Snatcher

Just caught a canny one on Sunday night with my name on it Peter John

Shame I missed this post as I have fished the area for years and could have offered advice. Hope he has a great time and does well. Mind you the weather is very poor over there at the moment,I should know having just returned from there a few hours ago!!! John

Well it could not have been a worse start !!!!!! My skipper George had checked out Logan early doors and he said "Well John we can give it a bash at Ardwell if you like Logan side is a bit lumpy." We arrived at Ardwell ramp approx 11.30 to find a few tons of seaweed on the slipway. A quick phone call back to the girls at the Clash and two forks arrived,no extra muscle though. Fishermans tales and all that but we must have shifted a few tons of seaweed before we could launch "Cassie" Talk about hard going,in about 3 hours I managed to get 5 micro pollack and two mackerel. George faired no better with 2 mackerel and one tub gurnard. George said for the last half hour we will try a bit deeper. Even though we were drifting I thought,well John nothing to lose,put a mackie onto a tope trace. In a few minutes I had a good take but lost the fish after a short scrap. On last knockings the rod bend over nearly double and I knew it was a tope. A great scrap on a light outfit gave me a real adrenalin rush. Got the tope to the top and George tried to net it - bad mistake,one bent net. We did get the fish on board and then that is when it tried to bite my foot much to Georges amusement !!!!! The tope was hooked well down but whilst on the "Cassies" deck managed to throw the hook and still continue to try and bite my foot. Put the tope back and it went off quicker than "Buzz Lightyear". We called it a day after this as I had been invited for a meal/drinks back at a van on the Clash site. Well it had been my first tope of 2010 and a first for the "Cassie". Well done skipper. Mind you it had only been my second try for them this year. Anyone care to guesstimate the weight for me? John

Hiya folk,never been on here for a while have I missed much??? Been too busy enjoying my retirement over in our caravan in Drummore Here is a photo taken at Monreith,just to show I am still snapping away !!! Gavin Maxwell of the otter fame hailed from this area and this was his favoured "chilling out spot". On the horizon you can see the Isle of Man. John

Hi Dave bull huss are fairly frequently caught by tope anglers around the MOG I am pleased to say. Matty Burrett caught a lot of big spurdog off the west of the MOG about a week ago fishing the deep trench. I think Shaun Cummings may be doing an article in "Sea Angler" on their trip out John

OOPSIE !!!! A couple of folk have spotted that my smoothound was actually a spurdog. Lucky I did not get spiked then John

Now this afternoon session ( 30 August 2010 ) was twofold in nature. My mate George on our Clashwhannon caravan park had just had his boat engine repaired and was itching to try it out. Also the "Mull of Galloway Big Game Angling Club " had reformed this year with a current total of 22 members. We had arranged to fish a competion 28/29/30 August to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Scotlands first rod and line caught shark. Due to high winds the first two days were unfishable so this was the last chance saloon so to speak. The launch went smoothly and we headed off to Georges favourite mackerel mark. I was first in with a red gurnard which I shook off at the side of the boat. George was in next with a full string. It took us about an hour and 3/4 moves to collect enough bait for our tope attempt. It was Georges first go at tope fishing so he had no GPS marks in his book. On a hunch we anchored in about 100' of water on the west side of the Mull where I had caught tope before. The rubby dubby was attached to the anchor chain with about 25 mashed up mackerel in. I had the first take and it proved to be a doggie which was merely hanging onto the bait. As most of you know what a doggie looks like LOL I did not bother with a photo. Back it safely went to pester someone else in the future. I had no sooner dropped down again when I was hit by a decent fish. As I was reeling it up I was thinking either small tope,bull huss or thornie. Imagine my amazement and delight when it turned out to be a smoothie of about 8 lbs. All "guesstimates" coming from George. A quick photo and it was carefully returned. George then had a decent fish on for a few seconds before it threw the hook. It was me in next with a bull huss of about 10lbs. This fish had not taken the hook either and just had his mouth clamped onto the mackerel. As soon as he hit the deck though he let go. Here is me wrestling with it. Check out its dentition - good long handled T bars required with these guys !! Next drop down I had a savage take and this fish started strongly taking line against the drag. Imagine how gutted I felt after a few minutes when the hook pulled free. Oh well thats fishing for you. George was itching to get back close inshore for some pollacking so I went for one last drop to try and get that tope. I did get a good fish but it was another bull huss of about 14lbs this time. the next series of photos demonstrates the ancient art of tope wrestling. I bet a few of you out there can relate to this. Now George never anchors up as a rule ,he is just a drifter !!! Consequently we set off inshore forgetting that the anchor was down until George noticed it "aquaplaning" about 100 yds behind us. OOPS We had about an hour close in on lighter gear catching pollack to about 3 lbs,all of which were carefully returned. For the last few minutes I put a mackerel trace back on as I wanted a few for my lobster pot. This next photo was supposed to show me with a full string but by the time George got the camera out 3 had dropped onto the deck. The retrieval went smoothly and here is the final shot of the day showing George next to his boat "Cassie". Thanks fow a great day out George John

