Common Skate?

[CJS]

Any you guys got any advice on how to tackle common skate. Never had any experience at the Laviathan of our Norther seas. Got an old Diawa Hunter 50lb and a Hardy 30/50b class set up, the Hardy is old, new rings, but may be solid glass? and Shimano 30lb Twin Power, a bit soft? Thanks, CJS

[mark]

I\'m probably not the best person to advise (nowt new there like) but, I suppose lighter gear will give you more sport!

I accidently caught my first last year (on baited hokkais!) 15/30lb class fladen road and an abu 9000 - took a while to peel off the bottom but did get it to the top after half an hours scrap. The lad I was with siad it was just a baby, estimated at 100-120lbs!

Give it a go, the worst that can happen is that you\'ll get your gear smashed to bits, which would make a great \'the one that got away\' story!

[Les]

hi there,

if you are fishing up at oban on the charter boats i suggest you use the gear and traces supplied, the rods you suggest just won\'t cut it in these waters as you will be fishing in a minimum of 300 feet or more likely 400-500 feet of water with a minimum of 2lb of lead.

if it\'s ireland i think they fish much shallower and with lighter tides so you could with care fish lighter, but you should aim to land these fish as quickly as possible to minimise the stress on them.

i don\'t profess to be an expert at skate fishing but i have had a few, my current tackle i use for them is a penn 5\' 9\" 80lb class standup rod teamed with a TLD25 and a 6\' 80lb class standup rod also teamed with a TLD25 i built this rod myself from a prototype conoflex blank i got from a friend of mine who is a consultant with them from time to time, he\'s actually giving me the 50lb class sister blank for this rod to build up soon as the 3rd rod i bought for skate exploded on the first fish it hooked, this was a cheap rod i got from ebay, a masterline 80lb standup crappy stick snapped in 2 places 5 minutes into the fight

for the best advice you should contact davy holt, he looks into this site from time to time, but he has his own site www.catchalot.co.uk

if you are fishing from a small boat let me know and i\'ll give you a few pointers

regards

les

[CJS]

Thanks Les, Its Davy I am going to see, I have spoken to him since I posted this, and his coments were, \'he has all the gear I will need\', just present myself. My ignoranc re Common Skate is showing, Davy apperas to be one of the leading lights in the world of big skate. I am looking forward to the experience CJS

[Les]

hi CJS,

you should have a good time with davy, when are you going up?

the best advice i can give you is that if you hook a skate, once you have prised it off the bottom keep it moving, when you are resting, so is the fish

i was supposed to go up tomorrow to oban but my regular boat buddy had to cry off with \"trouble at mill\" (say in yourshire accent) he owns a resturaunt and his head chef has gone off the rails a bit

and with the northeasterly wind thats blowing just now i can\'t even try to get a codling for my tea at dunbar (or a box of coalies for skate bait)

les

[CJS]

Davy Says July to Oct is the best, (bait is eaiser to come by) so I will be looking at the diary and discussing it with my fishing partner, but at the moment he dont seem so keen?
Went to one of my favourit bass haunts for a couple of hours to day, the weather turned a bit, but as it is an estuary/river mark it had little effect, although I got wet, I was catching fish, so who cares. I took a couple of 3 punders home for the freezer, early bass, its great ! ! !