I recently had a Trip to Xcalak  which is on the most southerly part of Costa Mayo in Mexico on the Carribean Coast. Xcalak is also bordered on the south by Belize and on the other side by the famous Chetumal Bay and the nearest larger town to the North is Mahahual from where I had fished this area a few years ago from a Cruise Ship, this was why I had decided to go again.

I went armed with 8,9 and10 weight Fly Rods and a selection a various Reels and fly Lines. My leader material was mainly Ultima lines, 40lb Powerflex crystal for The Baby tarpon. Assorted fluocarbons including Ultima Proteus in varying weights. Rio bite wire 30lb etc.

Flies were assorted Crab,Shrimp.Gotcha,Crazy Charlies, Decievers, Toads, EP Baitfish and a few Clousers etc.

My wife Linda accompanied me and we booked a few nights stay at the “Casa Paraiso” Guest House which is located just North of Xcalak Town and is situated right on the Beach with its own wooden jetty.

We were looked after by Ben, Esther and Edwardo  who were always up early with the coffee pot filled , fresh fruit and breakfasts on the stove.

My guides were ” Capt.Victor Castro” and ” Choo Choo Hernandez ” of Osprey Tours whom both tried really hard to put me on the fish. I would recommend these guys to anyone whom would like to try Saltwater Flyfishing.

They were patient, spoke good English, had good fish spotting ability, a great knowledge of the area and never uttered a cross word even though they must have inwardly been exasperated by me spooking fish. This is what happens when you read articles on the outward bound Flight that says you either spook a few permit or they will take the fly.

I am not going to drag this article out with the chances got and chances missed, let me just show a few pictures which I hope shows the beauty of the area and again thanks to everyone down at Xcalak that made our trip a memorable one.

The Weather has been awful of late ,with strong winds and lots of rain,however the Fishing has been good from boat and shore  when we have had a calm day.

The Yellow Isle at Portpatrick has been throwing up a few Whiting, Dogfish Pollack etc.

The Cheese Rock south of Portpatrick has has odd Codling, Conger, Dogfish, Pollack, Wrasse etc.

Mullhill at Portlogan has had a few Pollack, Dogfish, Coalfish and a few other species .

The Mull of Galloway is still worth a try for a Tope if you can get some fresh Mackerel.

L.S.A.A had their Boat Trip out with Steve Stringer on  ” Lucky Dip” from Portpatrick on Sunday 8th Oct.

The Lads were joined onboard by Jamie and Jane from Ayrshire and Jane certainly showed them how to hook up a few Spurdog on Her Pink Lures.

However as the Day progressed their were some nice Bullhuss, Spurdog and a Common Skate which was Hooked and landed by Jamie Paton. I managed a nice Spurdog  which would have made about the 20lbs although I never weighed it, just a quick pic, then released. A good day was had by all.

Tight Lines Eric

Although we have endured some terrible weather throughout the month of August and September  when we have had a  decent day the Boats have had some nice Tope up to and over the 60lbs

Also from Rock Marks there has been a few nice Tope  up to and over the 40lbs as well as some decent sized Pollack from West side of the Peninsula.

Lochryan Sea Angling Association held their 2 Day Angling Festival on the 16th and 17th Sept.

The Matches which were Measure and release were held on Terrally Bay, Ardwell backshore and from Lighthouse Pt.-Stenaline in Cairnryan.

Thanks to visiting and local anglers that left these venues clear for this event ,much appreciated. Fish were pretty scarce on Both days ,but there were a few Mackerel around and the Dogfish and Whiting were really scant maybe due to the amount of North winds recently. Thanks go to all the anglers who travelled to make this event a success ,from up North, North East England and North Ireland much appreiciated,

The Winner of the 2 Day Festival was Billy Buckley ( Scotland) 2nd Adam Scholes (Scotland) and 3rd Tommy Tait ( N.East England ) Billy won the Stenline Ferry Ticket plus a good few Dollars, our thanks to Stenaline for their Sponsorship of this Event.

Zone winners sat 16th Sept. Zone a 1st Mickey Bell (N.East England ) 2nd Bobby Laughlin ( N.Ireland) 3rd Barry Scholes (Cumbria) 4th Tommy Tait ( N.East England) Zone b 1st Brian Maxwell ( Scotland ) 2nd Billy Buckley ( Scotland) 3rd Billy Russell (Scotland) 4th Adam Scholes (Scotland)

Zone  winners Sun 17th sept  Zone a 1st Billy Buckley ( Scotland) 2nd Adam Scholes (Scotland) 3rd Nicky Robson (N.East England) 4th Tommy Tait (N.East England)  Zone b 1st Vic Hendrie (Scotland) 2nd Steve richardson (N.East England) 3rd Dave Delaney ( N.East England and 4th Equal Ken Mc Coy ( N.East England),Jim Keith ( Scotland) and Stevie Potts ( N. East England )  Alec Bell ( Scotland won the Longest Fish over the 2 Days with a 51cm Bullhuss and the longest Fish winners were Scott Mc Cartney ( Scotland),Bobby Laughlin ( N.Ireland)and Steve Richardson ( N.East England) The Best Lochryan Member over the 2 Days was Allan Mc Lelland ( Allan Mc lelland  Roofing )

The Best Junior over the 2 days was Aimz Clark who put some of the seniors to shame as she weighed in Both days all junior anglers who competed received tackle prizes but Aimz won the Abu Rocket Reel for best Junior.

