A few years ago, Reg had visited Devon and gone to Watermouth Bay, just below the castle, and had seen a boat there which he had recognised from the angling papers of the 1960's or so; Our Unity. This boat was famed for catching the record cod and many record congers out of Brixham, but was it the same boat?
Well, we were very lucky to get to meet the master at Watergate Harbour who had pictures of the boat being removed, and it
was the very one mentioned earlier. He also told us who had skippered it, and where to find him. So off we went to Ilfracombe and met Maurice, who seemed taken aback that peole could remember his old boat and told us much of its history. This will probably be wriiten into an article by Reg through Angling Heritage, our charity (
www.anglingheritage.org) when we have completed more research, but if you know anything about this boat or its history, we would love to hear from you. Anyway, watch this space! Maurice also went to the shop and bought a postcard of Ilfracombe with his old boat being the main feature, and gave it to reg before we departed on our fishing trip.
We then had an afternoon on the Osprey going out of Ilfracombe, fishing marks off Woolacombe. Initailly we caught dogfish - repeatedly - so move further offshore to a new mark in some 120 feet of water where we were quickly into -
dogfish! However, this was broken up with the occasion huss and one tope was taken too, so it was definitely worth moving.
However, on a glorious sunny day, what better way could you spend a day that chilling out on the back of a boat catching fish.
If you fancy this, the trips run for 4 hours and are £25 each with bait and tackle all supplied, which must make it one of the cheapest ways to spend a glorious afternoon. Even if you have never fished, this is an ideal way to try it out, and the skipper fillets any fish that you have caught for you on the boat ready for an evening meal.