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Print versionOrkney: Harvey Wallbanger
With the concerns over foreign travel uppermost in many minds nowadays, the spin off is that over the past couple of years more and more of us are taking our hols within the UK. One area doing particularly well is the Orkney Islands way up in the far north.
While working there recently, I managed a day out with a new charter skipper, Harvey Groat. A Shapinsay islander Harvey is one of the skippers working the car and passenger ferry between Shapinsay Island and Kirkwall in Orkney. Harvey realised that there is a wide variety of fishing to be had in these waters, and that angling, as such, remains virtually untapped off the islands beyond Orkney itself. Looking to the future, with the increase in visitors and anglers to the Orkney Islands, Harvey set about building up a charter boat business
 Harvey's boat, the Charles Ann |
Harvey's commitment to his new business is 100%. Knowing more than most about what type of hull is needed for these sometimes volatile seas, he opted to take the long haul down to Essex where he bought a 38 foot Bullet that had been plying her trade as a charter boat. Fitted with a 350hp turbocharged engine, she'll cruise at 16 to 18-knots and can get you to the many varied marks in minutes of leaving the quay. She's fully equipped with GPS, Radar, Colour Sounder and Auto Pilot, and is licensed for 60 miles and up to 12 passengers. Harvey is also a member of The National Federation of Charter Skippers.
He's keen to tap in to the everyday fishing for the general ground fish, but also has an eye on the bigger fish that inhabit the sounds that run between the islands. We got to talking about the varied species available, especially conger, which frequently turn up in the commercial creels and reach a huge size, but little fishing has been done for them.
Whilst fishing Scapa Flow last year, we figured that tope worked these waters. Since then a tope was hooked, seen, then lost by a charter boat inside Scapa Flow, and it's obvious that tope are here around the more northern islands too, though the season may be short and late.
There used to be some big common skate caught here too, but again no rod and line fishing is done for them anymore. Sharks show to commercial vessels right through the year, with halibut, such a rare fish now, potentially on the cards to patient anglers.
The bread and butter fishing is very consistent. The mainstay, as in all northern waters are pollack, codling, coalfish and ling. This is where the bulk of the fishing is done, over rough ground, but there are some fabulous looking clean ground marks that some pub chats with the local commercial guys I had confirm hold some cracking turbot and brill.
I said it about Scapa, and I'll say the same about these more northern islands too, that anglers with an experimental mind will do exceptionally well here providing you're willing to blank occasionally in order to learn.
TACKLING UP
We'd left Wales being battered by a force 7 west wind and heavy rain, which stayed with us pretty much through to the Scottish border. Arriving in Orkney the wind was just a steady 5, but might not stay that way by the look of it. Harvey had arranged to pick us up in Kirkwall having brought the boat over that morning. It's only a 15 minute run from Shapinsay for him. We jumped aboard and figured we'd have no trouble fishing in the given conditions. That's the beauty of being surrounded by islands, there always shelter to be found somewhere.
A lack of time meant there'd be no point me sitting it out for one of the big fish, so we elected to go ground fishing and try to fish as many different areas as we could giving each a short period of time to produce. It was still early in the year and the season, even down in Wales and Cornwall it was a late starter, so I went for the sensible easier targets.
We tackled up with 20lb gear and went for tried and trusted Hokkeye's tipped with mackerel and squid. Simple tactics but good for finding out what's down there.
We set up a series of drifts over snotty ground and began taking pollack and codling, mainly on the baited Hokkeye's, but also on luminous tube flies. The codling ran to 2lbs and the pollack to 3lbs, but tended to be very tightly concentrated over certain marks, a typical sign that winter hadn't quite let go her grip just yet.
The wind was increasing and gusting to a 7 by now, but again we found some shelter and decided to anchor up, something the local anglers rarely opt to do. My lad and I both had the same idea and switched two-hook rattle bead rigs with short hook traces. Baiting with mackerel and squid it soon became evident that the codling wanted the squid in a big way. We both had several fish to well over 3lbs, but the ling and conger we'd hoped for failed to show.
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I hadn't been up off Shapinsay before and took time out to take a look around me as we bobbed about between islands. There's a heck of a lot of bird life going on here, indicative of fish filled waters. You'll see puffins, guillemots and stacks of gannets. The gannets were working pretty hard over some sort of shoal fish way off to the east, and it looked like they were over mackerel to me. A day later we found out that the first mackerel had been caught that day to the west, so maybe we called it right.
When you're in tight to the rocks you'll see seals laying up taking in the sun and drying out, plus you'll see life and death dog fights between predatory skua's and the little guillemots trying to keep hold of their beak full of food played out right in front of you as the G's try to reach the safety of their nests high up on the cliffs.