A big Thank you goes to all the Tackle Companies that helped with prizes  Pure fishing, Daiwa Sports, Leeda,Masterline Walker, Swift, Breakaway, Gemini,WSB, Kiddy and if I have missed anyone I can only apologise.

Thanks also go to Zone sponsors Martin Lock (SVM Port services),George White ( George White Plumbing),Billy Paton ( South West Plant Hire Ltd ) and Eric Mc Lean ( The Sports Shop,Stranraer) and thanks to Paul from The Commercial Inn ,Agnew Crescent ,Stranraer for allowing us to run the Event from his premises, and finally thanks to All the Lochryan Lads for their help in running the event and to everyone that donated Raffle Prizes. Here are a few pictures from the Event.

Tight Lines Eric

Small boats and Charter Boats fishing from Portlogan and Portpatrick have been landing some nice sized Tope, Spurdogs and some Common Skate.

Recently there have been that many Spurdogs that they are onto the baits so quick that the Tope and Common Skate haven’t had much of a chance for a hook -up , however there has been a few landed.

From LuceBay there have been quite a few Tope landed as well as Bullhuss, Thornback ray and Smoothhounds.

The size of Tope has been good as well with a lot of them over 40lbs.

From the Rock Marks around Portlogan,Ardwell Bay and Portpatrick there has been some decent sized Pollack and Wrasse landed as well as odd Codling, Flatfish etc.

From The Isle of Whithorn the Tope Fishing has also been good when the weather has allowed the Boats to get out although Mackerel have been a bit hard to find at times.

Pollack and Wrasse Fishing has been pretty good from Rock Marks around Burrowhead and  Cruggelton Marks .

I fished from Portlogan the other day with Alec Bell, we had lots of Spurdogs and one Tope and Bullhuss as well as a few other species.

Tight lines, Eric

The area is still fishing really well despite the wet and windy weather that we have had.

When we get a break with the winds and the charters and small boats can get out there are some cracking fish being landed.

Tope up to 70lbs,
Spurdog up to and over 20lbs,
Smoothhounds to 15lbs.
Codling to 4lbs
Haddock to about 3lbs,
Mackerel to 2lbs and so many other species of fish being caught that its not worth rambling on about them, you just have to get out and wet a line yourselves.

The Rock and Beach Fishing has also been producing a few good Fish, although some of the windy weather did chuck quite a bit of weed up which made conditions a bit difficult for anglers .

The Yellow Isle just North of Portpatrick has been producing a few different species and also marks along Killintringan also worth a try.

Terrally and Grennan Marks have produced a few nice Smoothhounds as well as Gurnards, Dogfish and a few other Species.

Marks around Portlogan, Portgill and Clanyards also producing a few Pollack, Wrasse and Codling etc.

The Area is still fishing pretty well but sometimes the Mackerel have been pretty hard to find.

From Portlogan and Portpatrick  there have been some good sized Spurdog as well as Tope up to about the 50lbs size landed.

There has been some good sized Bullhuss,Pollack to around the 9lbs, although most are about the 3lb size,Codling, Haddock and many other species.

Lochryan Sea Angling Association held their 4th Match of the Summer Series in conjunction with Peever S.A and Solway Vikings on Sun 9th July.

There had been quite a lot of rain throughout the week therefore the estuary was quite silty,which might have affected the fishing a bit.

The Winner of the longest Bag in the Match was David little (Peever S.A ) 429cm
2nd was myself Eric Mc Lean ( L.S.A.A) 199cm
3rd Colin Rothwell (L.S.A.A) 109cm and

Longest Fish 1st Eric McLean (L.S.A.A) 91cm Thornback Ray
2nd Raymond Garrett (L.S.A.A)73cm Thornback Ray
3rd Equal David Little and Colin Rothwell 42cm Flounders

Had a day out with Campbell Hearton on his Warrior 175 from The Isle of Whithorn.

After launching we headed round to the front of the Cairn to try and bag up a few mackerel for Tope baits.

After about half an hours jigging it was time to head offshore to try for a few Tope. There was still quite a swell left from the day before and even though the wind had dropped away to nothing  the water was a bit lumpy .

