Back in the early 1980's I made regular trips to the Isle of Arran in the outer Clyde to fish the productive haddock grounds around Holy Island and Pladda, where fish in the six pound bracket were a fairly regular occurrence. As anyone who has caught a decent haddock can testify, they are pound for pound one of the better fighting small fish in UK waters, hence my interest. Hartlepool was another venue we would regularly catch them, though the North Sea fish were of a much smaller stamp and tended to be picked up as bonus fish amongst the cod and ling, though most trips could be relied upon to produce a few. Unfortunately however, for the past couple of decades, haddock stocks have found themselves caught up in a spiral of decline. This said, there are still a few little hot spots dotted about that can still be relied upon to produce the goods.
Haddock as a species have led a rather precarious existence. History records two previous accounts of North Sea stocks hovering on the brink of disaster. In both cases world wars stepped in to save the situation by removing the commercial pressure, encouraging quite sizable recoveries. It would be a bit drastic to suggest that we need another major home based conflict to tie up sufficient numbers of people or make commercial fishing in the North Sea too dangerous to save the haddock from extinction. But clearly something drastic needs to be done. Relaxation of the pressure stocks find themselves under, coupled to some favourable spawning conditions would certainly assist recovery in the short term. It all sounds too easy to be possible. But if its proof you want, then look no further than the north western tip of Scotland where the species has been about in good numbers throughout the crisis affecting it elsewhere.
I'd been hearing reports of good haddock catches on the western side of Scotland above Skye for a couple of years before finally deciding to investigate. Despite its geographical position, this area also has a lot to offer small boat anglers, despite being about as exposed to the open Atlantic as you are ever going to get. With nothing to break up the wave patterns between this part of Scotland and America, as you can imagine, the going could potentially get tough. This said, there are more than enough sheltered locations to go at, some of which have haddock (as well as other good fish) written all over them. One of the best amongst these is Eddrachillis Bay, which lies just to the south of Cape Wrath, Scotland's most north westerly point.
Part of this areas success is down to the fact that in places it offers a great deal of shelter. Unless there is a big north westerly blowing into the bay, it should be possible to to get a bit of fishing in somewhere. You might not be able to reach the Point of Stoer which looks out on to the main haddock grounds, but there are haddock to be had on the north side of the bay around Handa Island with launching at nearby Scourie. Failing that, a launch deep inside the bay at Kylescu is sure to find sheltered water, with some developing big skate fishing for those with a will to explore not too far out into the inner part of the bay. But if small boat fishing isn't your thing, there are big boats possibilities too at Lochinver, Kinlochbervie, and the venue that Dave Devine and I used, Kylescu where we fished with Englishman Peter Rawlinson aboard his 10 metre Aquastar 'Emily G'.
Kylescu is located inside Loch a'Chairn Bhain which is linked to the inner most portion of Eddrachillis Bay. The best of the haddock fishing however is at the other extremity close to the Point of Stoer on the south side of the bay, which is around 12 miles from what was a ferry slip under the bridge adjacent to the hotel. On the plus side, on a south westerly wind, which is the prevailing direction in these parts, you will have shelter all the way to the point both for the sailing and the fishing, unlike boats steaming from Lochinver or Kinlochbervie. So big boat or small, expect better conditions, and on some days, to be out there when boats from the other two ports are not. On top of this, if Peter is still doing the trips, expect to stay out there until late if the fish are on as he never seems to be in any great hurry to get back in.
To some extent, Peter Rawlinson has become a victim of his own success. Haddock are what the area is famous for, so understandably, haddock are what visitors come to catch. What few people realise is that there is much more to Eddrachillis Bay than this one species. Cod are quite thin on the ground. But ling can be particularly abundant. Halibut topping 180 pounds have also be taken on rod and line from the tide race off the Point of Stoer. And potentially, the common skate grow even bigger than that with ton up fish a very distinct possibility deeper into the bay offering themselves as a fall back for days when conditions out around the head are a tad too uncomfortable to endure.
Most haddock fishing I had done previously was with worms or mussels fished close to on the bottom in deep water, preferably over mud or muddy sand. As a mark of their predatory instincts, in Norway we picked up quite a few on small lures, and even on pirks. But in the UK always on soft baits. No doubt these baits will also catch them at Kylescu. But they are no match for fresh mackerel, which fortunately are plentiful in the fast water in around Stoer Head on the fringe of the main haddock grounds, though with the haddock tending to form quite sizable shoals with a tenancy to wander around, on occasions, the two will inevitably be found mixed together, though there are usually plenty of smaller haddies close in to the cliffs in the shelter of the head.
Peter decided to open our account with a few drifts inside the head over a patch of ground where huge numbers of average sized are often to be found, though I suspect he also had an eye on the mackerel for the bait box as much as the haddock. With good fresh baits, if you can get the boat bang on top of a shoal, then every rod in the boat should very quickly have a bend in it. But drift off them, as you invariably will, and you will catch very little. For this reason, Peter was loathed to go on blind drifts, preferring to invest time into searching out the tell tale signs of the shoals on his colour sounder. Unfortunately, the bigger fish can have a tendency to group in smaller similar size shoals, often a little further out off the point.
One pleasing thing about these particular haddock grounds is that the water covering them is not particularly deep, exposed, or fiercely tidal. Obviously, tide size and wind related drift speed have some say in tackle choice. But generally you can get away with with fairly light leads with the knock on benefit of light hand tackle. The relatively soft nature of the haddock holding areas doesn't claim much tackle either. A 20 pound class outfit, or if conditions allow, even lighter, will deliver tremendous sport and fun. Depths vary between 25 and 50 metres, which is not excessive. This said, braided lines will show up even the lightest of bite and cut down on lead size. The down side unfortunately might be a few more lost fish.
Haddock have notoriously soft mouths. Not having the shock absorbing elasticity of monofilament braid can lead to light hook holds be pulled free. So perhaps mono is not such a bad idea after all. Or you could attach a few metres of some particularly soft mono to the end of the braid. But if you do, make sure you use a secure knot. Otherwise, a simple mono paternoster rig is all you need with hooks in the 3/0 size range. The secret is to keep things simple. At its most basic, a set of baited mackerel feathers will do fine. Forget beads and other attractors. Let the bait do all the attracting and look forward to some excellent sport, as we had, taking in excess of 180 haddock, plus ling and other bits and pieces in a single sitting which is probably more than I've even seen, let alone caught, over the previous 20 years.
