So Many Fish So Little Time

You know your blip year is starting to get very desperate when you seriously start considering the merits of either the queue at the 'Big Blue' fish and chip shop, or tins of line-caught tuna on the shelves of Tesco Metro, both in Grappenhall on our way home tonight. I think I may need to change my modus operandi come March 5th or whenever it is my 365 is up. In the meantime you'll have to do with views like my poorly ordered, and over-loaded fishing book shelf at home. The sad thing is that the other half my fishing book collection is in Anglesey.

The reason for another fishy blip? Well firstly, why not? It has been at least 2 days since the last one; The other reason was I caught a very interesting Open Book review today of "A fishy tale set in 1930's Scarborough", which was Robert Hudson's new novel called The Dazzle. The story is real enough though. and based on the huge tuna that used to be caught in the North Sea off Scarborough by the 'white mischief' set of something called The British Tunny Club between the wars. I have actually seen a huge stuffed one of these in a case (that is, tuna not landed gentry) in the mansion at Tatton Park. The Guinness Book of Records still list these catches in it's British Fishing Records. So where did they all go? Disappeared when the Herring shoals went it seems. How sad is that?

You can actually still go fishing for tuna off Donegal western Ireland, but that is the Atlantic of course. I have been and tried and paid the heavy price for that just once (and never again). These Irish boats catch only about 2 fish a year, albeit tuna that are about 6 foot long and 4 feet deep and can sell for about £25,000 a piece to the Japanese.

The best tuna I ever caught was of course in Maldive waters. In total local style, this was on a 50lb hand line - attached to a rope - attached to the boat. The landed fish was about 10 inches long. Not very impressive you might think, but if I tell you that was just the head up to the gills, as it's body had just been ripped off by a tiger shark as I pulled it in, it puts it into perspective (a big sigh of regret at this point).

Postscript: The reason for a late blip heading home tonight, was that me and MrsB had gone to visit a sweet old lady friend who used to work in the local charity shop. She was in hospital over in Warrington, and though she was getting a bit confused, she was glad to see us at evening visiting time. I say a bit confused, but if I made 85 like her, I would happily accept that state of affairs. Hopefully she will be coming home next week.

Talking of 80+ ladies, whilst we were out I rang my mum who took great pleasure in telling me she had to call the plumber out to fix the U-bend to the sink I had supposedly 'fixed' for her yesterday. It was dripping and cost her a £20 call-out she said. I asked her "not to tell my sister". MrsB took great delight in that one. I think the word "useless" was used at one point. A tad harsh, I thought.