Gerbil0154

Thanks Skippy. I'd tried most of that myself but it's always good to see that the old adage "If you want to know something, ask an Angler" holds true. It must be something in our make-up that that means we do most things thoroughly. The plaque looks to me to be an enammelled metal plate mounted onto the natural rock using a glue. I've attached a picture taken from a short distance away from the small cliff. Not the easiest thing to spot so you can see why we may have passed it many times without noticing. You can see how isolated the location is. I recon they required a boat and some time to mount the plate. I hope he was watching us from his favourite spot last season as we took and returned 3 double figure Ferox right at this point. Maybe he was helping us to enjoy the sport he loved. lol

I'm a Ferox Fisherman who is more inclined to post on other forums on that topic. In the course of a season I fish the Quoich, the Arcaig and the Ericht in the North West of Scotland. Despite having fished the Arcaig many times over the past 10 years, I only recently noted the small plaque on the attached picture. It was attached to the face of a small cliff and was only accessible by boat. From its date and its condition I assume it has recently been cleaned or repaired. The point is that I think its a wonderful memorial to an angler. What and where would you like a memorial and what form would it take. Im also interested if anyone knows who the gentleman was. He is obviously remembered fondly by someone

This thread set me thinking on the Solway Harvester which is a more recent tragedy. Most of the dead came from a tiny little village called the Isle of Whithorn. Whilst the disaster may have been a lot smaller in terms of the overall numbers of fatalities, the size of the little village to lose so many of its young men was devastating. When my kids were younger I used to have a caravan in the isle, and my son cut his teeth in sea fishing around the area. I re-visited the village a couple of years after the disaster and the difference in atmosphere was tangible. It may have been my expectation of change or the re-living of fond memories, but the village seemed perceptibly quieter and more sombre. Tragedy and the sea, unfortunately, seem to be fellow travellers.

Hi Heron Sorry it has taken a while to get back to you but I'm now based in Ireland and only sorted an internet connection yesterday. Although the photograph was taken on the bank in the darkness, Derek actually hooked into the fish around 10-00 at night. It took around 15mins to land. We always revive our fish on the bank in a pupose built tank before photographing and releasing. By the time all of this took place, darkness had fallen. We have caught ferox after dark, but not too often Cheers Gerry

Hi guys, Sorry I've not been on for a couple of weeks. I'm in Ireland for work and only just got connected to get my daily fix on the Forum. An update. Derek's done it again! Last weekend he was up north and using char as bait took a 12lb and a 15lb Ferox. (The ratbag! I'll never catch up with him lol). We find most success comes with a wobbled deadbait. Its worth while taking the time when you tie up to get your presentation right especially with one of the zebco mounts. A small change in the mount location makes a big difference in the action. All of Dereks recent fish have been on the downrigger at depths between 25 and 50 feet. My puny specimens (9lb) and Davids doubles have been trawling at similar depths using a "Plane" such as the fishseeker variety. These have a series of holes allowing you to adjust the depth at which it fishes. I'm home this weekend so I'll try and post some pictures of his latest doubles, meanwhile tight lines folks Gerry

During recent posts on the Forum I was unsure if out recent collecting of Char for Ferox baits would pay dividends. Judge for yourselves from last weekends trip. 15, 16 and 8 pounds. All retyrned safetly Gerry

Hi Ferox Glad to see your spreading the good word. I'm off to Dublin to work for the foreseable future so cant make any plans going forward or I would love to join you. Derek and David were on the Arcaig last weekend with David landing and returning a 4.5lb Ferox. Caught on char by the way. Plenty of hits and a couple of smaller fish. Try my photos below and you'll see some of our Ferox from the last two seasons. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gerbil0154/album I'm off to the Arcaig this weekend for a last hurrah before fying off to Dublin next weekend. If I get any joy I'll let you know Gerry

One of those occasions when words fail me. Hope that the 1% is achieved. My prayers and thoughts go out to you and your Dad. I've been there and know what your going through. Congratulations on being a "GRANDAD". Life is all ups and downs so heres hoping your downs end and your ups get you soaring. As I always say we just keep on hanging on.

Hi Kevin Sorry I did not get back to you last week but I had the small task of making sure the new motorway I'm working on could open on Thursday so couldn't get near a computer till today. I ended up at the Arcaig from Friday to Monday. One small brownie in the boat on friday caught on a small rapala on the spare rod. Not a touch on either Sunday on Monday on any of the rods. 3 of us in the boat fishing Char baits most of the time. Looks like the jury is still out on the char versus other baits for Ferox. I'll let you know of any further developments although I'm going to have only limited trips this year for Ferox due to relocating to Ireland for work. Sorry the weather was so bad for your trip. Sunday in the boat was awful but as usual as soon as we started to pack up for the return home on Monday, the sun came out and the weather was scorching. Only lasted as far as the Lomond though on the way south. Hope you have success on your Ferox hunt. Needs a hard winter to bring them out early season though. Gerry

You are far from being a Wimp my friend. The mental anguish of facing an unknown future must be higher than the physical discomfort which you know will only last the time taken to administer the Chemo. As for putting up with you, I hope we have to do so for a long long time to come. Best wishes from all at the Dark Mile Ferox.

