Tope and Spurdogs Galore

The small Boats and Charter Boats Have been having a fantastic time lately . With the recent Hot and Calm Weather they have been able to explore more marks around the area ,in LuceBay,off Portlogan and Portpatrick as well as out from Isle of Whithorn.Tope up to around 50lbs have allready been landed this season as well as Spurdogs over the 20lbs and some nice sized double figure Bullhuss. Lots of the summer species are here now as well, and for all the people that are chasing different species you might be able to land one in our area. From the beach marks around the area there have been a few Smoothhounds,Gurnards ,Flounder,Plaice ,Dogfish etc  .Evening Tides seem to be more productive, Terrally Bay,Chappelrossan Point,Portlogan Beach,Larbrax Beach all worth a try. Best Baits Lug ,Crab.Sandeel ,Ragworm tipped with Mackerel, Traces to use Pulley rigs,Drop Down Bomber Rigs and Pulley Pennel Rigs. Rock Marks like The Yellow Isle,Killantringan Marks all producing a few nice sized Smoothhounds,Plaice,Dabs ,Dogfish ,Pollack etc. Marks around Mull of Galloway,Clanyards,Mull of Logan,Portgill and Ardwell Bay all producing a few Pollack ,Wrasse,Dogfish,Gurnards,and a few other species. Mackerel are still pretty sporadic around the area, but Lochryan is probably the most reliable place to catch a few.

I Had another Trip out with Campbell Hearton from The Isle of Whithorn on 26th June. Accompanied with Allan Mc Lelland we headed out from the Harbour to try for a few Mackerel for Bait. A Drift just out from the Cairn produced only 2 , so off we sped to try another Mark . this was more productive and we soon had enough onboard for the Days Fishing.  We tried a mark about a mile and a half of  the coast. Lots of dogfish and one Thornback Ray at this Mark so we decided to head offfshore to try another place. After the Anchor got a grip ,the Baits were sent to the bottom ,and it was only moments before a small Tope picked up the Bait. This was soon followed by another a bit bigger than the first, then the Spurdogs moved in . The action was fast and furious with lots of spurs up to about 20lbs , a few more Tope  in the mix and only one Bullhuss. After a few hours of constant action ,we decided to move a bit further inshore before we ran out of Bait ,to try for a few more Tope . We were not dissapointed, with our tally of Tope moving into Double figures  ,and then the Spurs found our Baits again and it wasn,t long before we were tying on bits of Tails. Another Boat stopped and gave us a few Mackerel to end the Day off before we sped back to the Isle, another cracking day afloat

  Tight Lines Eric