From time to time some Thistle members get together to charter boats or get afloat on their own boats locally.

Charters are arranged by individuals, are not organised by the Club, but crews are usually drawn from clubmembers who enjoy boating and share costs. 

 

A crew of 10 members headed for Loch Etive on October 30th for general fishing aboard the MV Creagallan, a superb angling boat which provided a great platform in the sheltered loch.

Marks east of Bonawe to west of Taynuilt were tackled, fishing at anchor. This is a slower method than drift fishing, made even more tiresome when fish were few and far between. Everyone caught, with young spur dogs the most numerous species; if the numbers present are indicative of future catches the Loch will provide excellent sport when these 'posh dogfish' mature. Other species included thornbacks, dogfish, plus single examples of ling, gurnard, pouting and whiting.

The heaviest fish was a ling of 3.32kg which took the sweeper for Andy Kemp, just beating Bob Blocksidge's 3.22kg ray.

While it was good to contact some species which we don't usually see, opinions are divided about whether this type of fishing is something we want to do very often.

 

Ten members trailed to Scrabster on 10th July to try their luck on the Silver Line. Those who had participated previously rated this year's trip less successful because fewer quality fish were taken, although more species were contacted. With calmer sea conditions, this trip covered areas to the north of the port, around Hoy.

We fished pirks, baited lures, shads, and bait rigs to tempt ling, cod, pollack, mackerel, cuckoo wrasse, coalies, and also saw single dogfish, launce and ballan wrasse. Everyone had their share of the catch, with the biggest fish a 9lb ling for Fraser Mclean.

 

 

A crew of ten travelled north to fish from the Silver Line out of Scrabster on 5th September, to enjoy hard ground drift fishing mostly west of the port.

Weather forecasts the previous week cast doubt on the arrangements, with 35mph SSE winds gathering as high pressure moved north. However the skipper found sufficient shelter and despite choppy seas and white horses the fishing conditions from the large stable boat were easily tolerable. Most drifts were in the range 0.7-1.2knots, fish-able with weights around 300gm. Most anglers opted for pirks or plain weights and baited hokkais, or small shads by way of a change.

Ling dominated, with most landing fish in the 2-3kg range. Good cod, plus a couple of nice pollack were also taken along with mackerel, coalfish, red gurnard, grey gurnard, a wrasse and a dogfish. Best fish was Mike Sunley's 4.56kg ling.

We saw a pod of dolphins which circled the boat on one drift, and were surprised to spot a sunfish near the surface. This sub-tropical visitor feeds almost exclusively on jellyfish and can be carried to the UK by the gulf stream; it is very rare to see one so far north.

All participants voted the day a success despite the travel and cost of the trip and overnight accommodation. A return trip is now in the planning.