We decided to drift for a while until the tide slowed a bit then we would deploy the hook.It wasn’t long before we had a hook-up a small Tope about 10lbs and thereafter they came steadily to the baits  but alas nothing bigger than 20lbs. But a good bit of sport nonetheless.

About 1 1/2hours before High-Water we dropped the anchor where we picked up a few more Tope to about the 25lbs, a few Bullhuss and the usual suspects the L.S.D,s also made an appearance.

The best Tope of the day was one that Campbell caught whilst drifting past a wreck, it would have been about the 30lbs.

Lochryan Sea Angling Association held their 5th Match of the Summer Series on Sun 16th July.

This was a roving Match between Stairhaven and Ardwell Bay.

Most of the lads opted for rock marks around The Mull Of Galloway but there were a few who tried marks on the west Side of the Peninsula. In the roving Matches, the Rules are that you may only weigh in one of each species and all Smoothhounds and Thornback Ray have to be Photographed on an official measure and then the weight is calculated from the charts.

Tope are not allowed to be counted in any of the Matches.

The Pegged matches are all measure and return.

Species landed included Cuckoo wrasse, Ballan Wrasse, Dogfish, Pollack,Grey Gurnard, Mackerel, Dab, Rockling, Pouting etc.

Heaviest Bag

1st Alec Bell (Peever S.A ) 10lbs
2nd David Little (Peever S.A ) 6lb 3oz
3rd Eric Mc Lean ( L.S.A.A ) 5lb 14oz

Heaviest Fish

1st Alec Bell 4lb 8oz Pollack
2nd David Little 2lb 15oz Pollack
3rd Eric Mc Lean 2lb 5oz pollack.

Stranraer and District Angling Association Waters have fished really well from the start of the season on the 15th March up until now.

Day tickets are available for Soulseat Loch, Dindinnie Reservoir, Knockquhassen Reservoir and Penwhirn Reservoir and you may fish any of these waters on the same day ticket which costs £18.00 for full day or there is also an Evening Ticket for £12.00.

Log on  to Stranraer and Districts web page for more Details .

Picture  is a nice brown trout from Soulseat caught by Alec Mc Colm. There  has been many PB’s of brown trout broken on this Water this Season.

Dindinnie has an algae on it at the moment but is still fishable as long as you wash your hands and kit after you have fished on it.

Tight Lines Eric

P.S  Go onto You Tube  To watch a small Video that I made with Alec Bell Fishing From Portlogan Recently  its under”  Copy of fishing Portlogan with Alec Bell ”

There is some fantastic Fishing to be had at the moment around the Area. There are are lots of Tope,Spurdogs,Bullhuss and the occasional Common Skate being landed as well as many other species Pollack,Haddock,Thornback Rays,Gurnards,Codling etc. From Rockmarks around The Mull Of Galloway there have been some nice Pollack up to 7lbs that have been caught  ,best method is Spinning Jellies or Frozen Sandeel. The Rock Marks around Portpatrick such as  “The Cheese Rock”,” Yellow Isle “,Tandoo Point”, “Morroch Point ” and Marks along the Killantringan area are all producing a few Fish  Dabs,Smoothhound ,Dogfish,Bullhuss,Codling,Gurnards etc. The Railway Pier in Stranraer is still worth a try for a few Mackerel as they can prove pretty elusive from other marks at the moment. I had a trip out with Alec Bell on his Boat Striker from Portlogan the other Day ,we spent nearly an hour looking for Mackerel ,but decided to go and set the anchor and fish with what baits we had taken with us .First drop and the Whiting were on the Baits straight away ,Baited up with a Whiting and it wasn,t long before a Spurdog made a meal of it . We managed a few Mackerel as we periodically jigged some Tinsels ,and baited up with fresh Mackerel and soon after a Tope screamed off ,thought the Hook was set,but apparently not as this Fish came off,but soon after another Fish tore off with the Bait and I managed to land this one a nice Fish over the 40lbs. The Day became pretty manic after that with Spurdogs galore coming aboard and the odd Bullhuss amongst the mix  and Alec actually pulled a Huss up with a Dogfish in its mouth. A few more Tope were landed ,all over the 30lbs and pretty fiesty Fish. Alec spent the last half hour Fishing Worm,Mussel and Crab Baits and he hooked some Haddock,Codling,Gurnards,Dabs etc and I pulled in a couple of Bullhuss , I think we had about 13 species throughout the Day  and this was without going hunting for them if you targeted Wrasse,Pollack,Coalfish,Flatfish etc I think 20 plus Species and over would be easily possible. Here are some Pics of our Day at Sea from Portlogan

