What can I say, I think everyone was totally blown away by the response and support this event received. The turnout was absolutely fantastic and those who made the long journey were rewarded with a taste of some fantastic Scottish weather. The fishing was patchy at times but after the dust has settled it seems there’s no shortage of success stories to be told.
We arrived late Thursday afternoon , soon after this the statutory lager drinking stance was assumed and frivolities commenced, this went on a little longer than planned. So much so that as Friday morning dawned it became clear that the empty bottle and can pile seemed larger than some of our tents..
Sore heads aside Friday morning was an early start. We had been asked to attend the launch of Sharkatag at Drummore. There was extensive media coverage, BBC Breakfast news and the like were already set up and conducting interviews when we arrived at 7AM.
Simon Everett made a cracking job and got the message over to millions. The responses that followed were all very positive. After all, the whole concept of this event was to raise public awareness to the years of over exploitation of our native Scottish shark species.
The proceedings got underway, the camera crew left on one of Ian’s boats “On yer Marks” and the kayakers broke up into smaller groups to spread out around the Mull in the search of the elusive Tope.
The majority of us chose to launch from Ardwell bay on day one. This a nice easy launch spot and if the Tope are in the bay it can provide hectic sport.
One hour in and Curly had set the hook home for his first run of the day. A tope around the 15lb mark was soon boated, tagged and swiftly released. This was followed by a TBR just short of 10lb, then a spotted Ray…. . Meanwhile the rest of us were finding sport very slow.
Mid afternoon and time for a re-think. We made our way back to the launch site, the wind was freshening from the SE and it was time to stretch our legs. Port Logan was mentioned as an option for us to try. With the promise of a bit of shelter from the land we were soon making a move ready for our second hit of the day. It turned out to be a good move. In the few hours we fished we encountered Grey Gurnard, Haddock, Codling, Whiting, Coalfish, Pollock, Dab, Red Gurnard, Herring, Dog fish, Mackerel, Ling and a dropped Plaice….Ken !!!!!!
Spud thought this was an electric eel…. more like an electric cable… I saw the lights flicker in Ireland…. 
Port Logan Herring for Ray, well done on that one….....
Back to the site and back on the lash, well for some anyway …lol…. I phoned Ian at Drummore for the days catches and it soon become evident that the majority of the fish on Friday had been taken from Wigton Bay. Armed with that information most of the lads had made the decision to head in that direction on the Saturday morning. A few were going to try down at Drummore and some others were heading towards Whithorn, again we had all spread out to locate the fish.
It was a lovely morning and the first few Smoothies turned up, no biggies here but nice of them to put in appearance.
The flood soon kicked in and the clearer water brought a few Tope up into the shallows. Loz was first to connect and successfully tagged and released a respectable fish of 32lb. He followed it soon after with another nearer 22lb. Ken and Cameron also made the grade with a couple of smaller fish leaving the rest of reporting a few dropped runs and missed opertunities.
Mission accomplished
The mark at the other side seemed equally productive for some of us anyway… Loz proceeded to add another two to his score sheet giving him a tally of four for the day.
He’s in again..
Why does Stuart want a kayak when he has this…. :surprise:
Sunday morning, this was to be a quieter day and some, including myself ,done a bit of tidying up and made tracks for home. Others of course had more important matters, there were unsettled scores to address back in Wigton Bay. I’m sure Ken will fill in the gaps for me on this one but I have heard stories of a double figure Smooth Hound lost at the side and another Tope for Ken.
Well that was sharkatag 2009, roll on 2010. 180 anglers, 24 of which were kayakers and 200 fish tagged, can’t be bad for a weekends work…. The event is still in a embryonic state and with all your continued support it will continue to grow over the next few years.
Neil.
Already looking forward to next year. I personally managed some new species off the yak this weekend, smoothound, dab (don’t laugh), and haddock. I think I appeared on BBC, though I haven’t had a telly for for than 10 years so can’t confirm it 
