GET YOUR FINGER OUT!

Three casters turn into ‘cereal’ offenders as they all snap off

I n the days before nylon fishing mainline we used what was called Cuttyhunk line, which looked like brown string. We got this from Freeth’s, a trawler supplies shop (now long gone) on North Shields Fish Quay.

This line would retain water and needed a 10oz lead weight to cast out. The reels were those wooden Scarboroughs and, if you caught your finger on their handles, it made you say far more than “damn and blast”. Problem was, on a cold winter’s night, you didn’t feel the pain for 10 minutes, and then when it hit you, you really knew about it.

I bought my Scarborough reel from one of the members of the Tynemouth club. He was a bus mechanic and used to churn out the reels for the then almighty sum of 10 shillings (50p). The reel turned on a spindle taken from a bicycle wheel, and the wood was generally a hardwood, such as teak or greenheart. Once you got the hang of these reels, it was possible to cast out a good amount of line.

I was vice-chairman of an organisation called The National Shore Casting Association, and some of the older North East anglers may remember Maynard Atkinson (Silver Grey of Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle newspaper), who was chairman of this association. We staged open casting events each year, and at one of them the legendary Les Moncrieff came along – 6ft-plus of pure power, and a lovely man with it.

One year we held a Scarbrough reel casting event, and the winner was Ronnie Meikle, now deceased, who was the harbourmaster at Cullercoats. He cast a lead weight 123yd 9in.

Second was Byron Barawitczka, also no longer with us, who was one of the North East’s top anglers, with a 117yd 11in cast. I sneaked into third with 109yd 8in. Remember, this was all with this thick, stringlike line and 10oz sinkers.

We also had teams-of-three events and, in one year, I was a member of one of these teams using fixed-spool reels. We were allowed three casts each, and the three of us snapped off each time we cast, with nine lead weights disappearing into the distance.

We became known as the Snap, Crackle and Pop Team.