Simon Newton with his 3-4-7 Couch’s sea bream.

A QUOTE from the angling column of 29 May 2008 sums up the state of the fishing for the first six months of the year: ‘The fishing shows little signs of improvement. It’s so bad it has become difficult to find any information which is newsworthy.’

Most anglers considered that the lack of fish was caused by the state of the sea, which was very cloudy and badly discoloured.

Theories on the cause of this phenomenon included dead algae, silt stirred up by winter storms or dredging being done in the Bay of St Malo.

Whatever the reason, it played havoc with the fishing as the fish seemed to avoid the widespread contaminated area.

As always in these situations, a few anglers managed to make a catch, but for the vast majority, both commercial and sport fishermen, it was hardly worthwhile getting the gear out.

To make matters worse, there were hardly any sandeels and persistent windy weather was to continue to plague planned boat trips for the remainder of the year.