TIME MACHINE

Looking back through 40 years of Britain’s biggest and best sea angling magazine…

■ Research suggested that bass stocks o€ the South West and South Wales had quadrupled since 1985 and that squid were more abundant in the northern area of the North Sea.

2000

■ All nine key commercial species, including cod and mackerel in the North Sea were outside acceptable safe limits and their rate of exploitation meant these fish would be unable to maintain their numbers, claimed a report by the (WWF) World Wide Fund for Nature.

■ The long-standing boat record for a marbled electric ray was smashed by an angler fishing the western Solent. Carl Ryan, from the Isle of Wight, caught the 10lb 6oz 8dr fish, beating the previous best of 2lb 8oz 8dr, while fishing

1990

was beaten later that year with a 10lb 14oz 11dr caught from the Channel Islands.

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■ England international Ray Barron won the prestigious Plymouth International Boat Festival for the third consecutive year. The Southampton angler’s successes included victory in 1996 and top placings on five other occasions.

■ Michael Pass, from Hastings, East Sussex, caught a 101lb conger eel, but revealed how his charter trip out of Rye turned into a night of drama when skipper Brian Joslin had to cut the line on what was thought to be an even bigger conger that could have smashed the British record. Michael was convinced the lost fish weighed more than 150lb.

■ A 32lb blonde ray was caught on a mackerel bait by Mike Scott, from Torquay, Devon, while fishing on Steve Parker’s Two Rivers, out of Dartmouth.

■ An 8lb 1oz 8dr ballan wrasse was caught from Scotland’s Isle of Whithorn by Duncan Hayes, from Lancashire. He caught it on a float-fished limpet on a size 3/0 hook. At the time, the British record for a shore-caught ballan was 8lb 6oz 6dr.

■ Tony Oglesby and Randal from Cheshire to fish on Jim Folland’s boat Buster, out of Plymouth, Devon, and caught plenty of coalfish, the best 20lb 8oz and 20lb 4oz. The fish were taken on artificial eels fished on flying-collar rigs.

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1980

■ On a holiday charter trip out of Padstow, Cornwall, Eddie Severs, from Darlington, who normally fished from the shore, caught a 130lb porbeagle shark, 21lb turbot and 15lb bull huss – all fish he’d never caught before.

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■ Coming close to setting a new record was Robert Curtis, of Bristol, who landed a 24lb 8oz pollack while fishing aboard Hopeful Lass, skippered by Alan Russell, out of Plymouth, Devon. It was 8oz short of the record. Seven years later in 1987, the record was beaten and now stands at 29lb 4oz.

■ Anglers from Liverpool Cormorants and Manchester Rock SAC caught an amazing 1,051lb of thornback rays during a North West ASAC knockout match on the Birkenheadbased boat Sea Hawk. They didn’t keep count, but it was estimated between 90 and 100 rays to 14lb were boated.

A charter trip to the Channel Islands produced a 23lb turbot for Alex Miles, while fishing o€ Alderney, aboard Silver Spray, skippered by Andy Cumming, out of Poole, Dorset. Sea angling was being hailed as a growing pursuit in England and Wales. The Environment Agency claimed that 1.9 million people over the age of 12 fished in the sea. from a friend’s small boat. Carl’s record Concern was growing about vast numbers of flounders and wrasse being netted inshore for pot bait. Harper travelled Editor Mel Russ tried out a preproduction model of the long-awaited factory-built Abu Classic 6500CT multiplier reel. It would retail at £99.99. Fish of the month winner was Barry angler Don Cook with a 17lb bass from Aberthaw. It set a Welsh record and retains its place as the Principality’s top shorecaught bass. See our article in this issue.