The Area is Fishing really well at the moment.We had a Fortnight of Strong Winds and heavy rain which caused a lot of disruption for the small Boats,Charter Boats and the Shore Anglers but lately we had some cracking weather again, and both small Boats and Charter Boats have been getting tremendous Fishing with lots of Anglers busting their PB,s and some catching their First new Species. During the Bad weather Lochryan Sea Angling Association held their 3rd Match of the Summer Series, this was meant to be on Monrieth Beach but had to be switched to Terrally bay because of Floating Weed. It was the wrong Tide for Terrally  ,but a few Dogfish and 1Bass and a Grey Gurnard were Landed.Results   Longest Bag  1st Eric Mclean 112cm 2nd David Muir  109cm 3rd Alec Bell 108cm  Longest Fish  1st Brian Goupillot  Bass and 2nd John Higgins Grey  Gurnard.

Fished from The Isle of Whithorn with Campbell Hearton, we had a great Day at the Tope catching lots of Fish between 6-35lbs, we also had some Bullhuss ,Pollack etc     The Charter Boats around the Area have been having some really Good Days  on the Tope and various other Species and also Boats from Portpatrick have been landing a few Common Skate. I fished out from Portlogan on Alec Bells Boat Striker on Sunday where we had well into Double Figures of Species, Codling,Haddock,Bullhuss,Spurdog,Mackerel,Launce,Dab,Whiting,Dogfish,Gurnards etc

around the Area have also been fishing Well with Smoothhounds,Codling,Tope,Dogfish,Gurnards and many other species being landed. The Mull of Galloway marks  have been producing Mackerel ,Wrasse,Pollack,Dogfish and many more Species, my mark to try would be Killintringan  for a few different Species ,best Baits Ragworm,Crab,Lug and Sandeel with Squid and Mackerel for a big fish such as Bullhuss. Some of our lads have had Smoothhounds, Plaice ,Codling and many other Species from the Portpatrick Marks.   Tight Lines Eric

The small Boats when they can get out are getting plenty of Tope, Smoothhounds and Thornback Rays as well as a few Bullhuss and many other species such as Gurnards, Herring, Mackerel, Whiting etc. in Luce Bay.

From Portlogan and Portpatrick there has been a lot of Bullhuss, Spurdog, Codling, Haddock, Pollack and even a few Common skate and many other species landed.

The Charter Boats from Portpatrick, “Predator ii” and “Lucky Dip” are both worth a trip out on as both boats are reporting good sport.

From Drummore and Portlogan “OnYer Marks ”  and “Go West” charter boats are also having very good sport and would be well worth a Trip with.

From the Rock Marks around the Area there is also some cracking sport to be had at the moment.

The Mull of Galloway Marks are producing a few Mackerel and Herring, Wrasse, Pollack, Dogfish, Bullhuss and the odd Conger and Tope.

From the Rocks around Portpatrick there are some decent Pollack up to around the 5lbs size, Wrasse, Dogfish, Bullhuss, Codling etc. and also from The Yellow Isle there has been a few Plaice caught.

The Rock Marks around Wigtown Bay are also throwing up a bit of sport with Smoothhounds, Tope and Rays as well as Dogfish.

From Rock Marks around the Ise of Whithorn there has also been some Bullhuss and the odd Tope landed but the Mackerel has been a bit scarce down that area.

Lochryan has been producing a few Mackerel, Dogfish and a few other species.

Rock marks around Portlogan have also thrown up some Pollack, Codling , Coalfish, Dogfish and Wrasse

Pictures are myself with a Smoothhound, Raymond Garrett with a Tope, Alan Hughes with a Tope both from Rock Marks and Danny Kay with a nice Tope from LuceBay

In the past week a few Tope have been caught from the Isle of Whithorn, Luce Bay and Wigtown Bay also from marks out from Portpatrick .

Predator 11 had a couple of Common Skate, Bullhuss and a few other species and  Lucky Dip also had some Blonde Rays, Spurdogs, Bullhuss as well as other Species.

On yer Marks Boats have had some good days on the Tope in Luce Bay recently, check out these Skippers Web Sites for more info.

Lochryan Sea Angling Association held their 2nd Match of the Summer Series on last Sun 7th May.

There were quite a few species landed, Dab Flounder, Codling, Wrasse, Plaice, Dogfish, Thornback Ray etc.

A few of the Lads fished Marks around Burrowhead and Wigtown Bay but there were no Smoothhounds caught.

Results were

Heaviest Bag –
1st Andy Smith 8lb 14oz
2nd Jim Keith 5lb 1oz
3rd D.Muir 2lb 12oz

Heaviest Fish –
1st Andy Smith 7lb 8oz Thornback Ray
2nd Jim Keith 2lb 6oz Cod
3rd D.Muir 1lb 21/2oz Plaice

Photo: Andy Smith with his Thornback Ray

Tight Lines Eric