Uneasiness

[Cwab]

I had to go look on the dark side to remind myself ... he was Nigel Savage (known as crazy horse) and was lost from the cliffs at Burniston, just North of Scarborough. I have to say that the conversation has always haunted me a little ... there is always that little voice in the back of my head telling me I should have pressed harder to persuade him that dogs and heights don't mix.

Suspect would have changed nothing and we each make our choices when old enough, accidents happen unfortunately

 

[Mr Fish]

I had to go look on the dark side to remind myself ... he was Nigel Savage (known as crazy horse) and was lost from the cliffs at Burniston, just North of Scarborough. I have to say that the conversation has always haunted me a little ... there is always that little voice in the back of my head telling me I should have pressed harder to persuade him that dogs and heights don't mix.

Yes I think I’d feel the same but realistically there’s probably nothing more you could have done - people aren’t likely to be swayed from an ingrained habit/view by a relative stranger on the internet.

 

[Mr Fish]

It’s OT from ghosts so I won’t labour it too much but are you familiar with Selworthy @blakdog is back ?

North Somerset mark, very high scree cliff, accessible for about four hours and you scramble down the steep shillet using ropes.
I wouldn’t fish it now but years ago went down there and a guy just leaving, had a German Shepherd type dog with him.
The foreshore until you get to the sand is the typical North Somerset boulders and obviously you’ve got the very steep slope to haul yourself up.
We chatted and I asked if it wasn’t a bit dangerous for the dog and he laughed and said ‘he’s got four wheel drive, I’ve only got two’
I just said, well it’s a bit remote if anything happened and he shrugged and off he went.

I was thinking about it while fishing and it wouldn’t be too hard for a dog to snap a leg between those boulders, not to mention the dangers of the climb.
Plus they may be sure footed but they don’t reason about hazards the way we do, so the dog wouldn’t recognise the black boulders in the wet were slippery etc etc.
I say ‘remote’. There’s usually no phone signal down there and even for a fit person you’re talking the best part of 30 minutes back to the coast path and then 20 more to the car park.
If anything had happened I couldn’t see how he could have got himself and the dog out, even if he left his gear behind. And possibly put himself at risk if he’d tried.
Plus the foreshore pretty much disappears on big tides.
It just seemed an extremely silly risk to take for the sake of fishing with your dog, as nice as that might be.

Anyway, I’ve gone OT so if that’s a conversation people want to continue I’ll start another thread.

 

[DaveH]

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It just seemed an extremely silly risk to take for the sake of fishing with your dog, as nice as that might be.

My view - for what its worth - is that we are hunters in the purist sense of the word (especially some river fishing, and most sea-fishing). We hunt wild prey, in wild places. It's in our collective nature to take risks. You hope you learn a bit of sense as you get older. I've found that if you live long enough your body will eventually start to slow down - that minimises the risk-taking to a degree. Personally speaking, I'd rather (as happened to the father-in-law of a friend) be swept away whilst wading in the Tay at the age of 82, salmon-fishing, than die at 70 because I'd drunk too much.

 

[Wolf]

Spooky mate, seems to be a lot of anglers saying the same stories there. Haven't fished the back of the island but Fort Victoria at night by myself was the other place I felt uneasy at, constant feeling of being watched..

I've had the same feeling when I've fished there at night

 

[chesilpete]

I took my old Terrier to Selworthy but did a day stint she loved a bit of bouldering, Ted on the other hand is clumsy AF.
Selworthy is definitely a daylight venue unless you know it well it def has the potential to be dangerous.
Although I would say that many Bristol Channel venues have the potential to be dangerous.
With a 10m tide on any low water reef mark you can get yourself in plenty of trouble.
Always pair up.... and leave a margin for error.

 

[Cwab]

Risks everywhere where I fish and could just easily slip and brake neck especially on rock edges pulling for a brake or walking to mark and think nearly everyone pushes their luck at some point most nights one way or another.
Do see some folks asking to be drowned and some succeed.

 

[Mr Fish]

My view - for what its worth - is that we are hunters in the purist sense of the word (especially some river fishing, and most sea-fishing). We hunt wild prey, in wild places. It's in our collective nature to take risks. You hope you learn a bit of sense as you get older. I've found that if you live long enough your body will eventually start to slow down - that minimises the risk-taking to a degree. Personally speaking, I'd rather (as happened to the father-in-law of a friend) be swept away whilst wading in the Tay at the age of 82, salmon-fishing, than die at 70 because I'd drunk too much.

Oh I agree. As I said, I’ve taken risks fishing that were a bit silly in hindsight although I try to learn from them.
There’s always the ‘you could slip on a rock and break something’ scenario but really that’s a standard risk that goes with the territory.
The alternative is never fish on rocks or otherwise you just have to be as mindful as possible. There’s a knack to moving over rocks the same as there is to walking across estuary mud etc.

