Something Fishy Going On

In the morning, our alarm when off at 5:00, and we were back on the rocks before first light.

With lionfish in mind, one of my target new species for the trip, we headed to Ladiko Bay, a spot where many swimmers have seen them whilst snorkelling.

The following morning, we headed to a local bakery for some tasty pastries and some iced coffee.

Last week, Lillian and I were supposed to fly to the Greek island of Rhodes, but our flight ended up being a casualty of the chaos caused by an issue with the UK’s Air Traffic Control System.

This post has nothing to do with the Couch’s seabream I caught last week.

Attention: This post may contain grey triggerfish and other unusual UK fish species!

Last weekend, I had a couple of after work sessions with my mate Ryan.

Since deciding to try and hunt down all of the butterfly species of the UK, I've visited the north of England a couple of times and also spent an afternoon wandering around Grafton Wood on my way back from fishing with Ben down in Pembrokeshire.

Loads of anglers have been a great help to me over the years.

Last month, I visited Lawers Dam in the Grampian Mountians with my mate Nick, for a day stomping around a boggy hillside hunting for mountain ringlet, a species of butterfly that's only found high up above an altitude of 350m in the Scottish highlands and…

Last month, I drove all the way to Taynish National Nature Reserve on the west coast of Scotland to look for the marsh fritillary butterfly.

Torness Power Station is coming towards the end of its lifespan.

Last month, another of the UK’s globe trotting species hunters came up to Scotland to try to add a few more species to his already impressive tally.

At the end of last month, I set off on a road trip up to the highlands to try and see two species of butterfly for the first time.

I made the most of some nice weather last week, heading down to St Abbs Harbour for a session with fellow species hunter Luke.

As catching new species of fish in Scotland has now become very difficult, last year I decided to feed my addiction with a butterfly hunting side quest.

The weather so far in May has been pretty poor, and as a result, a couple of planned trips to East Lothian to target wrasse have been cancelled.

I’ve not been out much recently, but last week I had a very enjoyable session with two local lads who have caught the species hunting bug, Luca and Luke.

Keen to catch at least one new species during the holiday, I’d been discussing opportunities with local angler Jesús on Instagram prior to the trip and had arranged to meet up with him to try and locate and then hopefully catch a sailfin blenny.

The following day, we visited Palmitos Park where we watched a bird of prey show, then spent a few hours seeing various other birds, animals, butterflies and fish.

On day three of our holiday, we visited a few spots up the east coast to the north of where we were staying.

Last month I flew down to the Canary Islands for the second time this year after Lillian and I decided a couple of months ago to have a holiday on Gran Canaria.

The fishing is usually pretty tough locally at this time of year and the weather so far in 2026 has been nothing short of dreadful, especially the wind.

I popped out with my mate Ryan on Sunday evening, for a couple of hours’ fishing at Newhaven Harbour.

Over the years, I've met quite a lot of other species hunting anglers, and many of them have helped me out enormously.

Keen to catch some different species, we decided to visit the small concrete pier located at the northern end of Playa de Fañabé, a long artificial beach in Costa Adeje made from golden sand imported from Africa.

On day three of our holiday, we drove up the east coast of Tenerife towards its capital Santa Cruz and then headed up to the north coast.

At the end of last year, I booked a trip to the Canary Island of Tenerife for myself and two mates, Nick and Ryan.

I had a short session on Sunday evening with my mate Ryan, scratching about at Newhaven Harbour.