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Red Ice

- 30th April 2008

I had to go and get the job done, even though to be honest my interest levels had dropped well below my own belt! All I had to do was get myself out to Sudan , fit a small search vehicle with some electronics and then I could scurry off to the Ebro for a spot of fishing. Should have been fairly straight forward, but as usual these things never seem to turn out that way. First off I had a 100kg of equipment to carry, and a baggage limit with the airline of only 20kg…….and at an excess baggage charge of £7 per kilo it was going to be expensive. However in true Black Adder tradition, I had cunning plan! I'd noticed on the airline's web page that sporting equipment was charged at £15 per item. So I nipped down the sports shop and bought the largest snowboard bag I could find, and stuffed it full. At the check-in desk the lovely young girl asked me where I was going, and I told her Sudan……and she then proceeded to request £15 for my snowboard! Not sure how the snow conditions are in Sudan……or whether world geography was one of her strong points? Either way I saved myself a big baggage bill. After arriving in Khartoum I picked up a UN flight on to Kadugli, where I would be met by the client, or so I thought. Kadugli, it could be said, at best is in the middle of nowhere. I jumped off the small twin prop plane and looked around for my pick-up, but no one was there. I waited for an hour or so, until the 45 degree heat was getting the better of me and got on the satellite phone to the client….. "someone will be with you shortly", I was told. Yet another hour passed and more sweat poured down my brow! 3 hours and 4 phone calls later a vehicle and driver finally appeared. "Is it far to your compound" I asked, thinking that the chap must have been driving all that time. "Oh no" he said, "just 10 minutes"! The joys of Africa again! The job actually went surprisingly well there after, until I was due to leave, and the airport was closed for 3 days due to sand storms. By the time I finally left Sudan I was itching to get going to the Ebro for some of those big cats and carp.

I met with my Dad and friend Ray, and we had an overnight stay in a hotel in Gatwick, ready for the early flight out to Barcelona. Next morning my Dad and I looked like we'd been out on the town all night. Unfortunately our bloodshot eyes were due to lack of sleep, having been kept awake all night due to Ray's pneumatic drill snoring! I have never heard anything like it, and am sure he even managed to wake himself up a couple of times. In to Barcelona, and a swift drive in the rental car to Mequinenza where we hooked up with our old friend Steve Buss of carp and catbusster fame. There had been a lot of rain, and added to the melting snow coming of the Pyrenees made the river near to un-fishable, so we made a move up above the dam to Caspe. After settling to our accommodation, and ensuring Ray was placed in a sound proof cell for the night, we got on with some fishing. Conditions were not at their best and we knew that things could be hard going. However Ray managed half a dozen fish on the second day, topped with a 107lber, while Dad got stuck into some carp, and I……….erm……..well, made some fine cups of coffee! The weather was as in decisive as Ray's strikes, and we seemed to get all four seasons in one day. We moved swims after the third day, as the fish really were not playing ball, and it was to be a good move. We found a bay with a good number of fish showing on the echo sounder, and duly gave them a good amount of halibut pellet to get them feeding. Dad then managed a proper cat of 99lb, but Ray just saw this as a chance to make fun of the poor guy, by telling him that a 99 was in fact a flake you stuck in ice cream, and not a fish. It was amazing how many miles there were in this joke and my Dad became the flaky angler for the rest of the trip. What is it they say about he who laughs last? As Dad ended his trip with a PB 133, on the final, and now sunny day…..not a bad effort for an old'un! Myself? Well I managed to get quite a few fish on the bank, but those real big fish didn't come my way this time around.

I got back just in time for the Total Course Fishing Showcase, and must say that even without the presence of Michelle Thorne, Ultima had a great stand. Michelle just added that little bit (or big bits!) of attraction. The knot trying contest went down a storm, and even I was amazed at just how weak line becomes with a badly tied knot. Mike Wilkinson's knot would have won no prizes in a beauty contest, but it sure was strong……well done mate.

I've now got a couple of weeks at home, so hope to get out and start testing some new rig line on my local pike waters. At the end of May I'll be heading out to Cambodia and will be chasing down monster catfish in the Mekong Delta……can't wait!!!!

- 28th March 2008

I am now close to suicidal.....what is it they say? 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'.......well I must be getting dull, because it's been a FFZ(fishing free zone) this past 2 weeks! I've been desperately trying to squeeze something in.....I'd even settle for a bit of minnow bashing just now, but I haven't even seen any water........even the taps are dry!

