not so common skate

“Fish the size of a car Bonnet”

Last year I decided to have a crack at the monsters from the depths.
Having spent a few months researching the “Barn Doors” I felt like it was very achievable.

I decided on a mark that I came to know very well, due to not being allowed to travel during covid-19 restrictions.

It’s a fairly rocky mark with a sandy bottom, Dogfish can sometimes be a real nuisance, the depth is around 140ft, plenty of water for hauling up a fish the size of a car bonnet, big respect to those who haul up Skate in 500 feet of water.

I opted for a Pulley Pennel Rig with a 15lb weak link, baited with a large Fish bait.

That should do some Damage! I’ve since gone on to tweak the rig due to my personal preferences.

The 1st bash was the day lockdown was lifted here in Scotland, which saw my old Daiwa Sea Hunter Z with a healthy bend lobbing a whole mackerel (minus the tail) and a 7oz gripper as far as I could on the multiplier loaded with braid. The first cast resulted in a Conger Eel around the 10lb mark, I chose not to bring scales with me, because when I do, I usually blank! Thankfully not a Skate though, as I’d actually forgotten to loosen off the drag.

The last cast of the session and the reel SCREAMED off… THIS is a better fish, however, the fight was cut short 20 minutes in when the braid got sliced on a rock.

3 days later I was back out at the same rocky mark (WITH MY NEW RODS!), conditions were far from ideal due to the swell making it a nightmare to land anything.

Hordes of large Mackerel around, so a nice fresh bait was effortless to come by.
A big mackerel bait was wrapped to a Pennel of Cox & Rawle SCR25 10/0 Meat Hooks and within 10 minutes the ratchet was screaming!

What happened next was a back-breaking 40 minute scrap before a large male surfaced 6ft out from our landing spot… it was not to be… just as a pal went down to try and land it, the huge Skate took one more dive with the swell severing the leader on rocks covered in Barnacles, it was gone.

Due to it being early in the session, another 2 baits were sent out, a bit of a longer wait this time before the next reel screamed off.

The outcome of this 50 minute battle was a bit different, we managed to land the Fish safely despite her going on two very powerful runs desperately trying to get back down into the depths, a 152lb Female Skate was landed, to say I was relieved is an understatement!

A quick measure and photo after removing the hooks, we rested her and released.

There are many ways to tackle up for Skate, this is what I use;
SCR25 Meat Hooks 10/0
SCR44 Mustu Circle Extras 14/0
SCR20 Stinger Extra hooks 11/0
My traces are long pulley rigs of 200lb mono with a short snood to prevent deep hooking as much as possible.
I use the CS-BN310 stainless steel crane swivels on my rigs with a rotten bottom clip and a 15lb weak link to my gripper weight.

For the rods I use a pair of Ron Thompson Axellerators, the reels are Daiwa BG30 and Pen Fathom 25n multiplier loaded with 80lb braid and 80lb leader

I have landed some really big Skate so far with the biggest Female going 190lb and the biggest Male 134lb.
The Skate at this spot always seem to head off out to deeper water during winter, so definitely a seasonal Fish for us to take advantage of up here, one over 200lb is the next target, hopefully that’s something I can achieve. The best advice I have for Skate fishing is make sure your drags are set correctly, and always treat these fantastic fish with care and respect.

Tight lines.