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Just sorting myself out after getting back onboard after my wks hols, pike fishing on the Isle of Bute. Conditions were tougher than last yr, the NE wind killed it dead for the first few days but things picked up after Sat. The 1st pic was taken on the ferry to Bute, SAM_3573.jpgI had just dragged this lot over on the Eurostar! This is m fishing partner Tom on Loch Ascog, SAM_3574.jpgthe wind was howling into our faces that evening. THis one shows I still managed to catch.SAM_3578.jpg
Thurs we fished Loch Fad from a boat. SAM_3581.jpgNot a great success with the ind making anchoring up difficult & having two lots of kit in a small boat. I managed 3 jacks.
Fri day we decided to give the boat a miss & fished Ascog again. Trying to keep out of the wind long enough to smoke the first cigar of the hols, RGPan X, excellent short fishing smoke.SAM_3591.jpg
Sat we fished the opposite side of Ascog, more sheltered & rarely fished as access was difficult. After lunch I treated myself to a JL Benelux, very nice in the sun but not good enough to buy more of. SAM_3605.jpg
Sun. Tom left & I went back to Ascog. We had been missing the majority of our runs so I concentrated on trying to connect with & land more fish. I put on larger trebles & started hittting them, here's a nice exampleSAM_3622.jpg
Mon I fished Fad but it was terrible only one jack each for the 3 of us fishing that day.
Tues back to Ascog & I managed to get a 66lb bag together with a low dble that was to be the best of the trip SAM_3647.jpg& one just underSAM_3652.jpg.
On the last morning I wanted to fish a new water & got up at silly o'clock, crept out as not to wake the landlady & hiked it for an hour uphill to an isolated, little fished water called the Wee Dhu Loch. SAM_3667.jpgI wanted to catch a fish to take me over 150lb & after an hr or so I had a pike miss a spinnerbait. I put on a rubber minidawg & it hit it on the drop, resulting in this acrobatic 5lb'er. Spring action at it's best, leaping from the water several times.SAM_3669.jpg If I could catch 2 more I would have caught my 500th pike. With this goal in mind I carried on plugging away & picked up the next pike on a spoon; just one more needed to the 500th. I had to leave at 1130 to get back to the B&B, pack up & catch my ferry to go to work. By 1045 I was really shagged out. After carrying too much gear for a week in rough weather, having climbed up to this the highest loch on the Isle, I really felt like just letting it go. I looked into my lure bag & saw a favoured Spro swimbait & gave it a cast or two. 1050 I hooked into a wee jack that gave my my round total. I released it (as they all were) & sat down on the bank, in the sunshine to take the whole trip in. An amazing time & although I hadn't caught any big dbles I had still managed my 2nd best weight, seen an osprey hunting over Loch Ascog, enjoyed some real peace & left my worries on the mainland. Bute really is an excellent place for a walking, golfing, bird watching, fishing holiday & when you hit the weather right, far warmer & sunnier than Aberdeen!
On the return ferry I had a Los Statos Selectos SAM_3679.jpg& in the hotel that night a verySAM_3607.jpg special cigar to celibrate the 500, R&J churchill from '98, SAM_3682.jpga wonderful smoke that rounded things off wonderfully.
Thurs we fished Loch Fad from a boat. SAM_3581.jpgNot a great success with the ind making anchoring up difficult & having two lots of kit in a small boat. I managed 3 jacks.
Fri day we decided to give the boat a miss & fished Ascog again. Trying to keep out of the wind long enough to smoke the first cigar of the hols, RGPan X, excellent short fishing smoke.SAM_3591.jpg
Sat we fished the opposite side of Ascog, more sheltered & rarely fished as access was difficult. After lunch I treated myself to a JL Benelux, very nice in the sun but not good enough to buy more of. SAM_3605.jpg
Sun. Tom left & I went back to Ascog. We had been missing the majority of our runs so I concentrated on trying to connect with & land more fish. I put on larger trebles & started hittting them, here's a nice exampleSAM_3622.jpg
Mon I fished Fad but it was terrible only one jack each for the 3 of us fishing that day.
Tues back to Ascog & I managed to get a 66lb bag together with a low dble that was to be the best of the trip SAM_3647.jpg& one just underSAM_3652.jpg.
On the last morning I wanted to fish a new water & got up at silly o'clock, crept out as not to wake the landlady & hiked it for an hour uphill to an isolated, little fished water called the Wee Dhu Loch. SAM_3667.jpgI wanted to catch a fish to take me over 150lb & after an hr or so I had a pike miss a spinnerbait. I put on a rubber minidawg & it hit it on the drop, resulting in this acrobatic 5lb'er. Spring action at it's best, leaping from the water several times.SAM_3669.jpg If I could catch 2 more I would have caught my 500th pike. With this goal in mind I carried on plugging away & picked up the next pike on a spoon; just one more needed to the 500th. I had to leave at 1130 to get back to the B&B, pack up & catch my ferry to go to work. By 1045 I was really shagged out. After carrying too much gear for a week in rough weather, having climbed up to this the highest loch on the Isle, I really felt like just letting it go. I looked into my lure bag & saw a favoured Spro swimbait & gave it a cast or two. 1050 I hooked into a wee jack that gave my my round total. I released it (as they all were) & sat down on the bank, in the sunshine to take the whole trip in. An amazing time & although I hadn't caught any big dbles I had still managed my 2nd best weight, seen an osprey hunting over Loch Ascog, enjoyed some real peace & left my worries on the mainland. Bute really is an excellent place for a walking, golfing, bird watching, fishing holiday & when you hit the weather right, far warmer & sunnier than Aberdeen!
On the return ferry I had a Los Statos Selectos SAM_3679.jpg& in the hotel that night a verySAM_3607.jpg special cigar to celibrate the 500, R&J churchill from '98, SAM_3682.jpga wonderful smoke that rounded things off wonderfully.
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