From the post bag this is your page

 

One of the great things about fishing for me is the banter that we exchange some of which is true, some helpful, some just plain stupid and some that is very funny.

I receive quite a lot of mail on many subjects and some of correspondence is the sort that you just need to share.

 

Have you got a story or a joke perhaps some useful info or unusual pictures that you would like to share?

If so please get in touch. All e-mails will be vetted prior to posting primarily because we do not have the software to do automatic postings also this should prevent problems that other sites have experienced.

So CLICK HERE to e-mail us your thoughts, comments, jokes, advice, indeed anything you think our visitors may like or should read.

Please when writing let us know if you wish to remain anonymous. Thanks!!!

Posted on 14 May 2008

From a Cornish Angler

 

Mackerel’s skin is very easily damaged, this was discovered during the 1970’s when experiments were carried out after large amounts of mackerel were turning up dead, it was found that these fish had been damaged as a result of the mackerel crashing into each other whilst being trapped in nets.

When mackerel are touched by human hands there is some kind of microscopic damage caused to their skin which prevents them from maintaining an osmotic balance, or in layman’s terms they can’t keep everything that supposed to stay inside, inside and vice versa for the outside. It can take them up to 48 hours to die following human touch, and are often found with the remnants of a human handprint embedded in their skin. Now, I know fish can’t talk and they can’t tell us when it hurts, but I’m sure that can’t be a pleasant experience.

So what can we do about this? Well, for starters, only specifically fish for mackerel until you have caught enough for your purposes (eating or bait). When you have caught enough change your tactics (no feathers, use bigger hooks) so you minimise your chances of catching them. Should you catch a mackerel you do plan on returning, either drop the fish straight off of the hook into the water without touching it (barb less hooks will facilitate this), or use wetted neoprene gloves.

 

Posted on 14 May 2008

From a Cornish Angler

 

 

A man was beach casting from Looe Bar (near Helston, Cornwall) in beautiful conditions. His first cast began with a 40lb Conger and the second produced a 12lb Bass. On his third cast he had just struck into what felt like record breaking Mullet when his mobile phone rang. It was a doctor notifying him that his wife had just been in a terrible accident and was in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

The man told the doctor to inform his wife where he was and that the he'd be there as soon as possible. As he hung up he realized he was leaving what was shaping up to be his best ever fishing trip. He decided to get in a couple of more casts before heading to the hospital.

He ended up catching several personal bests, and all in all, had his best days fishing by far. He was jubilant.... Then he remembered his wife. Feeling guilty he dashed to the hospital.

He saw the doctor in the corridor and asked about his wife's condition. The doctor glared at him and shouted, "You went ahead and kept fishing didn't you! I hope you're proud of yourself! While you were out for the past four hours enjoying yourself on the ocean, your wife has been languishing in the intensive care unit! It's just as well you went ahead and finished the fishing because it will be more than likely your last!"

"For the rest of her life she will require 'round the clock care. And you'll be her care giver!"

The man was feeling so guilty he broke down and sobbed .

The doctor snickered and said,

 

"Just messing with you mate actually ‘She's dead’ so ‘What did you catch?"

 

The Demise of our Fish Stocks

 

Posted on 14th June 2008

Author wishes to remain anonymous

 

 

There is nothing better than talk of Bass or Dolphin being wiped out to get the conversationalist up in arms.

The fact is that many of our fish species are under threat and the measures needed to address this will not be without serious uproar among the commercial fishing sector.

 

Sea Bass

 

Take Bass for example which currently are getting a whole load of press suggesting that there numbers are suffering in part because the inshore commercial boats are now targeting them due to quota rules on other species. Some claim that this is the main reason that they are now in serious decline.

While netting under size fish and then discarding them many of which are dead is not by any stretch of the imagination a good idea the real problem is seldom mentioned.

The truth is that they are also targeted by the larger French and Spanish trawlers at the time of year when the Bass shoal up in the English Channel (out side of our six mile limit) prior to and part of their breeding season.

Huge balls of breeding fish numbering many thousand are captured in one swoop of the nets and this is with out doubt the main cause of the Bass decline around the UK.

Just two years ago the French boats flooded the markets (Plymouth in particular) and the price of Bass fell through the floor, now we are seeing the consequence of this practice.

I  remember some years back when the Russian factory ships first showed up and did the same to our Mackerel Shoals the effects were catastrophic and there recovery has still some way to go, some say they will never completely recover as they are still targeted all be it on a lesser scale.

 

Trawling

 

As for trawling in general the idea of mesh size is often banded about as a way of protecting juvenile fish suggesting that they will escape.  Frankly mesh size making any difference is farcical as very few fish escape, once in the net there as good as dead. You have only to witness the 75% of every trawl that are discarded by our commercial fishermen. Fish are returned for being under size but almost all of them are dead so hardly likely to reproduce.

 

Frankly the only solution is to ban trawling completely within our six mile limit for at least two years and then impose strict control over future trawling, as in where it will be allowed, at what time of the year and how much fish they may take from the stock.

