A Bute-iful day.

I text my friend and fellow angling blogger Martin Allison recently to say I thought it was about time we went fishing together again. He suggested a trip to the Isle of Bute to explore a new mark with a spot of wrassing in mind. After meeting him yesterday at Wemyss Bay ferry terminal and grabbing a quick bacon roll we were soon rolling onto the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry to make the short crossing onto the island before driving to an area Martin had spotted on Google Earth that he thought was a good starting point. Parking the car and unloading our gear we briefly chatted to another angler who passed us who was walking back to his car having just finished fishing. He assured us that the spot we were heading to did indeed hold a few wrasse as well as pollock and told us the best way to get there so as not to annoy the local farmer. 

The sun beats down and over the fields a rock and kelp fish filled paradise awaits. Hopefully.

Walking down a farm road, across a small field then down a small path before going up and over a grassy hill we were soon confronted with a fantastic looking piece of coast and a difficult decision, where exactly to start fishing! It all looked like a great place to begin fishing and getting down onto the rocks didn't make it any easier.

New grounds to explore. Where to start?

Gullies and rocky outcrops to our left?

Explore the long finger of rock to our right?

To start with we just started to fish where we had walked down to the waters edge but after a while we decided to head in different directions and whoever found the fish first would let the other person know. I liked the look of the irregular coast to our left and Martin began methodically working his way along to the right.

Martin works his way along the rocks searching close in above the kelp beds and over any holes.

The first rocky bay I came to looked great and was full of large boulders. Perfect I thought. Starting of with a 7g drop shot rig and and using my Nories Rockfish Bottom Light rod I began dropping a section of white Gulp! Sandworm into likely looking hiding places. It wasn't long before I spotted a few small goldsinny wrasse and also a slightly larger wrasse that I think was a corkwing but may have been a small ballan. They all gave my lure a few tiny taps but they just didn't seem to be that interested in it so I changed to another colour, then I tried Isome in a couple of colours and the result was the same. I changed to a #12 hook and smaller sections too but the result was the same, a lack of proper positive bites that could lead to a hook up.  When I finally did get a decent bite that I could connect with it didn't feel like a wrasse on the hook and I wasn't that surprised to find out it wasn't.

A blenny. Off the mark at least!

I text Martin to let him know I had found some smaller wrasse that were eluding capture and that I had opened my account for the day. He replied to let me know he'd hooked and lost a ballan wrasse. I continued exploring the area and it was very interesting watching the wrasse in the crystal clear waters. Some of them were hiding in weed and popping out occasionally and the corkwing/small ballan seemed to be doing regular patrols back and forth between a clump of weed and a large crevice a few meters away. I lured a bigger wrasse out from under a large flat rock but the result was the same, timid little taps and a quick loss of interest. I switched to my Shimano Speedmaster Dropshot rod and tried some larger lures to see if there were any more larger wrasse around. There were and at one point I had three of them slowly circling my lure. Ribsters, Ladyfish, Slug-Gos were all dropped down and I just could not illicit a good bite from them no matter how I worked the lures. Rather frustrated at this point, Martin then text to say he had landed two fish, so I headed along to where he was.

The view towards the mountains on the Isle of Arran was quite stunning and took my mind of an infuriating hour or so as I walked along to join up with Martin.

There were lots of jellyfish in the crystal clear water. A lot larger than the ones I saw recently on the east coast. Probably because the water temp is higher and they have been here longer. The water clarity on the west coast can be amazing and always makes me want to go swimming in it. Not wise with all those jellyfish around though.

Just as I arrived Martin landed another wrasse. He had caught his fish on a Swimming Ribster and told me they were following his lure close in before biting it as it reached the edge of the kelp in front of him. I stuck on a Keitech Easy Shiner shad and flicked it out. After a few casts I had my first proper bite of the day and the paddletail was removed from the lure by a wrasse so I put a new one on. Martin caught another wrasse.

Martin is a big fan of Swimming Ribsters.

So are the resident wrasse!

