Big Rigs and Scottish Sea Lochs

Well this weekend being the easter weekend and the weather for once was meant to be the best we have had this year, My plan was to take the Big Rig out on the salt for the first time and see how it performs and catch a fish or two into the bargain.

Myself and a friend decided to go to a north western Scottish Sea loch and paddle across to a bothy we knew of and camp inside it for the night.

When we got to the loch the water was flat calm, there were some waves breaking in the middle but they did not look too bad. There was three or four guys fishing from the bank who had not caught anything.

We set up the kayaks and humped them down to the water, the rods were set up. Baited Hokkias with squid fiahed at the bottom of the loch to try and catch dogfish, cod, pollack or anything else that was hungry.

This particular sea loch is renowned for being really bad fishing and seeing as the mackeral were not due for a few more weeks I wasnt expecting much apart from scenery and sunshine.

We paddled over to the bothy where my friend went up to see if there was people in which there was not. He got a fire going and a tripod set up for cooking a stew while we went out fishing.

I stayed out and tied to a buoy sitting basking in the sun. The rod kept knocking but nothing each time I tried to strike. Every drop on each rod was the same so I started to get annoyed. I brought the line up about 10-15 meters and got the same again. I struck hard and managed to foul hook a small whiting around 6 inches long.

This carried on until darkness with a mixture of mini species and crab but this was the sacrafice we made to stay in such good free accommodation.

I even managed to stand up on the kayak in the open sea.

While sitting out I also seen a peregrine falcon take a bird out the sky right above me.

After the fishing it was time for dinner, whiksy and bed.

The next again morning the wind had picked up tenfold, I was a little apprehensive of making the crossing in the big rig as the tide and wind directions were not really in my favour and I was a little hungover. I paddled out and was pleased with the performance, although not the quickest I managed to make the crossing over to the M.O.D site and paddle up and around the huge platforms for filling the ships and submarines up. I dropped a line here and there hoping for a monster cod but nothing except ropes getting caught. I even managed to snap my rod after getting hooked onto ropes.

A great paddle and a great platform to fish from, from the sea. The BIG RIG really is great for overnight trips, you can pack all your gear and the kitchen sink into it.