Well at least someone is off the mark;       

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/donegal-boy-takes-his-first-and-year-s-first-salmon-1.404855

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We all know the worlds gone mad in all sorts of ways with the vegan attack ever present.  However yesterday I was in the Co Op Supermarket when I came across a packet of, wait for it, FISHLESS FISH FILLETS.   Now excuse me but if there is no fish in it then its simply not a fish fillet and shouldn't be allowed to sell as such.  The contents were vegetable matter covered with a thin batter.    Who eats this stuff.

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                         Sea Fishing Trip.

Done a little sea fishing over the years from boat and shore and one day one of my trout fishing friends rang and said he had a friend who had a boat moored at Brighton.  Would I like a day’s bass fishing.   Well of course.

The boat was moored in Brighton marina and four of us set of to hunt for bass.

We needed mackerel for bait it seemed and this particularday they were hard to come by.  In fact no more than a handful.   In the meantime I rigged up a bomb with a paternoster on which I placed one of the 6/7” rubber shads I sometimes used for pike fishing.   I dropped it to the sea bed and imparted some action to the lure with an up and down movement.   A little later everything went tight and I was into a fish and the skippers teenage son came over to have a look and as the fish neared the surface all I could see at first was what looked like an orange blob.  “ Oh he said, that's a nice one” and he netted what turned out apparently to be a Gurnard.  Mostly orange in colour with bright  blue saucer size pectoral fins edged in white and strange little, what looked like legs. under its front end.  It was probably about 3 or 4lbs

I carried on and shortly afterwards was into another fish. The son came over again and as it neared the surface he let out an expletive and shouted out “skipper come and have a look at this.” The skipper came over and let out the same f***ng hell expletive.  Both seemed quite excited but frankly I had no idea why.  Anyway it came aboard and they fussed around it.  The skipper said it was the biggest one he had ever seen and must be close to the record, whatever that was.  Can’t remember the exact weight put probably between 7 and 8 lbs.   Anyway I took it home and was keen on taxidermy at the time and I set it up in a case.  It was a really impressive looking fish.    I stupidly sold it many years later and really wish I hadn’t.