101_North

It's the helipad mate although I usually fish from the rocks between the helipad and the bridge over the inflow. Can be quite a tackle graveyard in places though. A nice quiet spot to fish usually.

I popped down to Granton last Wednesday for an hour or so after work with my spinning gear. There were still loads of mackerel about. The experts were there as usual hauling them in 6 at a time! Not sure what the situation is this week though. Maybe see tomorrow as I have an hour or two after work to kill. I avoided fishing for Mackerel on Saturday as to be honest it gets boring pretty quickly where they are in in huge numbers. I ended up at Skateraw Harbour (Torness Inflow) for a change. I was trying primarily for Wrasse but had no luck - it's usually alright for them but there you go. I did manage a codling, quite a few coalfish and a some nice wee dabs. All in all an enjoyable afternoon and not a 'Mackerel King' in sight

I had a similar experience a few weeks ago when fishing of the rocks in North Berwick. There was a group of about 6 porpoises which came within about 20 - 30 yds of the shoreline and stayed for quite a while. A fantastic sight.

When you say locally do you mean Edinburgh area? I spend most of my time in East Lothian area - North Berwick, Scateraw, Cove, Belhaven, Eyemouth etc. Had some good fishing but I've never found it to be great. Sometimes pop down to Granton for a few hours after work but again nothing special. Haven't really found any other decent marks close to town where I can fish a few hours after work. I'll have to haul myself over the bridge someday and give that coast a go. Cheers

Good stuff mate - might give a go in the next few weeks. cheers for the info

Just grab the line and pull them up. Watch your hands though

I sometimes find it easier to hand line them up a pier wall.

I usually try Belhaven / Tyningham for flatties which can be very good. was just thinking that the Tay might be good for a change. I've seen your website reports mate - i take it herring is good for bait?

They are fun at times mate. I used to throw a lot back but after reading this thread I'll rethink my Mackerel fishing. This is something I didn't know until I posted the question - it opened my eyes! http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/ubb/ultimatebb...ic;f=2;t=005378 Don't get me wrong though - with the right tactics they can be great sport

Tell us this - is Dundee worth a trip through from Edinburgh? Read a few of your reports and it sounds not bad.

Just after winessing a guy this afternoon Mackerel fishing with one baited rod with 6 hooks whacked out with sprat bait and a beachcaster with 6 feathers! The Mackerel were in and he was catching at 1 point 8 - 12 every couple of minutes! Where is the fun in that? At the same venue he could have fished his baited rod for Codling or Wrasse and spun for the Mackerel but, like many summer anglers, seemed to think filling a black bag with mackerel made him an expert! Don't get me wrong I get a kick out of Mackerel fishing on light gear but surely there's a line to be drawn somewhere?

Sprats for me too. Been buying bags of them for bait recently.

I might be wrong (wouldn't surprise me) but I think it's 30cm.

Bloody hell. That depressed me too Leon. I suppose it puts things into a perverse perspective! I took the spinning gear down to the harbour tonight after work for an hour or two. I filed the barbs of all my hooks and found it much easier to unhook a fish without touching it using a pair of long nosed pliers. I managed to unhook them all in the water. I kept a couple for the pot but all the rest swam happily away. The place was full of them again - not seen as many round here for years. Stopped fishing for them after about an hour and tried my luck with the codling. Only managed 1 but had a good night. I tried to tell a few folks what I'd learnt in this thread but all I got was glazed looks and told I was talking Sh*te

Thanks Leon for taking the time to source this information. I feel quite bad now for throwing Mackerel back for years thinking I was being a responsible angler! This thread has been very informative and the information is something I'll try and pass onto other anglers when I'm fishing. Given the attitude of the average summer 'Mackerel King' I'd better start growing a thick skin!

