ARTHUR’S ARCHIVE
Keith recalls an episode in the life of a legendary pioneer of UK pole fishing
BIG Kev, as Kevin Ashurst is universally known, is now into his eighties and still winning — he has achieved so much, domestically and internationally.
One of the first affordable carbon poles bore his name in the very early 1980s. Produced by Kev’s then sponsor, Sundridge Tackle, the take-apart pole was only 8m long, but with a 10m Daiwa Pro-Carbon costing £700 (with no spares) and a £350 imported 11m Maver that was virtually unfishable at full length and had a butt diameter akin to that of a coffee mug, it was within reach of the average match angler’s pocket.
Much of the long pole fishing in those days was in Northern Ireland, where 100lb-plus nets of roach were seemingly commonplace on the Rivers Bann and Erne. Kevin was right at the forefront of this boom time, and in this picture he’s fishing on the River Erne, opposite Enniskillen Castle.
It wasn’t only roach, but bream averaging a kilo apiece, that muscled in on the act. On my first visit in 1983, for the Erne Baits Festival, I drew the semi-fancied peg 24 on the Cornagrade section where, if the bream had a go, I’d stand a chance. Five hours later I weighed in 48kg-plus, top weight from peg 1. Kev had drawn peg 29, a flyer, and the scales hadn’t reached me when I saw him carrying his kit up the steep hill to the road. My pal Fred Brown had been on the Queen Elizabeth Road section, and arrived as I was putting my gear away. I saw him talk to Kev on the way past and he told me: “I’ve just asked Kev how he’s done. He said (badly mimicking Kev’s broad Lancashire accent) ‘I’ve had eighty-fower’. What, pounds Kev? ‘Nay lad, kilos.’”
What a man!