I then switched to a standard willow leaf tailed Ribster but after a while with no action I took up Martin's offer of a Swimming Ribster. By this point we had almost reached the end of the finger of rock and there was a channel running along behind it that I decided to go and try in. The remnants of a small building and some kind of loading pier were opposite me and large chunks of concrete that were perhaps once part of the installation were in the channel on the bottom. I thought these looked like they may hold some wrasse. Working the lure past one of them a large wrasse soon appeared and followed my lure to the rockface below me before attacking it but I didn't manage to hook it and it quickly shot off across the channel with three or four swishes of its tail before hiding under a large piece of concrete on the far side. Martin caught another couple of wrasse and I had a seat to fish half heartedly and contemplate why he had done so much better than me.

Where did I go wrong?

Time was getting on. We were both quite tired and the sun had taken its toll on us both. I also had to drive home to Edinburgh so we decided to head off. As we were leaving and discussing the potential reasons for Martin's successful days wrassing and my poor days wrassing we passed a very weedy section of the channel behind the rock finger further in that was cut off by the receeding tide and out of the corner of my eye I spotted something moving. Stopping to see what it was I realised that it was an eel. I pointed it out to Martin and then we spotted a second smaller eel too. I couldn't believe my luck and quickly rigged up a piece of red Gulp! Sandworm on a drop shot rig whilst Martin tracked them through the pool and I then began sight fishing for them.

Dangling Gulp! Sandworm in front of the eels soon had the desired effect.

Dropping the rig into an area that I thought the fish was swimming towards so as not to spook it I patiently waited until it did and to my surprise it went for the lure in a very aggressive manner as soon as it saw it. Striking quickly I didn't hook it though and the eel swam off rapidly to the back of the pool and into some thick weed. I then repeated the process with the smaller eel. The result was the same, an attack on the lure and a failed hook up. I quickly switched to a small Ecogear Shirasu jighead and began looking for another eel to target. To my left I spotted one and dropped the jighead down into a small clearing just past the weed the eel was swimming through. When it emerged it paused for a second before turning its head towards the lure and engulfing it. I quickly struck to set the hook and this time this fish was on! Playing the fish along to a point where I could scramble down to land it I had to pull it through some weed on the way and it also made a few attempts to swim backwards into the dense weed at the side of the pool. After a nervous minute or two I lifted it out and climbed up to the top again with my first ever common eel!

This slippery customer made up for my failure to catch any wrasse.

Climbing down to release the fish I felt that in some way my efforts throughout the day had in some strange way been rewarded and to be honest whilst I do like catching wrasse if I had been offered a new species but no wrasse at the start of the day I would have taken that happily. So both quite pleased by the days events we headed back into Rothesay to catch our ferry home and grabbed some cold drinks and a bag of chips each to satisfy our thirst and hunger. Chatting to the chip shop owner about the reason for our visit he told us about the good head of large pike that are present in Loch Fad on the island. Food for thought indeed!

Relaxing on the upper deck of the ferry on the way back, enjoying the lovely view down the Firth of Clyde whilst enjoying a gentle, cooling breeze made the sail back to the mainland most enjoyable.

Blue. My favourite colour.

It was great catching up with Martin again and I'm looking forward to wrassing again with him soon. Perhaps once I suss out a few of the St Abbs Head marks we hit the east coast for a change. Saying that the tiny section of coast we visited yesterday has really whetted my appetite for more and I'll certainly be making a trip over to the Isle of Bute again as I'd love to spend time exploring more of the coastline and perhaps even actually catching some wrasse! In addition the big pike that are found in Loch Fad on the island are another tempting reason to return.

Tight lines, Scott.

More micro fishing for gobies.

A few weeks ago I went to Ravensheugh beach with my mate Jake to target turbot. When we got to beach Jake saw some small fish in a rockpool. After a while we agreed they were gobies and tried to catch a few. Jake almost managed to get one but it fell off his #20 hook as he was lifting it up. After a fruitless hour or so searching for turbot on the beach at the mouth of a small stream I returned to the rockpool and after a lot of perseverance I managed to catch one of them. At this point I realised I didn't have my camera with me so I popped it into my empty water bottle. I then caught a second and then I caught a tiny dragonet. Jake then returned having worked his way along the beach a fair bit and back along again.

