Lochaline / Loch Sunart

flounder_al · #1 04-13-2008, 07:45 PM

Weather: Sunny with occasional shower
Wind: Slight breeze at times
Sea state: Calm
HW @ 11:27 & 23:39

Planned a 24 hour fishing session over Lochaline / Sunart way and drove across early saturday morning. Didn't start off to well as i got up 90 mins late because i was too lazy to get out of bed then when i had reached Spean Bridge i realised that i had forgotten the fuel for my gas stove. Many expleatives followed. Also in getting up 90 mins late i had miss the ferry time i wanted to take. So i decided to take the longer route around Loch Eil. It works out about 25 miles more but with the ferry costing £6.20 as of the 1st April i thought that i defo aint gonna use that much in fuel. The trip from Fort William to the Ardgour ferry slipway took 40 mins. So not too much time lost in reality.

Also in doing so i found some new potential marks to try out in the future. Bonus all round really.

After an eventful trip from Ardgour to Lochaline, in which i tested my ABS on numerous occasions i arrived about 10:15

Walking onto the pier i have to say that the view of Mull and the sound was breath taking. On the pier was another fisherman who turned out to be Jamo123. Was good meeting him and i set up next to him.

Started fishing about 10:45. Nothing was showing for our efforts although Jamo did have a couple of decent rattles on his rod tip.
Another fisherman turned up later on and so did a boat full of divers (more of them later).

I have to say that the water here is VERY deep. I totally recommed that you re-spool your reels if you plan fishing this mark. Also take an extra spool with you incase you loose line when snagged like i did. I lost nearly 50m of line in one go.

The other fisherman set up inbetween Jamo and myself. Turned out he fished for Scotland. A fun bloke called Cameron (Cammy).

Now the divers make an entrance..... They were diving at the right side of the pier which to us was not a problem. They knew we were there so that was fine. All was ok until the skipper of the boat untied his moorings and then let the boat drift backwards towards us. He knew damn fine our rods and lines were at the left of the pier but still allowed his boat to drift into the pier and our lines. All he said was "oh sorry, i've got divers down there". I was fuming but not as much as Cammy was. He lost some line, trace and weight because of it. I cannot remember the name of the boat but i can honestly say that the skipper is a total arse.

Anyway once he had disapeared off into the distance we started fishing again. This time we actually caught something. I managed a lovely clean doggie and so did Cammy. Jamo was still blanking at this stage

Seeing that the mark wasn't producing, Jamo and myself decided to head over to Loch Sunart Sheep shed mark via Jean's Snack bar. Well worth the visit. She does a mean burger and chips

Traveling over to Loch Sunart, Jamo nearly collected a sheep in the front of his car. Wish he had now as we could of had a bbq there.

Set up at the sheep shed and sat and waited. It wasn't long before both rods started getting rattles. Soon after Jamo and i brought in a doggie each.

Jamo fished until 23:30 and then decided to head off home. It was a pleasure meeting him and i'll defo have to head back over to fish some more marks with him in the future.

I carried on fishing until 01:30 and managed another 5 doggies. By this time i was shattered and needed sleep. The sleeping bag in the car was beckoning.

After a deep sleep only awakened once by my mobile with a text from a drunk mate i woke back up at 07:30 to a stunning crisp sunrise over the mountains.

The tripod and rod was quickly taken back out of the car and the line was soon back in the water. I fished until 10:00 only managing one more doggie. But if i am totally honest by this time i was bored and decided to pack up and head home for a nice long bath and hot food.

All in all an excellent trip. Wish the pier had fished better but that's fishing for you. The divers were the only problem really and other then that it was a sucessful trip. I hope to go back over there later on in the year.