ARBROATH SHORE MATCH - 28th DECEMBER 2011

The last shore match of the year took place at Arbroath on Wednesday in some very difficult conditions .... With the severe winds forecast there were a few call offs, however six members braved the elements and had a decent nights fishing. 

The match was to be the Christmas Hamper event run in conjunction with other clubs in the West Of Scotland region, however the  Firth Of Clyde guys called off with the weather and the five Ardrossan guys and I decided not to run the match as the clubs wanted to fish different areas.

Our members decided to head up to the cliffs to try and get some shelter from the severe winds ..... because boy was it blowing !!!  We split into two groups of three and hreaded off ....... Sandy Wason, Nico Wilson and myself headed to the area round Red Head whilst Jamie Soons, Stuart Cresswell and Robert Edmund headed to Rumness.

Our group got off to a great start when we climbed down the cliffs only to find the tide to far in to get through a cave to the fishing area ...... so it was a climb all the way back up and walk along half a mile and then all the way down again. We walked back along the shoreline and fished a coupled of gullies getting a few fish out. The westerly which was coming from behind us above the cliffs was managing to come round the headline only yards away in an easterly direction straight into our faces and was so strong you could hardly stand and keeping the rod rest from blowing over was a nightmare .......... I have never seen such conditions in all my years fishing --- still we caught a few fish.

After a struggle back up the cliff and then across the fields straight into a force 8 or 9 wind we were absolutely knackered to say the least ........ 12 rounds with Tyson would seem like a walk in the park to the way we felt !!

We all met back at Vicky Park for the weigh in ... When we arrived the other guys were already there and had a couple of Cod lying out for the weigh in ........ Yeah that'll be right >>>> Mr Cresswell then produced his bag of Cod and a bloody good bag it was ..... 9 Cod for 49lb is a cracking bag of fish in anyone's book with his best going 9lb 12oz.

The overall results were :

1st Stuart Cresswell - 49lb 6oz  .. 9 Cod  biggest 9lb 12oz
2nd Sandy Wason - 17lb 7oz .. 5 Cod
3rd Willie Kennedy - 16lb 8oz .. 4 Cod & 1 Rockling biggest 7lb 15oz
4th Robert Edmund - 8lb8oz .. 2 Cod

By all accounts Jamie was actually fishing .... And using bait !! .... Just don't know if he actually cast the bait out into the sea or not ? 

The final results for the year will be pulled together very soon and these will be updated on the website, blog and forum.

Unfortunately there are no pictures .... we only realised this when we had gutted the fish anyway it was getting late and all of our bodies were stiffening up and hurting in places that that we didn't know could hurt. 

Stu, Jamie & I stayed overnight at the travel lodge at the north end of Dundee and fished Usan for three hours the following day ..... The sea was pretty calm by then and we only managed a couple of Cod of about a pound n half each. 

I think the fishing could be damn good over there when we get some easterly winds ..... Although the forecast is saying that won't be in the next week or so.

Have a great New Year

Willie

Steven & Richard's Etive trip

The lads visited Etive in Steven's new boat a Sea Hog Commodore (with all mod cons apparently) They initially fished the priory area with plenty of Spurs to 8 pounds straight from the outset as well as Thornies to 6 pounds. They then had a move up the loch that produced some small Spurs, Dogs and this nice Ling for Richard which by now will be well scoffed!

Final club match of 2011 and regional Xmas Hamper Arbroath area

Fishing times 2pm till 8pm with registration at 12noon at McDonalds -

£10 entry fee for the sweep - 100% payout.
Prises ...
Heaviest fish - £50 from the WOSR
Heaviest bag weight - £50 from the WOSR
Sweep - 100% payout.

