I will have the rare opportunity to do some Great Northern Pike fishing out of Edinburgh, Scotland on September 15th or 16th with my brother Mark.

 

We brought our own reels and plugs and will attempt to fish 'em up.

 

While I've experienced success in Canada with Pike up to and including 48 inches, we will give it a go here, in what is supposed to be the finest Northern Pike fishery in the world.

 

Stay Tuned

Jealous. Just Jealous. Hope you have a great time and safe trip Mustang.

Looking forward to the pictures and write up! Have an awesome trip!

Hope you get to enjoy some quality single-malt!

You do that while wearing a kilt, then I'll be impressed! :bunny:

 

Have a great time and hope it's everything you thought it would be! Safe travels.

I hoop ya haav sum goud luck.

Jealous. Just Jealous. Hope you have a great time and safe trip Mustang.

 

Now now Doc, you have played golf with me. Mustang is the one who should be jealous.:thumb:

You do that while wearing a kilt, then I'll be impressed! :bunny:

 

Have a great time and hope it's everything you thought it would be! Safe travels.

 

It's a crapshoot, but worth a shot. I'll only pass this way once.

Ix-Nay on kilts. Quite brisk (40's in the am) for kilts or anything of the sort.

Great weather/scenery/fun so far!

Hope you get to enjoy some quality single-malt!

 

Have drank more draft beer in the past days than in the previous 30 years.

Tried Guinness to say I've done it.

Several "Galway Hookers", Murphy's, Killarney, Hop House 13s and a Kilkenney.

 

Have also done my share of Bailey's and even tried an Irish Coffee.

Jamison is my dad's whiskey of choice, while my brother will drink anything set in front of him.

 

The pubs are small and packed. Visuallize Mount Adams during our youthful days on the busiest of nights. Live music everywhere, as well as street entertainers.

 

I had no idea that there were so many mountains here!

 

Am also going to the races at The Curragh on Sunday, Sept. 13th. The Curragh is Ireland's major racetrack located 25 miles outside of Dublin and happen to be racing live while we are there. I've also passed by Galway and Killarney Race Tracks.

 

Presently in Killarney for one more day, then off to Cork and Blarney Castle, then several nights in Dublin, a quick stop in Belfast, then a ferry over to Scotland and our fishing adventure and more touring.

No golf planned @Mustang? The home of golf you know. Sounds like a blast, Scotland is on my list of places I would like to visit.

No golf planned @Mustang? The home of golf you know. Sounds like a blast, Scotland is on my list of places I would like to visit.

 

Interesting that you mention golf.

I gave up on the game many years ago. It brings out a side of me that rarely surfaces.

 

We were scheduled to visit St. Andrews, but it is 2 hours from Edinburg, and since no one was scheduled to play golf, I think they have scrapped the run out there and back. I would have really liked to have seen it.

This itinerary changes by the hour, so it might be re-instated, if he can't find us another castle to tour. LOL

 

There are an amazing number of golf courses here In Ireland, and the greenest greens you have ever seen.

Interesting that you mention golf.

I gave up on the game many years ago. It brings out a side of me that rarely surfaces.

 

We were scheduled to visit St. Andrews, but it is 2 hours from Edinburg, and since no one was scheduled to play golf, I think they have scrapped the run out there and back. I would have really liked to have seen it.

This itinerary changes by the hour, so it might be re-instated, if he can't find us another castle to tour. LOL

 

There are an amazing number of golf courses here In Ireland, and the greenest greens you have ever seen.

 

Yep, I have seen some amazing pictures with greens so green they almost don't look real.

As planned, my brother Mark and I broke away from the tour group and ventured out on our own for a booked Northern Pike Fishing Trip on Loch Katrine. We caught the train at 6:33am from Edinburgh and arrived at Stirling an hour later.

 

We hooked up with Stuart, our guide, who drives a well-broken in Kia Sports Vehicle (+200k miles) who drove us about 45 minutes to Loch Katrine, where we boarded the biggest (smallest) piece of junk boat that I have ever fished out of, with the full intention of showing this guy how to catch pike on plugs. Bill Hagedorn and I did this to a guide up in the Northwest Territories back in 2001.

 

We started fishing at 9am with Mark up front, me in the back, and Stuart in the middle with a set of oars serving as our Minn-Kota motor. For three hours I threw Buzz Baits, Zara Spooks, Johnson Silver Minnows, Big Spinner Baits, Seven Inch Perch Rapalas, and a few plugs that Stuart provided without getting so much as a follow. At 12Noon I called off the plugs quest, looked at Stuart and said, "OK, Show us how you fish" at which time we returned to the dock where he rigged up six 12 foot rods with spinning reels containing 50 pound braid and floaters.

 

When we arrived back at the area where we had just been skunked, he rigged up some sort of "dead bait" about a foot long and proceeded to throw them out into the weeds about four feet deep. One hour transpired and nothing, causing us to bring in the lines and move farther (and shallower) up the lake. After about 30 minutes one of the reels started peeling out line. Mark, under Stuart's tutelage, picked up the rod, let the fish run and then set the hook. He then landed a good-looking 32 inch Scottish Northern Pike and the skunk was off of us.

 

We had about an hour remaining and I suggested that we pull Rapalas around for the final hour. Stuart was not in favor of the move, but I pretty much insisted. So for the next hour we took a nice boat ride around the loch, returned to the dock without a tap, and headed back to Stirling to catch the train back to Edinburgh. We returned to the hotel by 7pm and had dinner with our family at 8pm.

 

All in all, if that was the only type of fishing available to me, I'd give up fishing. Don't get me wrong. The Loch held big pike, but BIG pike only. We missed the 22-30inchers that fill in the blanks between trophies that we normally experience, and would NEVER fish for them with "dead bait" laying on the bottom. The scenery was incredible, Stuart was a nice guy, it didn't rain, and we did catch ONE fish.

 

The house in the background of the "dead bait" photo is the birthplace of Rob Roy - a Scottish legend.

 

Incidentally, we did make the run out to St. Andrews Golf Course on a beautiful final day of our trip and I'm glad we did.

 

What a great trip!

:lol2: Mustang is gonna walk right up to his boat and kiss it squarely on the bow.:lol2: