fishyrob

--> QUOTE(Norm B @ Nov 22 2006, 07:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Signed. A link in your very fine publication would reach a lot of people........

Not sure if this link has appeared on AnglersNet, so for the good of my childrens fishing, here is a link to a petition, that will remain open for one year. Wether it will have any influence remains to be seen, but it definately wont if nobody signs it. Perhaps one of the moderators could sticky it? It really will only take two minutes of your time. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Seafishstocks/

whats a weido?

Weve lost the last few posts because of the hacking issues ön AnglersNet, but to show there are no hard feelings, and that I accept your apology, I can reveal to you that I am a fishing guide on the south coast, and you are welcome to come down and have a free days bassing - all my guiding is shore based - when I get back to the UK from Venezuela in early October. Check out www.fishyrob.co.uk and the diary section, as this gives you an up to the minute idea of how my sessions are going, something I have recommended to Terence to do when his season starts. This way my clients are very aware of how the fishing is at the time of booking. The bassing in East Sussex is good through September - although I wont be there this year - and peaks in October up until Early November. I have even had clients catching mackerel and Bass from the shore in December - See the entry for 2005 December 15th!!!

Hi Airmech, You heard correctly, regarding Mr Wilson, but the chances of hooking bronzies in a weeks holiday is really extremely high. Dale was very unlucky, and to have two poor trips on the trot, is EXTREMELY unlucky. Book your holiday, or get in direct contact with Terence on his site, and leave your booking to the very last possible moment, and I am pretty sure he will bring you in when the fishing is hot. Landing them however, is up to you......!!!

You bait your hook well. I just spent the last ten minutes trying to work out if to respond, because I want to draw a line under the whole thing from my perspective. But seeing as you are attacking me personally, likening me to a dictator responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people - Saddam, not Bush... - I cant really not respond. As you know full well, I did fish the reserve, as part of the satelite tagging phase of the bronzie project. And we delivered the large male that the research scientist was after, amongst many more fish, although they were mostly small. I cherry picked there as well, only catching five fish but three of them were over 100kg, and the other two were over 80kg. My friend caught ten, but they were all under 70kg, bit like tope fishing from the shore. However, as for not telling anybody that we were on the reserve, is your memory so short? If I didnt tell anybody about this fact, then please explain our earlier communication as per this link and please take note of the date of posting. Its about the fourth post down the page, as you well know. http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29373 Ok, now we have established that I have nothing to hide, and that you have a short memory, lets proceed to your own cherrypicking. Why did you demand a full refund for your group, and then cry about it to anyone that would listen when Steve said no? You mention that Steve offered you a huge discount. Personally, I dont think he needed to do even that, and the fact that he did suggests that he was trying to do something positive about the situation. If you book a two week holiday to the sun, with a tour operator such as Thomas Cook, and it rains for two weeks, do you demand a full refund then as well? And would they offer you a massive discount - your words, not mine -Im guessing not, because that is rather an act of god. And do you realise what you have actually achieved? I think you are right, that many people will not be booking because of all this cr:p. So, who have you actually hurt with your ranting? Is it Steve? Of course not. Steve can operate in any country he chooses. So, lets look again at who you have affected. Could it be Terrence, Henri, "Ashtray" man Warren, Johan and all the other guides dependant on the tourism income to feed their families? Absolutely. And what did you get from all this? Im not sure. Smug self satisfaction is the answer I keep coming up with, but I think when you read these words and consider your actions, remorse and regret for getting involved would be the feelings of a normal sane person. So, for the benefit of everybody, LET IT GO, let the guys get their reputations back by people showing off their catches in the magazines, and let the banter about Namibia be about the good time they had, with or without massive catches. Why you wish to sabotage what is still a fledgling tourist industry in the country by putting people off with your half truths and venom I really dont understand. It is a lot of money to fish for Bronzies, if you dont have the money to write off, dont go. Simple. And please let me know when you are booking again, so I dont take the same dates, because I for one would not want my holiday spoilt by having to fish with yourself. I get enough moaners in the UK. Now, do you understand why I said FINAL? Unfortunately, I am in the horrible position of knowing too much about everything to do with this situation. Nobody in this is a perfect innocent, and the best possible thing that could happen is that Steve and Terrence put it all behind them and move on¨, which actually I beleive they have. The only people dragging it all on is you and I. If the tourism for catching sharks drops, the Namibian government will re-consider the proposed shark finning factory, because the only argument against it currently is the revenue created by the anglers. If the shark finning factory opens, the inshore Bronzie population would be decimated in a few years, because they are predictable in their habits, and therefore would make an easy target. Very little is actually known about these fish, hence the Bronzie project, and it could be that these are the same Bronzies that turn up on the Australian and American coasts. Then you would have the fame I think you crave. Dale, the man that helped make one of the most beautiful sharks in the world disappear. You want that on your headstone? Probably better you just go fishing than continue your attack on the Namibian tourist industry, dont you think....? Right, Im getting married in eleven hours - I am writing this from Prague - and thankyou very much also for helping my mood to be so good, on this, the biggest day of my life. Perhaps rather than swapping blows with your good self, I will go and get some sleep. Think very hard if you are going to respond, and be responsible for your words. When you post on a thread like this, potentially the whole world is listening, and from what I can work out, you like Terrence and the guys. Dont take the bread from their mouths with irresponsible posting.

