John Bailey: Disappointment of fish lost drives us all on

[Elton]

Make no mistake, a lost fish can be as dramatically exciting as a landed one. Too much success and you get glib, complacent and probably don’t work as hard at your fishing as you should be doing.

 

Article here:

http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/other-sport/n...ll_on_1_1202578

[dant]

Article here:

http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/other-sport/n...ll_on_1_1202578

 

Quite a fair light article that although I have a couple of queries.

If his account of his mid-80's lost Thurne Pike is to be supported all the way through then I too can say I've lost a 30lb Thurne Pike, infact I've probably lost somewhere in the region of 100, 30lb Thurne Pike. I'm sure that's called a 'dropped run'?????? Not sure how you could estimate a fishes weight from a dropped run? A tiny Jack can make a real mess of a bait in about 10 seconds...

 

Also I think the biggest disappointment John Bailey should have out of all that is, if he managed to follow a 20lb plus Sea trout all the way from Wiveton Bridge to Cley sluice he had a fair chance of squeezing into the Munich Olympics as the great gold medal triple jump hope. A career missed there!

[AddictedToScopex]

Im afraid I just cant help but call BS on most of those. Rose tinted tales is all. Maybe I am just a big cynic.

Edited February 10, 2012 by AddictedToScopex

[dant]

Im afraid I just cant help but call BS on most of those. Rose tinted tales is all. Maybe I am just a big cynic.

 

To be fair he is a nice bloke. I met him when I was a teenager fishing a N.Norfolk estate lake and he was extremely helpful unlike another famous Norfolk fishing John, whom I also met regularly around the same time whilst fishing Charity Lakes in Lenwade. Less said about that experience the better.

John Bailey is I'm sure a very good angler so I'll let most of it go as artistic license, surely that's one of the main forces behind fishy tales??

Edited February 10, 2012 by dant

[Thames Steve]

Much artistic licence but I don't see why the claims about size should be considered BS.

 

Only in this week's AM he mentions he's landed, weighed and photoed for others over 400 20lb pike, over 30 30lbers and 3 40lbers.

 

If you fish over a lifetime, that often, on the right waters, you're naturally going to lose the occasional monster...and you'll remember them well, surely?

[Anderoo]

Quite a bit of poetic license there I think! A nice read though.

 

I've lost quite a few 9lb+ chub that have thumped into the snags with unstoppable force. Unfortunately I've also caught quite a few that have done the same thing but I managed to land despite the odds, and they usually weigh about 4lb

[azrael]

some time you you have to accept and see the best in people

 

its not good to go through your life thinking that every one lies or is twisting the truth

 

he does catch a lot of big pike and so might be true

[Dick Dastardly]

Lets not forget this is the guy whowrote the article in Coarse Fisherman about all the 40lb pike they caught on a trip to Sweden.........................plenty of photos of smallish pike but hadnt "bothered" to photo any of the 40's ..................................................................

[AddictedToScopex]

I knew people would berate my comment but to just flippantly assume sizes like that is just fanciful. As anderoo implies I just think it is a case of 'it was this big'. While still a decent read I dont take the weights at all seriously.

[Dick Dastardly]

ATS I dont know any top angler who rates John Bailey that seriously either!