THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

een taken well out off the coast of north west Scotland, which like the west coast of Ireland, is not
exactly trailed boat territory. Or is it?.
Quite literally as I was doing the final proof read before publishing, I received an email and photographs
from Irish angler Alastair Wilson, who over a very short period involving several runs out from Teelin
aboard his Warrior 165, caught and released a number of blue fin tuna to over 300 pounds. So it can be
done. Something most definitely to keep an eye out for in the future,
Next fish on the list is the thresher shark. I have friends who have not only successfully targeted the
species from a trailed boat, but who succeeded with what most certainly would have been a new British
record had they killed it and brought its body ashore for official on-land weighing as the BRFC rules
demand.
Sceptics might say it's easy to make big claims when you don't provide the evidence in the form of a
body and weight certificate to back it up. Others however would pat them on the back for releasing
such a magnificent fish.
The anglers in question were Wayne Comben, who was on the rod and whose seventeen foot Wilson
Flyer was the fishing platform drifting to the east of the Isle of Wight, and big shark expert Graeme
Pullen, who captured the whole thing on HD video, including under water footage shot on a Go-Pro
attached to a pole.
The rough dimensions of the fish were taken, which put its weight at upwards of four hundred and fifty
pounds. But the chances of deliberately catching any thresher, let alone a two hundred pounder, and
from any boat never mind a trailed dinghy these days, are way too remote unfortunately even to
consider.
Blue Shark 167 pounds aboard ‘White Water’ out from Milford Haven
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