2 Jul 2019

ARTIFISHAL – The Road to Extinction is Paved with good intentions

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On August 31st I will be introducing the acclaimed film ARTIFISHAL at the Plough Arts Centre. For details see link below. Profits from the showing will be donated to the River Torridge Fishery Association to promote conservation work on the River Torridge. The event is supported by River Reads specialists in Angling Books and signed editions.

https://www.theploughartscentre.org.uk/event/artifishal

PATAGONIA RELEASES DOCUMENTARY AND LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO HIGHLIGHT THE HIGH COST OF FISH HATCHERIES, FISH FARMS AND HUMAN IGNORANCE.

Patagonia has released ARTIFISHAL – an illuminating 80-minute documentary film by Liars & Thieves! that explores the high cost – ecological, financial and cultural – of our mistaken belief that engineered solutions can make up for habitat destruction. The film traces the impact of fish hatcheries and farms, an industry that hinders wild fish recovery, pollutes our rivers and contributes to the problem it claims to solve.

Executive produced by Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard and directed/produced by Josh “Bones” Murphy,ARTIFISHAL brings into sharp focus the plight of wild fish due to hatcheries and fish farms. The film takes us inside hatcheries in California, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, where we witness the conditions of factory fish farms as well as the genetically inferior, dumbed-down salmon they churn out in massive numbers. At a wrecked net-pen farm outside of Cyprus Island, WA, nets swing in the tide after more than 240,000 diseased, drugged factory fish escaped into the wild population. In a beautiful fjord near Alta, Norway, the underwater destruction and disease caused by an open-water fish farm are seen firsthand as activists record the devastation. And along the Elwha River in northwest Washington State, we track the return of wild fish after the largest dam removal project in the United States, later learning that after spending 320 million dollars to remove dams and restore wild fish, the river is once again home to hatcheries.

“Humans have always thought of themselves as superior to nature and it’s got us into a lot of trouble. We think we can control nature; we can’t,” notes Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia founder. “Fish farms and open netpens only treat the symptoms and not the causes of the problem. If we value wild salmon, we need to do something now. A life without wild nature and a life without these great, iconic species is an impoverishedlife. If we lose all wild species, we’re going to lose ourselves.”

The European campaign, which runs alongside the launch of the film, Artifishal, is focused on the fish farm industries in Iceland, Norway and Scotland.

The majority of European salmon farms are in Norway and Scotland where they have been wreaking havoc on coastal ecosystems. The planned expansion of the industry into Iceland’s pristine fjords using open netpens is extremely concerning. Governments are not doing enough to ensure that wild salmon and their habitat are protected from the devastating impacts of these farms.

From March 28th, Patagonia is teaming up with NGOs in these key countries to call for a moratorium on new open net salmon farms and a phase out of existing ones as soon as possible.

Open-water fish farms are driving wild fish to extinction around the world. Protect wild fish and the species and communities that depend on them.

 

2 Jul 2019

18lb Smoothound off Ilfracombe

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Wild Frontier  had a couple of 8 hour trips earlier this week that have been challenging at times. Managed to pluck out a few different species such as dogfish, bass, pollock, conger, huss, spotted ray, small eyed ray and this beauty of a smoothie at the end of today, just shy of 18lb on the scales.

Back out on the hunt for tope tomorrow evening and Thursday.

For bookings please call 07447060036 or see the website.

1 Jul 2019

Wooda Lakes – Pairs Match

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REPORT FROM John Forster 

Thank -you to all who turned up on the day  especially to Craig Crash Lamey who despite losing his fishing partner for the day due to illness still turned up and fished with an awesome attitude.
Well nice fine weather  with great people everything looked really good , so we did the draw and set about getting ready , personally i drew on what is normally a great peg and was really looking forward to the match , but all good things and all that, i really struggled loads of fish around yet no matter what i did they did not want to feed and I ended up with 12lb 4oz
But the day was brilliant with more talk about the cricket flying around our lake amongst the usual banter.
At the end we had the 3 winners and I apologise if the weights
are not 100% accurate as the paperwork has gone a-stray
1st was Paul Morris  and Tom Downing with 130lb of carp and silvers
2nd was Nathan Underwood and Pete Horton with  111lb of carp/silvers
3rd was Neilsen Jeffery and Martin Turner with 86lb
the rest of us also rans didnt walk away empty handed , we decided thanks to Andy Seery  and his sponsoring the prizes instead of giving tio the top 3 pairs we split all up between the other 13 anglers ,
All in All a great day which was thoroughly enjoyed so a big thank you to Stuart and Wooda Lakes  for allowing this to happen for the 2nd year , To Andy Seery and So Simple Baits
and  to everyone who fished .