I stopped fishing, which is rare for me, to watch a full masted sailing ship make her way in having crossed the upper North Sea from Norway. She was a fine sight, even partially rigged, and took your mind back in time to the clipper ship days. You'll also see coasters, traders and even passenger liners making their way in to Orkney and the surrounding islands. Make no mistake, this is a busy place and full of life.
BACK TO FISHING
The ground we'd been fishing was typically about 120-feet deep over rock. We'd had fish, but not in the quantity we'd all been hoping for. Taking council with Harvey we voted to head on down to try first the Horse of Copinsay, a small island, then move on again and fish right under the Lighthouse and cliffs on the east side of Copinsay Island.
Harvey steered us right in to the southeast corner of The Horse. We were just 10-yards off the rocks and almost banging up against them, but under the hull was 70-feet of water with rising rock pinnacles coming up to within 40-feet of the surface. There were big helpings of kelp down there, and a big fat seal kept bobbing up astern of us looking really brassed off that we'd invaded his privacy.
Nothing! We drifted this awesome looking mark for 10 minutes but didn't get a touch. Such is fishing, but it's a mark I've earmarked should the opportunity to fish these waters come my way again.
Moving on to Copinsay the lighthouse stands at the top of two hundred foot high cliffs rising as a vertical sheer wall. These are home to thousands of guillemots that swoop above you in clouds and group up on the water waiting to attack the bait fish shoals. It's wise to wear a hat here!
We manoeuvred ourselves right in under the cliffs almost banging the wall of rock. It was much calmer here in the lee of the island and we drifted with more control. This was the key to getting amongst a few fish.
We switched to baited Hokkeye's again to get the fish coming aboard as our time was rapidly filtering away. Fishing with 5oz leads and just tapping the bedrock we were soon rewarded with the savage take of pollack. These were typical early year fish running between 2 and 3lbs, but Mike Jnr hit a better fish of 4lbs plus, and I contributed a codling close to 4lbs.
We made a few passes, the wind and current taking us nicely pretty much in a direct line down the side of the cliffs in water that swung between 100-feet and 45-feet. The fish, typically, were concentrated right on the lifts. We were approaching a pot rope and buoy when my rod slammed hard over and thumped as a much better fish felt the hook and hammered for the bottom. It tore a few yards of line, and then went solid. I felt the fish pull free, but the gear was snagged.
I figured that the potter had put the pot down in the past 24 hours and the fresh bait in it had drawn a few smaller bait fish to it, in turn bring in a big pollack that hung around the area waiting for easy pickings. It was just plain bad luck that the fish broke free, but it felt like a double figure fish and I was obviously gutted.
A swing in the wind saw the boat adopt a slightly different drift next time around. This resulted in coalfish taking the lures.
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I scrounged a look at some old charts Harvey has that were used by the last generation of commercial fisherman up here, and there are haddock and halibut grounds southeast of Copinsay, and big skate marks out towards Stronsay highlighted. Another guy I bumped into carried photos of porbeagle sharks he's commercially caught from the waters around the islands. It's all there to do.
Harvey is more than willing to anchor on the rough ground, something very few boats try here. This will be a major factor in the Charles-Anne seeing some really big ling and conger come over the gunnels, especially in the autumn period when the fishing hits its peak.
TACKLE TO TAKE
For general fishing either a 20lb or 30lb class rod is the main workhorse. Take reels loaded with both braid for drift fishing, and mono for straight down fishing. I'd also add an uptider for fishing flying collar rigs and Redgills for pollack.
Depending on where you fish and the tide heights, you'll need to carry weights running from 4ozs to 16ozs, and be prepared to lose them if you want the good fish.
If you're in to real sport, try a 9ft spinning rod and reel loaded with just 10lb line and fish a lead head during the slacker water periods. I'm sure you'll bag up on good sized pollack and coalies, plus get bonus cod if you risk the lure and let it fish at a shallow angle on the drift over the rock.
For the conger, if you're going to try for them, you'll need a 50lb class rod and reel. I've a feeling the size of conger here will amaze people. Some of the commercial guys and divers tell conger stories up here that make Nessie look like a silver eel.
CONTACT
Harvey Groat, Groat's Charters, Housebay Cottage, Shapinsay, Orkney, Scotland. Tel: 01856 711254. Mobile: 07884 470600. Website: orkneyangling.co.uk
ACCOMMADATION
Harvey can arrange good accomadation for you if you want to stay on Shapinsay Island, or you can get Harvey to pick you up from Kirkwall Pier on mainland Orkney and drop you off at the end of the day.
There is everything from B & B's, self-catering to Hotels on Orkney, plus hotel accommodation on Shapinsay. Check out the website: visitorkney.com for all the details. Orkney now has a dedicated sea angling web site at seaanglingorkney.com.
TACKLE SHOP
W. S. Sinclair, Fishing Tackle Specialists, 25-27 John Street, Stromness, Orkney Tel: 01856 850469
ADMIRALTY CHART
No's 2249 and 2250 cover the main areas.
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