ARTHUR’S ARCHIVES
Angling historian Keith recalls when his squad took on the superteam of the time, Dorking, in a shoot-out in Denmark
Inside fishing history
“Our sponsor had sourced us some ‘special’ maggots”
IRECALL the first time I went fishing abroad – properly abroad, because I’d been to Ireland but you didn’t need a passport for that. It was 1981, and my Trev’s Terrapins team qualified for the Angling Times Winter League Final on Denmark’s River Skjern.
We’d read all the reports of fabulous roach and dace fishing on the 1977 final, when the Barnsley lads had set new records. The final result was decided on weight in those days, but this was our chance for a place in the sun. Our division was fished mostly on the Thames, so we fancied our chances on a roach and dace match rather than Ireland’s bream bonanzas. Our sponsor, Trev’s Walthamstow Angling Centre, had sourced us some ‘special’ maggots, collected from the farm the day before and packed in big polystyrene boxes. We had two gallons apiece!
We arrived after the 24-hour ferry crossing a long way from refreshed, but we had time to visit the river – off the matchlength – and watch George Young catch trout after trout, interspersed with grayling!
On match day we knew we’d be up against it with Dorking on an end peg. What surprised us, though, was the sheer speed of the river – racing through but tap-water clear.
Even more disturbing were our ‘super’ maggots. The breeder hadn’t allowed enough growing time, so while some were beautiful, there were lots of small, immature maggots – which floated!
The team struggled, but a great Dorking squad, led by Steve Sanders with stars such as Steve Gardener, John Larraman, Ken Collings and Andy Love plus individual winner the late Robbie Mittens – who had almost 60lb of mostly dace – put on a super show to win with 266.8. One more thing: in those days I didn’t actually need a passport for Denmark. A British Visitor’s Card did the trick.