Manx Boat Fishing Dick of the Week Nominations

The Manx Boat Fishing 3 Day Festival was, I’m sure everyone will agree, a resounding success.

Three hard days of fishing were always going to lead to one or two things going slightly awry and with the characters participating there were always going to be cock ups along the way !

Day 1 saw Merit 1 owners Gary Bridson and Lee Graham both arrive hungover  and with dodgy stomachs after a somewhat ‘lively’ post booking in session the night before !!



In fact shortly after the above photo was taken Gary proceeded to projectile vomit over the side when anchored at the Sheddings.
No wonder we caught our conger so quickly with all that chum in the water !!

After doing a sterling job with the pre comp Battery Breakfasts Jamie Hinchliffe set off on board Falusi II only to forget his bag of goodies for the day  

Ken Bragg, fishing on Striker, managed to catch a turd on day one, well some toilet paper with a skid mark on anyway, but lets not allow the truth to get in the way of a good story !!!

EV Grace had a disaster when fishing on the sheddings mark as she lost her anchor after becoming stuck on the bottom.

The new Dave Corkish Memorial Trophy for the heaviest flatfish and prizes down to 4th place led to some amusement (but not for those involved  ) as firstly Mikey Cooper on Kingfisher II threw back Cam’s plaice which would have been good enough for a prize and then Scummer on Trampie weighed in a gutted plaice as they had forgotten about the 4 prizes too !!

The heaviest calig comp on day 2 was not my finest day of fishing ever !!!! Firstly we had a huge wave come over the side of the boat at the burrough which not only swamped the deck but also soaked me in the process !



As I contemplated whether to hang my jeans on the cab and fish in my boxers (what a pleasant sight that would have been !!) I hooked into a decent calig only for a seal to grab it and head for the rocks ! The lads took great delight in seeing my line scream off the reel, bearing in mind I was only using a spinning rod !!

Eventually the hook popped so I wound in and went to tie a new hook on. Somehow it slipped from my grasp as I tightened the knot and it went straight into my finger 



I tried using a razor blade to cut alongside the hook and also tried pulling hard but it wouldn’t budge so we made the decision to drop me off at Port St Mary breakwater so I could drive to A&E to have it removed. Two hours of waiting later and they had removed it by numbing my finger then forcing the point of the hook out using a pair of pliers. Once out they used wire cutters to cut just below the bard and then fed the remainder of the hook back through my finger and out.



I was not the only one to catch a pesky seal on the Saturday as Emmo had one take one of his calig at almost the same time as me on Falusi II

I was also not alone in sticking a hook in my finger that day as Billy Booth on board TR1 also managed that feat. He was able to force the hook back out himself and carried on fishing (It was only a small hook so it was not a case of him being brave and me being a toot – honestly   ).

Barry Dulson, onboard Falusi II, also came in with a plaster on his finger after cutting himself with a knife !!

As if not to be outdone on day 3 Paul Graham was very lucky to escape a hook in the head as he managed to get one of his own feathers stuck in the top of his cap which went through and nicked his head although thankfully not past the barb !!

This unlucky incident for Paul could have been down to sheer stupidity or the fact that his rods are always all over the place or it may even have been because he brought a banana on board that day, which is meant to be unlucky isn’t it Steve ?!?!



Day 3 had actually started with a fire onboard Merit 1 as Gary Bridson accidentally left the microwave on with a cardboard box inside. After smelling burning he realised his error and hastily removed the box which had actually caught fire. Lee was quickly on hand to extinguish the flames in a bucket of water.

Not sure what day it was but Falusi II tried to leave Douglas one morning whilst still tied to the floating pontoon !!! It was only when someone onboard a moored yacht shouted over that Edwin realised he was still attached !!! The floating pontoon was then out of action for some time as it ended up about 15 feet from the wall so no one could get on or off !!

Talking of Falusi II a couple of their crew spent most of the weekend arguing with each other like a married couple ! Perhaps there is more to their boys bonding trips abroad than they are letting on

After the competition had finished and we’d all had a couple of beers Scummer said he couldn’t understand how Falusi II had caught their smoothounds so quickly whereas Trampie fishing nearby had missed out. Emmo asked Scummer if he had crabs with him, to which he enthusiastically said they did. Normally I would not have bothered asking this next question but as it was Scummer I felt it was worthwhile so I then asked if he had used any. “No” was Scummer’s answer !!!!!! Well that’s why you didn’t catch any then came the resounding reply !    

Talking of crabs Cam, on Kingfisher, arrived at the breakwater on the Sunday morning and whilst discussing the possibility of catching hounds, realised he had left his crab at home so off he sneaked to go and collect them !!

I am sure there were many more comedy moments on board the various boats so feel free to enlighten us all and take the mickey out of the poor sods involved  

So who was the ‘Dick of the Week’ ? You decide

Perhaps I may even have to invest in a Dick of the Week trophy for next year

Brilliant round up Michael  , my vote would go to Scummer   for his comments about the crab baits.

Admin316

Poor scummer he wasn't the only one on board trampie . . . Thank heaven !
And yes this is in his defence cos he does try his hardest . . Bless

John, you have to blame someone and as his rank on the boat was 4th technician bilge rat class 8 (pending investigations) he has to take the blame, he may be removed down as low as snakes belly 2nd class.

Admin316