I worked the stream whilst Jake wandered along the beach.

We popped the tiny fish into a small rockpool to look at them and I took a couple of pictures using Jake's camera. Still unsure about the exact species of goby I had caught we headed off as Jake wanted to try for bass at Torness Power Station outflow.

At the time I thought they may be painted gobies due to the saddle markings. But it turns out they were two spotted gobies. You can just make out the spots.

Still not sure quite how I hooked this dragonet. It was about the size of my thumbnail!

A short walk back to the car and a drive down the coast and we were at the outflow. Once there Jake soon caught a few bass, first of all using a Hansen Pilgrim spoon and then, after losing that, on a Lunker City Ribster fished on a jighead.

One of a few bass Jake caught, much to the annoyance of others who weren't catching that many.

I meanwhile had been exploring and had spotted some more gobies in a large sandy bottomed rockpool and when we left I told Jake I'd like to get some smaller hooks and return to find out what they were. Jake visited twice in the last week and had managed to catch some two spotted gobies confirming the identity of the two I had caught and had also caught a small goby that we were pretty sure was a common goby.

Jake and I were reasonably certain he'd caught his first common goby and would later have this confirmed.

On Monday some new Gamakatsu 6315 #26 hooks to nylon arrived so yesterday we headed down again to catch a few more and get confirmation. Upon arrival I headed straight to the rockpool to get started. Jake went to try for a bass. The only rod I had with me was the "beast tamer". I was focused on goby hunting and nothing else!

My Ron Thompson Ice Fishing Pimple Lux 60cm Medium. 2 foot of goby stopping power!

Weapons of micro destruction!

Ultra fine wire hooks to increase my chances of hooking the tiny fish.

Tiny pieces of Power Isome and Gulp! Sandworm were the lures of choice. Split shot was placed a few inches above to help keep it down as it was fairly windy.

It took me a while to get them interested in my tiny chunks of Power Isome and Gulp! Sandworm but just after Jake came over to see how I was doing I managed to catch a two spotted goby, my 29th saltwater species on lures this year. Jake hadn't managed any bass but he then spotted a small flounder in the rockpool and soon had it hooked on a pink Ecogear Minnow SS. That's the first time I've seen one caught in a rockpool! I then moved along a bit to a spot where Jake had whipped the gobies up into a frenzy by jigging his brightly coloured lure around. After jigging my Isome around lightly amongst them I managed to catch a small goby. Careful examination would confirm it as being a common goby. A new species for me and my 30th saltwater species on lures this year. I was over the moon having reached my goal for the year.

Isn't he cute.

Rockpool flounder caught on the Rockfish UL.

Ecogear Minnow SS proved to tempting for this stranded flounder.

My first ever common goby.

Nine soft ray fins in the second dorsal fin along with other features confirms this as a common goby. Sand gobies have at least ten.

I had a small clear plastic tank with me that gave us an opportunity to study the gobies closely. We examined them carefully admiring their markings and subtle colourations before we both took turns with the "beast tamer" catching some more. Both of us ending up with one two spotted goby and three common gobies each.

Viewing gobies like this lets you see every detail.

Note the pale blue markings on this common gobies

The examination tank. This enabled us to take our time and confirm that all the gobies we'd caught were two spotted gobies or common gobies.

A few of the bass anglers took an interest in what we were doing too and had a look at our catches before I released them all again. Micro fishing is great fun and it's strange to think that it's taken us so long to investigate the gobies as we've spotted them there before. We just assumed they were sand gobies I suppose. In future we'll be investigating any gobies we spot as there are quite a few more species in the U.K. for us still to catch!

Tight lines, Scott.

Annual Applecross trip.