Heaviest fish - 40%

Heaviest bag - 30%
2nd heaviest bag - 20%
3rd heaviest bag - 10%
Fishing times ... 2pm - 8pm
Registration 12.00pm at the McDonalds in Arbroath.
The match boundaries will be decided on the day to suit weather conditions

The troops head north as told by GG

Two days in the frozen North West
I'd been holding on to a couple of days floating holiday hoping for nice big East winds and some decent cod bashing in the far flung parts, but as we all know the weather has been a bit hash over the last few weeks. A couple of weather windows appeared between storms, so thought it a good idea to make the best of them?

Thu 15th I headed up to Loch Sunart with TheHappyHooker and his nephew Ross who was visiting from sunnier climes in Australia. The roads North were ok on the way there and we got afloat and settled for the day on a favourite mark near Salen. The bigger spurdogs have not been as abundant this year as they have over the last two years, but we managed a steady stream of fish throughout the day up to 11lb. Ross got educated in how not to get spiked and everything went well.
………….That was until about 5 minutes after we left Salen on the way home and heavy snow began to fall. By Resipole the road was completely white and by Strontian we came across a snowplough that had got stuck in the snow! We helped dig this out along with other drivers and slowly got back to Ardgour for the ferry. The road up through Glencoe was “testing” to say the least and the whiteout continued all the way to the top of Loch Lomond when it changed to heavy rain.



Sun 18th I was lucky enough to get an invite to fish Loch Etive on the Tartan Spartan. We were accompanied by Winston and The Wee Mincer who were fishing on Paisley Pete. The sweep was agreed to be the heaviest fish with the losers to buy the pints in The Drovers on the way home.

Leaving Taynuilt we turned left and headed to the West of the Loch. I had fished last week further east with very poor results. Paisley Pete was already on the mark early on and within the first hour had managed a fine spur of 9lb 5oz – a difficult target to beat.

The sunrise was quite spectacular over the cloudless hills and soon bathed the loch. Like prize eejits we thought the day would continue like this – how wrong were we? Later in the morning I managed a decent fish of 9lb 2oz, but this wasn’t good enough and was still leaving us two pints out of pocket! A few dark clouds came over from the South West and ten minutes later we were in the middle of a thick snowfall. Zippo handwarmers – you are a lifesaver. The skipper decided to head for another mark and we got settled down. Things weren’t going too well though with only a small doggie bite in the first hour. A couple of sausage’n’bacon rolls were devoured with great delight and then the fish came on. In a frantic spell we had boated three thornies and my rod buckled over with a decent spurries banging away. This one decided to take a wee tour round the other lines in the boat on the way up, but we got her on board and she weighed in at a beer winning 9lb 10oz.

Just after this, Jason had a nice thornie at 5lb, and then we saw paisley Pete sailing towards us. We thought she was joining us at the new mark, but this lily livered crew of noodle wristed big lassies decided to pack in early because their wee tootsies were getting cold and giving each other a cuddle was no longer enough to keep them warm.
More importantly, they were welching on the bet – unforgivable

Helicopter Sunday in the boat championship @ Loch Etive

A close call in the final boat match of 2011. Some decent fish were caught  with Les winning on the day,...well done big chap! Steven was second and Jason third.

A big congratulations to Steven  for winning the 2011 boat championship, as you can see by the picture the Champagne was on ice and the tension was high.......

Hard luck to Gordon & Jason who finished second and third respectively with one point between first and second and three points between third and first. The club web site will be updated shortly with a report on the day. There might be a blog post about how things came to be won and lost ,drama involved and a Christmas night out that might just have been a deciding factor. And by the way, when did Les become a haulage contractor/skipper ???? Well done anyway Les, care in the community, always high on your agenda.

River Tay 24th Feb 2012

The club is planning a day outing to the river Tay on Friday 24th Feb 2012. It's something different at a time of year when there's not much happening other than the east coast if the weathers right  or another monotonous Etive trip....

It will be limited to 8 anglers £25 each with the option to stay a night if anybody is up for it.  As you can see by the fish pictured below there is potential to connect with what would be a cracking fish for anyone.

