The Skipper's Blog

2009 was a mixed season - the fishing was great but the weather kept us in too often.

We had an excellent range of species and some specimen bull huss, pollack and tope. Mackerel were very patchy throughout and we sometimes struggled to get enough for bait. Herring and launce were quite plentiful though.

Big tope were not plentiful but this splendid 64 pounder won Harris Campbell a prize or two.



We had many excellent "species hunts" throughout May, June & July.

Depending upon tide direction and time of day we fished the usual banks, reefs and headland tide runs ranging south as far as the Mull of Logan bank and the Logan wreck or north as far as the Haileybury wreck and then inshore to the Larbrax Reef as the tide strengthened.

We still have areas that need to be re-explored with modern tackle and techniques - particularly the deeper waters. We didn't manage it in 2009 - it has to go on the 2010 "to do" list. We also have some excellent flattie marks that will reward dedicated anglers but these are frequently ignored, the excellent pollack marks being too attractive to many anglers.

Throughout the summer  the weather had been quite mediocre but it really fell  away during August. Many of you who had  booked for August dates were disappointed , although  most were able to re-book later dates. Some of you who did get out in had to put up with some pretty rough conditions.

By mid-September the weather improved again and the fishing continued good right through to mid-October. On our last weekend we hit big shoals of herring on the Saturday and then on the Sunday had a total of 16 species, none of them herring!

Rhins Ranger has had a repaint and an overhaul during her winter on blocks at Portpatrick Harbour. She was lifted back into the water on the 12th April.

I've had a few exploratory outings, alone and with friends, checking out some of the marks.
We've had whiting, cod, haddock, ling, coalie, pollack, LSD and huss so far.
The mackerel should appear any day. Last year we had the first on the 23rd April and the year before on the 24th.

How about some new target species for 2010?





I found these two dried up specimens about 400 yards apart on a North Rhins beach after a sudden blow in late March. The lower fish is definitely a trigger fish (Ballistes capriscus) and I am almost certain that the upper fish is a John Dory (Zeus faber). The photos are from my mobile phone, hence the poor quality.
There are some very shallow reefs off this beach that I shall be visiting in suitable conditions this summer.

First booking of the season is this Sunday with the Dalbeattie SAC. They are all very good anglers and I'm looking forward to a great start