Tried to avoid rising to the wittering going on with regards to Char. (I seem to have started it by telling how Derek filled our freezer for the season) Thanks to FranticFisherman2 for putting it into perspective. My frustation always lay in the fact that we could see carpets of char on the sonar but only seemed to catch occasionally and they were usually too big for bait. They were always returned. We operate catch and return on Ferox. This years 20lb fish might be my record attempt a few years down the line. If people on this site hold such strong anti angling views I wish they would not try to impose their limits on others. I dont catch for the pot. I dont live bait. I dont introduce alien species into other waters. I also dont seek to impose my views on my fellow anglers. I wish all readers of the forums tight lines no matter you own personal preferences. Gerry

Sorry to pull rank on a young fella like you but I was born 1954. I had the big 50 last year so you see and enjoy yours. Gerry

Your a spooky man Mr Stubbs. Not only do you have good taste in music but I note from another post that we share a common birthday. Thanks for the lyrics and a happy birthday on May 1st Gerry

I'm a big Eric Bogle fan and for a Scotsman he captured the Anzac feeling so well in his songs that they made him a freeman of Australia. To link both your reply and Chesters, Eric also wrote a song about the soldiers having to shoot each other horses the day before they left to return to Australia as someone had decided it was too expensive to ship them back. They did not want them to end up as food as soon as they left. Dont remember the exact title of the song but its about a soldiers horse called Banjo. It would bring a tear to a glass eye as they say but it really makes you think about perceptions of duty and honour. I think they were braver than I could ever aspire to.

Hi Kevin Just to let you know that Derek went fishing for Char bait Yesterday to the Garry in Perthshire and took 31. Permits are reasonable and can be obtained from Mrs Simpson next to the loch. All were taken on maggot from a swimfeeder. Looks like I'll soon be able to tell you if Char are better bait fot Ferox. Roll on next weekend on the Arcaig or the Quoich Tight Lines Gerry

Hi Ferox Fisher Sorry I did not respond quicker but have had 3 days off to paint the back of my house and havent been near a computer. Your question is a good one as it has been the subject of a lot of heated discussion around our evening camp fire. We fish mainly dead baits and use our spare rod to fish lures. (3 in the boat with 4 rods). Derek fishes on a downrigger and swears that the bigger the bait the bigger the catch. He may have a point in that he did two doubles last year, one of which was a fraction under 20lb. (I'll post a link later with some of our pictures.) Derek is also convinced, on the basis of his experience and on Ron Greer's book, that char make the best dead bait. Considering that the char are as elusive as the Ferox, this argument will rage on for some time. David and I both fish with planes which can be pre-set to run at a specific depth. We both fish smaller baits and both take our share of Ferox. David had a 14lb as his best last year and I missed a double by a fraction. Talking to some of our angling friends, we already know of two 15lb+ fish taken on the Lochy this year on Rapalas so I guess the argument will continue. My own personal observation is that you can catch fish using almost any method as long as you persevere and have faith in it. On thing about lures which we all agree on is that you will pick up more smaller fish on lures than you will on deadbaits, but ferox fishing is about the big ones aint it?? Cheers Gerry

Dont know what to say except all my thoughts are with you. I might not reply as often as Nurse Judy ets but I've been following your post with interest and I'm rooting for you. Keep on Keeping on.

Hi Ferox Fisherman. Sorry for the delay in responding but was up at the Arcaig over the weekend. Freezing and very wet. Dry day as far as fishing went unfortunately. I dont have the same problems you have since I lease a plot next to the loch and launch from it. I found that when I did not have this facility that the best place I found to launch our 14 foot boat was to continue along the lochside beyond the slip, (about a mile), and around 50 yards before you get to the first of the plots at the riding school, there is an area immediately next to the road which is great for launching. You will notice a sort of lay bye on the side of the road on the opposite side from the loch which is big enough to leave a couple of cars and a trailer. Tight lines and hope you get some good ferox this season.

May 1st for me, Same as Alan Stubs.

Great Ferox from my favourite loch. We did beat your largest by half a pound last year from the Arcaig and were straining our eyes to see if it was the same fish. It was different in the tail so thats at least two 20 pounders there for this season. lol Lost of luck for next season from the Dark Mile Ferox

True Story Served my time in an old rambling steelworks. We used to trial assemble cranes in a huge area we called the ranch which was about half a mile from the ablutions so, being young and stupid, we used to make do with the adjacent heavy undergrowth. Now most of you will realise that as soon as you put a load of young apprentices together they're gonna take liberties. Willie Campbell was caught short one day and dived behind the greenery for a number two. If you've ever worn a boiler suit you'll know that it's not a easy garment to open and lower. It gave just enough time for one of the local jokers to slip behind him in the bushes with a shovel, which he slid quietly into place and caught the number two without Willie realising. I still crease myself thinking about Willie coming out of those bushes desperately patting himself down to find his missing number two, which he was convinced was still secreted about his person somewhere.

Hi My name is Gerry and although I was born in Germany, (Dad was a seargent in the REME), I reside just outside of Glasgow

I agree with Argyle. If more people were to vote with their wallets, ie stop buying trash newspapers who pay for stories, then maybe we would get the press that we say we want. Unfortunately we get the press we deserve. As someone wiser than me once observed, nobody loses money by over-estimating public taste. If newspapers did not get a circulation jump every time they print something salacious or tittilating then they would not pay for such stories. They do however get a circulation rise so the practice continues. However much we like to deny it, we get what we ultimately are willing to pay for.

Interesting game. Quite educational.

Newt. Did you write these yourself from experience or did your significant other dictate them lol