snatcher

Now that really is a big fellah. Have caught a few squid on my Australian trips but just babies compared to that !!!!! Well done. John

Yep definately one way traffic only !!!! Any interest in me wedging some of my Australian angling adventures onto here ? John

My skate fishing virginity!!!!! I know a lot of you guys tried your very best to lose it for me at LA at Easter.I am sure for some reason the gods must have conspired against us all that weekend. There must have been 15 - 20 rods out between you all to try and get me my first skate and for some reason all of those "big dabs" went off the feed.In fact as I was ascending into Norries "road monster" to go home Linda came over to me,gave me a nice big hug and said "Sorry Snatcher,it did not work out,it just means you will have to come back again". Thanks Linda and Davy it would be a real honour to come back in the future to try again for an LA big girl. It will not be this year as short of holiday now. Before I commence this tale I must say I cannot thank you enough for the time and effort you put into "Snatchers Weekend". Damm!!!!!! - anyway cannot thank you enough. I hope you enjoy your stay with me at our caravan in Drummore in August before you tope fish with Ian. Eyes down,look in.I think this started with a pm from FastD or "Darlington Dave" as Norrie calls him. As most of you know he is a mad keen angler and bang into fish conservation.Not too sure but I got a tug from Dave saying he was going over to the Oban area midweek for a few days skate fishing and knew I was keen as mustard to pop my cherry on them! Being a bit low on brownie points and with still "Lads Week" to come in August in Luce Bay I gave him a big nod. I set off to Daves at a daft time in the morning,left my car at his,transferred into his van and we towed his boat up to a spot not too far south of Oban. The actual place we launched from I will not name in respect to Dave.I am sure a lot of you will know it and I am sure if you fancy a bash there yourself Dave will more than gladly put you on the money. We arrived in a small town and got some digs in a local B and B,got shot of our "going out gear" and went straight to our launching site. The ramp we used was not an all states of the tide launch.It was HW +/- 2 hours.Oh well and off we sailed,I truly was a bit unsure what to expect on this trip. Dave was saying that on previous trips to this mark he had done really well in terms of skate.He said that a lot of the captures had been immature fish and this idea actually appealed to me, start at the easy end of the scale or so I thought.I was in for a rude awakening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We set out the mackerel gear and really struggled,I did anyway. We must have tried for a couple of hours and got about 14 fish!!! I managed one I think.Dave motored out to his first mark and down went the baits, a whole mackerel on a 12/0 hook.We had not been there too long when someone came a tapping. Dave struck into it and handed the rod over to me. Butt pad and shoulder harness on I went into unknown territory! After a real spirited fight we hauled over a male of 71lb. My cherry was burst and I felt so happy. Bait back down and tap tap,"here you go John have another one" this one was a much smaller fish of 41lb and she had a tag in.We made a note of the number and Dave reckoned it had been tagged by a guy called Billy. A spirited fight non the less from 450 feet down. Fish number 3 Dave actually took which I was quite pleased about!.As soon as it was hooked Dave told me to reel in the second rod 20/30turns,the last thing we wanted was two fish on at the same time with only two of us in the boat.Well I had either not reeled in that bait high enough,the clutch had slipped or that fish was cruising off the bottom. Anyway as I was watching Dave battling with his fish the second rod screamed off. I just had to grab it. We had no second butt pad or harness on the boat so I just had to grin and bear it.Both fish fought really hard and both were tagged fish.It was rather difficult having both fish on at the same time but between us we managed to boat,measure and realease both fish. I was sweating buckets by this time I can tell you.Daves fish was a male of 119 lb and mine was a male of 124 lb. We called it a day and headed off back to shore,moored Daves boat in the middle of a small bay andset offback to town for an Indians and loads of beer which was nice Day two saw us really struggling for mackerel,In fact we blanked and so had to rely on the previous days fish.We had a bit play about first with lighter gear and got the compulsory LSDS. One actually spewed up a pipefish,the first one I had ever seen.After getting a bit sick of the doggies it was back to a different mark. Down went the baits and Dave took the first fish,a male of 107lb. I atually timed this one and Dave could not budge it off the bottom for 15 mins. The fight had him fair goosed as it took 50 mins. Next up it was me and after another good fight we saw a 96lb male slip back over the side.Dave then caught a small female of 38lb,she was a pretty thing mind. I know that some of you tend to "look down" on small skate. The thing is its nice to know we have a healthy breeding stock. Dave seems to think this may be an actual breeding/nursery area. Who knows? Some of the males had scars on their backs,are these results of fights over the girls.Last fish of the day came to me,a female of 65lb.We packed in and went back into town,just a few miles away. Dave got on his "red wine head" and had to be sort of guided back to our B and B. The previous night we picked up a local called Kirk who was dead keen to have a go at the skate fishing. So the last day seen Kirk banging on our door to wake us up,we were both a bit shabby!!! Off in the boat again and trying for mackerel.Dave and Kirk managed a couple of full houses,I had one but just managed to get two into the fish box.I had actually caught more skate than mackerel! Dave took us to a new mark and down the three baits went. The first bait had been down about one minute and we had a good take.We put the butt pad and harness onto Kirk and after a great fight we got a 119 lb male into the boat. Kirk was very impressed with the whole thing.Next up was me,after a 10min stalemate got smashed off.Not to worry was soon into another one, a male of 98 lb,funny thing was we also got back the snapped gear from the previous fish,not hooked in the mouth but wrapped around it. Third fish of the day went to Kirk. Dave was being a good skipper and was more than happy for us to take the rods. Kirks was another male of 95 lb. Two missed takes and half chomped mackerel came next. Next fish went to Kirk again,we pulled in a smashing wee female of 36 lb,she was fin perfect.This fishery is looking really healthy which is nice. The 13th fish of the trip went to me. It was a very gentle tap tap and then just a dead weight. After about 15 mins the fish came up slightly but just to dive back down again.This happened twice more. No one timed this fight but it took a while, I was fair done in by the time we got this 182 lb female into the boat. It was a great sight watching her sail back into the depths. We motored back to the ramp a bit later than planned thanks to my last fish. All in all quite a cherry bursting experience!! I was one happy chappie. At the local boozer in the town the price of B and B was £60. Dave,with a small boat meet in mind negociated a £25 per person deal for a party of anglers. I think he is quite keen on the idea and am sure he will jump onto this thread. Afterthoughts,we found this egg case in the bait box.Assume its from a doggie but could it be from one of the skate?? Whoever said skate do not fight back wants a good slapping.My left forearm is still aching a bit and the lower back could be better. Was really impressed with the skate mind. Check out the set of choppers,Kirk was nearly bitten by one of the smaller fish,Dave got thorned off a wing and I just avoioded a flying tail as we slipped my big one back. John