Speak to/email Martin

http://www.scottish-salmon-fishing.blogspot.com/

Match results for 3rd Dec

1st  ... Willie Kennedy with 42 fish for 730.5pts

2nd ... Stuart Cresswell with a cod of 4lb 13oz (h'st Cod) - and 491.5pts with 14 fish

3rd ... Scott MacAleese with 9 fish for 235pts

4th ... Joint 4th with 198pts Martin & Jamie - Martin with 9 fish & Jamie with 2 Cod

5th ... John Wilson with 7 fish for 197pts

6th ... Robert Edmund with 6 fish for 115.5pts

7th ... Shane Wilson with 5 fish for 61.5pts

8th ... Chris Grant with 2 fish for 50pts

9th ... Iain Grant with 2 fish for 45pts

Next Match ... ASAC combined Regional Christmas Hamper 28th December - Arbroath Area

SW Club match December 3rd

Tough conditions again for our club match last night down in the SW but the good news was that the rain stayed off bar a brief shower here and there. Ten anglers fished  in the 20-30mph winds and a few were rewarded with some Cod. The match was supposed to have been on the east coast but as you can see there a few Cod around. Full match results to follow, but for the moment  Willie with an outstanding 42 fish winning catch and Stuart with the best Cod which was a nice fish at 4 pounds 13 oz. Ten Cod caught and the balance of the catches were made up of Flounder, Dab, Dogfish, Coalie and some nice Whiting, decent turn out, and some fish to be had.

Next match 3rd Dec

The next club match is this Saturday, please speak to/email Jamie or Martin if you intend to fish. No speedos please and pack a waterproof jacket. Ten anglers attending so far, come along, stand in the rain, enjoy the breeze, check out the wildlife and you might see the occasional fish too. The good news is you can miss Christmas shopping for another weekend! What else is there to do on a Saturday night in December? ( with no easterlies)

Curry night

Thanks to those who could make it on Friday night to the Taj at Prestwick. Twelve members tucked into  an assortment of Indian cuisine and a few beers(Jamie tanned the fish as usual)

A few of the guys  then went into the town to Davy and Tanya's party with the stragglers that knew no better ending up in  Club Too Far.

The Chairman was last heard shouting " Bawbag" outside the Black Bull circa 12.30am......

Next club match East Coast next Saturday 3rd Dec.Long range forecast for this not too clever at the moment.

East Coast

Martin and Jamie made the trip east and met up with Gordon in Arbroath at the weekend. The sea state was dropping fast as were the guys prospects of having a decent days fishing. Jamie was first off the the mark with a large Shore Rockling, Gordon weighed it and it went 9oz and is possibly a new club record. Gordon  then caught a small Cod and they all made a start on reducing the amount of weight that was to be carried back to the cars. Martin and Jamie made a few moves as did Gordon who headed up to the Aberdeen area. A  few small fish were added to the tally but Martin got the only sizable fish of the day. Great weather and very mild, good day to be out and about but the ultimately given the forecast not a good day for catching .

Sunart club match

Last weekends Tagathon also doubled as a two day club match event with the objective being to catch the heaviest Spurdog. The fishing was patchy over the two days but Kenny aboard his new boat Black Pig managed a fish of 14.8 pounds. John doubling as able seaman Stains managed a fish of 11.2 pounds. Willie's best fish went 12 pounds with the  full match results to follow. The sad news over the weekend was that a club member lost a  pair of old friends which he had been attached to for 22 years. These friends pictured below may well turn up in a drain or hedge in the vicinity of The Salen Hotel. There may well be a reward of a free boiler service for any club member knowing there whereabouts.

EDDIES NEWTON SHORE COD

Report below from Stuart Clark of him and Eddie Wongs session at the Newton Shore about a month ago .... Cracking fish the local beach .... Well done Eddie !!