But when it comes to dogs, or kids, that’s another sentient being with its own and possibly unknown variables.
That’s not to say don’t ever fish with them but I’d have limits on where I’d take them.

 

[Mr Fish]

I took my old Terrier to Selworthy but did a day stint she loved a bit of bouldering, Ted on the other hand is clumsy AF.
Selworthy is definitely a daylight venue unless you know it well it def has the potential to be dangerous.
Although I would say that many Bristol Channel venues have the potential to be dangerous.
With a 10m tide on any low water reef mark you can get yourself in plenty of trouble.
Always pair up.... and leave a margin for error.

I know it pretty well but wouldn’t fish it at night simply because it ups the risk level and given its remoteness there’s unlikely to be anyone else for miles after dark. Bad enough in day light.
I doubt I’ll fish it again, simply because the body wouldn’t take it these days.
It’s also a LOT of effort for about four hours fishing, which can be very good or can be four hours feeding the dogfish. There are comparable marks nearby although not as good that don’t require the same amount of effort or have as much risk

Personally I wouldn’t take a dog down there regardless as I think it’s a very bad spot to be in if something did go wrong.
If there’s two of you then you at least have more options ie one can fetch help etc, but the guy I met was completely on his own.

 

[Beach]

Nightime after dark is good for whiting to make fishcakes, failing that fly fish for sea trout & salmon def after dark.

 

[DaveH]

But when it comes to dogs, or kids, that’s another sentient being with its own and possibly unknown variables.
That’s not to say don’t ever fish with them but I’d have limits on where I’d take them.

I kayak. I'm 74 and Summer and Winter - once a week - I paddle on Llangorse in the Brecon Beacons. In the Winter months I paddle alone, often I'm the only boat on the whole lake. I minimise risk as far as I can, but at the end of the day it's my choice, my risk. It drives me daft to see kids out on the same lake, on a tippy canoe, with no flotation devices and in high winds (we get gusts of up to 40mph and sometimes higher on there). What are the bloody parents thinking?

 

[Mr Fish]

I kayak. I'm 74 and Summer and Winter - once a week - I paddle on Llangorse in the Brecon Beacons. In the Winter months I paddle alone, often I'm the only boat on the whole lake. I minimise risk as far as I can, but at the end of the day it's my choice, my risk. It drives me daft to see kids out on the same lake, on a tippy canoe, with no flotation devices and in high winds (we get gusts of up to 40mph and sometimes higher on there). What are the bloody parents thinking?

Yes I see it here in the summer with stand up paddle boards, dad paddling and kid sat on the board. Sometimes with a life vest, sometimes not.

Open sea, Bristol Channel tidal range, what could go wrong? A couple of times I’ve been on the verge of calling the coastguard for people, but they’ve managed to return to shore very bedraggled, shaken and looking frozen.
I say ‘on the verge’ because that particular spot would need a 30 minute hike up the cliff before I could get a signal so rightly or wrongly I wait and see what’s happening first!

 

[mojocvh]

That’s very sad. As you say, that’s something you’d never want to be proved right on.

People do unfortunately get a bit blinkered in their activities at times - I probably do myself when it comes to fishing and do or did take chances I shouldn’t.

Funny as you should mention that but that sums up my early wildfowling years.

It'll be alright. Aye right.

Do wonder how I actually survived some of my f**k ups.

As for uneasiness, Life has taught me to go with my gut feeling and to watch your dog.

 

[Squiditch]

I can remember as a lad fishing a local park lake for the usual tench and big roach, I had been there for some time perfectly still summer night just the odd moorhen making a racket, it must have been around 01.00 in the morning when all of a sudden a sound of breaking branches and heavy feet and snorting was heard across the lake in direction of the woods, quite a large outline of a creature could just be picked out in the darkness as it proceeded to slurp quite a bit of water. A couple of minutes later it doubled back into the woods the same way it came down.
My fishing buddy and I were frozen to the spot with fear not even dare go for a slash.
The park is very old and full of ghostly stories but that’s the only time I’ve been spooked fishing.
We often talk about the encounter and wondered what it could have been, it was too noisy and heavy like to be a stag and too early for the rut.

 

[Cwab]

I can remember as a lad fishing a local park lake for the usual tench and big roach, I had been there for some time perfectly still summer night just the odd moorhen making a racket, it must have been around 01.00 in the morning when all of a sudden a sound of breaking branches and heavy feet and snorting was heard across the lake in direction of the woods, quite a large outline of a creature could just be picked out in the darkness as it proceeded to slurp quite a bit of water. A couple of minutes later it doubled back into the woods the same way it came down.
My fishing buddy and I were frozen to the spot with fear not even dare go for a slash.
The park is very old and full of ghostly stories but that’s the only time I’ve been spooked fishing.
We often talk about the encounter and wondered what it could have been, it was too noisy and heavy like to be a stag and too early for the rut.

Wild pig maybe? Either way it would bleed by sound of it.