The Scottish Archipelago

It seemed unbelievable but after months of waiting our trip to the Shetlands was finally here  

Last Thursday six of us set off in two cars on the long journey to Aberdeen to catch the ferry to Lerwick on Shetland then on to the Isle of Yell which is one short ferry ride north of Shetland itself.

Our destination was a small fishing port called Cullivoe.



The team;

Myself Arwel, Dave, Paul, Dave and Karl (Whose just joined the forum   welcome along mate)



After seven hours in the car then another thirteen on the ferry our first stop in Lerwick was A&E      
Poor Arwel had been stung by a wasp at home but 24hrs later his hand had swollen up like a balloon so medical advice was sort  

Once sorted we were off to catch the next ferry over to Yell which was a ten minute crossing  
A short time later we found the B&B we were booked into, dropped our gear off and headed to the harbour to see what was what for the following morning (Saturday) when our two day fishing adventure would begin  

Unfortunately Arwels hand was to bad for him to fish the Saturday and he needed to go to the local medical centre for his dressing to be changed    but he put a brave face on  



Saturday morning 9am and we were on the boat and heading out to sea, within 5 minutes we were in 130ft of water and it kept getting deeper the further we went

It was a bit lumpy as we motored to the fishing grounds but it only took about half an hour so it wasnt to bad



The engine stoppped, the rods were ready, the drift began, the leads and lures were sent 300ft to the bottom, the skipper said 20 seconds and we'll be into the fish...20...19...18... I was counting Down in anticipation....5...4...3...  BANG one rod after the other bent almost in two and we knew this was going to be arm wrenching fun and hard work too as we drifted into a shoal of something BIG

Next to me was Carl who was struggling to pull up his catch, I could hear grunts and straining going on all around the deck but I was having enough trouble hauling up my own catch to take too much notice of what was going on, after what seemed like an age my fish finally broke the surface and the skipper was straight there with a gaff and lifted the fish into the boat for me... A coalfish easily weighing 20lb

Next to me Carl brought in his first haul, two Cod weighing 18lb and 22lb  It was no wonder he was struggling

All around the lads were pulling in similar sized fish and everyone had enormous smiles of joy on their faces mixed with silly grins of pain as our muscles were stretched and pulled, and this was only the start  
Lines were back in and sent to the bottom once more.

















By the Sunday Arwel was feeling much better and his hand had almost returned to normal size so he was thankfully able to join us
Some of the lures we used were huge but there was no point using small ones up there







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The skipper had music playing on deck too which was great    







Muckle Flugga lighthouse the most northerly lighthouse in the UK







A long way to go but considering almost every fish was a double figure ranging from 12lb to 25lb and there were fish on every drop, must have caught 150 fish between us easily but no one was counting, and that between the six of us we had fifteen PBs at the end of it, many being broken on the very next fish it was well worth the effort and we're all definitely going again          

My three new PBs are a 22lb Coalfish a 21lb Cod and a 9lb Pollack

Wow what a trip and what a report

Well done everyone room for a little one next year

That just about sums it up perfectly! Fantastic fishing and a right good laugh with a great bunch of lads.

Even though I missed the first day, day 2 more than made up for it.

Stroll on next year (minus the wasp...)!

Awesome owdd total awesome , a trip to remember lads , can I come yours for cod and chips owddd

talkingbullhuss wrote:

Awesome owdd total awesome , a trip to remember lads , can I come yours for cod and chips owddd

Only got enough for myself mate



Just this one and the other three boxes

A fantastic report and even better fishing, well done all

are these archipelagos similar to armadillos

Well done Dave did you get the dreaded monster pumpers cramp glad you all had a good time cant wait to get back up there for some more torture

great report dave just looking at your face i can see you had a great few days    you will have to grow your own spuds to keep the prise down on the chips to go with them fillets well done to you all

Fishing looks rubbish up there, what are the women like?

Well done lads!

Good shout Karlph! Skipper is well worth a mention.

Brilliant report,wonder what the shore fishings like????

He was a good Skipper, he knew the grounds and where the fish would be and how to get them and he was fun and made the whole experience one none of us will ever forget
Can't wait till next year

That was some trip Dave well done and another great report from you as usual. Let's hope the next one is just as good a big fingers crossed. 

That seems to have been well worth the effort, I hope you realise it`s all pin whiting from now on

squidward wrote:

That seems to have been well worth the effort, I hope you realise it`s all pin whiting from now on  

We've all said that we may have shot ourselves in the foot by going on this trip as it will take some beating

Brilliant Dave Mate

That is one heck of report, my arms were hurting just watching your video!

Great report logger and roll on next year

Well well what a fantastic report videos pics PB well done to you all

jimmyjizzmo wrote:

Brilliant report,wonder what the shore fishings like????

Rubbish theres just a belt of kelp like you've never seen

Cracking pictures Karl!

Great pic's

Great report Dave, I just love that deep water fishing, not knowing what is coming up next. But bloody hard work.

Great photos Karlph

We are in danger of looking like a proper fishing forum with those specimens

Notbad wrote:

Great photos Karlph

We are in danger of looking like a proper fishing forum with those specimens  

Don't worry I'm sure I'll get my old form back in spectacular fashion on the very next session