Seen penguins at Little Manly Point park and at Dee Why Just love Australia team - apart from the things that want to kill you John

When I got back to my daughters apartment in Freshwater it was suggested that the newspapers would be interested in the capture. I e-mailed the picture to the paper and not long after the editor was on the phone to me asking for details. The actual "fight" was about 10 minutes but when I seen what it was I phoned my mate who had just went to his daughters up the street and asked him to bring his landing net down. I was only using 15lb mono and the last thing I. wanted was to snap off and leave a hook in the turtle. Funnily enough on my next fishing trip I was spinning with a Toby lure at Little Manly Point Park and I am fairly certain I had a penguin follow the lure on one retrieve. Now a turtle and a penguin on two consecutive trips would have been something else !!!! John

What is on your "photographic wish" list ???? For years I had been wanting to get a lightening shot but the situation had never presented itself to me - until I was staying with my daughter at her Freshwater apartment. Whilst staying there back in February 2012 a large storm was banging away just to the south of the harbour. I set up my tripod just inside the french windows with the lens just peeking out as there was torretial rain. Was firing away on 60 second exposures,cable release and manual focus on infinity. Must have taken close to 100 shots whilst the storm was rumbling away and managed to capture just two strikes. This was the best one. Another thing on my photographic wish list was to see/photograph the Aurora Borealis. Fortunately where our caravan is here on the Mull of Galloway,SW Scotland there is virtually no light pollution and I have managed to photograph it on three separate occasions. Also back home in Whitley Bay,NE England have photographed it once there. This shot was taken just by our caravan here on the Mull of Galloway Any of you guys photographed the Aurora Australis,Have you got to go down to Tasmania to see it ? Something I have tried for on many occasions is to photograph meteorite showers. I did manage a couple of poor captures last year so fingers crossed for this year John