Totally agree Shaun. I caught my first Turbot there too. They weren't any great size but very nice to catch. I did find that a bit of distance made a huge difference as I never got a Turbot on the small rod close in - all Flounder on that one. On the flip side I never got any Turbot on the distance rod - just Turbot! As you say Mackerel strip seemed best. I know this has all been covered already but I've typed it now

Have to say I'm surprised Sportsman that you got no Mackerel. Where were you? They've been showing up between Granton and North Berwick in big numbers over the last 2 weeks or so. Single Malt was invented for days like that

Seen a few guys try this at Granton last year at high tide. They did alright too! It's something I'd love to give a go but I'll need to buy some fly gear and practise casting first

quote: I was given this information by a CEFAS scientists at an MCS conference on Recreational Angling in Cardiff some time ago. (I've also had the information from other sources, but mostly heresay) I've emailed CEFAS asking them to give me some authoritive reference one way or another, and will post here if they come back to me on that. TL - leon Thanks Leon. I look forward to hopefully getting some firm info on this as this thread has been a bit of an eye opener for me.

I spent a good part of saturday teaching 2 Polish guys how to cast. They'd never fished before but had obviously been recommended gear in a tackle shop as they had quite a bit. They started off casting behind themselves, off to the side, 1 yard out but eventually I had them getting a decent distance. They both caught a few Mackerel and seemed genuinely chuffed with what they'd learnt. I guess it doesn't matter who you are teaching kids or whatever. If a person is willing to learn then I'm quite happy to spend a bit of time helping them out. I do agree that fishing is only a part of what needs to be taught. Kids and adults taking up sea fishing need to learn to respect the environment and the fish. I'm getting fed up being lectured by Joe Public about the litter, line etc. scattered over the beaches, piers and rock marks that I fish. Each time I go I spend ages picking up disgarded line and beer tins but all too often the mess is too much for 1 person to make a dent in it. I don't blame the people who take issue with the litter either - why should their walk with the dog or whatever be ruined by careles anglers dumping litter? Question is does anyone know a way to get through to these idiots without suffering a tirade of verbal abuse?

Cheers guys. This will certainly get me thinking a bit more when choosing tactics and buying gear. I think I'll need to get some barbless hooks rather than flatten the barbs as I do now. Hopefully I can pass this on to some of the other anglers I meet when I'm fishing.

I had one bloke question my sanity when he saw me bait up a float rig. "Don't waste you're time mate" was this experts advice "we're hauling them in on feathers!" I tried to explain that I was trying to catch some different species and his eyes glazed over One of the reasons I go fishing is to try different tactics for different species. If one is doing well I'll switch to something different and give that a try. Later on I'll try something else. Throwing out feathers all day with a beachcaster and a 6oz lead would do my back in if the boredom hadn't got to me first!

What is about Mackerel that makes some people act like 'experts'? For several months every year these people appear with beachcasters and 6 hook traces filling bag after bag and behaving like they're the best anglers ever! Once the Mackerel disappear these people are gone again for another year. I even saw one bloke on Saturday who insisted on calling himself 'Mackerel King'. Bizarre! Mackerel are good fun on the right tackle and I for one am glad to see them in good numbers. But there are so many other species out there worth targetting.

A few recent posts have got me thinking. Can anyone confirm if Mackerel die if unhooked and thrown back. I have heard this from several people - and several times on this forum. I have also heard it discounted from a similar number of people. So whats the score? I flatten the barbs on my hooks anyway as it's easier to unhook the fish without touching it. It doesn't always work though. I was just wondering if it was, in effect, a pointless exercise doing catch and release with this species? Cheers

I fished the Forth myself at the weekend Dougie. Spent pretty much the whole day at several different marks on the Edinburgh side. I caught that many fish I lost count. I thought at one stage I might get bored catching them but with light gear, 6lb line and cracking weather it was really quite addictive Mostly Mackerel but managed some Pollack, Coley and Codling too. Not sure what's different this year mate but last year was rubbish on this side for Mackerel - I caught none from the shore all summer! Good to see the fish here in good numbers. Next week my target species is Wrasse. I've got my fingers crossed already