Arboath/Usan Dec 2013

[Jeffers]

Hi

Spent a few days up there a couple of weeks ago.

Rushy on the forum asked that i put my report up on here, as it's already on another site


Well, eventually got to Arbroath/Montrose for the cod, having dodged and dealt with an m6 closure, m74 closures, a9 closures, trees down and stuck behind a wide load with a police escort on the a9 for 43 miles, doing 30 mph the whole way

So, first stop Usan. Wild, snaggy but loaded with cod when it's in the mood. Had fresh black lug, frozen crab and squid.



Only stayed a couple of hours as i had'nt eaten all day. First cast, blank, Second cast a nice plump codling about 2lb, then a very firm nod on the rod, waited, nodded again and struck hard. Sadly missed, felt like good fish though



Next a bite to eat. Then the rock edges under the cliffs at Arbroath. About a 150yd walk from the base of the cliffs onto rock edges. One particular favourite mark of mine has an elevated stance, so really good when lifting the fish. Water here is maybe 30 ft deep, rocky and loads of kelp. Proper cod country.



7 chucks, two decent fish, biggest 3lb, and missed four. The pulley rigs are the norm up here, but there is a tendency to miss the odd fish. Seem to work well for the bigger fish though.





Sea relatively calm, bearing in mind the wind and huge tide

Back to my G&B at 10:30, part two tomorrow. A full day at Usan....or perhaps the cliffs again.

Day two started again at Usan. No two days the same up here. The wind had dropped but the swell was incredible. Smaller tide than yesterday, but the waves were crashing in from about 300 yards out. As close as you can get to unfishable, once the tide started to flood. Three missed bites early on, but that was it. Every cast was dragged by the swell into the rock edges.





Plan B. Arbroath cliffs from the top over high water. Again, three good bites, but missed them all. Frustrating.

Last chance. Tide dropped, followed the rocks out under the cliffs. Second cast and a 5lb cod. Well pleased!



Two minutes later, despite being 6ft above the water, a huge wave came crashing through. Took the tackle box, the bait and some other stuff. Hung on to the rod and managed to retrieve the tackle box and bait, but everything flooded. It's the way it goes up here. Two more bites, both missed

About 15 rigs lost up to now, so dry off, have a kip, tie some more rigs and back to the base of the cliffs Saturday.....

Picked up my frozen squid and mussel and headed to the base of the cliffs at Arbroath. Much calmer today after yesterdays swell. Only managed to get the one photo as my phone went to low battery ans said there was insufficient battery for the camera. Bugger! Got one photo only



So, straight into it from 8am. Opened the squid and it was so cold up here that , it frosted over on the top! From the off, lots of bites, but all missed. A local lad joined me for a while and said this "bite and run" as he called it had been going on for a few weeks now. Lot's of missed fish, but most fish landed are about 2 -2.5 lb in size. But also that quite a few coalies had been taken. Any way, this went on all day. Got chased off by the incoming tide, so moved 3 miles south to Easthaven. Nice sandy beach, quite steep, but has rocks either side and loads of gullies. Sea had flattened off now, not ideal as it needs a sea running. Gave it a couple of hours, but no good.

So back up to Arbroath for the falling tide. On the rock edges, first cast, 2lb codling then same again on next cast. Good start, no missed fish. Then nod-nod, thump and slack line. Tightened up, waited, nod-nod again and struck into a very decent fish. Great fight all the way in then decided it was going the other way. to the left, straight into a gulley. Using a pulley rig, lead up out of the water and the fish about 4 feet under diving in a downward direction. Got snagged up, right under me. Let off some line, and the fish took off out of the snag. Game on! Bit of a swell went past, lifted the fish and managed to flip it onto the rocks. At a guess, I would say 6lb, but truly a hard fighting fish. Bloody camera!!! Anyway, like it's mates, went back into the North Sea to fight another day.

Really pleased I didn't blank today. At one point I just couldn't see the fish coming. Only one out there tonight, hard work, but hunger eventually drove me off to Morrisons for a pasta pot! Last day tomorrow, heading south to Anstruther where the St Serfs Open takes place. Six hour match noon-6pm, £1000 heaviest cod, fingers crossed.

The grand finale.

Down to Anstruther and registration for the St Serfs Open. Very blustery, wind now from the South-East.

Lot's of rock marks in the area, but flat and not a great deal of depth. Lot's of talk that the White Pier at Anstruther was in good form, with bags of 6-8 fish up to 7lb and a 13lb fish just last week.

View from the pier wall



I'm told the place to be is half way down the pier, The end gets hammered by the waves coming over the top. Glad i did, as it did exactly that at high tide



So, as expected, not a single fish from the pier in a six hour match.

Still, last cast. Loads of lug, squid and mussel. Looked the business. And eventually, caught this:




Best catch of the day! Shame it Didn't get me the £1000 for heaviest cod

I'm told this has been voted the best fish 'n chippy in the world. And i agree. Excellent!

Incidentally, heaviest fish was 5lb 4oz. Other than that, not much landed. Nevertheless, an excellent well organised comp. Well done to those who caught.

Still, a great trip. Might head back in January, depending on the bait availability.

[craggers]

A super read jeffers and some grate pics of your captures ,a very detailed report
Thanks for sharing cheers

[sharpey]

Well, 4 tins of ale, watched Gary Barlow entertain our excellent troops in Afghan, and topped it off reading this... Great report mate, some frustrating times and some good fish too. Well done on a fab report. Thanks for the read. Hic...

[TerryG]

Wow Extreme fishing and some fantastic fish, Top angling Jeffers and thank you for the report and pictures, Top quality read mate.
Looking forward to the next one.

[liphook]

Thanks Jeffers

[Pugsie]

That's the place to be mate cheers for report

[dabcatcher]

i thoroughly enjoyed reading that. i have mates who travel up there but never been up myself, love to have a go though

[Padsta Tel]

Great report and a few fish for your trouble it's 50+ yrs since I fished Anstruther brings back childhood memories

[codnaper]

A cracking report that mate i fish the same areas when i go up the there but i have a secret weapon in a former gold medal winning scottish shore internatinol that goes well out of his way to put us on the fish. The mains at usan is a cracking mark but 20 yards out of place can mean a blank so you done well to catch

[Jeffers]

Hi Codnaper. I have a good mate up there who used to do guiding, so he showed me some cracking marks i would have otherwise never have found. Agreed about Usan, wrong skeer can be the difference between fish and a a blank

With the size of the tides this weekend, i was planning to go up again Friday-Sunday. But essentially need to be there after an Easterly or North Easterly, and these Westerly winds seem to be in for a few days yet.

Likely to try the big tides in the middle or end of Jan. Fingers crossed for a wind change