Shore Fishing on the Isle of Islay: July 2012 (Part One)

Looking down the West Loch and the start of the ferry's course to Islay

The Isle of Islay is no doubt better known for its whisky than its fishing, in an international sense at least. The geography alone of the island, however, makes it the ideal destination for wetting a line as well as a glass. The southernmost of Scotland's Hebridean islands, Islay is large enough to afford visitors most of the comforts of home, yet small enough to give sea fishermen easy access to all its many piscatorial charms, wherever on the island they may be based.

All previous posts on this blog have related to fishing trips I have personally undertaken. Last weekend, however, friends of mine were part of a group heading to Islay for a weekend's sea fishing and were kind enough to provide me not only with details of the trip but the quality photographs you will see in this post and in parts two and three which will follow in due course. I am more than happy to include reliable, third party information like this on the blog for your information and hope you enjoy this glimpse of Islay and what it has to offer the shore fisherman. Having visited the island many times, I know what a true gem it is in so many respects.


Part One and Day One: Getting to Islay and an Unexpected Fishing Opportunity

The group were travelling to Islay by minibus, via the ferry from Kennacraig. As is always advisable, they were withing touching distance of the ferry terminal well in advance of their sailing, so stopped off at the West Loch Hotel en route.

The West Loch Hotel

It was having stopped at the West Loch Hotel that some of the group decided to have a go with spinning rods across the road in the waters of the West Loch. This had obviously been unplanned but mackerel were taken and the weekend catch was underway.
 

The West Loch from the hotel grounds

Kennacraig Ferry Terminal is pinpointed on the map below.


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The West Loch rocks near to Kennacraig Ferry Terminal

It is important to know your scheduled ferry check-in times when you are travelling to Islay. Vehicles have to check in before foot passengers and a queue system of traffic is formed. Do not underestimate the importance of this factor or your simple mistake may cost you a good weekend.

The Hebridean Isles Islay ferry approaches Kennacraig

Above you will see one of the ferries which sails to Islay from Kennacraig - the Hebridean Isles - approaching and below you can see it about to dock. This sees the fishing part of day one concluded and the group setting out on the final leg of their journey to Islay. The next part of this post, coming at the beginning of next week, will look at the first day proper and the amazing sea trout which are there to be caught on Islay.
 

The Hebridean Isles about to dock at Kennacraig

Loch Fyne from Cairndow War Memorial: 24th June 2012

The War Memorial at Cairndow is a low tide fishing venue

The War Memorial at Cairndow has very much become a bit of an enigma for me as a beachcasting venue. I have heard from a number of totally reliable sources about the good bags of mackerel, dogfish and thornback rays in particular that are regularly taken from this beach. Why, I can't help but wonder, have I therefore blanked on all three of my visits over a period of more than a year? Not only that, I have yet to see evidence with my own eyes of these even half decent catches. On this trip, there were eight of us fishing, with a variety of baits, lures and tackle, yet other than two decent mackerel, a scant few small doggies and probably the smallest thornback ray I have ever seen, we collectively caught not a lot... I'm seriously starting to consider the possibility that I'm a jinx!


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Weed thickly covers the rocky beach at Cairndow

There is actually very little beach to fish from at Cairndow at high water and at low water, you can easily see what you are casting out on to at higher stages of the tide. The aim therefore is to cast out to the deeper channel in the hope of snagging the fish rather than the weeds. We fished the last hour of the ebbing tide and the first three hours of the flood on this occasion.

Looking towards Inveraray (unseen) from the beach at the War Memorial at Cairndow

It wasn't until the tide had turned that the fish slowly started to appear. Both the mackerel taken were of a decent size and were bagged for tea by their respective takers but we were surprised and disappointed that they didn't signify the presence of a shoal in the area and the start of an even brief mackerel frenzy that would at least have seen us all fed that night!

A small dogfish taken on mackerel bait at Cairndow War Memorial

The few dogfish taken were all fairly small but the one thornback ray was almost certainly the smallest I have ever seen caught anywhere.

Cairndow at least let me see probably the smallest thornback ray I have ever encountered

As time wore on and the predictable pattern of my previous visits to Cairndow established itself, my thoughts were turning to the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar just a mile or so away and the delights it may afford for an alternative dinner.

The Loch Fyne Oyster Bar in the distance is looking the best bet for obtaining a fish supper on this occasion

In the end, we called it a day a good couple of hours earlier than we had intended and made a brief but welcome stopover at Cairndow's Stagecoach Inn - just along the road - for what was a very welcome pint!

Enough line wetting - time for some throat wetting!

12th June 2012: Jetty at St Catherines on Loch Fyne

The stone jetty at St Catherines, Loch Fyne

St Catherines is a tiny hamlet on the south shore of Loch Fyne. It is almost straight across the loch from Inveraray. Although I have fished Loch Fyne countless times over a period of many years, this particular destination was a new experience. The photo above shows the idyllic scene which greeted us on arrival, with the stone jetty seeming to afford easy access (particularly for spinning) to deeper water. We quickly unpacked the car and set off to wet some lines.

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The shoreline to either side of the jetty is rocky and weedy

It has to be said that the fishing experience at St Catherines started badly - very badly. The midges were out in a force that I honestly don't remember ever experiencing before and in no time at all, we were beyond discomfort as we were ravaged and bitten. With not a bite of the fish type in sight during that first hour and a bit, calling it a day had more than crossed my mind!

