get some facts correct before agreeing with him. As Neil pointed out, the surf zone is the most likely place to take a spill not the longer swell further out. A kayak is no more dangerous than a boat. Carrying safety equipment like a VHF and flares, being correctly dressed, including a PFD, and staying within your limits, i.e. fit enough to manage the paddling, all come down to personal responsibility, and have nothing to do with the vessel concerned. Yes, we are more vulnerable to weather and tides than a boat, so you have to plan accordingly. Mel Russ could have pointed out a few things...... If kayaks should not be used more than a mile offshore then how is it that sea touring kayaks cross oceans and regularly make passages to the Scottish islands of more than 20 miles. Kayaks are immune to some serious hazards to boats..... ...like hull damage, not much chance of holeing a yak by hitting part submerged debris at 20mph ...like getting rope wrapped around a prop ...like engine failure How many boats have no backup engine, dont carry enough spare fuel, don't have VHF, and are basically unseaworthy? How often does Mel wear his lifejacket? If he is concerned enough about the safety aspects then surely he should cover it the magazine to raise awareness instead of ignoring it. That amounts to culpable neglect. I shall be emailing him to express my concern at his response.

The RAM mounts I have installed on the top face of the side rail just onfront of the seat are attached using wellnuts and they are absolutely fine. Held up fine with a skate yanking on the end

Ah but while those two were playing about who was doing all the work ...

thanks guys

Nice one Richi well done

The cunning plan involves camping on an uninhabited island 5 miles out using it as base to visit a lot of of islands and reefs in the area.... off teh west of scotland of course. Plus there is an interesting hole 600ft deep on the way there .... just begging to be fished

Great report guys, and a PB smoothie is a bit more than all but fishless in my book Did you get to use the sail Richi or did you paddle all 15miles? How did you find the P13 keeping up with the Scupper over that kind of distance? I have a cunning plan for next summer and its going to be a similar distance ...

The 4-8oz RTA is the rod you want. Brilliant heavy ground rod and will handle any fish you can hook in the UK, all for under £100.

I've got one of the MFA 3watt lights. Its a great light but it doesn't really compare to most other LEDs as its way brighter, its more comparable to Tiga, Samalite etc, but way cheaper than them. I find the lead acid battery a bit heavy and bulky compared to the Nicad in my Samalite but then it was way cheaper... I got mine for sweet FA from Sea Dangler

darnsarf, I know what you mean. When it first came out salt crystals caused problems with it, but it is totally different now. All the top sailing gear manufacturers, Musto, Henri-LLoyd, Gill etc, use goretex fabric specifally designed for salt water use. Its used by top ocean racers, olympic dinghy racers, and if its good enough for Ellen Mcarthur to live in for 90 days I'm sure its good enough for me