30 Jun 2019

Bideford Angling Club – Junior Event

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Bideford Angling Club arranged a Junior match and coaching session at their Tarka Swims Georges Lake – Well done to the club and its members for providing this valuable experience.

 Junior Event @ Tarka Swims George’s Lake

1st Tyler Scott 7lb 5oz

2nd Charlie Evans 5lb 3 oz

3rd Thomas Scott 2lb

4th Joe Westcott 1lb 15 oz

5th Adam Wheeler   13oz .

This 3 hour event was fished on the shallow pegs .Celebrating his birthday , Tyler Scott  landed a fine mixed catch alternating between shallow and full depth on the pole on peg F to secure victory on the first of our 4 match series , Charlie took second spot in his very 1st competition fishing on peg Z . Third place was Thomas Scott, next door to his brother on peg E .

29 Jun 2019

Time to try for sea trout

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Andy Barret caught this salmon from the East Lyn following the spate a couple of weeks ago. The areas rivers have now dropped back and salmon and sea trout will be hard to find. There is a good chance of sea trout on the Taw and Torridge fishing after the sun has set. Night time fishing for sea trout is an exciting pastime and well worth a little sleep deprivation. Large surface lures can work and certainly sets the nerves on edge as large fish boil on the surface often missing the lure altogether. Small traditional flies tend to work well on the Torridge whilst larger flies are preferred on the Taw.

29 Jun 2019

Jeremy Wade – To Visit Torrington

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Jeremy Wade in Great Torrington

book signing and more

 

Jeremy Wade will be in Great Torrington, Devon, England on 4th August to sign his new book “How to Think Like a Fish” at the Plough Arts Centre. (Books will be available to purchase on the day)In addition, we will be screening one of his latest programmes Dark Waters.

Jeremy will open with a short presentation at 10.30am before the book signing begins which will be until 12.30pm in the gallery at the Plough. The screening will be from 1.30 and there will be an opportunity for any questions and answers after the film finishes.

We look forward to seeing you on the day.  Tickets are available from the Plough for £5 per person to enjoy both sessions and guarantee your seat at the film. The Plough Tel No is (44) 01805 624624 Web details are www.theploughartscentre.org.uk

The event is organised by River Reads bookshop so please contact them if you require any further information, or would like to purchase a signed copy of Jeremy’s book and are unable to attend.

27 Jun 2019

South Molton Angling Club – Boat Trip

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South Molton Angling Club enjoyed a trip out of Clovelly with Independent Charters on a dry, bright and sunny allowing them to venture to the waters West of Hartland Point where they  caught Pollack, dogfish, pouting,black bream,Huss,smoothound,tope and a ballan wrasse.
As always Eddie Rands reported good banter and everyone enjoying themselves.
24 Jun 2019

A room full of memories – Looe Sharking

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The Cornish town of Looe has a rich history as a fishing port and during the 1940’s and 1950’s the sport of shark fishing in the UK became popular primarily among the wealthy members of British Society or the upper classes. The book, “Shark Angling In Great Britain” by Brigadier J.A.L Caunter documents this early period and is a fascinating read.

 

My own connection with Looe stems from annual holidays with my parents during the late sixties and seventies. To a large extent this was where my lifelong passion for angling was formulated with many happy hours spent float-fishing for mackerel, garfish and grey mullet.

Each evening the shark fishing boats would return to port with their catches. Back then in less enlightened times virtually all shark were slaughtered and brought back to the weighing station of the Shark Angling Club of Great Britain where their bloated carcasses were hauled aloft in front of masses of tourists. As a young boy I gazed in awe and dreamt of days when I could set sail to do battle with these beasts of the deep.

Looking back the wanton slaughter was misguided and undoubtedly contributed to a steep decline in numbers. Fortunately, all shark caught today are carefully released and their numbers are increasing once again. Shark fishing is an important part of Looe’s history and the recreational fishery is vitally important in supporting Looe as a fishing port as commercial fishing declines due to competition from larger ports and other factors.

The Old Sardine Factory on West Looe harbour front recently opened as a heritage centre and Restaurant. The centre hosts regular events and recently held an evening to bring together members of the shark fishing community and share memories in a memory café style event.

Seeing the advert on their Facebook page I could not resist attending and took the opportunity to have a one night break in my childhood haunt with my wife Pauline. I am so glad we made the effort for we were privileged to meet anglers and skippers from an earlier era. I am sure many memories and friendships were rekindled on that summer night. The vast array of black and white photos on display told of a bygone age that was full of larger than life characters.

