more spurries

bagged up at arbroath

small thornie

petes etive spurrdog

nova scotia!!!!

winter warrior!!!

late season cod

nice late season fish

a nice way to end a dificult season.above is a 5lb codling,managed this fish last cast from a mark ,(no names),a shallow mark so the fish didnt put up much of a fight,bit of a dead weight but welcome all the same. got the fly tying vice set up and im getting things sorted out for the comming trout season.march 15th is the official start of the brown trout season so im gonna make the effort to be ready for that day.
no doubt youve all had a similar season,most of the lads i meet have the same story to tell with too many s/west winds and not enough east or s/east gales.but never mind ,its been a good year as far as marks go with me adding every season to my list of good cod marks.

already looking forward to the comming season ,hoping that this year will be my year for double figure cod.

tightlines and all the best,pete

the brave 

mountain goat mayhem!!!

decided due to the west winds to head north to newtonhill area,i was fishing with a few new faces all more experienced than myself in these neck of the woods.so we arrived at mid day ,got suited and booted for the easy walk to the cliff mark.........

we decided to split into pairs ,so off we went to marks close to each other,when i arrived at the top of the cliff edge,i was surprised to find a near vertical edge of sharp unforgiving cliff face,and to be honest my first reaction was!!!!!!!!!!!..ITS NOT DOWN THERE IS IT???, the reaction i got from my mate was "sure is pete"....so with rucksack strapped tightly to my back down we went ,slowly and carefully edging my way down and around various ledges and boulders till we eventually hit the bottom .

i didnt have a camera with me on this trip, pitty cause the view from the bottom upwards was pretty cool,next time ill make sure i get the evidence.

like i said with west winds the fishing was always gonna be poor ,but with 50 plus foot of water right at my feet if we were gonna get a fish anywhere it would be here.

before i knew what was going on i was 2 coddling down to the other lad,thoughts of" its not gonna be one of those nights " quickly crept in ,but as darkness set in i started to get some attention on the rod tip.first fish was a 3lb coddling to a squid/mussle cocktail,and the next was a similar fish to a razor and squid bait.

we had great weather to be out and about ,just crap for cod fishing,i managed a few coleys and a few undersised coddling as well,so with tide dropping and snags showing we bailed out happy we had 6lb ish of cod each to show for our efforts,

standing in darkness at the base of the climb out ,headlights on full beam i honestly couldnt pick the route out,the mate led the way step by step clambering our way up the exit route,im glad it was dark cause i couldnt see the sheer drops either side of the mark.the things you do for cod!!!!

back at the car we met up with the others who had a similar nights fishing with fish to 4lb pulled up the cliff to saftey.

this trip was a real eye opener ,i cant wait to get back on better sea conditions as this mark throws up good doubles every season,with the difficult access this mark im sure has more to offer.

tightlines pete..

THE SALTIRE PAGES..

cod from arbroath!!

winter cod !!

WINTER SHORE,2004-2005

well as im writting this its not far off the end of the winter shore cod season,and as far as the weather goes ,its been dire.with the total lack of onshore winds,conditions have rarely been ideal.

like many others ive been glued to the weather sites looking for east or s/east winds that normally in january happen frequently,but they have failed to appear,with the exception of 4 days in the middle of the month where a strong s/e wind gave great sea conditions ,those who took advantage of the turn in weather were rewarded by nice fresh cod up and nown the scottish coast.

i fished off the arbroath harbour wall on two night tides,the first night i hooked and landed 2 cod ,4,1/2 and a 5lber,with smaller returned.the following night i faired better with 6 cod for 20lb,nothing massive in the bag 3-5lb stamp of fish,but welcome all the same.so enough fish there to restore my confidence ,how many sessions i will get before the end of the season i dont know,and looking at the forecast its not looking great.

so all in all a funny season so far with me travelling away north from my usual venues,covered a fair bit of ground and got a few more marks to try out for the comming season. no double figure fish either, biggest this year probably 6lb so far ,but always looking to improve on my P.B,s.

with bait stores running down and the clock ticking on the winter cod,im looking to the comming boat season,so time to get the burner out and nock out some leads ,i would think my first trip on the boats will be around april time depending on weather of course.

i hope you all had as good a season as possible,heres hoping that theres a few trips left this year to get that big one.

tightlines...pete

portlethen rock mark 

PORTLETHEN!!

well,managed to get out for a few casts today,and to be honest there wasnt much happening.i planned to go up to portlethen late morning,get set up and fish into darkness,but it didnt work out that way.
arrieved about 11.00 and as i suspected it being the weekend there was already loads of folk fishing .not to worry,i got the flotation suit on pulled on my rucksack and made my way down onto the rocks bellow the old village.
as i scrambled my self over the rocks it became apparent that i was gonna have to take it slow as the rocks were wet and at best slippy and at worse deadly.eventually i got myself down to the waters edge without killing myself,god knows how i managed t.
i set up 2 rods,one conoflex NEMISIS PREMIER and the other a CONOFLEX SCORPION SPORT,both with daiwa SLOSH30,S reels.

bait for today was squid,mussles,and freshly dug lug worm,also had a mackarel if needed.trying to move about at the spot id chosen was a nightmare,i could see i wouldnt be here for very long as i was struggling to stay vertical.the other lads that had grabbed the best marks seemed to be coping a bit better with the conditions,now i know why no one had went for my spot,you live and learn.

anyway i soldiered on for a few hours,the sun even came out so had to dump the flotation suit before i passed out with the heat.finally managed to get a few bites,only small coallies but fish none the less.as i slipped and slid my way across the rocks,i decided that i should cut my losses and pack up while there was some light left,i had my head torch but if the route out was anything like the route in id give myself a chance to get out without braking my legs.

so ripped the rods down,packed what was left of the bait away and headed back up the rocks towards the car.i nearly managed to make it but one last boulder to navigate and down i went oouch.my first thought was "my rods" quick check ,yea there ok ,i picked myself up and scrambled up the last grassy hill ontop the footpath upto the car,"made it".

so not the best of fishing trips ,but no trip is waisted,i got a few photos while i was there and sussed out a few other marks for the next time.it was never gonna be a great day,the sea was flat calm with no wind at all.the water is about 30-40ft deep here so potentialy a good spot.i will return another day to claim my prize of a fresh cod."another day"
pete.