Andy MacBog

Good oh!

Try here, Penn Reel Servicing / Spares http://www.pennfishing.com/ Penn UK Servicing Centre - Tel / Fax 01386 552 949 They seem to be hard to get a hold of though ... in the end I managed to fix my handle! Andy

Thanks for that Macky and Dale, I have tried holding them with their noses into any waves but will try the old rubbbing the belly trick next time. All the best, Andy

Hi Folks, I do not know if any of you have experienced problems returning thornies from the shore? They seem to stay near the surface and close to the shore when I return them. On one occasion a fish we returned came steaming back to shore, at the surface, a good 10-15 mins after we returned it!? I was wondering if they find it hard to expel air, after being landed, because of the position of their mouth, and if its that which keeps them near the surface? I have yet to try releasing one upside down though! They also seem to sit and sulk if they do not go back into an open area. But that's easily resolved! I know it maybe sounds like a daft question but I would appreciate any thoughts that you(s) may have! Thanks folks, Andy

You could always pop into an out-door shop and get one of the detergent-free soaps (made by Nikwax or Grangers) that is advised for most outdoor gear. Pop it and your suit in a warm bath and an overnight soak with an occasional 'stir' will be as good as a washing machine cycle. If you have something to lay over the top of the water to hold the heat in it helps too (a karrimat does the job). It should cause minimal harm to the floatation fabric and none to the breathability of the more expensive suits as long as they are well-rinsed. The specialist soaps even maintain some of the original water repellancy. And then ... a couple of coats of water proofing -Fabsil Gold is best if you are not worried about breathability. The waterproofings that allow breathable fabrics to work all require heat to "activate" them which might be difficult to do with a floatation suit. And all of them are less effective if sprayed over a poorly rinsed surface still holding some soap. Andy

Yeah! Those wee peskie dabs seem to be real experts at it. I had one that managed to thread its way onto a 4/O loaded with worm for cod!

"Match the hatch as the fluff chuckers say." I like that ... fluff chuckers, that'll take the salmon snobs around here down a peg or two! Thanks Spanner! (Admittedly I do a bit o' fluff chucking myself!) Yes, I guess it is that fixation thing ... I suppose its more efficient to adopt one behaviour pattern for a period rather than be repeatedly switching back and forth, especially if they have a bonanza of one particular prey item. And i supose too that when chasing sprats they are looking up rather than down. Funny old thing the sea .... I often wonder what is going on down there! It must be great to be able to scuba dive. Thanks for your thoughts and any more that may be forthcoming. Andy

Yes! I quite agree Phil but when you have what appears to be a big shoal in your gulley surely one fish must stumble across the mackerel, even by chance, and gulp it down. But it does not seem to work that way .... they'll gobble down your crab bait and leave the mackerel one ... (although I do think that the smaller cod like mackereal). Its handy though ... two rods is obviously a bit much when you have a shoal moving around in your patch! Maybe its just a case of preference? I'd rather have a jammy sandwich over mashed turnip any day! In zoological foraging theory it is assumed that organisms have some idea of the calorific value of foods (and they do appear to, odd as it may seem) but even this does not give us an answer as there could not be too much difference between the two baits .... and why turn your nose up at any calorific intake at all? A second to snatch a mackerel bait off the sea bed is still going to give you calorific credit! Any ideas .... or am I off on one? Andy Andy [ 20. January 2005, 01:29 PM: Message edited by: Andy MacBog ]

I think that the swimmers are OK too! I usually fish two rods and experiment a bit with baits and while I agree with MainBassMan that your bog-standard peeler is best, the swimmers do up your catch rate beyond just lug alone. Fishing crab and lug on a pennel the coddies always seem to go for the swimmer crab end (the smaller fish anyway - hard to tell exactly which bit of bait their larger mouthed brethren were after). I have always found sea fish funny as to how they are so fussy. Its amazing the difference a crab bait can make compared to say mackerel. The sea can appear empty when fishing mackerel but then put a crab on and it appears to be full of fish. Why are they so fussy ... surely a big lump of makerel is as good as anyhting when you are in a shoal and competing for food!? Andy

Well, my trousers are firmly in place ... as was my floatation suit ....... you forgot to mention the rain!!!!!!! We fished for a few hours at Ballachulish and I got a couple of good bites at the start of the flood, that I soon turned into snagged leads! But we shall be back! The time we did not spend fishing was good too as we drove about and went for a few walks checking out other marks that I had heard of. Its amazingly deep in L. Leven too, compared to what I am used to. I can tell already that I am going to enjoy re-exploring the west coast with a fishing rod! Thanks again for all your help folks! Andy

I'll not be wearing my kilt then ....? Andy

Brilliant, Thanks a lot Spur-Hound and Saint_1877! I felt a bit cheeky asking but then if you don't ask ...... I have more frozen lug coming up with my girlfriend today, to supplement my emergency supply and a ton of mackerel too so it looks like we are set! And with your excellent instructions in tow too. Quite excited really .... I like my cod but just to see something more exotic would be good! I'll let you know how we get on! Thanks again, Andy

Hi Folks, I was going to try somewhere around Fort William this weekend, for my first time away from the east coast! I was wondering if any kind soul could give me a pointer on where to try, or will the usual suspects be fishing well enough at the moment (like the pier at Corpach)? I do have my eye on L. Creran though I suspect it will have had quite a dose of freshwater in the past week. I would really love to catch a spurdog ... but anything other than a dab would do! My thanks in advance for any pointers ... if you don't mind? Andy

Hi Spanner, Yeah, Argyll is definitely tugging at me! I have sailed all around that area and went to university in Glasgow (from NI) so that I could climb all the hills that I saw! So to go and fish in that backdrop is quite tempting! Loch Creran especially has caught my eye but then I am a sadist who likes to fish rough ground. Thanks for all those pointers Ken. I shall try your tips on into the summer. It may not be great in the Moray Firth but an evening spent catching the odd decent fish is better than nothng at all I suppose! Thanks again, Andy

Thanks Maximo, It is a fairly mixed coastline - short cliffs and gentle slopes leading onto shallow, gently sloping beaches, with a mix of sand and rock becoming muddy further out. Have tried Tarbet Ness once but seem to have hit a shallow rock shelf in the couple of hours that I had there. I'll give Balintore a shot and try NE of Portmahumock too, which I hear fishes quite well (from the staff in the tackle shop in Inverness). Thanks for the input folks, Andy