THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

John Bradley out from Portrush didn't last long either. So with the North Sea already in decline, as far
as we were concerned, that was the end of that. Or so we thought.
Fishery scientists tell us that haddock are a widespread species found offshore throughout home waters,
though supposedly less numerous along the English Channel coast. Yet that's where some of the biggest
home waters haddock ever caught have come from.
They don't, or until recently, they didn't seem to get the numbers of fish down there in the south west.
But when it came to big haddock going up into double figures, the western approaches was the place to
be.
Not so much deliberately fishing for them as putting mackerel strips down on baited feathers or similar
out over deep water while targeting anything that might come along. I've done it myself while blue
shark fishing out from Looe.
Better to fish at the bottom rather than hard on it when drifting to help eliminate potential hangups,
besides which, the haddock, and pretty much everything else down there don't seem to mind. Then that
too stopped making the headlines, leaving us to switch from haddiction to cold turkey.
It would take a chance conversation with Scottish sea angler Steve Souter back in 1997 to change all of
that. Steve suggested I contact the harbour master up at Kinlochbervie on Scotland's north west coast
who would take anglers out fishing specifically for haddock on his days off.
I don't recall the exact sequence of events, but that didn't
work out in terms of arrangements, and somehow I ended
up in touch with Englishman Peter Rawlinson who lived
in a little touring caravan on the slipway at Kylesku and
who also took out angling parties.
It was pretty much the same grounds just off Stoer Head
at the entrance to Loch a' Chairn Bhain, but a whole lot
less travelling than from Kinlochbervie, which equates to
increased fishing time.
We arrived late afternoon on the day prior to fishing and
decided to meet the boat in, where mixed in amongst the
haddock were also several torsk caught from an area
around a wreck which we unfortunately wouldn't be
fishing, which was a shame.
The following morning it was out to Stoer Head where
we feathered up a load of fresh mackerel for bait close in,
then moved out into the deeper water over clean ground
haddock drifting, where it was every egg a bird.
Phill Williams, Haddock brace Kylescu
Each day we caught dozens of the things with the
mackerel strips on 2/0 hooks to short droppers far and
away out-fishing every other type of bait or rig
combined.
Nothing big. Maybe four pounds maximum. But great to be re-acquainted with a fish I hadn't seen in
many a long time, and one which feared I might perhaps never see again.
I'm not sure about the current state of play over on the east coast. The commercials say there are plenty
of cod and haddock about now, but then again, they would say that to deflect criticism and to focus
minds on their relentless quest for quota relaxation.
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