For the last two years I've been visiting the Applecross peninsula with two of my mates, Alan and Mark. Every August we head up there for a week, fishing during the day and enjoying a nice meal and a few drinks in the Applecross Inn every night. It's a great trip and we always catch a few fish and have a great laugh. Last Tuesday was the beginning of this years trip and Mark picked me up at 6am. We headed over the Forth Road Bridge, up to Perth and then drove up the A9 to Inverness to meet up with Alan, who was driving from Aberdeen where he now lives. The weather on the way up there was pretty horrendous but it cleared up slightly as we approached Inverness. We met Alan and popped into Woody's Snack Bar for a big breakfast before jumping back into the cars and heading west to Applecross and by the time we reached the campsite the weather was lovely. Alan and Mark put their tents up and I dumped my gear in my luxurious wooden hut. We then headed up to Fearnmore to a spot we fish every time we visit. I was first to get set up and decided to start the session with a Slug-Go in Arkinsas Shiner on a Savage Gear Sandeel Jighead. First cast and I had a fish on. A nice pollock was soon landed. Second cast  I had another pollock take my lure but it came off. Third cast I hooked another nice pollock and quickly bullied it up over the ledges below with my Daiwa Powermesh 902MS and Daiwa Exceler X-3000 combo loaded with 20lb Power Pro Braid. This all happened so fast that Alan and Mark were still setting up their gear! I suppose taking photos of my fish slowed them down a bit.

Off to a great start!

Soon followed by a second.

As soon as they started fishing they joined in the fun with Alan catching a few pollock and Mark getting one also. All nice fish averaging about 3.5lb. Alan's best fish was 4lb 2oz and Mark's best was 3lb 12oz.

My turn on net duties.

A nice pollock for Alan on his new Savage Gear Parabellum Rod.

Mark gets his first pollock of the trip.

I then got a forth pollock. Suddenly bait fish started breaking the surface signalling the arrival of some mackerel. I quickly changed to my Nories Rockfish Bottom Ultra Light and Daiwa Steez ultra light combo and tied on a 7g Toby. I caught two as the shoal passed by and before it moved off into deeper water out of casting distance. Just as it did though I was thinking about switching back to my light spinning setup to target pollock again when one came up and smashed the Toby almost right in front of me. I very quickly adjusted my drag and raised the rod high and managed to keep it near the surface. It swam into kelp at the edge but I managed to pull it up through this a couple of times before Mark climbed down and netted it for me.

A nice fish on ultra light gear!

I then switched back to my light spinning rod and fished a Lunker City Ribster in Green Pumpkin on an AGM 10.5g #2/0 Ultra Ball jighead. Dropping it down over the ledge I let it hit the bottom before twitching it every so often before slowly bringing it up in front of the kelp hoping for something to smash it. I was soon getting a few taps near the bottom though so I knew there was a wrasse down there. After a short while the wrasse bites dried up and as I slowly began retrieving back up I got smashed by a big pollock that charged up and grabbed it before diving back down again in a huge power dive before suddenly coming off. I decided to try the same thing again and a few casts later got hit again as the lure came up over the kelp covered ledge. Drag almost locked up it still took line and I struggled to bully the fish up. I knew it was a big fish. As I gained line it made another charge down. After a third dive though it came up and after a few more thrashes on the surface it was guided over the net being held by Alan.

A superb shore caught pollock and a new PB of 6lb 11oz.

Back it went to grow bigger for next year. Things went quiet after that as the tide slackened off so we tried for wrasse again. I stuck with the Green Pumpkin Ribster and tried fishing over the top of a submerged shelf. I had a few small bites again as I worked it over the kelp but no hookups. At this point I spotted a female cuckoo swimming up above the kelp before disappearing again. I found this very encouraging as having seen Alan catch them on bait here the last two years I had one on my little list of goals for the trip. I switched to my LRF gear and rigged up an IMA Trilobite in watermelon. I spotted a few small ballans poking their heads out of the weeds to have a little look but they weren't biting though. It then got very dim and the light faded. A huge rain cloud approaching was the cause so we called it a day and headed back to campsite. That night we went down to the pub for dinner and a few drinks. We got chatting to a few locals that we've met during our previous trips and they told us that in the recent boat competition the best fish section was won with a 6lb 4oz pollock and also that my 6lb 11oz fish was one of the best they'd heard caught from the rocks at Fearnmore. This made me even more pleased by my catch.