It was for a turtle capture at Fairlight. It was hooked on the outside of the mouth and I reckon it was purely accidental. Guessing the line just got caught on the top of its shell. The papers just wrote what they wanted !!!! The day after I was having a few beers in Manly Wharf Bar and someone said - "Hey are you the pommie that caught the turtle at Fairlight" ? John

I just loved fishing in your country and managed 43 species in 4 trips - I even made the Manly papers for one of my captures !! I keep quite a bit of fishing tackle at my daughters in Frenchs Forest. My nemesis was trying to catch a flathead of all things. Did eventually manage it on my last trip though . Any interest in recounting some of my Australian fishing adventures on here ? John

This report is from the boys visit last summer. I thought I would add it as they are due to join us here in our Mull of Galloway caravan in a couple of weeks time. The report should give you a background to their next trip out fishing for bigger toothy guys. How good would it be if they managed to catch a tope each !!!!! Keep watching this space. Never caught a slimy mackeral so cannot really comment on it. One of you guys will just have to take me out fishing for them on our next trip over to oz. John

As usual during the school summer holidays our two oldest grandsons,Wayne and Lewis,spent a week with us here in our caravan in Drummore. It is a static located on the Clashwhannon Caravan Park overlooking Luce Bay and where the wife and I stay for most of the summer. As soon as they arrived they asked me if they would be going boat fishing again. My mate Tom Stevenson kindly took them out on their first ever boat fishing trip last summer. I told them that if the weather was ok they would be having another trip out with Tom. Firstly I had a shore fishing session lined up for them and that involved bait digging. It was a first for the boys and a lot harder than they thought. After about half an hour we had collected enough lugworm for a shore session. Although both boys can swim I wanted to take them to a safe shore mark with a minimum of climbing so after a 10 minute yomp from the car we arrived at our fishing spot. I rigged both boys up with sliding floats and had them casting out just a few yards as we had deep water at our feet. The first bit of excitement we had was Lewis falling in. I should have put money on it - this is the lad who got his head stuck in the railings at Buckingham Palace !!!!! I was expecting the lads to start catching small wrasse and pollack fairly quickly but all they were getting were a few tentative bites. The next bit of excitement was grandad having to strip off and go in to rescue a reel handle that had "mysteriously" worked itself loose and dropped in the water. I have to say that this did amuse the boys. Eventually Wayne did manage to catch a small wrasse. Here he is with the fish before I unhooked it and carefully returned it to fight another day. We gave it another hour after that wrasse had been caught but with no further bites we headed back to the car. The boys had enjoyed it so that was the main thing. Next up a days fishing in Toms boat "Joshua". Tom has a static van on the Sands of Luce Caravan Park and like us spends quite a bit of the year there. We launched from Sandhead beach and headed out looking for mackerel for bait. Tom was the main fishing coach and I was photographer. Here is Tom giving Wayne a bit coaching. We did not take long to find the mackerel. Here is Wayne with a full house. Lewis also got amongst them. The plan was to try and get the lads amongst the tope so out went whole mackerel for baits. We gave this a good few hours but the tope had not read the script and it was not to be. We then fixed the lads up mackerel strip hoping to find the boys a few species. Here is Wayne with a tub gurnard. Lewis with a dogfish After this the wind got up a bit and the conditions got unsuitable for the boys. At this point we decided to pack in but not before Tom gave the boys a turn each at the wheel on the way back in. What a great adventure it had been for the boys and I cannot thank Tom enough for that. It was a great day out in great company. Back at the caravan mackerel on the BBQ rounded the day off nicely. With the boys away now the caravan seems strangely quiet !!!! They did ask if they could stay for 2 weeks next summer though. John

