Small Boat Fishing - Self Drive Skate
THERE CAN'T BE MANY LOCATIONS IN THE UK WHERE YOU CAN TAKE OUT A SELF DRIVE DINGHY WITH AN 8 hp OUTBOARD AND HAVE A REALISTIC CHANCE OF FISH TO OVER 200 POUNDS.
The dream of any red-blooded small boat fisherman has to be to catch a fish so big that it fills the entire inside of the fishing well of the boat. There are a number of fish in UK waters capable of doing this, but most are not contenders if you want the ultimate dream of doing it from your own boat. Take halibut for example. Not often caught these days, there are still a few about. But would you want such a dangerously powerful fish inside a small boat even if you could get it in. Then there are the sharks. Porbeagle Sharks have a range that takes in the entire UK. To the south, thresher and blue sharks come into the reckoning. All potential handfuls in a small boat. Over the past couple of years, bluefin tuna have been caught on rod and line very close to shore along the north west coast of Ireland, but as with the halibut, would you want such a big lump of potentially boat wrecking pure muscle in the well of a 16 foot dinghy. I most certainly wouldn't. Ideally, what is needed is a fish that regularly grows between 100 and 200 pounds, can be caught consistently in safe sheltered waters, and is not going to give you handling problems once it comes aboard the boat. This description could have been written for only one fish, Raja batis.
Raja batis is the scientific name for the Common Skate. The fish was given this name because it was once the most abundant of the European deep-water skates. Today it is an unfortunate label to pin on a fish that is no longer abundant anywhere. Commercial pressures have driven many once common big fish populations to the brink of collapse. This is probably true of many cartilaginous species such as sharks and rays which put a great deal of investment into producing small numbers of large well developed offspring with high survival rates. In evolutionary terms, this is a good strategy when nature is left to determine its own balance, but a disastrous one for a species struggling to re-establish population numbers after a crisis such as over exploitation. This is why the common skate is no longer common throughout much of Europe. But there are places where, with pampering by anglers and commercial fishermen such as careful handling linked to tag and release, it is becoming a relatively available fish once again.
My primary interest in fishing is as a boat angler. More to the point, I am a small boat angler who likes to catch everything from by own trailed boat. There is much to be said in satisfaction terms for doing the whole job for yourself, which is fine if you have the resources to own your own boat and access to good fishing areas within easy driving distance of your home. Unfortunately, not everyone finds themselves in such a privileged position. However, that need not always be an obstacle to enjoying the kind of added personal satisfaction small boat owners have available to them. Equally, it need not be an obstacle in getting access to some of the best big fish possibilities available in British waters. Dotted all around the UK are centres offering small self-drive boats complete with anchors, life jackets and flares for hire. Obviously, not all are going to be sited close to areas where fish regularly grow in excess of 100 pounds. But there is one. The tiny village of Glen Borrowdale looking out into Laga Bay on Loch Sunart up on the west coast of Scotland. Dave Devine and I went up to investigate.
Loch Sunart is a mainland loch which connects to the seaward end of the Sound of Mull looking across to the Isle of Mull quite close to the islands main centre at Tobermory. The Sound of Mull, and further down, the Firth of Lorne, are deep narrow channels along two sides of the island separating it from the Scottish mainland close to Oban, which itself is a noted centre for charter boat fishing for huge common skate. These are reasonably sheltered waters with incredible depths very close to the shore. In many places depths plummet rapidly away to 400 feet and more. There is even a small jetty at the entrance to Lochaline on the mainland side of the Sound of Mull where shore fishermen can cast into around 300 feet of water. Common skate over 100 pounds have been caught there by shore anglers on quite a few occasions. One party famously took three skate in excess of 100 pounds in a single session. Imagine then the potential if you had access to these marks from a small boat.
Big skate are to be found throughout the Sound of Mull and its connecting deep water sea lochs of which Loch Sunart is probably the most sheltered. This loch’s surroundings and appearance can leave you feeling unsure as to whether you should be putting out big sea baits or fly fishing for trout. You could easily be convinced that you are fishing an enclosed inland freshwater loch. Fortunately, the big skate do have access with which to penetrate well inside the loch following the deepest water channels, and lying up in the deeper holes available to them. In places you can find 300 feet of water within minutes of the shore. Andy Jackson who owns the self-drive business lives next door to a salmon farm at Laga Bay. The boats are moored up in front of his house and brought to the farms loading jetty for boarding each morning. Alternatively, if you trail your own boat, negotiations with the salmon farm can secure a launch. Within 500 metres of the moorings you are in 270 feet of water. It takes no more than a cup full of petrol to reach the spot, and there literally is no need to go any further.
The self-drive boats are 16 foot Orkney Longliners powered by 8 hp Mariner outboards. For shelter there is a cuddy up front. Each comes equipped with anchor, rope, fuel, flares, life jackets, gaff, navigation chart, and a further chart from which to estimate the weight of skate based on body length and width dimensions to ensure that all fish go back un-harmed. Having all of this kind of equipment on my own boat, I decided to take along my own safety gear and gaffs. With hindsight, I wish I'd also taken my own anchor and Aldernay ring set up too. The rope provided on the self-drive was plenty long enough. The problem came when a squally wind got up one afternoon. With the direction of wind on the day, there was not enough open water for conditions to get rough. But wind and wave pressure on the boat made it difficult for the small folding anchor to grip in the soft muddy bottom. Consequently we kept slipping anchor. The grip was fine when it was calm. Our own anchor which is much bigger and heavier would most certainly not have slipped. We also took a mobile phone for safety reasons.
