Latest Fishing Reports: Scotland
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22/12/2019
Fishing Report by Kevin McKie
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
22 Dec 2019 by Kevin McKie
Report on-board Size Matters
2019 has once again been one hell of a year for Size Matters fishing from three ports around the UK.
Here is how the year unfolded onboard
Size Matters.
SCOTLAND
The Skate fishing from Scotland was truly outstanding at times, we totalled 641 Skate for a total weight of 80,617lb!!!
We averaged 9 Skate a day with the average weight of 125lb 8oz!!
At times we would have four Skate on at once, trying to get them all to the boat in over 600ft of water was challenging at times but we managed it.
442 Skate where female and 199 were male, we caught 44 over 200lb and 359 over 100lb!!
The biggest Skate was caught by Wirrel angler Mick Walsh a cracking fish of 232lb!!
Bert Willams from the Wirral caught the first ever Blue Skate in Scottish waters all 22lb of it, this is an exceptional catch in UK waters.
The most Skate we caught in one days was 37 for a total weight of 2790lb, by Garry Streeter and his lads from South Wales.
The Liverpool A Team consisting of Phil Riley, John Owan, John Mcbride and Paul Hendrick, had the most weight in one day with 20 Skate for a massive total weight of 3590lb!!
The best part about this is all the Skate are out there swimming around to be caught again in future.
We did manage to get two the wrecks a few times and some of the wrecks held massive shoals of Pollack to 9lb, we will be doing much more wrecking in Scotland in the future.
2020 is fully booked in Scotland but we do have dates available for 2021.
PLYMOUTH
When we arrived in Plymouth around mid June we done our first trip of the year to Jurassic Park, catching no less than 12 Six Gill Sharks to around 500lb, the biggest we boated measured and released was 410lb and the smallest was 145lb!!!
That was definitely a trip to tell the gran kids about in the future and a trip that we will try to beat in the next few years.
The wreck fishing on the drift was good from June to the start of August, once the algae bloom started to die and sink to the sea bed the fishing was very hard.
Wreck fishing at anchor for Conger and Ling was slow in June and July due to the lack of fresh bait available, but in August and September the fishing really picked up with up to 70+ Conger and Ling per trip.
Sadly we never caught any big Conger this year our best fish was 55lb, we did catch some monster Ling this year to 39lb 8oz a new boat record.
Shark fishing was very poor from June to July because of the massive algae bloom we had, I got told by a marine biologist it was the worst algae bloom in 10 years, just goes to show how polluted our oceans really are.
Once the algae bloom started to die and sink to the sea bed in August the shark fishing picked up a bit with our best day catching 19 Blue Sharks on a 23 hour trip and 11 Blue Sharks on a 12 hour trip, this is still very poor compared to previous years.
In July we had big plans to go well off the charts but sadly the weather put a stop to that so plan B was to try for Thresher Sharks.
We managed to pull it out the bag catching three Thresher Sharks to 150lb, pulled the hook on two more and missed one!!
This was the 7th species over 100lb caught onboard Size Matters in UK waters.
It was great to do a trip like this for the first time and learn so much in just a short space of time.
It was definitely a very strange season in Plymouth not like any we have had in the last four years, the algae bloom didn’t help things either.
We only seen a few Sunfish this year, in the pasted I have seen 17 in just one day.
There was no Atlantic Bonito this year and last year you could catch them daily in September and October.
We only caught one John Dory this year and last year we caught 11.
This was the first time the wrecking fishing on the drift was over in August normally you can still chip away catching Pollack, Cod and Ling right through the year.
From the start of August the weather got more unsettled as the season went on, we had so many good trips booked in but the weather put a stop to them.
Even sailing to Liverpool we normally do some fishing on the way but the weather window was too small so we had to do the 360 miles none stop.
2020 is fully booked from Plymouth and we only have a few individual places available in 2021.
LIVERPOOL
We arrived in Liverpool around mid October, we decided to target the off shore wrecks when the weather allowed and fish the Mersey as a back up.
The wrecking was fantastic catching plenty of Pollack to 11lb 8oz, most where 4lb to 7lb.
The Mersey in October to the end of November was full of Rays to 10lb, Whiting to 1lb 8oz and upto 20 Cod per trip to 9lb.
As we went into December most of the Rays and Whiting moved off shore, this increased the Cod catches up to 39 per trip.
We have available dates in 2020 for the Mersey and Wrecking.
Once again we have some very big plans for 2020, we just need the weather on our side and a bit of luck.
