Visitors
The picturesque town of Dunbar is on the coast of the beautiful county of East Lothian and provides great amenities such as historic buildings and spectacular landscapes.
Visitors to the area come for the views of Bass Rock, and the John Muir Country Park as well as the rugged coastline and attractive countryside. The town is renowned for its high sunshine record and is steeped in history having been one of the most important Scottish Fortresses in the Middle Ages.
Its ruined castle stands guard over the town's Victoria harbour and sheltered Mary Queen of Scots when she fled Edinburgh after the murder of Rizzio. In the opposite corner of the harbour is a fortified artillery battery while further to the south east again is the Cromwell Harbour. The completion of this in 1730 led to Dunbar's dramatic growth as a fishing and, for a time, whaling port.
Boat Angling from Dunbar is very popular with mackerel, plenty of cod and other species being caught. Cod and ling to over 9lbs and pollack over 6 lbs have been reported. Andara II runs charter fishing trips from the harbour. Or you can launch your own boat for only £12 per launch, or £106 for the season. Water and power are now available beside the slipway.
A large part of the Dunbar Fishing Fleet is made up of creel boats.
Creel fishing is referred to as a ‘passive’ or ‘static’ form of fishing as the baited creels are dropped from the boat to the seabed where they soak until they are next retrieved by the vessel.
The main species targeted in Scotland are prawns, lobster and crabs. Different bait is used depending on what species is being targeted. The creel is generally made of round steel bar which is plastic coated and then covered with netting. Target species enter via small netted tunnels on either side of the creel.
Creel fishing takes place around Scotland’s coast and the boats that make up the inshore creel fishery are small - usually under 10 metres long- which means that engine size and weather dictate how far from shore, and how often they can fish. One or two people normally crew a creel boat.
The carbon footprint (in particular fuel consumption) is minimal compared to other methods of fishing as the majority of boats are small and fish relatively close to shore.
Dunbar lies just off the A1, 25 miles east of Edinburgh. The harbour entrance at Dunbar, to the east of Edinburgh, is guarded by what was once a grand castle. The castle may have fallen into a state of disrepair recently, but the diving beyond the harbour walls is as good as ever.
An offshore pinnacle and three wrecks are waiting to be investigated, but shore diving is superb, too, as you might guess by looking out from the old cavalry fort at the south end of the harbour towards the five small islands just offshore.