Though the boats have no echo sounding gear on board, finding potential fish holding areas should prove no problem at all. The chart provided is a large-scale map of the area. Pin pointing the deeper holes in relation to landmarks was a piece of cake. There are no specific marks. Simply look for the deeper channels and holes. Big skate were taken during our stay from quite a number of marks, all of which are no more than general deep-water areas. Andy Jackson told us that one of the best spots is the hole 500 metres in front of the moorings. On day one we decided not to take this piece of advice. Like many boat anglers, we fell into the trap of thinking the fish would have to be looked for further afield. How often do we sail over fish because we feel uncomfortable about stopping within casting range of the shore. Not that this gave us any problems. We tucked in close to Carna Island anchored in around 240 feet of water, and considering it was our first visit to the area, had an excellent days fishing.
Never having fished Loch Sunart before, despite what the chart and people with experience of the fishing kept telling you, it is hard to stay in one spot waiting for a big fish. With limited time, doubts about sitting it out can quickly creep in. But the seabed is never going to be paved with big fish like common skate. This is very much a waiting game. So we took a decision from the onset that regardless of how the day went, we were going to sit tight and wait. We each had a 50 pound class standup rod and large reel loaded with around 500 yards of 50 pounds breaking strain braid. Our plan was that who ever owned the rod the first skate came to would have the fish, after which both rods would be fishing for the other person to give him a chance too. The terminal tackle comprised a 12/0 hook crimped to a metre of 200 pounds breaking strain wire fixed by a swivel to 2 metres of 200 pounds monofilament fished as a running trace with the reels left on ratchet. We each fished a lighter rod with smaller hooks and baits to a much shorter lighter running trace.
Loch Sunart does not have much in the way of tide which makes the fishing easier than the Sound of Mull and Firth of Lorne. However, this can create some practical problems too. With no flow to straighten our long skate traces they were unfortunately landing at the bottom in a heap giving us tangling problems. A much better approach we found was to replace the 200 pounds mono with a couple of metres of 80 pounds mono and put the sliding boom onto this before adding a swivel to the other end for the reel line. This meant that in effect the 80 pounds bs mono became an extension of the reel line. It would still offer some measure of protection should a taking fish become tangled up in the trace as often happens with skates and rays, but meant there was only a metre of trace actually on the bottom to reduce the tangle potential. As skate don't usually run far after taking a bait, we gambled that only having a couple of metres of line to go at before the fish would feel the drag of the lead would not be a problem. Thankfully, it wasn't.
The lighter rods had 8/0 hooks to short wire traces tied directly to the reel line. Small mackerel strips and calamari squids were used as bait on these giving us a steady stream of big spurdogs and small thornback rays, which was good for keeping the interest up, but still left us wondering if we were doing the right thing by staying put in the one spot all day. At around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Dave had a call on his mobile phone from his wife to see how things were going along. Mid way into the conversation, what appeared to be another spurdog bite set the tip of the light rod nodding. Still talking, with his free hand he picked up the rod, set the hook, then suddenly found himself stuck into a big skate. Thirty-five minutes, a lot of sweating, and one broken conversation later, I was sticking the gaff into the wing of a nice male common skate which came out of the length x width formula at around 105 pounds.
The following morning we decided to repeat the sitting tight exercise, but this time took Andy Jackson’s advice and anchored up just in front of the moorings in 270 feet of water. Our plan was a repeat of the previous day which meant that the next skate to come along, regardless of which rod it was on, would be mine, after which, if there was a third, it would be every man for himself. Meanwhile we would fish for the smaller rays and spurdogs. Not so many thornbacks at this particular mark, but the spurdogs were more numerous and of a better average size. Not that we had much chance to gather that information in during the early part of the day. For within an hour of anchoring up, what appeared to be another spurdog on Dave’s light rod turned out to be another common skate. But a much bigger fish this time. As he had struck and started playing the fish before realising what it was, it was only fair that he should see things through. It would take a further 55 minutes before he managed to break its suction to the muddy seabed. And then it would only come up a few metres before power diving back down. The weight of this fish came out of the length x width formula at 145 pounds.
Conservation is a very important factor in the well being of the skate population in this area. No fish are ever actually weighted. Estimates are far better if means survival of the fish, particularly as scientific studies have shown this particular weight to body dimension formula as having a 95% accuracy level. As testament to the survival rate of released skate, Dave’s second fish had a tag in its wing from a previous capture, yet showed no obvious signs of problems relating to having been gaffed or seeing the inside of a boat before. Providing the gaff is carefully placed into the fleshier leading edge of the wing, and kept well clear of the body cavity, survival rates will continue to be high. When the fish hits the surface, there is no need to panic. We wanted to video the second skate, so Dave was forced to gaff the fish himself. This is easy enough. There is no crashing and thrashing about at the surface. When beaten in this way, skate virtually lie there, making placing the gaff, particularly the second gaff in a suitable spot very straightforward indeed.
For visiting anglers wanting to catch big skate from a small boat, Loch Sunart is the perfect destination. I live in the north of England near Preston, and the journey took us around 6 hours over the Easter weekend. Early spring can be a very good time to fish. Had we been trailing our own boat it would have taken at least 8 hours. Add to that the time required getting to the Preston area on the M6 if travelling up from further south, and trailing your own boat would make it a very long trip. But not an impossible one as we have since proved on a number of occasions. As mentioned earlier, small boats can be launched at the salmon farm, but also at the Clan Morrisan hotel close to Laga Bay. Rooms and self-catering accommodation are available at the hotel. At the time of our visit, Andy Jackson was also building a self-catering accommodation block next door to his house. Anyone interested in fishing Loch Sunart for big skate from one of Andy Jackson’s self drive boats should give him a call on 01972 500208. Andy also runs a 38-foot Aquastar for offshore fishing beyond the loch. This boat holds the current European Common Skate record of 227 pounds.
SEE THE VIDEO VAULT – Big Fish Small Boat