Casting again...duck!!!
Picture composition wasn't a strong point!
I discovered some old black and white photos last week, showing family fishing outings to Coulport and other places on Loch Long, and it got me thinking of the good old days. The photos being black and white made them all the more evocative of times gone by, but it wasn't THAT long ago. Colour film had been invented by then - it was just that I wanted some black and white negs to use in the photo lab at school!
Those days were back in the second half of the seventies - when the Clyde still had cod, but they were steadily being wiped out by comercial overfishing (so what's new?). Coulport was a popular destination for shore fishing back then. A decent cast was required for best results, and even though us beginners couldn't quite manage it, we still usually caught one or two codling in the 1-2lb class, and we were delighted with every one. The early months of the year also produced some good flounders, and in summer we also picked up gurnards, doggies, mackerel, conger, thornies and even sea trout. We never did catch a long rough dab, for which Coulport is "famous" in the Scottish record list. I also remember reading of a 17lb common skate being caught from the shore at Coulport too - all of which kept the place a magnet for our shore fishing outings.
I caught my personal best cod there (3lb 2oz, see above), which remained unbeaten for more years than I'd care to remember! It's not that better fish weren't there - just that, except on low spring tides, we couldn't cast far enough to hit the drop-off where the better fish hung out. This was rubbed in one evening while we were catching our usual quota of undersized codling. A couple of guys set up beside us, and asked how we'd been doing. "Just a few tiddlers", was all I could report. The guy right next to me then made an enormous cast, and was rewarded with an enormous fish - a 14lb cod. I was totally awe-struck, and I've still never seen a bigger cod caught.
Sadly, it's not likely that anyone will catch a cod that size from Coulport again. Due to the lack of cod in the Clyde for starters, but also due to the closing off of access to the shore. Last time I tried to fish there, I was turned away by the military police, who were taking extreme precautions to prevent spying and demonstrations at the nearby nuclear base. So that was the end of an era for us. Yes, I've caught plenty more and bigger fish since, but Coulport does hold some special memories. I wonder if the restrictions have been relaxed now - it would be great to fish there again for old time's sake. But it's a long way to drive on the off-chance - I wonder if anyone knows for sure either way...? Drop me a line if you do ;-)
Alan Pemberton, 29th July 2001