Ian Burrett

Hi Norrie Have a space either June 9th or July 2nd

Hi Norrie The first weekend date available is October 17th At this time of year, we don't get so many Tope but October always produces our biggest fish of the year

Yeah thanks Leon for all your unsung work. Whilst we are thanking people publicly, I would also like to thank Davy Holt for all his work on the Common Skate. The sport wouldn't survive without these enthusiasts

Hi Snatcher I'm sure I will remember you when we meet up, Give us a ring. I am sure we can sort something out. Telephone number on website below. It's worth a look anyway

Hi Snatcher Are you local to the Mull of Galloway or visiting? Reminds me of a story from a few years ago. On a spring tide, the Mull has a 6 knot tide race and even a moderate Southerley will create 6 ft high breaking waves. I saw a canoe/kayak ( I don't know the difference) in the race. Against my better judgement I went into the race to perform a heroic rescue, only to be told the Kayakist(does that sound right)was practising for a white water competition. Scary, if you ask me

Thanks Leon for drawing my attention to the anglers net conservation pages A good but depressing read on many subjects

Algae blooms have always occurred, usually in the spring as things warm up and new life springs up everywhere. In fact they are nicknamed May Tides in many areas and used to last for a couple of weeks Now because of the Nitrates and other substances being dumped in the sea, we can have algae blooms on a hot summer that can last 3 months. At best, It causes discomfort to fish and at worst can kill. They can make fishing almost impossible during the blooms as it forces the oxygen levels out the water. The fish must either swim into deeper cleaner water or just not feed. Like comments last week about black market landings, something needs to be done about it.

There were a mention last week about algae blooms and I also mentioned them in a posting, hoping someone would pick it up and create discussion. Enough of the subtle. This pees me off and we should do something about it. Any ideas. http://www.wwf.org.uk/news/scotland/n_0000000410.asp

Perhaps this is to eradicate the commercial diggers who move in and wipe a beach out in a matter of days. A fishing tackle shop from Newcastle which i won't name sends teams of lads digging all over the country. They came up to one of local beaches 5 years ago and it still hasn't recovered A local byelaw in Stranraer makes it illegal for anyone to remove more than 50 worms, which i think is a sensible idea, and should be adopted in other areas

Lets face it, this and past govenments are happy to ignore laws that don't directly effect votes. Farmers are given millions for set aside. What is the difference between that and paying trawler men not to fish. The difference I suggest is not many MP's are trawler owners but are land owners. Another ignored law concerns algae blooms which causes at best, fish discomfort and worst can kill A European ruling states that governments must implement controls on the ammount of Nitrates being put on land which eventually finds its way to the sea These blooms have different names like red tide or May tide and used to last a couple of weeks but now can last a couple of months. The WWF (not the wrestling) has tried to put pressure on the government but have been ignored. My feeling is, we need the government to realise the revenue that we anglers bring to local economies, and that fish are worth far more money in the sea than in the local fish market

Is this connected to the story, that if you remove the eyes on hardback crabs they will peel within 24 hours

Loch Ryan is a sheltered sea loch 9 miles long and 2-3 miles wide and has been used by locals for recreational purposes way before the high speed ferries turned up, The ferries cruise at 30 knots in the open sea and are supposed to reduce to 12 knots when entering the loch but with tight schedules often exceed this. It is impossible to avoid the wake as even at 12 knots the ferries will create a metre high wash that crashes on the banks either side. A mate of mine hired out the engine the coastguards used to test the boat. They went to sea with the appropiate number of people on board. The unofficial line at the time was they were suprised how buoyant the boat was. This is not an islated incident as three people have been washed off the rocks that i know off resulting in one drowning a few years ago. and a few local lads have been swamped launching and recovering. On this occasion radar reflectors which they may or may not have had, would not have made any difference. The local feeling is that it's just a matter of time before it happens again To me the question is, Should high speed Ferries be allowed to operate in narrow Sheltered inshore waters?

Hi Bob and good luck with your new venture. I was wondering have you chartered before and how easy is it to get licenses in the Algarve

In preparing for a Skate trip I recently strapped myself into a shoulder and kidney harness combined with a powerful 50 lb. outfit. the most force i could excert on a spring balance was 26 pounds, The Britsih conger club have been examing braids for records and most braids are way over the advertised rating. one guy is taking a manufacturers to court as a 25lb braid was breaking at 52 lbs and deprived him of a record. From a boat point of view I can't see the point of fishing 10-15 pound lines if a braid will hold bottom in the tide. A light balanced rod and reel with a 28lb braid will give you all the feel you need and providing the clutch is set right will deal with any fish you are likely to come across in British waters (Skate and shark excluded) For the Tope, I fish a 6-12 lb outfit with 28 braid knowing that if i hook that special fish, I have enough leeway to cope. The last thing i want, is to lose a Tope with a 100 yards of braid trailing round after it because of macho tendencies fishing with 10-15 lb line. From a fun pont of view, here is a challenge to see if your tackle is balanced. From a boat, I can guess 9 times out of 10 if a hooked LSD is male or female way before it breaks the surface, just by the kick it gives.(with most species the male will fight harder) Anyway I think thats enough ramblings for a man that's just drunk a bucketful of Guiness.

I fish with launce as a live bait most days for the Pollack. Don't know about other areas but here they tend to congregate in back eddies around headlands,or fast flowing sand banks Glasgow angling centre stock Sabiki rigs on size 7 hooks which work superb for them. On a good day can catch them like mackerel,4 or 5 at a time. Shrimp rigs also work well. Mothercare and other shops now have shopping nets instead of baskets, hung over the side, they make a great keep net which will keep them alive all day. For short journeys up to half an hour they will stay alive in a bucket of fresh seawater. Any bleeding ones will kill all so keep the water clean at first

A slight varaiation to the above from a nursery rhyme book first published in the mid 19th century When the wind is in the East Tis neither good for man nor beast When the wind is in the North The skilful fisher goes not forth When the wind is in the south It blows the bait in the fishes mouth When the wind is in the west Then fishing tis at the very best. It seems even are forefathers suffered from the evil wind. The first day of an Easterly wind or a cold Easterley certainly effects the fishing here. I have always thought it was linked to high pressure which makes fish lethargic due to oxygen levels being pressed out the water. It's probably nonsense but would welcome other theories. Even Pike men tell me an Easterly is no good for fishing

Thanks for the info Kieran. I will follow up on that. It was one of the sucessful skippers Neil (I didn't get the surname) over in Donegal told me that's what the Tuna are chasing. He recons as the Mackerel shoals are being fished out the Sardine and Scad shoals have moved in. We catch a few here on the wrecks averaging 1lb Just for interest, the ozzies rate the Scad as a great bait for shark. It certainly works for the Tope.

Scad or Shad???????? As pointed out by vagabond, I dropped a proverbial Boxxxxck after a heavy night on herbal cigarettes. I even get the kids names mixed up. Senial demensia( Is that how you spell it) springs to mind I meant Scad Gillies, Where do you fish?

Do you mean Scad (horse mackerel)? - Shad is a different fish entirely (Twaite and Allis Shad are members of the herring family) Vagabond, Your as bad as the wife nitpicking. I knew what i meant.

Do you mean Scad (horse mackerel)? - Shad is a different fish entirely (Twaite and Allis Shad are members of the herring family

I am trying to track Gulf Stream temperatures after it leaves Donegal as i would like to try for a Tuna in Scottish Waters. In the States you can find thermo readings for Uncle Sam's outside privvy, (It's not compulsory) but here I can only find readings 20 miles apart which isn't accurate enough to plot the route of the Gulf stream as it meanders towards Scotland. Any ideas or reports of sightings would be greatly appreciated or areas with a large ammount of Shad(horse Mackerel)which I am led to believe is their quarry in Ireland

Davy Holt recently emailed me and drew my attention to the website and relevant postings and I felt I would like to join the discussion on the float fishing for Pollack. We generally fish inshore reefs in 30-40 ft. of water. I set the float depth 10-12 ft. down as I feel the higher the float the more fish can see it. I also fish a 6-8 ft. trace, from the swivel. Many times through an average day the Pollack will come off the bottom and grab the float, [ 06. May 2004, 09:32 PM: Message edited by: Onyermarks ]