We would to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors Shimano UK, everyone who fished with us and helped us out during 2019, we appreciate the continued support.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Kevin Mckie
Size Matters
07999628511.
mckiesfishingcharters@hotmail.com
#Scotland
#Plymouth
#Liverpool
#Shimano
#Mckiesfishingcharters
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22/12/2019
Fishing Report by DEREK ANDERSON
on Oceanic & Sagittarius (Eyemouth, Scottish Borders)
22 Dec 2019 by DEREK ANDERSON
Report on-board Oceanic & Sagittarius
Well yesterday was poor fishing , but today the fish are on Phil returned this nice cod as his bag was full what a difference a day makes
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UPCOMING INDIVIDUAL SPACES ONBOARD Oceanic & Sagittarius
View Full Charter AvailabilitySat 04/05/2024 4 Spaces 6 Hours £50.00pp Need 10 more for trip go-ahead. 7:45 at boatView details Sun 05/05/2024 10 Spaces 6 Hours £50.00pp Need 10 more for trip go-ahead. 7:45 at boatView details -
12/2019
Fishing Report by Kevin McKie
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
Dec 2019 by Kevin McKie
Report on-board Size Matters
We are now at the halfway point of our winter season in Liverpool.
Over the last week we managed to get our first 21 hour wrecking trip from Liverpool on.
The plan was to steam during darkness and arrive at the first wreck at day break, using lures to target Pollack, Cod and Ling.
The first wreck was void of fish but after a quick move we found some nice Pollack to 7lb and Coalfish to 4lb.
Then we had another move and found a massive shoal of Pollack to 7lb, the lads caught 110 Pollack most where 4lb to 5lb and 5 Coalfish to 4lb.
Once the lads had enough Pollack we decided to get the anchor down, straight away the lads had 4 Huss to 12lb, 1 Tope 25lb and plenty of doggies.
Then as the tide start to ebb the wind increased and conditions where difficult to say the least with wind against tide.
So we decided to drift the wrecks on the way home in darkness with bait for Ling, but sadly the fish just did not want to know.
Fishing in the Mersey has been good on most days averaging 20+ Cod a trip.
On our best day we managed 39 Cod to 6lb 12oz but most where only 2lb to 3lb.
On another day four anglers chartered the boat and they managed to catch 32 Cod all 2lb to 3.5lb.
The bigger tides are definitely producing the better catches of Cod on the Mersey this winter so far.
It is so important to use plenty of top quality bait when fishing the Mersey to attract the fish to the boat.
Expect to use 5 packs of lug and a box of Squid per person minimum, some regulars who fish with me use double that every trip.
The highlight of the week was when one guy turned up using rib-eye stake for bait, sadly he never caught anything on it but it did entertain us for the day ha ha.
If you would like to join us, here is a full list of available dates from Liverpool this winter season.
Please note top quality Shimano rod and reel hire is included in the price of all charters.
Thanks
Kevin Mckie
Size Matters (Liverpool).
07999628511.
mckiesfishingcharters@hotmail.com
#Shimano
#Liverpool
#Mckiesfishingcharters View Boats Page
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10/11/2019
Fishing Report by dominic wilson
on Dawn Venture (Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway)
10 Nov 2019 by dominic wilson
Report on-board Dawn Venture
Reporting period 8-10 November....
The wind eased and we managed to get to sea on the Friday and sunday.Having noted on the Wednesday that the water was gin clear and temperature was up at 13.5c,I thought it would be worth trying for the pollack later in the day and it was.Through Friday we drift fished for codling,haddock,gurnards and a couple of mackerel.The bottom fishing failed to produce and so we went lightline pollacking under the headlands and took over 50 fish in 2 hours with the best sport occurring in the last 30mins before dark and again the best fish(es) came from the harbour entrance with the biggest at 9.5lb and the best of the year.Saturday was blown off and sunday produced the same results except that we caught 2 huss (17lb and 9.5lb) and more good pollack from the headlands and harbour entrance,with the best at 8lb
.Choice of lure for the pollack was rhubarb and custard 6" sidewinders.
Species caught over the weekend were: cod,haddock,whiting,rock cod,pouting,poor cod,ling(tiny!),pollack,coalfish,grey gurnard,tub gurnard,mackerel,huss,LSD
The attached photo is the 9.5lb pollack View Boats Page
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11/2019
Fishing Report by Kevin McKie
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
Nov 2019 by Kevin McKie
Report on-board Size Matters
Over the weekend we have managed to get out to the off shore wrecks both days from Liverpool.
The lads fished in some very difficult conditions and caught 108 Pollack to 11lb 8oz, with most fish 4lb to 6lb.
If we get enough interested we may do a
21 hour wrecking trip on Monday December 16th sailing at 3am back in at midnight.
The plan would be fish all daylight hours drifting with lures targeting Pollack, Cod and Ling, then in the dark we will anchor using fish baits for Conger, Ling and Spurdog.
Cost would be £160 10 anglers max, if you are interested contact us.
Fishing in the Mersey will start to come into its own from December to the end of February for Cod, Whiting and Dabs.
Personally my favourite time is mid December to mid February for bigger Cod. View Boats Page
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11/11/2019
Fishing Report by Kevin McKie
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
11 Nov 2019 by Kevin McKie
Report on-board Size Matters
Size Matters has well and truly kick started the winter season from Liverpool.