 Please find attached pic of Eddie and his cod it weighed in at a couple of ounces over 5lb he also caught one about 2lb .I caught one about 4 lb which he promptly dropped in the rocks never to be found and 3 big flounders ranging 11/4 to bigger. Tide was incoming 3 hours up then nothing for last hour at top of tide.
Beachcaster now back in shed for another year for he spiders to hang out in.
Cheers
Stewart

AYR BAY

Had a trip out today on Reel Deal with Stuart C & Davie Kirkland in the hope of a Cod or two .... tried various areas >> Prestwick Peaks, the rougher ground near the Glensheil wreck and the Barber Rock without much success. Most areas we didn't even get a bite but managed a few very small Cod at the Barber Rock. We had fresh lug and muscles with Dave trying a bit of squid as well. These marks always produced a few Cod at this time of year .... Sadly not for a few years now !! >>>> we were hoping that with a few Cod showing from the beaches in the past month or two that we would have managed a few fish out .... Not even one near sized .. Crap !

Whether it's related or not I don't know but there has been dozens of boats prawn trawling the area lately .... Many from Ireland who I believe are trying to save there own quota. In my humble opinion all of this bottom trawling can't be good.

A few more east coast trips me thinks !!

At least it was a lovely day out and good to catch up with Davie .... He is doing fantastic after his health troubles of the past year!

No pics I'm afraid.

WK

Loch Sunart on Tickety Boo and the GG experience

The spurs were hard to find , the noodles were great, the weather was nice, Martin got bitten and Gordon laughed.

Best fish 10 pounds + and a total of six tagged. The guys played Rannoch Moor roulette on the way home and came out winners with all the car headlights intact and ready for the next jaunt.

Rod the Cod scores at Gourdon

Rod had a session at Gourdon Thursday night which resulted in six fish to 6 pounds as well as a large  and easy to catch( apparently) Shore Rockling . After heavy tackle losses at Johnshaven he made a move that put him into the fish. After apparently being overrun by mice he called it a day and was happy with the prospects of a few fillets for tea on Friday night.

Curry night Friday 25th November

Up for a pint and a curry ?

If so drop Martin an email and let him know

Jamie & Martin's Newton session

Martin roped Jamie into a late Saturday night session 12pm- 3.30am on the hunt for the elusive 5 Bearded Rockling after Gordon's success on Friday night. As usual this ended in abject failure with him now believing that there is a single fish wheeled out of a local aquarium for pictures with various club members.

Jamie didn't count his fish but never had a blank cast. Martin did and the total was 32 in a 3 1/2 hour session. The best of which were Coalies and 8 out of 9 of these were decent enough fish. Jamie managed a bonus Cluggie and was over the moon as you can see( just a bit different from Abroath lol)

Gordon's Netwon session

 

Decided to give this place a wee try last night. Light traces with 12lb snoods and wee size 4 hooks. Frozen baits were squid, mussel and black lug. No bait was favoured over others. Had 12 fish in all which included codling, coalie, whiting, flounder and five bearded rockling. Would be a great place to take the kids - but watch the rocks in front of the wall as they are very slippy. All that's needed is a wee lob ten yards out.
Packed up just on high water at 2am just as the rain came on big style. Noticed three full trees floating by with the tide as I was getting ready to head home

STEWART'S SALMON

Stewart Clark managed a late season Salmon from the river Girvan yesterday and a nice one it was too -- tipping the scales at 21lb 8oz. The fish took him 20 minutes to land and was on one his last casts of the season.

     

Well done Stewart !!

ARBROATH COD ARE IN TOWN

Willie, Stuart and Jamie headed over to Arbroath for a mid week session ..... the forecast looked great with a strong easterly blow on Monday into Tuesday. With the winds dropping back through Tuesday into Wednesday it was decided that Wednesday for a late afternoon / evening session it should be. On arrival the conditions looked prefect -- a nice swell was still running with the water very coloured.