Inveraray is straight across Loch Fyne from St Catherines

Fortunately, everything soon changed. A gentle breeze blew up and instantly, the midges were gone. Low water came about just after that and with the turn of the tide, the fishing fortunes followed suit. Mackerel aplenty. Just about every cast out from the end of the jetty produced two or three writhing mackerel. We were catching them on hokai style lures of different types, unbaited. It was one of those mackerel catching experiences, however, where you got the impression that bare hooks alone would have taken the fish. In a frantic half hour or so, we had more than enough mackerel for the pot and to be frozen as bait for an upcoming boat trip. Dogfish were also caught with mackerel baits.

Parts of the jetty are in a shocking state of repair

It is important to point out the crumbling state of parts of the jetty at St Catherines. Several large holes like the one above can be seen and there are parts of the jetty around these holes where the stone surface precariously stands atop fresh air. We fished this jetty at the lower stages of the tide but given that it looks as though the jetty is at least partially submerged at high water, fishing it at higher stages of the tide could be even riskier than may first appear. A broken leg or worse could easily result. Bear this in mind if you are considering fishing at St Catherines.

Mackerel started getting caught thick and fast after the low water mark

Cooking Your Catch: Poached Mackerel and Peashoot Salad

Cold mackerel and peashoots salad

This is far from being the quickest method of cooking mackerel but it is totally foolproof for anyone not normally a dab hand in the kitchen and equally delicious. It was actually out on a skippered boat that I first came across this technique, when the skipper cooked up some freshly caught mackerel in the galley in the early part of the day. He used simply a big pot of sea water and we all helped ourselves to the cooled mackerel on the journey back in to harbour at the end of the day. The mackerel in this instance is served with a simple salad and some quick to prepare bruschetta.

Preparing to poach a whole mackerel in heavily salted water

Ingredients per Person

One gutted but otherwise whole mackerel
Sea salt
Generous handful of peashoots or other salad greens
1 medium tomato
3" piece of cucumber
Fresh basil to garnish
3 angled slices of French bread stick
1 clove of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Poached mackerel is removed from the cooled water

Directions

Put the mackerel in a very large pot. Season with plenty of sea salt and pour in enough cold water to ensure the mackerel is comfortably covered. All you do after that is heat until the water only just starts to simmer. Turn off the heat, put the lid on the pot and leave it alone to cool completely for two to three hours.

Flesh easily comes off the cooked and cooled mackerel

When the mackerel is cool, lift it from the pot and you should easily be able to pick the flesh from the bones. It will actually start to fall off in large pieces, it is so moist and tender.

Tomato and cucumber is roughly chopped for salad

Roughly chop the tomato and cucumber and mix them with the peashoots and some seasoning. Lay the salad in the base of a serving plate and arrange the mackerel pieces on top. Roll and finely slice the basil leaves before scattering them over the mackerel as a final garnish.

Toast the slices of bread on both sides. Peel and lightly crush the garlic clove and rub it over the hot top of each slice. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, season with sea salt and black pepper and your tasty meal is ready to serve.

Mackerel and peashoots salad with bruschetta

3rd June 2012: Loch Etive by Boat from Airds Bay

Arriving at Airds Bay, Loch Etive

Loch Etive runs from the Connel Bridge near Oban on an approximate twenty mile course inland to Glen Coe. Boats are available for hire from the Taynuilt Fishing Club at Airds Bay, just a couple of miles from the village of Taynuilt. The yellow boat in the approximate centre of the above image is the one we hired on this occasion, capable of comfortably accommodating four anglers and their equipment.

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Heading towards the fish farm north of Airds Bay

Like any fishing venue, the species you are likely to catch in Loch Etive will vary with all the usual concerns such as seasons and tides. The eco-structure of Loch Etive makes it particularly unpredictable, however, and quite unlike other sea lochs or venues in its close vicinity. Just one example of this is the fact that spur dogs are fairly common in Loch Etive while considered seriously endangered in other parts of the UK. Although we surprisingly caught no spur dogs on this trip, fish of different species were plentiful and we thoroughly enjoyed our day.

Heading up Loch Etive towards the quarries at Bonawe

To the north of Airds Bay in the direction of the open sea, there is a fish farm which can prove a fruitful Loch Etive mark. It was there that we headed at the start of the day. There are a number of buoys around the edges of the area covered by the fish farm to which you can tie up and eliminate the need to anchor. Do make sure, however, never to approach or attempt to tie up to the fish pens themselves.

The bait we generally use on Loch Etive is mackerel and calamari squid. Starting out by baiting hokai lures and similar with small strips of mackerel, we were soon pulling in small whiting, all unfortunately undersized. Although we tried to return them to the loch as unharmed as possible, in many instances the seagulls were swooping down and snatching them up whole before they could swim for the safety of the depths.

After a fairly productive hour of these small whiting and a few gurnards, I suddenly felt a much better take on the drop and was delighted to pull in three very good sized mackerel. Whatever else the day brought, I now knew at least that dinner was taken care of for that night and the next!

Looking up Loch Etive from off the quarries at Bonawe

It was around lunch time that we decided to try some marks further up the loch in search of bigger fish. Although we tried three different spots near to the quarry and at the fish farm across the loch from the quarries, not a solitary bite was had. We therefore returned to our initial mark for the last couple of hours, where a decent codling was taken and more small whiting and gurnards.