Will do Chris John

I had kindly been invited out by my mate Russel for a days tope fishing in Luce Bay. We had decided to launch Russels boat Wendy Ann at Ardwell slip. We arrived on the ebb at about half tide. The launch was going fine until the trailer and boat got bogged down in some soft sand followed by Russels jeep !!!!! With a bit muscle power and the use of a tow rope and a bit of luck we eventually managed to launch. First off was to find the mackerel which can be harder than locating the tope at times. We steamed straight out for about one mile and started to drift for mackerel.. Russel was using a set of 5 feathers and I was using a set of four. The mackerel were thick under the boat and we filled up our bait box within about 20 minutes. We both managed a couple of "full houses" Russel kindly offered to prepare the rubby dubby bag of mashed up mackerel. The bag was attached to the anchor chain and over went the anchor. Down went the tope baits of whole mackerel and we settled back for hopefully some tope action. Its the first time we had fished together so we started swapping some fishing yarns and a few jokes. I was first into a fish with manditory dogfish and whilst posing for the photograph managed to get myself rashed !! The tope were noticable by their absence so we decided to fish some bait rods with squid and mackerel strip. We started picking up small whiting,gurnard and a few more dogfish. Russel was gutted when he had a good bull huss on and it either threw the hook or dropped the bait at the surface. The smile came back to his face though when he got a thornback on board. Even though the tope were not playing ball the craic was good and it was just good being out on the water - even though it was starting to get a tad lumpy. Berore last knockings I managed to get a decent red gurnard and Russel had a bait bitten in half - probably by a tope. The gulls are never far away and enjoyed the contents of the rubby dubby bag as we were packing in. Not a great day on the catch side but most enjoyable anyway. We also managed to retrieve the boat without incident. There is always next time. John

Here is a sunrise shot I photographed near our caravan in Drummore a few days ago Have also a UK fishing report to wedge on your reports section. Will hopefully do it Thurs when we will be on Wifi John

Have a UK report to wedge on here - will hopefully get it done in a day or two John

Its always difficult to maintain focus when birds are flying towards you at great speed. Do not know your camera but the first thing I would try would be to set my camera to Tv (time value) and set my shutter speed to 1000 sec - you may have to ramp your ISO up to 200/400 to achieve this depending on the light conditions. I would also centre focus and shoot in bursts. Finally I would say a little prayer Will dig out a few in-flight bird shots for you. Off hand I know I have a buzzard,barn owl,eagle owl and red kite. Hope you get your shot mate. John

Hiya team Firstly thanks for the kind welcome,looking forward to being a regular contributer both on fishing reports and photographic subjects. To answer the question our caravan is in Drummore,Mull of Galloway,Scotland. Our aspect is looking east over Luce Bay. Will add a few pics so you get a feel for the stuff I like. Paikea "Pommie expert" indeed ha ha,I nearly spilled my beer when I seen that. Thanks anyway mate This is a sunrise shot of Tynemouth Longsands close to our house in Whitley Bay A Harris Hawk I photographed a few weeks ago. Dunrobin Castle An iconic Sydney landmark if ever there was one !!! A firework display I photographed in Whitley Bay Last one,Warkworth Castle Looking forward to having a good laugh on here with you guys John

Thanks again for the kind welcome team John

Nice photos Luc and thanks for the welcome. Not too sure when we will be back but it will be a 3 month trip I have caught 43 of your species so far and looking to add to that. I keep fishing gear at my daughters in Frenchs Forest. Also Jim well up for a photoshoot. On past trips I have fished with a few ozzies - Ollie,Kingyfisher,Nimrod,Bigdog and a few more. I have also fished with Paikea from this forum Well up for meeting/fishing with some of you guys when we come over. On one of my trips I did make your local papers by catching a turtle at Fairlight !!!! I can also post up some of my UK reports if there is any interest and the mods are ok with it. John

Happy birthday Iceman,another 10 years and you can join the "auld fossils" club like me John

Hiya,I am the new pommie on the block and live in Whitley Bay,Northunberland,UK. Apart from fishing,photography is one of my other passions. I have a daughter and grandsons living at Frenchs Forest so I have been lucky enough to have 4 trips out to your great country I do love landscapes/seascapes/sunrise/sunset photography. Will post a couple of my shots up now for you. Took this sunset shot at Abbey Beach,Western Australia We have a static caravan in Drummore,Mull of galloway,Scotland and being retired spend most of the summer there. Took this shot looking out over Luce Bay from our caravan veranda. This last shot is of Tynemouth Longsands,a short walk from where we live in Whitley Bay. You can make out the river Tyne piers in the background. John

Hiya everyone,I am the new pommie on the block and my fishing nickname is snatcher I live in Whitley Bay in the UK but we spend quite a lot of the year in our static caravan on the Mull of Galloway,Scotland. Fishing and photography are my main hobbies. Our daughter lives in Frenchs Forest and we have had 4 trips to your great country to visit her and our grandsons there. On my trips I have managed to catch 43 of your species so far and looking forward to adding to the list on our next trip over. Looking forward to being an active contributer on the forum. John