Off shore wrecking has been excellent catching up to 84 Pollack per trip to 10lb 8oz along with a few Cod, Spurdog, Balllan Wrasse, Gurnard, Whiting, Mackerel and Ling.
The fishing has been that good we have put two more wrecking trips on in November to try and make the most of the good fishing.
The inshore fishing in the Mersey has been good on most days, our best day catching 30+ Rays, 17 Cod and loads of Whiting, but we did have two days where we struggled with SE winds and flood water in the river catching just half a dozen Cod and a few dozen whiting.
The early signs are good for this winter season on the Mersey our best Cod so far is 9lb 1oz with a few 8lb and 7lb fish showing, most cod are 3lb to 4lb.
As soon as most of the Rays leave the Mersey around the first week in December the Cod fishing will be in full swing.
We also had a first onboard Size Matters,
a Cod about 5lb spat out a Lampray in perfect condition this just shows how clean the Mersey is now days.
Please note top quality Shimano rod and reel hire is included on all charters.
Thanks
Kevin Mckie View Boats Page
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11/2019
Fishing Report by dominic wilson
on Dawn Venture (Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway)
Nov 2019 by dominic wilson
Report on-board Dawn Venture
Report covers period from mid sept to Nov 5th.....
As with the last report,the wind has been our nemesis and has caused many cancelled bookings which is a shame because there has been some great fishing out there.The mackerel still linger on as the water is warming enough and there has been several days where we have had between 100-150 spurdogs in a day with the smallest at about 4lb and the biggest at 24lb !!!!(willie shaw well done).there has been tope to 45lb,huss to 18.5lb,common skate to 201lb and the pollack fishing in the weeds is now at the consistency it should have been in the summer.
One sunday in late September,fishing the banks at Port Logan,we managed 16 species: cod,haddock,whiting,pouting,poorcod,coalfish,mackerel,scad,red/grey gurnard,spurdog,lsd,herring,pilchard,wrasse and ling!
pictured is colin with his 201lb skate
the boat is afloat all winter and available for booking...diaries and tidebooks are out now for 2020 so book early for the best tides View Boats Page
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24/10/2019
Fishing Report by DEREK ANDERSON
on Oceanic & Sagittarius (Eyemouth, Scottish Borders)
24 Oct 2019 by DEREK ANDERSON
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Some good cod & pollock today lets hope it's a good winter run
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UPCOMING INDIVIDUAL SPACES ONBOARD Oceanic & Sagittarius
View Full Charter AvailabilitySat 04/05/2024 4 Spaces 6 Hours £50.00pp Need 10 more for trip go-ahead. 7:45 at boatView details Sun 05/05/2024 10 Spaces 6 Hours £50.00pp Need 10 more for trip go-ahead. 7:45 at boatView details -
10/2019
Fishing Report by DEREK ANDERSON
on Oceanic & Sagittarius (Eyemouth, Scottish Borders)
Oct 2019 by DEREK ANDERSON
Report on-board Oceanic & Sagittarius
Well e are now into our winter cod season & will only be doing 1 trip per day 8 am or 9am starts depending on your needs,fishing on Saturday past was poor with Sunday showing good catches with lots to be returned back as it seems to be a smaller run. We will be using both boats over the winter if the weather gods are kind tight lines.
View Boats Page
UPCOMING INDIVIDUAL SPACES ONBOARD Oceanic & Sagittarius
View Full Charter AvailabilitySat 04/05/2024 4 Spaces 6 Hours £50.00pp Need 10 more for trip go-ahead. 7:45 at boatView details Sun 05/05/2024 10 Spaces 6 Hours £50.00pp Need 10 more for trip go-ahead. 7:45 at boatView details -
10/2019
Fishing Report by Kevin McKie
on Size Matters (Craobh Haven, Argyll & Bute)
Oct 2019 by Kevin McKie
Report on-board Size Matters
After a steady 28 hour steam from Plymouth
Size Matters has now arrived at our third port of the year and it’s our home port of Liverpool.
We have arrived a few weeks earlier than planned due to the unsettled weather on the south coast.
So this means we have a few extra dates available in October, the plan is to get to the wrecks to target Pollack, Cod and Ling, if the weather allows, if not then we will be in the Mersey targeting Cod, Rays, Whiting and Dabs.
Size Matters has a fully heated cabin that can seat up to 8 anglers, this is ideal for when anglers want to warm up on them cold frosty winter days and most of all the kettle is always on.
Size Matters also has a massive open deck space that can easily accommodate 12 anglers with plenty of room to walk around, at times we have even had 10 to 12 camping chairs on the deck at once, these are perfect for fishing the Mersey in comfort during the winter months.
Wrecking charters from Liverpool are 11 to 12 hours and Mersey trips are 9 to 10 hours depending on the lock times.
All tackle is included in the price, any tackle losses must be paid for, we have thousands of packets of top quality frozen XXL black lug and Squid you can purchase onboard. View Boats Page