Collecting and decommissioning munitions in the Western Sahara is about as fun as eating sandpaper sandwiches.....only with slightly more sand! If I never see a grain of sand for the rest of my life I'll be happy. It's like living in some kind of giant egg timer, where the egg needs to be boiled for 2 weeks. I was even mad enough to bring my rods with me.......well you never know, it might rain? Just because it hasn't seen much rain for the past 8000 years doesn't mean it won't start now. The wet doom cloud normally follows me everywhere!

Added to the sand and heat has been the worlds noisiest donkey...who ensured that sleeping at night was made extra difficult by crowing away all night just outside my tent. I know, donkeys don't crow, but I'm not sure I can spell eeyore?!!! Everything has now turned orange and I have sand in every nook and cranny! For once I'll be glad of some cold UK weather....I'll never complain about the rain again, I promise.

All will be replaced with Joy soon however, as I am taking a break and wetting a line in Spain's Rio Ebro, for some monsters cats and carp. I'll be taking my old fella and a friend, and we'll be hooking up with our old pal Stephen Buss from carp and cat bussters fame. I've been there a few times in the past and the action has always proved exciting.....so watch this space. Once I get back from Spain I'll be loitering around the Ultima stand at the Stoneleigh Total Coarse Fishing Show...............hope to see you all there?

Beer Betting, a Lunar Landing, and Red Sea Wrecks.
- 15th February 2008

Had a torrid time trying to get myself in to Sudan, so decided to defer to a later date....Ethiopia on the other hand was much easier and far more routine, well, as routine as Africa can be! Smile a lot, make airport officials feel important, move swiftly along....and using the powers of Obi Wan Kenobi I was through customs and out into the bright sunlight blinking like a coal miner. Addis Ababa was as hot and dusty as ever. With their horns on continual send a sea of blue taxis and mini buses flooded along. I took the ride of death inside a rather bruised old Mercedes taxi, and it wasn't panning out well, as the driver managed two minor accidents before we'd even left the car park! I met with Olivier(a French bomb disposal specialist) in the hotel lobby. Olivier and I have known each other for a few years now and he keeps me entertained biting at every dig I make toward the French....all done in jest!

We would be heading up to the border in the morning where I was needed to fix a problem with a remote controlled tracked mini machine. The drive up was far more civilised than my taxi excursion from the airport. Olivier had shinny Toyota Land Cruiser with air conditioning and a stereo. As is usual, I was expecting that I had travelled thousands of miles for a 10 minute job, and I was right. After a few minutes I had the machine up and running again. Olivier took me down into the village to show me rocket warhead imbedded in a tree in the middle of a village. Only the base was showing from the tree, but I was sure it was just a section of the fuel stack and that the warhead had detonated within the tree. Olivier was having none of it and the France v Britain argument restarted, before the gauntlet was finally laid down in the shape of a beer bet....no small bet of a pint, but an all you can drink bet! I brought down the remote unit and used the cutting head to slice into the tree. We then cobbled together a chain and a set of vice grips to attach to the warhead, so that I could use the machine to remotely remove it from the tree.........job done and yes, the Frenchman gloated as it was free beer for him all night!!!! Nursing hangovers that would have killed a dozen elephants, Olivier and I headed toward the border into Djibouti and onto the coast. Olivier was behind the wheel and I snoozed away my sore head. I woke suddenly as we slammed into a pot hole. I gazed out of the window, and then did a double take of the inside of the vehicle…….was I in the moon buggy and was that in fact Neil Armstrong at the controls? No I was aboard the Toyota and it was a mad Frenchman! The landscape really look like the moon….not that I've been their, but I have seen it on the telly.