The fishing was pretty good with Stuart managing 12 ( courtesy of a double shot last cast ) Willie on 11 and Jamie on 6. The general size was a bit mixed but Stuart being the lucky sod as he is managed to catch the best 5 fish -- 7lb 7oz, 6lb 4oz, 5lb 14oz and a couple around the 5lb mark all adding to an overall bag in the mid forties. Not a bad nights fishing !!

Just some of Stuart's catch ......

Bait was lug and fresh crab from Davie Neil.

Things are looking good for the winter ahead !

Etive results 22nd October

M Allison - 603 points 7 fish  2 Spurs, 2 Thornbacks, 2 Dogfish and 1 Cod
I Grant     - 273 points 2 fish  2 Spurs
W Millar  -   29 points 3 fish  2 Dogfish and 1 Whiting
M Bletsoe - 28 points  1 fish  1 Cod
S Wilson    - 14 points  1 fish 1 Whiting
J Wilson    - 10 points  1 fish  1 Dogfish
N Wilson  - 0 points 0 fish

Everybody deserved a pat on the back for attending in what were miserable conditions.

Loch Etive shore match 22nd Oct

Seven anglers braved the elements in what has to be one of the wettest shore matches yet( wetter even than the last Etive match believe it or not) The venue was on the north shore at the Bonawe area. Not the worst results for a shore match but difficult conditions to endure for all concerned.

Malcolm in his wisdom left his waterproof jacket at home which was a great start and Martin's new brolly bought on Saturday broke at the knuckle joint and is in now in four pieces and was picked out of the sea by Will. Iain questioned his sanity on more than one occasion and Mr Hardcore AKA Shane Wilson seemed to be the only angler not happy to end the match early. We did check him out for concussion just to see if he had bumped his head in the dark.

The drive back was a hoot with dodging a variety of animals in the dark the main challenge. There was good potential to get the Scottish mammal grand slam of Deer, Fox and Badger while aquaplaning through the surface water. Martin was apparently the only person with a Camera that was mildly waterproof so only his pictures have survived the Etive Tsunami. Results will be added to this post when the score sheets dry out.

Crinan

Wild weather for Gordon and Martin at Crinan no Skate but a couple of Congers and  BMD for Martin salvaged a difficult day. Mullet and Mackerel kebabs amongst other things were offered up for the Skate but they just weren't in the mood

NEWTON SHORE

Managed a wee session at the Newton shore last night with Jamie .... fished near the old swing park with the tide dropping to low and the first of the flood. Plenty small fish still showing ... Cod, Whiting, Coallies and a flounder ...... biggest maybe 3/4lb. Although not huge it is good to see numbers of fish around. The sea had a bit of a chop but not enough to make the difference. Here is a pic of a double of small Whiting ..... looks like an edible crab has enjoyed a chop at one of them !!

With the strong winds this week I would say it is definately worth a shot if you have a few worms or crabs in the fridge !

Willie K

Luce Bay

Jamie, Martin and Rodney made the journey south last weekend to have a crack at a backend Bass. Rodney had dusted down his beachcasters which appeared wrapped in Sunday Posts from circa 1992 and were antique in origin so off they headed. The fishing was poor in a dying sea and dropping wind but Jamie managed a Bass and a few Coalies as well as an Eel. Rodney had a few Dogs and Martin skunked and caught nothing other than a bill for diesel.

Boat match Loch Etive

The guys participating in the boat match last weekend had to dodge the weather with a switch of venue from Port Logan to Loch Etive. Three boats and nine anglers decided to make the journey and this match was a species based event.

1st - Nameless & Shameless - Steven, Kyle & Scott - 11 species - All 30 points

2nd = Ticketty Boo! II - Sarah & Gordon - 9 species - All 28 points

2nd = Tartan Spartan - Jason, Michael, Les & Darren - 9 species - All 28 points

 

Juniors

1st - Sarah - 6 species

2nd - Kyle - 4 species

 

Total Species caught = 12

Black Goby, Pollack, Pouting, Poor Cod, Coalie, Cod, Whiting, LSD, Thornback, Spurdog, Grey Gurnard, Mackerel

 

Heaviest fish was a  4 pound 8oz Spurdog for Scott

Summer League Newton Shore

Plenty of fish in the last summer league match of the year

1st   Willie Kennedy 25 fish
2nd  Sandy Wason 20 fish
3rd  Jamie Soons  16 fish

Biggest fish of the night went to Willie with a Cod of 47cms as well as a Bass of  42cm. Lots of small Cod caught on the night which is encouraging  as well as some decent Coalies.

