Loch Crinan

This was virgin territory for all of us on this trip, the little bit of information we had dug up was sketchy to say the least but it would hopefully point us in the general direction.

I arrived at Crinan harbour nice and early and found ample parking in the large public carpark. The launch was visible from the car and was only a 100yd walk along the sea front. The others arrived soon after and we all proceeded to rig up and make ready for a day afloat. Our target at this venue was Common Skate. These leviathans of the deep are a challenge for conventional boat anglers, for us in our kayaks, well.......... madness springs to mind !

We set off into a sea shrouded in mist with the sun threatening to burst through at any moment. Our forecast for the day wasn't good and the local coastguard confirmed the worst, a local gale warning was in place and now imminent.

With the forecast in mind we kept the launch in our sights and found a 305' hole with a conveniently placed mooring buoy.

By now the sun had broken through and we were left becalmed. The light breeze had left us and it felt more like July than mid March, the lull before the storm possibly ?

After an hour of inactivity on the Skate rods Ken's scratching rod arched over and he was soon winding up the first fish of the day from the Abyss. A nice Thornback Ray was soon on the surface for a quick photo shoot before it was released to make it's way back down through the depths.

At this point the breeze had returned, now in a more westerly direction and increasing in strength by the minute. We assessed the situation and on safety grounds we decided to make for the shore. Ken took advantage of the following sea and popped up the sail.

Our timing was perfect, conditions rapidly deteriorated on our way in. By the time we were level with Ardnoe point we were surfing some of the bigger swells.

After a brew on the shore we put our heads together and came up with the idea that there might be some deep water over on the North side towards the Castle . We made our way across the bay, a challenging paddle with the sea running beam on to us all the way. When we reached the other side we were disappointed to find that the only bays that allowed us some shelter were only knee deep in water. The realisation was hitting home that the deeper Skate marks were now off limits for us.

We all made our way back to the shore and started to pack the gear away. By now the wind was showing signs of dying away. Ken kept his kayak rigged and decided to go for another look out to the deeps. At this point I was loaded up and set off for the four hour drive home.

It was disappointing that we had been victims of the weather but half an hour into my journey home I was already planning my return. The thoughts I had of returning soon were bolstered by the phone call I received as I made my way down the M8.

Ken had managed to hook a Skate right on last light, what's more he had boated it, unhooked it and returned it to the depths all single handed. A great achievement in any ones book I would say. The fish was a male around the 50lb mark. A hard fighting fish that definitely gave him a run for his money.

For me this was my third blank trip in a row, surely it can't go on..........can it ?

Shake Down

A week of strong Westerly winds left the sea settled and clear. Although it's still early March, if you can get afloat, there's always a slim chance of catching a fish. Today's venue was to be Coldingham Bay. Parking at the car park at the top of the hill, a short carry takes you down to the the sheltered sandy beach of Coldingham Sands.This is a good launch for strong Westerly winds but check the swell heights before you go. Coldingham is one of Scotland's premier surf beaches. Even a small ground swell approaching the shore here will quickly increase in size and make for some interesting paddling. Our main objective today was to test out some of our winter modifications and check that any newly acquired gear was up to scratch and ready for the forthcoming season. I had a new GPS/Sonar combo to try out, a Humminbird 787c2i . After a few early programing glitches It seems to be working ok and it certainly shows a clear depiction of the sea bed, in this screen shot the lack of fish is also evident. We paddled South and threw a few fire-tails around the shallow reefs that held a good head of Pollock last summer. Unfortunately they were not in residence yet, infact the bottom looked a very baron landscape with nothing showing but the usual rocks and tangles. Our next plan was to throw the pick in and anchor up in the bay. I put three lug baits down into 30' expecting to see a small Dab or two to rectify my impending blank. Unfortunately they were also in hiding. Things were looking dire! An hour spent at anchor in the cold wind was enough for us so the decision was made to throw the towel in early.

This gave us a spare hour so a perfect opportunity arose for a bit of early season re-entry practise. Brian had finally parted with his thirty year old lilo and invested in a state of the art 70n Palm Kaikoura buoyancy aid.

Re-entry drills complete we then went on to see just how easy it was to scratch a composite kayak on barnacle covered rocks...........

So for the second trip in a row we ended up fishless but with the fishing being poor at the moment anyway, I think we made good use of our time by covering some essential safety drills.