4 out of 5 Aint Bad

Last weekend me and Brian had a go at the wrasse grandslam down at the Mull of Galloway. On the way down we stopped of at Mcdonalds , and Stranraer sports shop for some rag worm, which was of great quality.

We headed for our suggested mark on the eastern side of the Mull as there was a stiff breeze with some strong gusts on the western side ,saw some folk fishing of the recommended spot so headed  to a vacant rocky outcrop . It looked great, we chucked out a bait on the big rods to see what we could get other than wrasse and fished in our hand couple of  and it didnt take long for the bites to start ,small ballans ,some tiny and the odd corkwing .

green isome proved iresistable to this corkwing

The odd "better" Ballan put in a appearance too.

The nibbles kept coming , so i decide to scale down hook size etc, and with it the catch rate went through the roof, and the nibbling culprits were now being hooked .

Rock cook wrasse another one of the list

they were rock cook wrasse and they seemed the dominant species on that particular reef. Another fish we landed was the common blenny.

The bait rods were also producing , Dogfish!

whilst fishing i noticed a pair of huge mullet on the top in a gulley, maybe target them in the future.

As the tide fell we had a wee move and had more of the same particularly roock cooks, and another one to mark of the card goldsinnys.

The goldsinny seemed to be out numbered by other wrasse species.but we also caught a few strangely marked brown ballans with a horizontal stripe.

A striped Ballan

 That concluded our first day fishing we went to our digs and went out for something to eat and a few beers ,  the cuckoo wrasse had  eluded us on the first day , so the next day we planned to fish deeper water but with a strong westerly still blowing we looked for shelter , so we went to far from our mark we tried on day one , though the water was a bit deeper.
Initially we only caught small pollack, but just as we were about to move the wrasse started too bite.

It proved to be a real corkwing stronghold too.

The male (top ) and female

We got a bit fed up with corkwings so decided to spin some lures. as we noticed a few baitfish sporadically  being attacked so  brian retreived some gulp, whilst i tried a 8g savage gear psycho sprat . Brian had a few pollack , then i got a surpise which i thoughtmight be a gar but was a greater sandeel.

Brian also got his sandeel before we had to head back home.

It had been a great trip , no cuckoo wrasse but it really didnt matter and it still leaves a great excuse to return, we'll definitely be back.

Ballans in the Borders in technicolor

Last weekend myself Brian and Scott, headed down to St Abbs head. Myself and Brian's intention was to catch some wrasse, whilst Scott was doing his best to add to his yearly target of 50 saltwater species by trying for a dragonet .
As Scott arrived I had just lost a fish to the kelp  on the first cast on a gulp sand worm which was intercepted on the drop , I suspect it was a decent pollack. A good few coal fish were landed after that then it went quiet until after low water.

I found a gully with a narrow patch of sand sourounded by kelp beds that caught my eye so had a go on the incoming tide , and started getting what I thought were wrasse bites and sure enough I eventually hooked up with a nice little ballan , I gave Brian a shout to get the net when he netted him for me. A beautiful wee fish .

Well before you know it I had Scott on my right side and Brian on my my left muscling there way in on my "wrasse hole" , and it didn't take long for Brian to get a nice wrasse .

combat fishing!

Brian's wrasse

I then followed it up with another, whilst Brian went in search of his own wrasse hole, where he lost a decent fish .

The last wrasse I had was a real brute, or a "rock donkey" as Scott called it.

this guys definitely been flossing .

I was over the moon a new pb for me , don't know the weights but it
 Was a nice one. Unfortunately Scott's didn't encounter any of the wrasse a couple of cheeky wee sea scorpions seemed all out to ruin his chances. After that wee retreated to the harbour where Scott got a single flounder Brian a coalfish and a few sea scorpions , but it wasn't on its best form.


The following week Me and Brian went down for more. Another lovely day but this time we fished a falling tide.
Brian was first into a wrasse a nice stamp too!

 Next i managed this dark  old warrior from my wrassehole.

 Brian then returned to a wrassehole he lost a fish in the previous week . And it proved really fruitful.not only producing another two very fine wrasse but also a couple of nice cod.

what a bruiser!

Brian was delighted with this surprise kelpie! 

 Brians second  cod took a a gulp! sandworm.

Fantastic light tackle sport cant get enough of it just now!

Wrassing Around

Ive been doing a fair bit Wrasse fishing of late mainly to Burntisland , mixed results  but every time has yielded a few wrasse as well as other species for myself or my friends.

Last Friday i got there for about 3pm , dug some rag at low tide  then started fishing the fishing was great from the start first a goldsinny then a ballan , then a few more of the same before Brian joined me at about 5'ish .

  He too was quickly in amongst the fish .

soon after Scott joined us along with another fellow lrf'er Dan. Dan managed his first goldsinny ever, and both he and Scott also got amongst the Ballans that were really in the mood.

Dans first Goldsinny

 Scott also added   a butterfish and then  my favourite of the moment  a stunning little corkwing wrasse.

Stunning!

Some of the goldsinnys were pretty chunky!

Other fish caught were coalfish and Dan had a wee lss scorpion.

Best wrasse of the night was a joined effort between Brian and Scott both baits were picked up by this fish.

Joint effort

Myself and Brian were back out on the Saturday. More of the same more Ballans and goldsinnys .

Dan turned up and got his second ever Goldsinny then his third Brian managed a Yarrel's blenny .

A wee olive /brown ballan

Yarrels Blenny

Stupidly i attempted to lift a small ballan up the peir wall only for my  rod to snap  .

Had the day off on Tuesday , plan was to take my son Jack for a bit wrassing fun.
Scott joined us along with his mate Nick. The sea was a bit lumpy and the fishing down the back wall was pretty poor . Scott and nick were first into wrasse and Jack got a goldsinny , The inner harbour fished much better and that's where we picked up most wrasse , nothing big but good sport. Scott got his first yarrel's blenny of the year to add to his impressive uk saltwater species list , and i got my corkwing and my first pollack of the year.

Jack getting to grips with a wee Ballan

Yes!