Well done to John Wilson who has won the summer league competition for 2011

Heads of Ayr/Dunure

Jamie, Michelle and Martin joined Willie on Reel Deal today to squirrel some Mackerel away for the winter and try their luck on some local spots towards Dunure. After the recent storms the crew wondered if the Mackerel had dispersed but their worries were soon washed away in the rain as there were reasonably plentiful although small...except for Michelle who bagged a  full house of decent ones along with the first Cod and Whiting of the trip which was great as she has never fished before ! As you can see here Jamie is getting close eying up the Cod and out of shot he has his filleting knife at the ready. The fishing was steady with small Codling, Haddock, Cuckoo Wrasse, Whiting, Ballan Wrasse, Dabs and Poor Cod making up the days catch. Jamie took the best Cod, Willie bagged the most Cod and, Michelle took to the fishing like a duck to water and just as well as it tipped it down all day.Martin just looked sinister, cold and wet and seemed to catch every Cuckoo Wrasse in the bay. Willie should expect a phone call  sometime soon from SEPA due to the amount of lead he left around the reefs at Dunure and Reel Deal was seen to enter Troon harbour  floating about 12 inches higher in the water as a result of this.

Ayr SAC v Ardrossan & District SAC 5 man team Loch Etive 24 Sep 2011

Team result;

Ayr 48 fish for 166 points

Ardrossan 19 fish for 78 points

Individuals;

Ardrossan;

Tam Borland - 1 fish for 7 points

Alan Robertson - 5 fish for 22 points

Stuart Ballantine - 7 fish for 28 points

Pat McGugan - 4 fish for 11 points

John Deans - 2 fish for 6 points

Ayr;

Gordon Goldie - 14 fish for 44 points

Jason Nicol - 10 fish for 39 points

Scott MacAleese - 10 fish for 37 points

Darren Sloan - 7 fish for 28 points

Graham Paisley - 7 fish for 20 points

Species caught - Spurdog, LSD, Thornback, Whiting, Cod, Pollack, Pouting

As you can see from the results, fishing was very poor with the majority of the counting fish being small spurdogs. Skipper Donald McLean tried very hard to put us over the fish with several moves up and down the loch at marks from 40ft to 365ft deep. With very small tides and a lot of fresh water coming into the loch, conditions were always going to be difficult, but the Ayr lads fished hard from the first minute to the last and came out clear winners. Well done boys. A big thanks to Billy McCormack of Silver Lure SAC for measuring the fish and marking up the scores for us.

WILLIE K CATCHES MARTIN'S 5 BEARDED ROCKLING

Had a session down Prestwick last night with Scott McCartney, Davie Dobie and Rab Gallagher ..... a few names there from the past on the that list !!!!

We had plenty small coallies, couple of Whiting - Scott even had a small Cod but just to P Martin and his species bash off  I pulled out a 5 Bearded Rockling ...... Martin is nearly checking himself into the loony bin as he canny catch one !!

I was also down Sunday night for a couple of hours ... no Bass then either -- 3 Flounders, Coallies and Whiting ...... this was the double shot first cast ------ and yes the small one is that small ( wish it was the bigger one was that big :oD

John breaks his duck

John, Shane and Will fished  a few weeks back and had a decent result with John eventually breaking his Bass duck with some Bass. Now that the seal has eventually been broken we are expecting  a few more Mr Wilson!

John, quick question. Is there a motorbike missing a headlight in your street ?