Wednesday morning we got up at 7am and got ready. Alan was on breakfast duty and rustled up some tasty black pudding rolls and off we went to the rocks at Fearnmore again. I was determined to catch some wrasse with a cuckoo being my main target but it was quite overcast. Not ideal conditions for wrassing I thought. We arrived at the mark just before high water and I rigged up an IMA Trilobite and dropped it down in the area where I'd spotted the cuckoo wrasse the day before. Straight away I had the distinctive tapping of a wrasse and hooked one.

I find wrasse seem to love the watermelon IMA Trilobite more than any other colour.

I returned the fish and dropped my lure down again. More bites. I soon hooked a second. Retrieving the fish I was willing it to be a cuckoo but it was another small ballan. I imagined if I were to have any chance of catching a cuckoo I may well catch quite a few ballans first. Next drop I again felt the distinct tapping of a wrasse and hesitated before gently striking. Fish on. I slowly began bringing it up. Again willing it to be a cuckoo. I looked down to catch a glimpse of my catch and I recognised the light pink colouration of a female cuckoo wrasse and got very excited. Lifting the fish up was a nervous moment but I soon had it up and safely in my hands.

Mission accomplished! I was over the moon!

I carried on wrassing for a while hoping to catch a male cuckoo. I began exploring different areas and found wrasse in almost all of them but had to settle for a further seven ballans.

Plenty of wrasse caught dropping lures straight down the side.

Most of them were dark brown but this one had a touch of yellow markings too.

Meanwhile Mark had caught a ballan wrasse on bait and Alan had managed a couple on lures. Our attention then switched back to pollock again although Mark also fished a bait rod. Whilst waiting for bites on that Mark caught a couple of pollock. He then caught a lesser spotted dogfish on his bait rod followed by a brightly coloured orange rock codling.

Mark is now a big fan of dogging.

I'm talkin' about sharkin'!

The locals tell us these bright orange rock cod are common in the area.

The weather didn't know what it was doing and went from being sunny and fairly hot to quite heavy rain showers. We kept putting on waterproof jackets and then having to take them off again! This didn't stop us from fishing however and Alan caught a nice pollock just after the rain stopped again.

Another nice pollock for Alan.

I then caught a nice pollock on an Arkansas Shiner Ribster just shy of 5lb. Action dried up again so I switched to a Savage Gear Psycho Sprat to try for fish at distance. After a few casts, working it at different depths I hooked into what felt like a great fish. Calling to Alan for assistance he scrambled down to the platform I was on and readied the net. After a great fight and a few power dives the fish was guided over the net and landed.

The fight this fish gave me made it feel like it was twice it's weight.

When it came into view I was surprised by its size and when it was weighed it surprised me further being just shy of 4lb. I guess it felt like a better fish and fought so hard because it was hooked at range. Despite allowing it time to recover in the net this fish didn't want to go back so we kept it to eat. The action slowed again after that and after another heavy shower and soaking we called it day. We dropped the fish off at the pub, Mark and I had it for dinner and it tasted amazing. You really can't beat fresh fish!

Pollock monster loves pollock. Nom, Nom, Nom!

The best fish Mark has ever tasted!

On Thursday, for the first time during a trip up there, we decided to do some freshwater fishing and headed over the pass to a couple of Lochs to the south of Plockton. The first loch was a man made reservoir and was surrounded by soft mud. We carefully made our way to a spot we could fish from and started exploring the area with a variety of lures. Apart from a fish that Mark saw shooting off there was little reward for our efforts so we decided to head to the second loch. On the way back to the car I spotted a dragonfly resting on a boulder and got a few nice photos of it.

Relaxing on a rock, this dragonfly didn't seem too bothered by me taking photos.

Insects can be just as interesting and beautiful as fish. Apart from midgies of course!

It was only a short drive to the second loch. As it came into view it looked like a much more promising pike water with a nice bay, lots of reeds and lily pads that could hold fish. We quickly started fishing. Alan's rod soon had a nice little bend in it and after a short scrap I netted the fish for him.

Alan's first ever pike!

Alan was so happy he gave it a kiss.

The feeling wasn't mutual!