 

This idea will be no doubt be met with an out cry from the commercial boats, but it is the greed of the commercial boat owners that has lead to this situation and if not addressed the prediction of total stock collapse of many species is a real possibility.

 

Gill Netting

 

Having been a Recreational Deep Sea angler for the best part of forty years and have seen first hand the damage of trawling and gill netting which thankfully is in decline, due in part to the cost of fuel.

However the gill nets will continue to trap Dolphins and Whales and the broken and discarded nets will continue to be an awful problem to other species like the Pollack Cod and Ling. I have witnessed fish with these nets cutting into there body but not killing them, and then the fish continue to grow so that the net cuts into there body, it truly is an unpleasant sight.

 

Please don’t get me wrong, I am not against commercial fishing, far from it; I am however apposed to the greedy exploitation of fish stocks and the lack of management among our commercial fishermen in general. If our farmers were to behave in a similar manner we would be looking at all kinds of food shortages.

The sad fact is our politicians may talk about it DEFRA may whish to ignore it rather than confront or cause a conflict with the fishermen and the EU will be swayed by the big money and clout of the food industry. Nothing it seems will happen until it is to late.

DEEPLY PROFOUND THOUGHTS BY MEN WHILE FISHING
 
Two men are out ice fishing at their favourite fishing hole ,
just fishing quietly and drinking beer

Almost silently, so as not to scare the fish , Bob says, 'I think I'm
going to divorce my wife - she hasn't spoken to me in over 2 months.'

Earl continues slowly sipping his beer, then thoughtfully says ,
'You better think it over - women like that are hard to find.'

Posted on 27th June 2008

E-mail from Debbie Caines from Hinton Dawbany

Last week I got a call from my cousin.

My son and I were invited to join an angling party fishing out of Portishead on the charter boat Castaway.

Two anglers had dropped out and I was asked if we would like to make up the shortfall.

We were both a little nervous, you know how it goes.

Meeting new people, would they be friendly or ignore us?

We'd found a picture of the boat on the www and were very impressed, but what was the real thing like?

The weather forecast was good but visibility was very poor due to thick fog.

We set off at 6:00am. from Devon.

Driving to Portishead up the M5 was a nightmare. At times we were down to 40mph and I struggled to see the road.

I thought that the trip would probably be cancelled, but kept these thoughts to myself.

My son was very excited about the trip and I was figuring out how to let him down gently.

We were the first to arrive at the marina. Castaway stood out, what a nice boat!

I asked the skipper if the trip was still on.

The skipper put our minds at ease about the weather, told us that if he ever had to cancel he would phone us before we left home, not after we arrived at the dock.

The rest of the 'motley crew', his description, soon arrived.

They were regulars; he took these guys out once a month. He described them as totally mad but mostly harmless.

We had a look around the boat. There was plenty of space on deck, no clutter.

The forward cabin was immaculate and the consul was like something out of Star Trek with all the latest gizmo's!

The skipper was right. The rest of the party were totally mad and immediately set about telling each other jokes, slagging each other off, then turned their attention to the skipper, asked him if he was going to actually find any fish today or was he still keeping the best spots for himself. (He used to be a full time fisherman).

They looked my son and me up and down and asked where we came from, then promptly included us in the banter.

By the time we cast off we were completely at ease and looking forward to the days fishing.

The fog started to lift as we set off and the skipper navigated to the first mark.

He made sure everyone was set up OK then disappeared into the cabin.

I thought he would now leave us to it but I was wrong.

He soon appeared from the cabin and asked, "Do you want tea or coffee"?

We placed our orders and hot drinks soon followed.

Almost straight away we were into thorn backs, dogfish and congers.

After a short while the skipper asked if everyone was happy or did we want to move.

The cod season is about to start and were beginning to put in an appearance in the area.

Having already caught a good amount of fish we were quite happy to go cod hunting.

The next mark saw more thorn backs, dogfish and congers.

Everyone was having a great day. The sky was blue, the sea calm but still no cod.

More tea and coffee from the skipper followed, then a surprise treat.

He'd been busy playing cook and brought out hot food for us at midday!

He wasn't thanked for this by his 'regulars', they asked when he was going to fit proper individual arm chairs so they could fish sitting down in comfort.

We moved on twice more to new marks, caught loads more fish but the cod still eluded us.

I'm sure we'll get into the cod soon the skipper insisted but probably not today.

One thing’s for sure, I've never been on a boat run quite like this.

The high spirits and banter were maintained from the start and continued throughout the day, we all had a fantastic time.

A day to remember, good company and a great skipper who pampered us throughout and lots of fish caught.

What more can you ask for?

On the way back in one of the regulars asked if we wanted to join their motley crew. They booked up the next three months trips and we're joining them.

My sincere thanks to Paul, the skipper of Castaway, thanks to the regulars for making us so welcome and for the very un pc jokes.

This story of a great day comes from Keith Wells from Devon

Posted on 1st October 2008

 

My Son Josh with a strap conger

 

This is me with a Thorn Back and one of the  nutters behind