Loch Etive: In search of Ling

As we passed over the frosted Argyl hills and headed down towards Loch Awe, we were suddenly confronted with the snow capped peaks of the Cruachan massif, backed by a deep navy and illuminated, as if in HD, by the early morning moonlight. Behind the summit, lay our destination and venue for the day. The vastness of Loch Etive awaited and as we drew closer, thoughts turned to what might be awaiting us in the dark of the depths.

A short while later we were watching our reels empty as baits were sent into the abyss. Even now, I’m always amazed to see meter after meter of line spin from the reel drum for several minutes before the baits eventually hit bottom. A mere 50 feet from the shore and we were fishing into 300ft of water.

The main targets were Rays, Spurs and, just maybe, a Ling and almost instantly we were into fish. A couple of modest Spurdogs were first to make an appearance, together with the obligatory Lesser Spotted Dogfish and it was looking good to be a productive day.

That was until our gear started to lose out to the mass of loose rope that lies below the fish cages. As our gear took a hit, we decided to make a short move down the shore, anchoring up in around 200 feet.

With a fairly short anchor rope and a strong tide accompanied by a strong NE tailwind, it wasn’t easy to hold ground and we began to fish what can only be described as a slow drift. A few small Coddling did show face but yet again we found ourselves on the move and looking for a more steady anchorage.

Ultimately, we ended back on the buoys at the cages and although there were plenty of fish, they were far smaller than earlier in the day. Nonetheless, catching fish is better than not and a steady flow of Whiting, Spurdog Pups, Dogfish and some huge Poor Cod kept us busy and drop after drop we were instantly into fish, two at a time. Constant hauling from such depths is a lot of hard work for such small fish, but on the plus side, it kept us warm and oblivious to the biting wind.

All too soon and as the sun slipped below the horizon, it was time to head for shore. Etive is still a fairly new venue to me and I’ve only started to scratch the surface, but one thing is certain. We will be back and the fish will get bigger. Hopefully.

An Eternal Angler