Eric Bird,a resident of Drummore had kindly invited me out for a few hours fishing on board his boat the Scorpion. His boat is kept moored in Drummore harbour which is tidal and in fact completelty dries out at low tide. There is a gravel bar that runs right in front of the entrance and you have to run in towards the beach to clear it. I took this shot of the harbour at lw to show how dangerous it can be to those who do not know this fact. Anyway by the time I arrived down at the harbour Eric was almost ready to go so I ungainly paddled over to the Scorpion in his little transfer boat. There were supposed to be 4 of us on board for this trip but two had cancelled at the last minute so I was "deckie" for the day.. I cast us off and Eric carefully steered us out of the harbour. For this fishing session Eric had decided to fish over the "drop off" which lies a mile or so straight out into Luce Bay from Drummore. Its slightly deeper rougher ground from which we had done well in the past. Even though mackerel had been scarce of late we both rigged up for them and also baited up the bottom two hooks with some mackerel I had brought out with me,just in case the mackerel did not show. Eric got hit straight away and seemed to have a decent fish on. I tell you what,he should be called Snatcher and not me !!!!!! He had two hooks into a codling of about the two pound mark,none of which were in its mouth and it was also trussed up in his trace. Eric carefully unhooked it and back it went to fight another day. My first drop down produced two of the biggest mackerel of the day,an ideal pan size. As well as the occasional mackerel we were picking up a lot of small pollack and up to three at a time. A good sign for the future I suppose that there are so many small pollack around. In fact on some of my dusk bass sessions off the shore using 6" holographic sandeels small pollack averaging about a pound have been hitting me on nearly every cast. We fished for about 3 hours,keeping drifting back over this rougher ground. In total Eric caught four codling,none of which he decided were big enough to keep. As well as small pollack I picked up a few launce which I kept for bait. I never touched a single codling so Eric took the "Cod Cup" Our mackerel total between us was about 40,not a lot for three hours/two rods. As we were tackling down I noticed a gannet circling the boat. I am sure they must know the score so I duly chucked him two mackerel which he defty beat the black backed gulls to. On the way back in we noticed a familiar boat approaching. It was "Posh John" aka John Coleman in his boat "Splasher". He had two mates on board and they were just out for a fun trip with handlines. After a bit banter between us we left the "Three Men in a boat" behind us and headed back to the harbour. Fishing wise it had not been a great session but the craic between us had been good and the weather had been kind. A most enjoyable few hours out in the bay. From where we tied up the Scorpion to the harbour breakwater was only about 5/6 yards but I still nearly managed to finish up in the drink!!!. I seem to have a bad relationship with transfer boats LOL Back at the caravan I was cleaning up the mackerel and noticed this,thought it was worth a picture. Thanks for a good day out Eric John

Aye John it was great fishing with my "Stranraer family" again A great day out mate John

Andrew and the kids arrived at our Clash caravan about two hours before hw. I was really looking forward to this short session as I had not seen Caitlin and Kyle for ages and look on them as my "extended Stranraer family". We had a quick cuppa and blether on the veranda and then headed off to East Tarbet in Andrews car. When we arrived,there were a few tents pitched up and I noticed the usual cans and beer bottles lying around. We decided on a quick "Wombling" session when we returned to the car later. After a 10/15 minute walk south along the cliff path we arrived at our fishing mark. Wrasse and pollack were our intended targets and we had lug and limpet for bait. The weather was perfect for this and I was feeling confident. It was decided to make this a fun comp so the teams were Andrew and myself (The Old Codgers) against Caitlin and Kyle (The Stranraer Sea Dogs) !!!!! After a few missed bites I was first in with a wrasse. Caitlin was the photographer,thanks Caitlin. Next in it was Andrew with a mackerel on a spinner,come on the Old Codgers LOL. The photo was a long distance zoom and you cannot make out very well the fish he is holding up. It was me with a pollack next on float fished lug Caitlin at last hooked into a fish on ledgered worm and it proved to be the best fish of the session,a lovely wrasse. It was another wrasse for me next It was great to be fishing with Andrew and the kids again All we needed was for Kyle to catch a fish now and that is exactly what happened as he reeled in a wrasse. After hw the fish seemed to go off the feed but I did manage to tice a coalfish which proved to be the last fish of the session. Andrew decide to try flyfishing for pollack,never had any hookups but did have a real good fish follow his fly in. This was our fishing mark,you can just make out East tarbet in the distance. All in all a most enjoyable session with all fish being safely returned. On our way back to the car we passed Duckman and Zippy and she was reeling in a small wrasse which ended her blank. Duckman and Zippy had been camping at the Clash and had spent the previous night with us in our caravan on the bevvy,it just has to be done. I did comment that she smelt as sweet as a rose as I passed which got her chuckling (private joke) It was rubbish bags out next and collecting cans and bottles from the beach. I have seen it much worse but we still managed to fill 3 large bags. Lets see how long it stays clean for !!!! We finally headed back to our caravan in Drummore and a final cuppa and blether and a team photo. What a cracking day we had out,no big fish but we had all caught and all fish had been returned to fight another day. Many thanks to the Tack4s for their company. John

