Boat fishing Dunbar - June 2024 

Yup - after weeks of windy weather I'll happily take a bit of sunshine even at the expense of fewer fish. It's a hard life being an angler - you always have to complain about something🤣🤣

Same for me on the slip - but you can guarantee an eager audience when you least want one😀 We were over at Port William earlier this month but it was cold, windy and pretty hard going - campsite was almost completely empty. You're bound to do better over on "our" side😂😂

@@Corkwing-DougK I'm back over on the other side of Luce Bay at New England Bay this year. I've only been out once there and once from Port Logan. Weather has been shocking. I'll be back down as soon as the wind allows at least a few days out.

I think divers see these fish (and angler fish) a lot more often than we do - I reckon we pretty much need to drop a bait right on top of them before we get a bite. I'm not too bothered about the absence of fish on the video, as boats were catching (when they had a decent drift) the day before. They probably just come and go a bit in this area as there is plenty of rough ground to choose from. Funnily enough, the clip from my earlier trip might show plenty of fish but I still wasn't catching them - I remember being gobsmacked when I got home and checked it, as I'd caught very little that day. Cheers, Doug

I was pretty happy with it as I catch less than 1 per decade! Never tasted one although I've been told before that they're good to eat. Maybe the next one won't be so lucky... Cheers, Doug

I've used it in Luce Bay a few times but conditions there are similar to Dunbar - fairly shallow and reasonably clear water. Plenty fish and a range of species usually show up. The problem with the sea lochs is both the depth and the lack of light which makes it difficult to get any footage. I reckon that even 100 feet of water would require additional lighting for the camera to pick up anything useful. Best chance is probably something like inshore fishing for pollack.

@Corkwing-DougK looks great bit of kit very interesting comparison from previous visits

Thanks! The camera is just an old Go Pro clone stuffed into a waterproof case and attached to a fair bit of lead. No way am I risking something expensive over some of these rocks!😱😱

@Corkwing-DougK haha I don't blame you picture quality is canny

Hi Gus, Day launch fee is £20. For parking you need to drive over the harbour bridge and leave your car and trailer through the storm gates on the north/outer wall of the harbour. The slip itself is OK but has 2 doglegs in it, which can make reversing a trailer interesting for any spectators🤣. It used to be unusable at low water due to a vertical drop off but I think this was sorted a couple of years ago - I've not done a LW launch so don't know whether it is properly fixed or not. I find it easiest to launch and recover around half-tide or 2 hours before or after HW. This avoids the worst of the dogleg and also the problem you get at HW where there is nowhere to leave the boat safely whilst you deal with the trailer. Most of my launching is single handed, so I have to leave the boat unattended for several minutes whilst you deal with the trailer - obviously you need to be careful with tidal movement to avoid grounding or drifting off... Easy if there are 2 of you, but more tricky if you're alone and you're reversing a trailer through crowds of tourists😟 I'd recommend a mid-week launch and going in early to minimise the hassle - you can pay the launch fee afterwards if the harbourmaster isn't around first thing. The slip is closed some days over the summer as part of the lifeboat day, etc. - check the Dunbar Harbour website for the dates. Cheers, Doug

Cheers - with luck we might get even get a few more calm, sunny days. Might be harder to catch a fish but it makes the video side easier🙂🙂

Hi Gordon - it took a chunk of mackerel fished on the bottom. I've only ever had three, so less than one per decade! All of them took bait (and all the others I've seen, perhaps another three in total). This is the only one I've seen come to fish bait, the rest taking mussel or lug. Cheers, Doug

Hi Tommy, One was a Penn Spinfisher VI 4500 Liveliner and the other a Penn Slammer 560 Liveliner. Both cope OK with the shallow water in Luce Bay although I think the 560 is better suited to the tope. If I was fishing deeper water such as the banks west of Burrow Head then I'd go for a multiplier in preference, although the 560 might just manage. The Liveliner versions of these reels are much better than a standard fixed spool for handling fish like tope that grab and run with the bait. Cheers, Doug

Wind has been a curse this year - it'll drop for a day or so but not for long enough to make it easy to do a decent two or three day trip. And if it does drop then I'll be moaning about the midges🤣🤣

Maybe one day! I guess I'm kind of a niche - a mix of camping, boating and outdoors stuff alongside a good dollop of fishing. I'm not really hardcore on anything in particular so probably fall between stools as far as YT is concerned. Quite happy with that too, as I just do what works for me - and sometimes even get enough material for a video🙂🙂 Cheers, Doug

I'm certainly scouring the forecasts looking for a break! Trouble is, the different forecast models often disagree so you end up rolling the dice anyway. It certainly looks like classic school holiday weather at the moment - sunshine and showers, cool and breezy!

I've never seen one from the boat although kayakers fishing very close to the outlet have had them. I took my boat in close a couple of times but chickened out on the very shallow reefs - coupled with a decent bit of wave action. It's still on my to do list, but not very high up it! Cheers, Doug

Could be waiting a while, judging by recent performance! It's been a bit frustrating over the last few months.

I agree Doug, I even tried west coast at Turnberry last week and got blown of the water 😢

In deeper water

Nice relaxing day out Doug, and canny company too 👍🎣🐟

I've seen a few reports of isolated mackerel on the east coast over the last month, but these were around in decent numbers and in most places we tried. Not before time!!

Ash'll be charging appearance money soon🙂🙂 - someone else pointed him out to me in one of your videos just the other week. Though I still reckon his real ambition is to photobomb a Donny Wilcox video👍👍

Absolutely - I can't remember the last time I felt too warm on the east coast👍