Keith Culley was one of the Mailing List’s original members and became one of its most loved ones through his always friendly and unselfish messages and ready humour.
He was a great fan of fishing with the pole and of course it wasn’t long before he became known as ‘The Pole’. In fact he gave himself that nickname and thereafter every mail he sent to the List came from ‘The Pole’.
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Earlier this year he passed away following a short illness which he fought with his usual determination and good humour. He was missed by everyone who knew him and it soon became apparent that we should celebrate his life and contributions to the List in some small way.
So a pole fishing match/fish-in, in memory of Keith Culley, is to take place on 7th April 2001 at Clattercote Reservoir in Oxfordshire. This will be an opportunity to pay your respects to Keith and for those who didn’t know him, an ideal time to meet up and fish with your friends from the FISHINGmagic forum and mailing list and to hold a social get-together afterwards for a few drinks and a BBQ.
The match will be an annual event for the FISHINGmagic website and Mailing List members and the winner will receive a magnificent trophy to hold for 12 months and a replica to keep. He or she will also receive a top tackle prize donated by FISHINGmagic and, along with second and third placings, a cash prize. There will be optional pools for biggest catch and biggest fish.
Although fishing with a rod and running line will not disqualify you from attending, the match will be predominantly a pole event to honour Keith as much as possible. If you haven’t got one then please do your best to borrow one. Just as Keith would have wanted the main theme of the match is fun with a capital ‘F’, so don’t worry if you are a complete novice with the pole – you won’t be on your own!
Clattercote Reservoir is a mixed fishery run by British Waterways, the reservoir’s are designed to top up the canal network when low on water. Clattercote is very well stocked with small carp and silver fish and is unique in that the boarding runs all the way around the reservoir. There are a number of rules to be aware of: Maximum hook size is 12 and braid as mainline or hooklength is banned. Two keepnets are necessary to separate silver fish from carp.
I have fished this and it’s sister fishery Draycote a number of times and caught some very good bags of fish. Draycote held the match record until recently and I would think a minimum winning weight would be at least 50lbs and because of the design there really shouldn’t be any bad pegs.
Tickets for the match and the day’s fishing will be £ 5. This is in addition to a voluntary payment of £ 5 or more that will go towards the trophy and prizes if you should care to contribute. One hundred percent of the monies received will go to paying peg fees, the trophies, and prizes.
You can book a place by e-mailing me Mike Fidler before Friday 15th December. Fees and contributions will be collected soon after to secure your place and you should be aware that this is non-refundable.
For those of you who have never attended a fish-in before I can thoroughly guarantee an enjoyable day, even in the unlikely event that you don’t catch. The banter and camaraderie will be unlike anything else you have experienced!
So come on, let’s remember ‘The Pole’ in style and bag-up to celebrate!
