local sea anglers

[ward graham]

Hi Jean yes remember it well never knew a man to get so close to a heart attack as Alex did,was not sure if it was for the fear of loosing the boat or the though of loosing you and Harry.They were good old days have many a good memory of our fishing trips and social drinking sessions ,alas these days are long gone.
Hope you and Harry are keeping well.
ward

[little plum]

Was out today looking at some bays south of Ayr
that are very rarely fished and they look quite promising,will probably try them out some night soon.

If you do Ward let us know how you get on. My son fished Prestwick on Monday night, not even a bite.

[brvhrtjimmy]

just came across this topic on sea angling ,i was a very keen sea angler and was a member of the saltcoats sea angling club, names i can remember from that club are bill currie (im sure he was one of the founders of the club if not the founder ) dick donnel, mrs currie, (bills wife) the chiropodist from sydney street his name eludes me,his son called peter john,a chap called i think foster from stevenston, the two morriarty brothers,niel gibson bill curries father, he stayed in canal st , john agnew,to name but a few,the club ran a competition every year called the white horse,it was very popular and they came from all over the country to fish in it,there was big money in prizes,top prize for the heaviest cod including all the pools usualy always grossed between £2000 and £3000, the club now no longer exists,but in its heyday it really thrived,my first beachcaster was a milbro bought from harrise's in saltcoats,along with a garcia mitchell multiplyer,i still have both,then one week i had a tax rebate of £75 i imediatly went to fullertons (as it was then) and bought a tilley lamp for £12,i still had that up to a couple of years ago,i dont fish anymore but about 10 years ago i was taken on two trips by a friend,one to oban out on a charter boat fishing for skate,in about 300 metres of water with 4lb lead to hold the bottom,i can tell you just bring up that 4lb of lead from that depth knackered me so dont know how i woulda done had i hooked a couple of hundred pounds of skate,the other trip was down to siloth to fish for bass and that was a great trip,and talking of bass,there was an article in the hearald quite a few years back about a chap who caught certainly one bass and im pretty sure it was two from that beach that runs between stevenston point and irvine bar,im pretty sure little plum will be able to enlighten us on that .
James Barr (Brvhrtjimmy)

[little plum]

Jimmy, the Stevenston angler you are thinking of is Jim Foster. 2 others from Stevenston that fished with the Saltcoats club were Tam Hyslop and Sammy Thompson, not sure if Jim Boyd was a member. The White Horse Whisky comp was some event, it attracted anglers from all over the U.K. and one year there were 5 or 6 White Horse guests from Japan. Do you remember the life size statue of a white horse outside the registration point ( Auchenharvie school, Community wing) it was an impressive sight.
I remember the report about the capture of sea Bass at Stevenston, there's something in the back of my mind telling me the angler was Billy Cummings (sp) This was the second occasion Bass had been caught at Stevenston that I know of, the first was over 30 years ago. The capture wasn't reported but the jungle drums were beating, ( this was pre mob phones) I clapped eyes on them in The Ardeer Tavern. My sole purpose in being there was to see these very rare fish from our waters.

[brvhrtjimmy]

yes i think that was the guy that caught the bass lp,yes i remember the big white horse outside the registration point,and also the guests from japan,and also one year in the white horse there was a bass weighed in,but sadly it turned out to be just undersize,i was told later but dont know if it is true or not,when bill currie laid it on the size board he gave it a couple of strokes to see if the tail would just reach the end but sadly it didnt,had it been okay it would have won the speciman for that year,i was fishing down the hunterston road once with my brother in law,(down by where the wee house used to sit) and my brother in law caught a bass it was a good 4pounds an maybe more we had no scales, but he didnt keep it he released it back into the water,i myself was fishing the prom one night, i was reeling in to change bait,it was quite a rough sea running (plenty of white horses) when my line got into the wall my rod just bent double,i didnt even feel the fish on it, it swam in as i was reeling in,anyway i could not get the fish up the wall so had to bring it in by hand pulling the line up,i cut both my hands with the line cutting into them,when i got it to the top of the wall i managed to bring it in under the bottom rail with my foot,man what a cod it was ,the biggest i ever seen in my life,when i managed to get it home i put it in the bath the head was sticking up above one end and the tail up above the other, my wife and my mother in law were the only two people to witness it in the bath,i had no scales in those days to weigh it,when i gutted it i gave it to a guy who had six children and it fed him an his wife and kids, my hands were sore and stingin for weeks but man it was worth it.
James Barr (Brvhrtjimmy)