HI chris, Thanks for that. And actually, I am not sure if we dont know each other. Many years ago, at the dawn of time - well, about the time Carp Fever was published - I was involved with the Penge Angling chain, and we used to attend the Carp Society shows etc... Do I not remember a Chris Goddard speaking at such an event, or has the years of sitting by the water addled my brain to the point of false memory syndrome.....?

Actually, it was some of the people on this thread, but are you struggling with the word FINAL....?

I would like to make a final comment on all the BS about fishing in Namibia. Unfortunately, I have been dragged into the quagmire behind the threads, in the world of PM, and one thing that I have discovered is that all parties with grievances are cherry picking in what information they give or dont give. For the record, I would like to record the facts, for the sake of both Steve and Terences reputations. 1) I took a trip through MolaMola.co.uk in February 2004. I had a fantastic time. Steve,Terence (and Henri) gave us a fantastic trip, lots of fish. Made many friends amongst the local people also, some of whom I am still in contact with now. Incredible. Expensive - Yes. Value for money - Exceptional. Did I have any issues- Yes, didnt want to leave, but lifes like that. 2) Booked again for Feb 2006. Got told by Steve that the fishing was terrrible, and I might like to postpone. I talked to my group, and we agreed to postpone. Asked Steve about the deposit, and he suggested to hold it over for another booking. We were happy to do this. Was the fishing terrible - I think Dale can confirm that. Although there are usually the big edibles when there are no sharks, many people have interest in Namibia purely for the bronze whalers (whereas most of the German clients of these guys perfer to fish for freezer fodder - interesting comparison I thought...). There are other, cheaper options for Kob and Steinbrass in SA. Was it the fault of MolaMola.co.uk or of Terrence that there were no sharks.- Doh! Of course not. Was Steve right to give us this advice - Actually, I think yes. I think because of the specialsed nature of the trip, any responsible operator should advise their client of the latest position. Was the fishing bad - No, it fished its head off starting the very day we should have turned up (see Guitar Mans report). Am I gutted - No, because I understand fishing and I know full well this happens. Should Terrence be upset - Of course, it was a great opportunity to show the fishing was good. He knows our group, and he knows we would have made the best of the fishing. And he was left without clients at a very busy time of the year (the Namibian guides really only do good business through the September to March season, so they have to try an make their income last - hence the seemingly high prices in an economy where a kilo of steak is less than a fiver, cooked and served with a bottle of SA red...) 3) all this BS kicks off. I get told lots of things off the threads. I know many of these things allready, but some I am very suprised at. All of the information I have was given in strict confidentiality, but there are three people who might read this thread feelin a little uneasy right now. I can understand why two of them are passionate about it. They both have livelihoods to protect, mortgages to pay, that kind of thing. The third one is just an agitator, who obviously doesnt understand how the world works. I should imagine the result of a sheltered upbringing. Unfortunately, he has taken a side, which is something I am not prepared to do. 4) Now I am rocked by the whole thing. Suspicion of financial irregularities start creeping in. Having been ripped in the past, I get worried and ask Steve for a refund. The money is in the bank three days later. Do I trust Steve in matters of money? Absolutely. He had my money as we agreed, and I didnt have to argue it out of him or worse. I just asked, he said of course, and the money was back to me again. These are all facts. Its a shame that anything to do with fishing has to degenerate into the sort of situation that we all go fishing to escape from, but thats life! To underline everything, both Steve and Terrence are first class. Terrence never needed an agent in the UK, as it is reasonably straight forward to arrange a trip out to Walvis bay, but with Steve the fishing did get very well publicised, and I would say MolaMola.co.uk is one of the reasons so many English anglers are now going over there (especially after Mr Gilbys article, which was a molamola.co.uk trip). Steve also made a very good host when we werent on the beach, which was all part of the crack for me. Please take this as an unbiased and fair opinion of the situation. My involvement with both parties is purely as a client and I have no other involvment with either party. Steve has not contributed on these threads, which must have taken a lot of tongue biting, and is the main reason I feel that I should post. I have far better things to do to be honest than sticking my head over the trench. Would I go to Namibia to fish with Terence again? Already planning a trip in February, just need to generate some money for it!! Would I do another trip through MolaMola.co.uk? Definately, I know Steve is actively looking for more venues that offer something a little different, and when he comes up with one I will want to give it a look, because I know he wont settle for anything less than exceptional. I was worried about the money, but when I actually dealt with it I got the same good service that I got in 2003/4. If anyones going to kick back at me for this post, dont bother. This is the last post from me on the whole thing. I would rather be fishing. This is the way I see it. Full stop. Bored of it all now. IF you want to talk Bronzies, fine. If you want to talk who did what, dont waste my time. Cheers Robin

The wrasse is an immature corkwing, as you say. I am catching shedloads of them this size and colour at the moment when out prawning. They will develop their normal (but still very exotic) colouring over the next couple of months, as I never find green ones after the end of October.

Hi Elton, Here is a picture of the Roker they get in Namibia. My friend Nigel got this on a trip with Terrence in 2004 For the record, we have only ever received the very highest quality and service from Terrence. 57 Bronzies in one day to 9 anglers, nearer 100 hook ups.....! Plus all the other species, plus the wildlife, etc etc etc Plus the FOOD (incredible. I like my steaks served by the kilo) plus Terences mother in laws Schnitzel. Its why we breathe.......