The shark fishing of that era was seen as adventure on the high seas. It would be wrong to condemn the practice of those days for many believed that the seas fish stocks were inexhaustible. Today we know this is not true and methods and practice have changed to ensure that these splendid fish can be released after being brought to the boat. Anglers share many of the conservationists concerns regarding the oceans and should work in harmony to ensure both the survival of the shark and the shark angler.

One of the nights highlights was to meet Pat Smith aged 95 who travelled to the event from Leicester and still radiated enthusiasm as she recalled those golden days when she caught a huge porbeagle of 369lb.

Much of the credit for the evening goes to Rachel Bond, Dave Clarke and John McMaster.

Below is the short introduction to the event as delivered by Rachel on the night.Many thanks to Rachel for allowing me to reproduce the manuscript on these pages.

Living timeline – Written by John McMaster and Rachel Bond 

Welcome to the Old Sardine Factory Heritage Centre and welcome to our Sharking Legends event.

This event is all about catching up with old friends, meeting people who you thought you might never meet and sharing stories, pictures and other Sharky stuff.

I already know that many of you are well known to each other but by way of introduction and also to give us an opportunity to thank you all let me just mention a few names.

Sharking is littered with successful lady anglers so its tremendous to be able to welcome Pat Smith who has come all the way from Leicester to be with us tonight. Pat is the last surviving Ladies British record holder for shark which she holds for a magnificent 369lbs Porbeagle, caught out of Looe in 1970.  Pat is one of an elite group of lady anglers, many who like her have held and some still hold British and World records. Names like Hetty Eathorne, Patsy McKim, and Joyce Yallop to name only a few. No ladies list would be complete without our own Looe ladies legend, Daphne Case. Sadly, these ladies are no longer with us but I am pleased to say that Judi Berry, Daphne Cases daughter is with us tonight and has brought along her mothers scrap book which you must find the time to have a look at this evening. 

It’s also great to have Jackie Gould with us tonight who has brought along some of her pictures and I am sure some stories to share with us as well.

Sharking was not just about skippers and anglers as it also brought revenue to many businesses as well. Here in Looe names like the Salutation Inn, the Hannafore Point Hotel, the Portbyhan and the Jolly Sailor and many more welcomed anglers and their families to Looe.  One of the most influential of those businesses was of course Jack Bray & Son. In the early days the cost of sharking fishing tackle put it beyond the reach of many. By hiring fishing tackle for the day, Jack made the sport accessible to many people, which helped tremendously with the growth of the sport and the SACGB.  Jack Brays was a weigh centre and sharking trips could also be arranged via the shop and while sadly, Martin has been unable to make it tonight, Martin has an invaluable wealth of knowledge of the sports history.

And last but certainly not least we have our skippers line up which I can best describe as a, living timeline, with us tonight.

 

We have Alan Dingle who skippered the Lady Betty when Pat caught her record Porbeagle and when Joyce Yallop caught her record Mako. We have John Kitto, and Bill Cowan from Polperro. We have Ernie Curtis and Mally Toms, Ian King from Lyme, Richard Butters, Paul Greenwood and Graham Hannford from Plymouth.

No sharking skipper gathering would be complete without mentioning some of those legendary characters who are no longer with us but the memories of them won’t ever leave us. Skippers like Ivan Chaston, Bonzo, Edgar Williams, Bill and Jack Butters, Bert Dingle Robin Vinnicome, Phil Gould and some many many more.

Then of course we have the “younger skippers”!! Well, I had to call them that to get them to come. We have Murray Collings, Pete Davis, Dave Bond, Phil Dingle, Phil Curtis, Dan Margetts  xxxxxxxx

I would very much like a group photograph of all of you at some point this evening and if any of you would like a copy let me know and I will arrange to send you one.

I would also like to say a couple of last thank yous, firstly to the Shark Club for their assistance in curating this exhibition and loaning us some fascinating items, and secondly to John Mac, John  has been my go to shark expert, exhibition and speech writing consultant, photo mounting expert, coffee provider, and general fountain of all knowledge and has been a huge support to me throughout the lead up to this exhibition, so thank you.

We aim to close the event around 8pm but in the meantime we have cider at the bar, and please do say hello to our volunteers with cameras, who will be trying to capture the event and your wonderful memories and stories for us.

This heritage centre runs on donations, so anything you can give towards us being able to put on events like these would be hugely appreciated. Dave Bond guaranteed me that he and the other skippers would whack a tenner in each…

Finally thanks very much for all your input and I hope you enjoy the event.

Below are a few photos I captured on the night with the kind permission of those displaying the images.