Where abouts in Whitley Bay Jeepster??? Just wondered as I "overwinter" here John

Arriving there 12 Aug and staying for 3 nights. Any "must sees" in the area team ? Cheers John

Arriving in Sandhurst Thursday 12 Aug and will be there for three days. Any "musts" to see/photograph in the area ? If anyone lives local and fancies a beer we booked into the Wellington pub This retirement lark really is a chore !!!! John

Cheers Bobj,still hoping to meet up with you next year for some more Aussie fishing adventures John

Well done on the good fishing and good pics. Yes all of the Onyermarks skippers Ian,Matthew,Spike and Andy work their socks off to get you quality fish :clap2: John

Got a great buzz from coaching the kids and seeing them so happy. I reckon we now have 3 new angling converts John

Hannah and Kieran and their dad Julian have a caravan here on the Clashwhannon site. I had been handed the pleasurable duty of taking them out on an evening fishing session. They had fished only once before and I was informed that Julian had blanked on that occasion. It was up to me to get Julian his first fish and show him there is more to life than playing golf !!! LOL We duly headed off to a fairly easy "walk on"mark on the west side of the MOG. Having said that I still managed to slip on the way to it,all I hurt was my pride though and a barnacle cut on my hand. We arrived at the mark two hours before hw and I set up 3 spinning rods rigged with sliding floats and ragworm for bait. We also had limpet for backup. Julian was managing to cast out ok himself but I was initially casting out for Hannah and Kieran. I had a good feeling about this and just knew we would not have long to wait for some fish action. Pollack and wrasse were the intended targets and I am pleased to say that the fish must have read the script. Here is Kieran with his first fish,the smile says it all. Hannah with her first fish Kieran with his second fish Kieran with his third fish Eventually Julians float dipped down and he brought in his first ever fish. I think I was as chuffed as he was. It was a perfect summers night and here is the photo to prove it. We fished for about 2.5 hours and I was kept busy baiting up,unhooking fish and getting tangles out for everyone. Towards the end of the session Hannah and Kieran were casting out unaided and were having a ball. Here is Hannah with the biggest pollack of the session. All of the fish were returned unharmed to fight another day. Take a bow,you all did well. This final picture is Hannah and Kieran with their ghillie. The final score was (I think) Kieran 6 Hannah 3 Julian 2 On the drive back to Drummore I took us via a back road hoping to show everyone some wildlife. We manged to see rabbits,hares,partridge and two roe deer. I just love a happy ending. John

Nice pics Bobj,reminds me of what I am missing !!!! John

Aye Fred really enjoyed my last trip "down under" Tell Mick I was asking after him,what a great time he showed us in the Adelaide area. Like I say hopefully we may be back out next year and will make it 3 months next time. On the plus side Amanda has flown from London to see us for a few days. Its our sons birthday on Saturday so a "small" party is planned Will wedge on a couple of family snapshots from it !!!! John

Nice one John

wow some encounter in a yak !! John

Hi Bobj,Clifftop,Hellbelly etc. Just to let you know that our oz trip this year is now on hold Was really looking forward to it and fishing with you Bobj. Our daughter and her boyfriend have had to return to the UK temporarily until they sort their Australian residency out !!! With a bit of luck our return trip could be next year,will keep you posted. Try and leave a few fish in the sea for my next visit John

Hiya all Back here in sunny Whitley Bay after a stint over in our Drummore caravan. Here are a couple of recent Luce Bay sunrise shots I took. This last one is the sunrise over Luce Bay as viewed from our caravan there. Cannot wait to get back !!! John

It was just a "senior moment" Fred I am having plenty of those Taking lots of photos over here in Drummore,must make the effort to try and post some up !!! Must sign off as the tide waits for no man and neither do the bass !! John

A big thanks for all the work you have put into this forum over the years Steve :clap2: Also from a personal point of view thank you for all the help and encouragement you have given me in my digital journey. I wish you well for the future Steve,you are a good man. John