I was stunned to find a really smart looking boat in the harbour with a very proud owner stood by. We struck a deal, and Olivier and I boarded the sleek vessel and were whisked out in to the Red Sea. The skipper said he new of a shipwreck which was home to many large fish, but while our charter was nice and new there was no GPS or echo sounder, so I couldn't fathom how he would find a wreck in the open sea. I need not have worried, as what I had not expected was a ship out of water. There was the wreck, perched upon a sand bank, with it's rusty derricks pointing skywards. All around fish dashed and darted. Amongst the many species I saw half a dozen big fish circling around, they look like sharks, but then I realised they were in fact Cobia. I broke out the lure rod and decided that as these fish were near the top I'd have a go with a surface lure, a big pink one. Catching a Cobia on a surface lure can be likened to catching a salmon on a dry fly, not impossible, but very rare. Cast after cast and the fish made no response, then suddenly one of the fish turned and smashed into big pink! I'm sure it did it out of annoyance. This Cobia really wasn't happy and fought like a trooper. Eventually we boated the fish, 25lb F1 taking the strain again, took some holiday snaps, and then returned her to her home, and fished on happy for the rest of the day...

Secret Loch - 26th January 2008

I finally got myself back home, ready to relax. However I'm now confused, I don't miss the travel pains, and sweating my head off is no fun! While hot is hot, cold remains shivering...and Scotland is proper cold right now!...go hang your head in the freezer for a bit and you'll get the idea. So while I hate the heat, I also can't be bothered with frozen car windscreens...I must just be a true Brit!?

It's now that time of year when I am trying to plan the next 12 months, but my work is not so simple! One day I think I have it all mapped out, but then I get called away, which throws a spanner in the works.

As things stand just now, I have a right old busy month. I'm off to Beirut and then on to Sudan, and finally Ethiopia. Now there must be some fishing in there somewhere! The Red Sea is almost certainly on the cards, and I've been in touch with my great colleague Nick who lives in Kenya and he's up for a Nile Perch trip. So it should be interesting on the fishing front, stay tuned.

It's also been a week of my tackle spring clean. It's now that we should all sort and spruce up our gear, as spring and warm days will be upon us before we know it. So I've been cleaning rods and reels, reloading with new line, checking and sorting all the boxes of bits. For me, my fishing is very varied, while I obviously get the chance to fish some great waters around the globe, I still love my fishing at home. Living in the heart of the Scottish Highlands means some great Salmon and Trout rivers along with some of the best Pike fishing in the UK. Talking of which, I have finally secured permission to fish what I'll call the 'Secret Loch'. It's a Loch that has seen almost no fishing, as it's a nature reserve. Last year we had a bit of a try out, just to see, and over 2 days it threw up three thirties and several twenties...not to my rod though! It surely has huge potential and is in the most idyllic surroundings. I can't wait, and weather permitting I hope to start my quest in April.

I've enjoyed the relaxation this week, but am ready to grab my bag and head to the airport. So it's back on the road (well in the air really) for me, so I'll touch base next week, and do my best to wet a line or two in the mean time...

Love it or hate it - 6th January 2008

Love it or hate it, Africa is certainly never dull! Tasked with ensuring the safety of a bunch of geologists from a large mining company should be easy money. After all, they just collect rocks! I was to be on escort duty for the week, up close to the Mozambique/Tanzanian border. I actually like these jobs, private planes and helicopters to get me around the place. However it turned out that the geologists had desires on the most inaccessible place they could find.....so it was on with the walking boots. I'd worked in this region before and while there had previously been some very substantial minefields, most had now been cleared up by international demining agencies. However my team of geologists were very valuable, so I was taking no chances. I already had all the map data on the past conflicts, so was confident of safety, but insisted that we stick to the elephant trails to be sure. Don't be miss lead into thinking this is some free safari trip, as walking through the hot African bush does not feature high on my 'weekend to do' list! Hot and somewhat bored, I past the time by trying to avoid the swarms of malaria ridden mosquitoes, while my beloved party got excited by every new stone they put in their bags! Suddenly....Whiz, Crack, Thud! Everyone stared at me like startled sheep for some kind of answer as to what that was. I knew exactly what it was.....a rifle round! However to avoid panic, I babbled on like a mental patient, about hunters...the round being miles away, etc. Not sure they believed me though. Then out of the bush came this dishevelled old fool with a rifle he must have saved from the battle of Rorke's Drift! Even if he had been shooting at us he'd have been lucky to hit a barn sat inside the thing! Then the mental patient returned and started to try and converse with the bushman. As a peace offering I gave him a Powerbar, and in return was offered the leg of a wild bore!