[ward graham]

Hi Little Plum in 1969/70 winter fishing south of Irvine Barr using a rigg I made myself with a piece of plastic shaped like a kite with to traces on it looking for plaice was amazed when I got into a fair old fight with what Ithought was a plaice of some size but got the suprise of my life when I landed two small sea bass.
Fished there many times after that but never caught any more till I fished of the shore at the water out flow at hunterston power station where it was regular thing to catch sea bass grey gunard and some large ballan wrass.
Those were the days when you were always garenteed to catch fish on a regular bassis.
Ward

[brvhrtjimmy]

hi ward,i have sent you a couple of emails an an im through threetowners but got no reply to any of them,i was asking if you were the ward graham that worked as a boy with niel gibson on his grocery van.
James Barr (Brvhrtjimmy)

[ward graham]

H i James sent you email to blackjack3112
ward

[little plum]

Ward, I hadn't realised sea Bass had been caught in other local areas. The fact that you remember your capture 40 years ago speaks for itself, they are still rare North of the Border and by all accounts a bit of a delicacy. With the climate change there have been reports of increasing numbers of this fish, Luce bay produces specimen sized fish each year. The hot water outflow at Hunterston that you mentioned, I fished there a couple of times for fun, we were after Grey Mullet, but like you say, it was in the days when you could pick a venue (mark) expecting to catch your chosen species.
James, do you remember on registration for the White Horse you were presented with a miniature bottle of White Horse Whisky. There was also " a tagged fish" entry, the numbered code would be posted on the day of the event and if this fish was caught with the corresponding code you were on to mega bucks. The Saltcoats club must have been the richest in the land.
The year of the Japanese visitors, one of them made the prize list, this was some achievement giving the fact that there were over 1000 anglers taking part, while waiting for the results in the Auchenharvie assembly room, they would show films of anglers in far off destinations, it would make you dream of catching Marlin etc.
I will never forget the Japanese angler being presented with his prize and walking to the front of the stage and bellowing " Banzai" (sp)

[brvhrtjimmy]

hi lp yes i remember the wee miniture of whisky given out,as for the tagged fish there were 6 released at different places along the coast(known only to a couple of people on the committee who wernt fishing),i remember one year a tagged fish was caught but alas it wasnt the one that was drawn, i think white horse presented the guy with a bottle of white horse whiskey.
James Barr (Brvhrtjimmy)

[ACE THE PLAICE]

HI ALL
YES JIM BOYD FISHED WITH WEE SAMMY AND TAM HYSLOP FOR THE STEVENSTON CLUB.IT WAS BILLY CUMMINGS WHO HAD THE 2 BASS OFF STEVENSTON POINT,THEY ARE CAUGHT OFTEN NOW AT PRESTWICK BEACH.I CURRENTLY FISH FOR ARDROSSAN SEA ANGLING CLUB AND OLD BUD MC CLYMONT IS STILL IN IT ALONG WITH ANOTHER OLDIE YOU MIGHT REMEMBER..JOHN DEANS HIS LONG TIME MATE. MY FATHER IN LAW ...WEE HUGHIE MURPHY USED TO FISH STEVENSTON ALL THE TIME AND USED TO TELL ME A FEW GOOD NIGHTS THERE FOR COD.I FISH WITH JIM BOYD AND HE HAS ALSO TOLD ME OF THE CATCHES FROM THE "TABLE" AT STEVENSTON POINT WHICH INCLUDED COD COALIES WHITING THORNBACK RAYS,,,,,BUT AT THAT TIME NO DOGFISH.BILL CURRIES SON CAMBELL ALSO FISHES WITH ARDROSSAN SAC...IF ANY OF YOU FANCY JOINING LET ME KNOW AS ANY NEW MEMBERS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME

[little plum]

Hi ACE, are they 2 old codgers ( Bud, John) still at it, a club outing must be like an episode of " Still Game". Also surprised to hear that Jim Boyd is still fishing, even more so to hear it's with the Ardrossan club. Jim loved his Conger fishing and was quite successful at it, I'm sure it was Jim and Sammy fishing the all night conger hunt at Loch Goil when they fell asleep only to discover when they woke that the tide had covered the ledge where their tackle was. All they could see was the tips of their rods, ask him if he remembers it.