Mull of Galloway trip

Day 1 - Terally Bay



Terally Bay

 An uneventful drive down to the chalets were were staying at in Ardwell, quick look round chuck all necessary gear into the chalet and of we went to wet the first lines of the trip. A nice easy mark to begin with for us soft east coasters a short walk down the pebbly banking from the lay by to the shoreline set up and fish :) Not the most favorable conditions fairly flat sea, gin clear and a very bright skies. Still on holiday and fishing. Not the most productive session though as all we caught was a handful of doggies, but no blank.

Day 2 - Ardwell Back Bay Rocks

The sun of the previous day continued with little wind. Everyone was pretty tired in the way that the sun makes you. A rock mark was the plan for the day due to the clear water and still water. The sun was blazing again and everyone was mndful of the roasting we were in for on the rocks. Callum and Malky walked on a bit further whlist Sharpie, Nikki and I opted for a closer mark with rocks off a nice deep water gulley. Float fishing was the tactic with lug worm the teaser morsel hoping to tempt a few a wrasse. Fairly quiet to start with until Nikki landed a small wrasse. Looking good we all thought, but unfortunately they weren't feeding hard at all and we ended the day again with one fish a piece, Nikki: wrasse, Sharpie: coalie, me: rockling. When Malky and Callum they had had a few more fish but not a huge haul. A 2-3 wrasse and a couple of smallish pollock I think. No blanks again was good. Everyone was wasted by the sun so decided to have an evening off.

Day 3 - MOG Flat Rock



Malky in the distance



Plan was to fish through the day from 1ish till whenever. Though the fishing was meant to be good I wasn't particualrly looking forward to this due to the climb back up from the rocks later on. Not a long walk by any means but roughly a drop of 125m from the carpark to sealevel. So traveling light was the way to go, though all things are comparative when you are talking about fishing rods, tripod, weights etc etc. Still off we went as I was determined to 'see the sights' Not nearly as bad as I thought it might be on the way down, just a little awkward with the rods clambering down some of the rocks. Now this was the first busy session of the week, bait in, doggie, bait in, doggie, bait in, doggie etc etc for pretty much the whole day. A few mackies fell to Sharpie feathering for fresh bait. Catch of the day sharpie getting three doggies on a one hook rig. They truely are greedy beggars. Good fun down on the rocks in the sun having a laugh and though the fish were only humble doggies and nothing bigger it was a great day. The hike back up was the killer expected but hellish at the time it's quickly forgotten when you've had a nice busy day fishing.

Day 4 - Port Logan Beach and Portpatrick Yellow Isle

 

Stealth Turbot



Port Logan bay



Sharpie and Nikki decided to have a day off fishing so Malky and I went over to Port Logan to have a look see and get out of the cabin before the evenings planned trip to the rocks at Port Patrick called the Yellow Isle. The sandy bay said flatties to us both so we decided to have 3-4 hours before getting back to the chalet for a feed. A nice sandy bay with a rocky fringe to the left hand side which we decided to fish near to in the hope that there may be turbots about. First few casts produced nada not even crab action as the lug/mackie baits were coming back untouched. On my third of fourth re-bait I could see a wee flat fish coming in through the surf which turned out to be a small turbot :) And that was that for the short session a fisrt blank of the trip for any of us falling to Malky but me fairly happy with a second new speices for the year in my little turbot which wasn't bad for an ad-hoc session.



Yellow Isle dusk view

The Yellow Isle was another steep decent but with better footings on the way down. Just Malky, Callum and myself this time around. We were planning on fishing 6 p.m. till midnighish and got set up on some faltter bits spread out over the front of the rocks. Callum about a 100yrds to my left and Malky about 20-30 yrds to my right. Deep water right in front and nice clean ground, the only snag point was from the hight that the sinker and rig occassionally swung into the rocks and snagged, but I only lost one set of gear and that was due to a crack off. Essentially this has a frenzy of dab fishing loads and loads of them to begin with probably in the 30's or so landed with the odd pollock, whiting, gurnard and more than a few doggies between us all. Again a nice busy session but none of the big beauties showing up to play unfortunately. Seemed shorter climbing back up in the dark due to being more careful in the dark with the head torch on.

Day 5 - Terally Bay (weed stops play)

Title says it all weather much windier and sea kicking up. Was actually hoping for a decent session but we all only lasted one cast with the line looking like a washing line after 5mins. Dreadful stuff. And that was a blank to end the holiday on (not sure it is a blank after only one cast) as the weather steadily got worse and worse until the group decision was made to break for home a day early :(

Cracking place and I really hope to come back soon for a crack at the smoothies, huss and tope.