TBT#15 In the beginning

For this TBT post I’m going back to my first year of keeping a fishing diary 1989.

At the start of the year I was 15 years old, doing my GCSE’s and not massively into my fishing. I left school in June when I went to work with Eddie at JFS Sport. June was also significant for the fact that I got transport when I got my 50cc Honda MB50 on a provisional license – No CBT back then you could just go straight on the road – I did many trips on that bike loaded up with rods, rucksacks and all sorts of other stuff pottering around at about 25mph!

The start of the year was really slow with not much fishing. I was doing a bit of coarse fishing back then and this entry from January 4th made me chuckle

“ Fished Milbrook reservoir, Peg 1 with Maggot bait. Tried float and ledger. Bad day, snapped my Boron Match and one of my wand tips. Thermal Suit blew in, lost about 20 hooks, had about 10 tangles got soaked and caught nothing”

February saw a fish that at the time really got me back into my fishing, this Undulate Ray on the back-wall of St Catherine’s Breakwater of 14lb 15ozs.

It’s amazing the difference a fish can make, before this I’d hardly fished all year, after this it was every other day. February also saw a load of Coalfish turn up, we were catching loads in the town harbour with the best I managed 1-6 but there were loads over 1lb. They were great sport, strange how they were only really there of that size for 1 winter.

Back then I was a member of the now defunct Jersey Light Tackle Group and March saw me catch a club record Dogfish of 2-8-5 along with another one of 2-6-14 in the same session as well as a PB Coalfish of 1-7 from St Catherine’s.

Highlights of April were just a Conger of 15lb and May was also pretty quiet although it did produce a PB Bass at the time of 4-2 caught on 5lb line and a tiny Yann.

June was spent doing a fair amount of Coarse fishing but I did have a Wrasse of 4-8.

July was better with a then PB Plaice of 2-2-12 as well as another of 1-6.

August saw a few club weighers, a then PB Black Bream of 2-11-10, Common Eel of 2-0-1, Red Mullet of 1-0-8 & a Mackerel of 1-0-5.

September and another PB Bass of 5-3 from St Catherine’s – It was a lot easier to catch a PB back then – as well as a PB ThickLipped Mullet of 2-13.

October was pretty uneventful but November made up for it with a stunning PB Bass from St Catherine’s on Ray gear that just missed out on a double at 9-14-4, a New Jersey PB Conger of 24-0 also from St Catherine’s just missing out on the conger club medal weight, another Bass of 6-0, a record rattling Pouting of 2-12-5 and a Flounder of 1-14-8.

And December produced another Eel, this one 21lb as well as my first ever Smalleyed Ray.

Very different times where every club fish had to be weighed on the club scales. It’s quite scary when I think this is now 37 years ago.