Encouraged by this we carried on fishing and worked our way around the loch. No sign of any fish though despite some great features that I was sure should have held them. We reached another nice bay but there were a few lads dead baiting so we worked our way back around to the car.

Alan works his lure past some reeds to see if a pike is lurking in them.

No further action though. We fished the first bay again and spoke to the guys who had been dead baiting when they returned to their car a while later. They told us about a small stream entering the loch further along in the opposite direction. We had to leave soon however and didn't have much time left but we went along anyway. Mark fished the mouth of the stream whilst I fished a reed bed near the car. I wasn't getting any action and spotted another reed bed on the other side of the stream and headed over.

A desperate last gasp attempt to avoid a blank?

After a few casts I decide to have one more "last cast" before accepting defeat and making my way back over to the car. Just as my lure passed the near edge of the reed bed I felt a bump. I decide to have another "last cast" back to the same spot and hooked a fish but just as I thought my luck had changed, it quickly threw the hook. One final "last cast" and as the lure is almost under my rod tip I was hit again and this time the fish stayed on. My drag was set quite loosely and the fish made one short run before I steered it back towards me. As I was near the bank I quickly landed the fish. Just as well too as it was barely hooked in the corner of its mouth. If it had performed any kind of head shake or had decided to go airborne I would have lost it for sure!

Blank off on the "last cast". Ok, it was my third "last cast".

We made the drive home and as is customary Alan and I gave Mark a hard time about blanking or "being bald" as it's known on our trips! I was quite relieved that I had managed to avoid the same fate! We got back to the campsite and as it was quite sunny we enjoyed a few refreshing beverages before heading down to the pub.

Relaxing over a few cans Mark is still gutted that he didn't get a pike. Alan and I tease him a little. Mark isn't impressed.

Alan and I celebrate our monster pike with another can and some rum. Ok, we drank the whole bottle!

Another early start on Friday and we made the long drive over onto Skye. Our destination was Neist Point. On the way however the weather was particularly grim. Grey skies and heavy rain most of the way there. Low and behold however as we drove over the crest of the last hill and Neist Point came into view the rain stopped and the sky above it had the odd clear blue spot in it. We got our gear out of the car and headed down. We got to the mark and the weather had really started to improve.

One of the many cliffs at Neist Point. You can see some very strong currents in the distance and some blue sky!

Mark is impressed by the mark.

Our main objective for the day was to catch some spurdogs. We were worried about being able to catch some mackerel to use as bait but when we arrived our fears were soon dismissed. The amount of surface activity was incredible and we soon had plenty of bait and had also caught a few small coalfish too. Bait rods set up and cast out it was soon apparent that the tide would make holding bottom difficult even with 8oz of lead. After losing a few sets of end gear we decided to target pollock on our spinning gear. There was no sign of any pollock though. The current started to drop off so we cast out the mackerel fillets again and after a while both mine and Alan's rod started nodding. Reeling in we both had fish on but Alan's came off as he brought it up. As my fish came up the way the line was moving on the surface told me it was a shark. Mark threw the drop net down and my first ever spurdog was soon on the rocks.

As it came up it rolled and I could just make out the spots of a spurdog.

I'm talkin' about sharkin'!

Next cast after about 30 minutes my rod started nodding away again. I lifted the rod and struck into it. Fish on but it was something smaller. My money was on a dogfish and sure enough up it came and spat the bait as it reached the surface. Mark meanwhile had dropped some bait down the side and soon caught a nice little orange ballan wrasse.

A nice brightly coloured fish.

I decided to see if I could get one and dropped down an IMA Trilobite. Distinctive taps soon turned into a hooked fish and I soon landed a ballan too. It was followed quickly by a second which we think was same fish that Mark had caught about 5 minutes earlier.

Not the first time I've seen the same fish caught twice.

Alan was still trying to catch pollock but could only manage a few more mackerel. With a long drive back to Applecross it was soon time to go but not before we put my camera on a rock and got a group photo.

Fishermen in black.

