Located in  the North of Scotland amongst stunning golden sandy beaches and the imposing  cliffs of Dunnet Head, lies the port of Scrabster. The port  itself is a busy ferry terminal serving the Northern Isles as well as been home  to a fish market and a shell fishing industry. Importantly for us sea anglers  the port also has two fully equipped charter vessels.

ANGLING PEDIGREE
Scrabster  is one of the countries top fishing venues, a glance of the record books will  show you just how influential this port is. Porbeagle Shark 507lb; Halibut  234lb; Torsk 15lb 7oz; Pollock 18lb; Cuckoo Wrasse 3lb and most surprising of  all Guilt Head Bream at 2lb 6oz. The area regularly produces ling to 20lbs, cod  well into double figures, plus a host of quality pollock in the low doubles  range.

SPECIES AVAILABLE
Top targets  at Scrabster are cod, pollock and ling all of which are available most of the  year. Over the reefs you can pick up coalfish, scorpion fish, a variety of  wrasse species and the very occasional bass. Coming onto the clean sand and  shingle banks will provide good sport with a host of species including flounder,  dabs, plaice and turbot. The spurdog fishing can be hectic with fish up to  10lbs. For the big game angler this is the best place in the country to hook up  with porbeagle shark, with the best fishing from late October until early  March. Scrabster is one of the few places in the UK where you have a realistic  chance of catching a Common Skate or a much sought after Halibut, but sadly little  fishing is done for these species at present. Mackerel are abundant during the  summer months, but most unusual is that Scrabster can offer a realistic chance  of catching a squid on rod and line!

TACKLE AND TACTICS
Standard  down tiding tactics are the mainstay for drifting over the reefs. A 20/30lb  class rod will be more than ample for most fishing, for those wanting more  sport a 15lb class rod would suffice. Spinning and uptide rods can be used for  casting shads and jelly worms away from the boat when fishing over the reefs.  Reels such as the Abu 7000, Shimano Tyrnos 20 and light Penn boat reels are  more than adequate. Much heavier tactics are required for shark, skate and  halibut, but a chat with your skipper will give you an indication of the tackle  required. 12ozs of leads will be the minimum on a charter boat in the area, but  on occasions the fierce tide in the Pentland Firth  will require anything up to 2lbs.

Tactics for  sorting out the better cod and ling are baited chrome pirks, casting pirks can  also have good results on their day. For general fishing Hokkais, white  feathers and baited bare hooks all pick up a large variety of reef species. For  flatties, bottom fished hooks with attractor beads and blades work well. If you  are after a spurdog use a running ledger but ensure you have a biting trace of  heavy mono.

A broad  variety of lures work well including muppets, twin tails and shads, colour choice  varies according to water clarity and depth, with orange and black lures the  most effective. I’ve found the best lures for Pollock to be the Calcutta swim  shads and fire tail jelly worms which are particularly deadly when cast away  from the boat.

BAITS
All the  usual suspects work well with worm, mackerel, squid and sand eel all producing  fish, I have also found that whole supermarket prawns work well too. Mussel can  be a particularly good bait for targeting quality wrasse in the area.

MV Stormdrift II skipper Davey Benson gives us his top tips for Scrabster

1 Cannonball weights are less pone to snagging than standard cone leads.

2 Coalfish  can reach plague proportions a certain times of the year and larger hooks will  help prevent you from hooking the smaller ones.

3 Never  leave home without a good selection of lures in both colour and style.

CHARTER BOAT CONTACTS
MV Stormdrift II - Skipper Davey Benson
Boat phone: 07849 776940
Email: davey@mv-stormdrift2.co.uk
Website: www.mv-stormdrift2.co.uk

Hebredian  Warrior skippered by Chris Bennett – 07989 473204

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