Mackerel galore.

English: Turnberry Lighthouse. Built on the ruins of Turnberry Castle on the edge of Turnberry Golf Course (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was a beautiful sunny day when I arrived at Maidens, the wind was light with just a slight rolling of the waves on the sea, so I ventured out on another fishing expedition.

This time, instead of heading up to Dunure to meet Robbie, I decided to try nearer home and steered south to cast the first line just off Turnberry lighthouse. It only took five minutes to get there, and no sooner was my line in the water when I felt the fish biting.
As the line was hauled in I saw immediately the biggest mackerel I have seen in a long time and the other three were of a good size too, so, full of expectation of the same I cast the line over again.

The line tugged before the hooks were only half way to the bottom which meant the fish were swimming mid water, so it was only seconds until my next haul was aboard and the bucket starting to fill up.
The mackerel were getting smaller, but still big enough to keep so I fished at that spot, constantly hauling fish a plenty until the bucket was full, stopping only to photograph the bucket when it was half full.
After a while the fish were getting smaller, so much so that I was throwing back three times more than I was keeping.
It was fun though, watching the young mackerel swim away and with any luck grow big enough, reproduce to supply us with some more fun in future years.
It is quite satisfying to think you are doing your bit for conservation letting the smaller ones go to live to fight another day.
Some anglers get so excited when they catch any size of fish, that they keep them all not thinking of the harm it could do to the stocks of the future. Every little helps and considering we are only doing it for fun, and of course a good feed now and then, conservation is important.
With the fish coming aboard so rapidly and going back just as quick my arm was getting sore so I stopped and filleted the fish I had kept, then headed in closer to the lighthouse to see if they were any bigger closer to the shore.
This time my line reached the bottom and as it dangled, and I waited patiently and hopefully for a bite, I was able to watch the golfers playing on the famous Turnberry golf course.
Not for long though because the fish began to bite again.
I managed to fill another bucket of good sized mackerel then stopped to fillet again before I headed back to the harbour totally satisfied with my days adventure and the thought of a good feed of tasty mackerel ahead of me.
I had promised my brother-in-law some fish, hence the reason for keeping so much and the next day I took some up to him along with a couple of recipes.
That night he posted a photo on facebook of the delicious meal he had cooked which received loads of response, and I must admit I felt quite proud when he mentioned my part in creating such a tasty looking dish.
So that evening just before I sat down to the gastric delight I had created for myself, I took a photo too, just for the benefit of my readers to show the before and after.

Obviously the before is the photo of the fish in the bucket and the after being, when cooked.
No point in showing you the pile of bones left after the meal was finished, for as you can see I cooked mine on the bone after coating them with a dressing of "orange zest, orange juice freshly squeezed, olive oil, ground cumin,hot chilli powder, salt and pepper to taste." I missed out the orange wedges and coriander that was optional and used tomatoes and lettuce instead.
You must admit it looks good and by golly I can assure you it tasted GREAT.
Donald, the hunter gatherer, after a long absence is back in business. ha ha.
Hope you enjoyed the post as much as I enjoyed the feed, and that you tune in next time for my next installment.
Cheers.

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