We packed up and headed back up to the car slogging all our gear. After a 30 minute climb we all agreed that Neist Point is definitely a mark that it is better to pack light for! After driving back we went down to the pub and had our dinner and a few drinks with some of the locals again and had a great laugh hearing about their, often drink related, exploits. They really are some of the nicest people you could meet.

On Saturday we were supposed to be going out in a boat with a local skipper but the wind had changed direction and a swell had blown up which was forecast to get bigger so we ended up heading for another session off the rocks at Fearnmore. This time though we wanted to try fishing bigger baits at distance to see what is around further out in the deep water. We also fancied a spot of wrassing at high water but again with bigger lures to try and tempt some bigger specimens. When we arrived however the wind really picked up and we had waves breaking straight onto the rocks so we had to change our plans. We moved back from the end of the mark and set up next to a kelp filled gully. With no bait however and unable to catch mackerel we focused on wrasse but with little action at our new spot I decided to explore a rocky outcrop even further inshore, the far side of which I thought would be even more sheltered. I also thought I could collect some shellfish to use as bait whilst over there. A short walk later I was on the rocks and fishing onto a nice rocky weed covered shelf. Straight away I could see a wrasse having a look at my lure before having a few nibbles. Very interesting watching how the fish moved around and attacked the lure from a few angles.

This wrasse circled the lure and had four or five tentative bites before being hooked

A second ballan appeared from the rock shelf and was way more aggressive.

Aware that the tide could cut me off I made my way back to Alan and Mark, collecting some muscles, cockles and limpets on my way. Mark soon had some of the shellfish dropped down the side and caught a ballan wrasse. Alan and I baited up too and cast out into the gully. Mark decided to head over to where I had caught my two ballans and after a while caught a nice pollock. Alan and I had a short break and watched the bait rods. After reeling in and changing our bait I decided to climb down the rocks onto a small ledge and fish for wrasse whilst Alan fished down the edge too but from further up.

I enjoy a little bit of rock climbing. Sometimes it's the only way you can fish hard to reach spots.

I had only been down there about 10 minutes when Alan called me to let me know my bait rod was gently nodding away. I climbed up and reeled in to find a ballan wrasse had taken the bait.

This wrasse couldn't resist a cockles and limpet cocktail.

Alan was now getting worried about blanking. Having given Mark a hard time the day before he thought it was his turn to be mocked relentlessly down the pub. Just as we were about to go though he caught a ballan wrasse on a small section of Gulp! Sandworm and was very relieved to say the least! I also managed one final fish before we had to head back.

Alan avoids a blank and the related abuse down the pub later that night!

Last fish of the day for me. This wrasse took a small section of Gulp! Sandworm.

Our last night in Applecross and our time there had flown by as it usually does. As is tradition on the final evening, Alan and Mark had steak. I decided to break from this ritual though and had plaice with squat lobsters in a lemon and parsley butter. Delicious! As we enjoyed our dinner I looked outside and the sunset was quite striking so I nipped outside and took a photo.

The sun sets over Applecross Bay under a few menacing dark clouds.

Sunday morning and it was a beautiful day, perhaps the nicest of the trip so it made leaving even harder. After packing all our gear back into the cars we headed up over the pass one final time on the trip.

You just can't get tired of driving over this. Especially if you're not driving!

A beautiful day over Loch Kishorn and Loch Carron.

The trip may have been over but we still managed to squeeze in a little more fishing. We stopped off on the way to Inverness and try to get Mark his first pike. There are a few lochs on the way but we chose Loch Chroisg as the road ran by it and it was easily accessible. We parked up and 5 minutes later we were fishing. The loch didn't have any obvious fish holding features so we started at the mouth of a burn and worked our way along the bank.

Loch Chroisg. Looks great but has no real obvious places to start fishing.

Similarly stunning view towards the eastern end.

Alan and Mark work their way along the shore.

They weather was absolutely lovely and with no midgies either we enjoyed three hours of relaxing fishing before heading home. No sign of any pike so we all finished the trip with a blank but we really couldn't complain.

When all is said and done catching fish is just a bonus really. Great scenery, great company, great laughs and great memories are what fishing is all about. I'm looking forward to next year already!

Tight lines, Scott.