Western Isles Open 2008 Winner Stevie Souter presented the Trophy by Chairman Donald Morrison |
The clubs main event of the year was fished on Friday the 25th and Saturday the 26th of July, with anglers from throughout Scotland and England making the journey up to the Western Isles to take part.
The anglers could not have asked for better weather with two days of calm sunny days been had. The fishing could be desribed as steady and patchy, depending on which boat you were on each day, and as expected the Haddock, Whiting, Red Gurnard and Cod were the main species being caught by anglers... as well as pest Mackerel.
Winner of this years championship was Steve Souter from Edinburgh, winning his boat each day for a maximum score of 200%, in second place was local angler Gillies Mackenzie also winning his boat each day for a maximum score of 200%, and in third place Inverness anglers Alistair Forsyth, again winning his boat each day for a maximum score of 200%. Steves combined score card score of over the two days of 364 points made sure of the win for him, as all three anglers had the same percentage socres at the end of the two days.
Perhaps the biggest news of the championship was that Inverness angler Graham Forbes whom has been making the journey across to Stornoway to take part in the Western Isles Open for as along as most anglers can remember, catching a John Dory of 2 lb 6.5 oz, which has smashed the existing Scottish Boat record for the species... the fish has been properly weighed on ratified scales, and Graham is waiting to hear if the fish will shall be accepted by the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers as a new Scottish Record.
Also a big well done has to go to Peggy Mackay returning to sea angling for the first time in near 30 years, she was not only the runner-up to Ladies Champion Mairi Montgomery but also on Day 2 she fished beside, and managed to beat Scottish International Angler Derek Yuille.
The top 5 anglers were as follows.
| |
Angler |
Pts |
% |
|
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. |
Steve Souter
Gillies Mackenzie
Alistair Forsyth
John Nicolson
John Speirs |
364
318
312
291
275 |
200
200
200
183
178 |
Fish weighed for Specimen or heaviest fish were.
Donald Morrison - Spurdog (9 lb 1/2 oz)
John Nicolson - Pollack (8 lb 6 oz)
Gillies Mackenzie - Lesser Spotted Dogfish (2 lb 6 oz)
John Nicolson - Spurdog (9 lb 11.5 oz) - WINNER HEAVIEST FISH
Derek Yuille - Lesser Spotted Dogfish (2 lb 3 oz)
Joe Edward - Megrim (1 lb 1 oz)
Joe Edward - Red Gurnard (1 lb 7 oz)
Graham Forbes - John Dory (2 lb 6.5 oz) - WINNER SPECIMEN FISH
Ladies Champion - Mairi Montgomery
Ladies Runner-up - Peggy Mackay
Day One Winner - Gillies Mackenzie
Day Two Winner - Steve Souter
Rarstin Trophy Winners - Stornoway Sea Angling Club
Best Boat - Nimrod (Jimmy Macintosh)
Four Man Team Winners - Gus Mackenzie, Alistair Forsyth, Steve Souter, Gillies Mackenzie
Two Man Team Winners - Steve Souter and Gillies Mackenzie
Species caught during the championship included...
Cod, Ling, Mackerel, Herring, Sandeel, Spurdog, Lesser Spotted Dogfish, Megrim, Dab, Spotted Ray, Red Gurnard, Grey Gurnard, Haddock, Whiting, Pollack, Coalfish, Ballan Wrasse, Cuckoo Wrasse, Scad, Poor Cod and John Dory
Photographs from Western Isles Open
Click on an Image, then use your Arrow Keys to scroll through the images.
   
   
   
Results
| |
Name |
Type |
Day 1 Pts |
Day 1 % |
Day 2 Pts |
Day 2 % |
Total Pts |
Total % |
| 1 |
Steve Souter |
Senior |
171 |
100.00 |
193 |
100.00 |
364 |
200 |
| 2 |
Gillies Mackenzie |
Senior |
185 |
100.00 |
133 |
100.00 |
318 |
200 |
| 3 |
Alistair Forsyth |
Senior |
141 |
100.00 |
171 |
100.00 |
312 |
200 |
| 4 |
John Nicolson |
Senior |
125 |
88.65 |
166 |
94.85 |
291 |
183 |
| 5 |
John Speirs |
Senior |
139 |
98.58 |
136 |
79.53 |
275 |
178 |
| 6 |
CJ Buchanan |
Senior |
114 |
100.00 |
130 |
76.02 |
244 |
176 |
| 7 |
R G Forbes |
Senior |
102 |
72.34 |
175 |
100.00 |
277 |
172 |
| 8 |
Donnie Morrison |
Senior |
162 |
94.73 |
135 |
69.94 |
297 |
165 |
| 9 |
Joe Dent |
Senior |
100 |
87.71 |
98 |
73.68 |
198 |
161 |
| 10 |
Derek Yuille |
Senior |
180 |
97.29 |
105 |
61.40 |
285 |
159 |
| 11 |
Gus Mackenzie |
Senior |
124 |
87.94 |
130 |
67.35 |
254 |
155 |
| 12 |
Robbie Robertson |
Senior |
74 |
64.91 |
104 |
78.19 |
178 |
143 |
| 13 |
Jamie Smith |
Senior |
137 |
74.05 |
117 |
66.85 |
254 |
141 |
| 14 |
Steve Phipps |
Senior |
70 |
61.40 |
140 |
72.53 |
210 |
134 |
| 15 |
Donnie Maciver |
Senior |
119 |
69.59 |
105 |
60.00 |
224 |
130 |
| 16 |
Mairi Montgomery |
Lady |
105 |
92.10 |
59 |
33.71 |
164 |
126 |
| 17 |
Joe Edward |
Senior |
72 |
42.10 |
107 |
80.45 |
179 |
123 |
| 18 |
Peggy Mackay |
Lady |
24 |
21.05 |
108 |
63.15 |
132 |
121 |
| 19 |
Charlie Robertson |
Senior |
72 |
42.10 |
90 |
46.63 |
162 |
89 |
| 20 |
Sandra Mackay |
Lady |
76 |
41.08 |
39 |
29.32 |
115 |
70 |
| 21 |
Shaun Doherty |
Senior |
46 |
24.86 |
50 |
28.57 |
96 |
53 |
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