The rest of the week went without event, as I continued to murder mosquitoes! The weekend arrived and I offered to arrange a fishing trip for the boys, at which point they muttered on about sea sickness and needing cold beer. So we headed to the coast to Palma were I had been informed I could find a boat. The guys would stay on shore and set up a BBQ, and I'd catch dinner.....all sounded good, now all I needed was a boat. Andre was your typical South African who had fled the country at the end of the apartheid regime, who had now set up a prawn catching business in Mozambique. Judging by the state of Andre's boat business wasn't that good, but hey it had engines and was floating. Andrea assured me that the fishing was good. We did a deal where I would supply the fuel and he would get to keep whatever I caught, in return for the use of the boat. I must say I prefer to return my catches unharmed, but as they say "This is Africa".

I'd spooled up with nice new 35lb Red Ice before leaving home. I love this line for big game as it's so visible and you can see exactly where the fish is heading throughout the fight. We headed out off-shore and I connected up my favourite Rapala CD22's, big bad lures that can be trolled fast and deep. With the sun just creeping skywards I let the lures run. The big Orange lure hadn't been out more than 10 minutes when the reel screamed and the rod arched to breaking point. Andrea backed down on the motors as I was struggling to get the rod from the holder. As I laid into the fish she broke surface and while I had no idea what she was.....she was big! After about 10 minutes it seemed as though she had suddenly got a burst of extra energy....did I drop one of my Powerbars overboard? What a scrap! As she neared the boat I saw why she had got the sudden burst of power.....the hook had slipped and she had become hooked in the flank. This was a 5 foot King Mackerel, an absolute monster. While the rest of the day saw a variety of fish take my lures nothing really came close to the first fish.

The BBQ that night was a blast, cold beers some great story swapping, and I was the hero of the day supplying the feast!........How much did she weigh? We'll never know, but I just checked on the IGFA World Record and it stands at 92lb.....she was up there somewhere, but then again the IGFA ratification process is a pain, and the BBQ was much easier. Who else can say they've scoffed a near world record fish?.........Burp!!!

Guinea-Bissau - 15th December 2007

Hi folks.....It's been a funny old week, first up I'd been expecting to be kicking back at home up in the Scottish Highlands, in the crisp cold weather. Then I got a call from the US Government, as they had a job for me in warmer climes! Guinea-Bissau is a small republic in North West Africa, which nestles neatly between Senegal and Sierra Leone. I'd been out there before so knew instantly that some good fishing would be on the cards.....between work of course! I'd been tasked to go and check-out a large UXO(Unexploded Ordnance) clear-up operation that I'd kicked off back in early 2006. The usual shenanigans ensued on the trip out, switching flights 4 times, strange that there are never direct flights wherever I go?!!!! Then it was the final short hop from Dakar to Bissau aboard that lovely local African aircraft. Not sure what they put in their planes, but the last time my nostrils were treated to such odours was when I'd gone and left dead lamprey in my pike bag for 2 weeks! Avoiding the bribery requirements at customs I made a quick exit from the airport tackle in hand...always need to protect my assets in such places. A week on site, and it looked like the boys had done a half decent job of rounding up vast piles of stray ammunition and bombs for me to deal with.....you can't beat a good explosion or two!

Job done, and I took the 45 minute drive out of town to meet up with my old friend Antone the deck hand. He fired up the 250 horses at the boats stern and we were soon heading down river and out into the Atlantic archipelago which covers the coast line of Bissau. I'd taken my jerk bait rod and small multiplier loaded up with 20lb Ultima F1, great for taking a bashing amongst the rocky island outcrops. It wasn't long before Antone's sharp eyes spotted a shoal of bait fished looking as agitated as an anglers wife who's just spotted the box of maggots hidden in the fridge! A swift cast of the surface lure close to the rocks, a couple of turns of the reel handle and the second explosion of the week....this time one angry Jack Crevalle! And boy was he ever angry, straight into the rocks he went. I hung on while Antone manoeuvred the boat for a better angle of pull. I waited for the line to part, but as ever I was amazed at the abuse F1 can take without giving in, then as quick as the jack went in he waved his little white flag and came back out. He was mine, and judging by the grin on Antones face, that Jack was already being dressed with chilly sauce! The remainder of the day saw us speeding from one rocky island to another, with the complete smorgasbord of Atlantic coastal species gracing the net.

My travels will be taking me to Mozambique next week, on the Indian Ocean side of Africa. I'll be after the things that swim there for sure. Cheers for now, Phil.....