newbie...please give advice

[tomahawk22]

hello all, newbie on here, looking for some advice. it's many years since i have done any shore fishing, been mainly fly fishing on still water & occasional boat trip, all in north east. anyway, i'm going to hebrides for hols, isle of barra to be precise, looking to spin for pollack, bait fish for wrasse & whatever else, but i want to have a bash at pollack / mackerel on the fly rod, can anyone advise regards line type etc. & technique. also, i'm using a 12ft, 2.5lb test curve carp rod for spinning & light bait casting......will it be up to the job.
thanks in advance.

[pompy.bass.man]

hi mate, welcome to the forum, he rod will take pollock but you might have to play it a bit, for the lures i would use a firetail jelly worm, black and bubble gum pink works best for me, expect some big bass two though they show up sometimes in places like that, for wrass and other fish use ragworm and limpet cocktail, brilliant bait, good luck mate and hope you catch a biggun

[KKK]

Hi mate and welcome I don't know that much in the area of fly fishing, the carp rod wold be fine for spinning for pollack but I would be very surprised if you caught a bass there.

[toomanyhounds]

don't know much about the area you'll be fishing, but any wrasse i've had anywhere around the UK have been taken on crab. don't waste peelers (when they are available)on wrasse, the greedy little buggers are equally happy to take them hard and crunchy. can't remember the name but fireline do a quick sinking braid specially for spinning to get your lure down quick. i use 30lb but its overkill.
I've never spun for pollack but a mate of mine uses a "blinker spinner" whatever one of them is.
wouldn't hold out for bass though
try making your own fly for mackrel, should be very satisfying and easy. just make it quite shiny and heavy and give it a decent ritrieve.

[tomahawk22]

Thanks for the tips, I'll let you know how I get on. One other thing, I've heard skate are relatively common up there.....anyone fished for them & if so what's the method from the shore, bait, tackle etc.

[KKK]

I have fished for common skate off the shore is it commons you are going for? or things like thornback?

[tomahawk22]

TBH I really don't know what type, never done it before. Do you know what kind are available? If a particular type is available to target specifically, then, if someone can advise on tactics etc. I'll give it a go. It would be from the shore though.

[KKK]

Unfortunatley both require considerably different aproaches, thornbacks only require simple shore tactics and I would stick with them as commos do run 100lb + off the shore. For thornbacks a simple pennel pulley rig with 4/0's will suffice you may get commons on that but it is doubtful if you would get them in. If you are unsure about the pennel pulley rig I am sure somone will know how to get a picture on here. Bait I woulkd go for local knowlege as opposed to the baits that work here in south wales or in the north east. I know that mackerel will catch them in laga bay in scotland so I would think mackerel would work there as well. squid and sandeel also work commons do like mackerel and spurdog

[tomahawk22]

many thanks, apprecite the advice