Posted March 23, 20241 yr comment_4105563 It has been my brother and nephews ambition to catch a skate, they had tried without success from the shore so booked a boat out of Oban a couple of weeks ago. I was invited and whilst I don’t do a lot of sea fishing it was a chance to spend time with my family and its fishing! Staying overnight we were picked up at 08.45 and steamed out for about 30 mins where we dropped baits into 350 feet of water. It was slow and apart from a few spurdog on light tackle the skate weren’t playing after three hours. The skipper upped anchor and moved us further out to catch the fresh tide. Now we were in about 450 feet of water. Within half an hour the first rod went to be picked up by one of my nephews. He is a fit boy and tennis coach but it was half an hour before we had a skate on the deck. Measured it was estimated at 78lb and labelled a “baby” by the skipper. This despite being the biggest fish I have seen in my 67 years. Then it got silly with rods going regularly. First my other nephew hooked and lost a skate on light gear after about 30 mins. Next rod was a pal who fishes with my brother and has a YouTube fishing channel. An hour later and a fish of 103lb with another rod hooked in. That was my other nephew fighting a bigger fish. After three quarters of an hour we have 123lbs of skate on the deck. Now it’s my turn. Hooked in I can’t believe the power of the fish and after an hour I still have to shift it off the bottom. I take a few feet of line in and it takes more. Eventually I know it is coming up as I can feel it’s head shaking. My shoulders are aching and my back is killing me. In my thermals and waterproofs I feel like a boil in the bag kipper. My brother is giving me lucozade and I am hoping there is a defibrillator on board. After an hour and forty minutes and utterly spent I have landed the biggest at 128lb but! Whilst playing my fish my brother’s rod has gone and he too is fighting a big skate. It’s time to up anchor and the skipper is just holding the boat on the engine as the last fish comes on board at 198lb. It could have been heavier as it was a pregnant female and all weights are extrapolated from measurements before fish are returned. A days fishing I will never forget!
March 24, 20241 yr comment_4105609 A very good write up of your exploits. You must have ached for days afterwards. Thanks for posting.
March 24, 20241 yr comment_4105615 What a fantastic trip, your going to need a very big bag of chips to go with those! There are a few places in Scotland I believe that Skate go over a 100lbs from some deep water ledges (shore side). Think I saw some Youtube videos a while back. Here is one I have quickly found. (Am certainly not belittling Dave at Kelton magnificent efforts). Respect FB Edited March 24, 20241 yr by Flyboy1950 adding video
March 24, 20241 yr Author comment_4105631 1 hour ago, Flyboy1950 said: What a fantastic trip, your going to need a very big bag of chips to go with those! There are a few places in Scotland I believe that Skate go over a 100lbs from some deep water ledges (shore side). Think I saw some Youtube videos a while back. Here is one I have quickly found. (Am certainly not belittling Dave at Kelton magnificent efforts). Respect FB Thanks and yes there are spots. My brother tried one off Skye without success.
March 24, 20241 yr comment_4105642 Wow, what an adventure. A day and memories not to be forgotten. There`s me thinking that the skate (thornback rays) that I`ve caught in the past were big at up to 20 lbs! Thanks for posting and sharing. Well done. OB
March 24, 20241 yr comment_4105643 OK, Dave, you've changed my mind - there may just be a Nessie after all!
March 24, 20241 yr Author comment_4105736 7 hours ago, wymberley said: OK, Dave, you've changed my mind - there may just be a Nessie after all! ??
March 25, 20241 yr comment_4105853 58 minutes ago, Penelope said: A bit bigger than the Essex Rokers!!?? Or even the Kent ones. The Pan Sands always used to be a good spot for thornbacks.
March 25, 20241 yr Community Expert comment_4105855 15 minutes ago, Old Boggy said: Or even the Kent ones. The Pan Sands always used to be a good spot for thornbacks. True, but I believe Roker is an Essex name for Thornbacks.
March 25, 20241 yr comment_4105889 Awesome fish well done I’m sure you will remember this day for many years ?? I caught a couple nearly 45 years ago sadly their habitat was destroyed by gravel dredging and they are no longer there. It’s good to see them again ?
March 26, 20241 yr Author comment_4106095 18 hours ago, Old farrier said: Awesome fish well done I’m sure you will remember this day for many years ?? I caught a couple nearly 45 years ago sadly their habitat was destroyed by gravel dredging and they are no longer there. It’s good to see them again ? Trawling of any type in that area is not permitted and apparently the skate are making a massive come back. My nephew caught one of about 1lb on his light gear too. 15 hours ago, islandgun said: What a great and memorable day, did the skipper tag them no not tagged
March 26, 20241 yr comment_4106157 brilliant day and write up, almost felt I was there, thanks for posting Dave.
March 26, 20241 yr comment_4106239 7 hours ago, Dave at kelton said: Trawling of any type in that area is not permitted and apparently the skate are making a massive come back. My nephew caught one of about 1lb on his light gear too. no not tagged It was the seabed gravel and sand extraction that did for them and created massive costal erosion problems the tides from the west are very strong and moved the sand along the coast depositing sand onto the beaches it wasn’t many years before the sand disappeared down to bedrock now the sandy beaches are very rocky and with no protection the cliff erosion is massive im glad to see the big skate are afforded some protection ??
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