FROM ANGLER TO SKIPPER
The Kevin McKie story.
F moment in fishing that sticks in your mind and stays with you all your life. It is often the thing that got you hooked, such as catching your first fish or enjoying an angling moment with family and friends. For me this happened when I was 11 years old during the summer of 1991 on a family holiday to Anglesey in North Wales.
My dad took my brother Greg and I to Holyhead Breakwater. We were armed with fresh lugworms and ragworms from the local tackle shop. We were keen coarse anglers but had no sea tackle. All we had was coarse feeder rods, 6lb line, one-ounce weights and size 6 hooks. We dropped our lines down the side of the wall and were straight into ballan and corkwing wrasse, three-beaded rockling, pollack, coalfish, whiting and scorpion fish. For me, this was incredible. I did not know what I would catch next.
After that fishing trip my coarse fishing took a back seat and it was full steam ahead with sea angling. As the weekends approached, I nagged my dad to take me to different places around North Wales, travelling hundreds of miles in his Morris Marina. I was happy to catch anything, although dogfish were my favourite fish. I used to love them as a kid, but how times have changed.
On my 13th birthday my dad booked us a charter trip on e Rose, out of Rhos-on-Sea. I was far too excited to sleep the night before. In the morning the skipper took us out about 40 minutes from the mooring and dropped anchor. Within minutes we were catching
whiting, dogfish, dabs and thornback rays. I had never seen anything like this before and thought I was in heaven. After that trip I pestered my dad to take me on another boat trip as well as shore fishing every weekend,. After a few cancelled boat trips we managed to get a trip on the North Star, out of Whitby. I remember it like it was yesterday; a flat calm sea and the sun was shining. e skipper’s name was Tutt Uttley. I remember asking him why he had 30 wooden fish boxes at the back of the boat. He said ‘because we are going to fill them today’. He was not wrong. Every drop was a fish, cod to 15lb and ling to 20lb. My dad insisted we put the cod back once we had enough, which resulted in some very funny looks from the other anglers and the skipper.
CLUB SCENE
By now my dad suggested I joined a local fishing club, probably because he could not keep up with my increasing addiction to sea fishing. I got a recommendation to join New Brighton SAC, based on the Wirral. It was possibly one of the best things I ever did. ey fished family-friendly local matches every weekend and once a month in North Wales.
is is where I started to learn how important fresh bait, its presentation and rigs were for catching more fish and different species.
I was absorbed everything I could about match fishing at a rapid pace. At this point I left school and landed my first job in Taskers Angling. After work each day I would be collecting bait or going fishing, and at the weekend I would either be match fishing or going to watch how the top match anglers did it. I picked up loads of tips and ideas. As my confidence grew I started fishing events run by the North West Association of Sea Angling Clubs and this is where things really happened. I started travelling with local match anglers all over the UK and Ireland. After some individual and team wins, I finally got my opportunity to fish for England Juniors in the World Championships in Dieppe, France, which was an excellent experience. I did well on two of the four days.
A few months after this trip, match fishing in the UK totally changed because it went from keeping everything in size for the final weigh-in to measure and release. is was much better for the fish but the size limits were reduced because the fish were being released. For me, this was not the style of match fishing I liked because now you were targeting as many small fish as possible, as well as bigger fish. It was all about speed fishing and I realised it was time to get back into boat fishing.
BOLD MOVE
In 1997 I joined Bold Sea Fishing Club in Widnes. Run by Ford workers from the Halewood plant, they had been fishing all over the UK for more than 20 years with some of the top skippers. I was the youngest in the club. My first trip with them (at night in the back of a van with only a mattress to
sit on) was to Exmouth, Devon, to fish with Colin Dukes on his massive charter boat, Smuggler 3.
e plan was to drift a few wrecks for pollack and cod before getting the anchor down for ling and congers. It was wind against tide for most of the day so Colin told us the fishing could be difficult at times. Back then I didn’t really understand what he meant. Once the anchor was down, I remember the skipper recommending a 6ft trace made with 250lb mono, so I did as I was told. What happened next is what I truly love about boat fishing.
I hit the bottom with a fresh mackerel flapper and about two minutes later I felt a vicious bite and a big heavy slow pull. I was into a good fish but there was no fight at all. As I was reeling it in from 250ft of water I joked to the angler next to me that it was a big turbot. We both laughed. I honestly thought it was a ling but it was a massive turbot. e skippers rushed over with the landing net. e angler next to me had been fishing for 40 years and had never caught one. He could not believe I called it as well before I saw it. e fish weighed 21lb – a fish on a lifetime. Not bad for a spotty kid on his first trip with the club.
FIRST BOAT
Later that year I went to Plymouth for the first time. e club had booked two days on Tiburon, skippered by Graham Hannaford.
e boat was immaculate and looked like it had just come out of the showroom. Graham was a strict skipper who wanted everyone fishing the right way. If you didn’t, he soon let you know. Some people could take this the wrong way but it was definitely the right way. If someone is paying you to put them on fish then you need them to fish correctly so they have the best possible day and will book another trip.
e fishing was excellent. is is where I learned how to fish long traces (15-18ft or more) without tangling, while drifting over deep water wrecks using lures for pollack, cod and ling. On the second day we were fishing at anchor in over 250ft of water over a wreck that was stuffed with ling to 20lb and congers to 50lb. I was using a single-speed reel and struggling to retrieve the 3lb lead weight, even without a fish on the line.
is is when Graham came over with one of his Shimano TLD30 two-speed reels and suggested I tried it in low gear. e difference was amazing and reeling in was effortless.
On the way back to port I asked Graham loads of questions about being a skipper. I was probably annoying him but he was a fountain of knowledge. As soon as I got back to work in Taskers Angling, I bought a load of Shimano fishing tackle, including a TLD30 two-speed reel. I still have most of the gear 24 years later, which proves that having quality kit pays off .
My 18th birthday was fast approaching and I was due a lump sum from an endowment set up by my grandparents. I got a tidy sum and went looking for a small boat, but the problem was I couldn’t drive a car. is would be an issue for most people but not for me.
My mate Sid could drive and he had a tow bar on his Vauxhall Cavalier. I found a Warrior 150 with a 75hp outboard, even thought it was rated for a 60hp maximum engine. is thing could really fly at 35 to 40 knots on a calm day. I put the boat in Pwllheli Marina so we didn’t have to launch it each time we went fishing and over the next few years I would take my friends out on my days off work. We had an amazing time, especially from May to September.
PART TWO: MY FIRST CHARTER BOAT