Menteith draw results...

Here is a link to the Menteith draw results drawn at the convention.
Apologies it is only in PDF format at the moment. It will be formatted and posted here for all to see as soon as possible.

Menteith Draw

FINAL REMINDER

Just a short note to remind you that if you want advance tickets to PIKING 2009, please get your cheques (payable to PACGB) in the post to:

Ben Thomas
23 Metford Grove
Redland
Bristol
BS6 7LG

Monday (21st) is the cut off date so get them in the post today or tomorrow.

Don't forget to include a 1st class stamped self-addressed envelope with your cheque!

Membership competitions

Membership competitions for ’09-‘10

There will be two competitions revolving around memberships running through ’09 and into ’10.

The first will be based upon the special 3 year deal that is being offered until it’s conclusion on 31st April ’10.

ALL members taking up the scheme will be entered into a draw for a chance to win 2 prizes, both prizes consist of a PAIR of FREE SPIRIT pike rods picked from their range.

FREE SPIRIT rods are superb bits of kit and very much at the top of the tree.

The FREE SPIRIT competition shall be drawn in MAY 2010

(All those who have already taken up the scheme will be entered)

The second is our “Win a day with” competition, which is always a firm favourite (this years with Dave Kelbrick was a huge success).

This year we have the one and only Eddie Turner stepping up to show the lucky winner a good time and hopefully a few fish.To enter this competition you simply have to recommend a new member to join the PAC and ensure that your details (memb. No. and name are also on the form)

The list will then be drawn in MAY/JUNE ’10 but fished at a time to suit Eddie.

For those recommending a new member, you can be entered into the draw up to a maximum of three times but please recommend as many people as you can to join.

THIS COMPETITION IS FOR A SINGLE WINNER.

Piking 2009

Convention time

It is that time again, the piking masses will once again descend on Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire for a one-day bonanza comprising all that makes piking great.

Speakers this year are:

Graham Booth, one of Norfolk’s finest giving his first ever talk, over 30 years of experience and Graham’s wit are sure to make this one memorable session.

Mike Green, from deadbait to lure and on into fly fishing, the gentleman of the sport brings his humour and knowledge to an exciting talk.

Ian Weatherall, the quiet man at the PAC, Ian will entertain and impart skills and secrets best known only to him and his close friends – one not to miss.

Mark Barrett & Denis Moules, definitely not the quiet type, ex PAC secretary and all round superstar Mark combined with truly accomplished fenland piker Denis reveal a comprehensive look at fenland piking.

There are some great new products on show, from the likes of Chico’s lures, Greys Prowla launch as well as Waterwolf, together with the usual crowd, Neville Fickling, the Friendly Fisherman, ET and others.

So make sure that date – Saturday 26th September is in your diary, and remember those of you that drink Guinness in the bar (and you know who you are), it is Guinness’ 250th birthday too!
Bring a friend, neighbour, fishing colleague and let’s make the 2009 PAC convention better than ever.

Tickets are available on the door £12.00 for members, £14.00 for non-members and under 14’s go free.

Norfolk's Nar spared marina plan

SPARED: A view of Norfolk's River Nar

It might not be in the Premier League of rivers, where pike fishing's concerned.

But Norfolk's humble River Nar could be spared plans for a marina which would see it diverted through the middle of a nature reserve.

West Norfolk council wanted to change the course of the river so a marina could be built on the outskirts of King's Lynn.

Now officials want to mothball the scheme because of the credit crunch.

That means the Nar, which holds a head of pike and also supports a dwindling run of sea trout, will be left in peace for now.

New pumps to protect the Fens

This picture shows the incredible size of the biggest pumping station ever built in Britain - that's a skip in the bottom left of the image.

It's being built on the Middle Level Drain at St Germans, near King's Lynn, to protect half the Fens from rising sea levels and increasingly-frequent storm surges.

When it becomes operational next February, it will be able to shift 1000 tonnes of water a minute.

The Middle Level Drain is fed by a system of drains stretching miles inland, including the Sixteen Foot, Forty Foot, Old Nene and Popham's Eau.

It protects tens of thousands of homes and thousands of hectares of low-lying farmland, much of it below sea level, from flooding.

When the drainers reclaimed the Fens, they created mile upon mile of waterways which centuries later have become a Mecca for pike anglers.

But they didn't realise the peaty soil would shrink as it dried out. And parts of the area are now 20ft below mean high tide levels.

Pike baits exempt from new ban on taking river fish

Killing coarse fish caught from Britain's rivers could soon become illegal.

But exemptions look set to be put in place to ensure pike anglers can continue using limited numbers below a certain size for bait.

Environment Agency officials will next week launch a major public consultation exercise over proposed byelaw changes.

Anglers and other interested parties have until September 14 to make their views known.

"Within the angling community there is a wide range of opinion about whether anglers should be allowed to take the coarse fish they catch," an EA source said.

"There has been mounting concern that coarse fish removal by rod and line is damaging stocks and fisheries.

"We know that some coarse fish are taken to eat and there is evidence that specimen fish are taken for illegal stocking in other waters."

While there have been calls for a ban on the use of coarse baits - frequently following allegations fish are being taken wholesale to supply the bait trade - the EA is on record stating it does not take the claims seriously.

A section of the report accompanying the consultation paper has this to say on the issue of using coarse fish for bait:

"Anglers fishing for pike and other predators have traditionally used small fish
for live or dead bait. It is a legitimate and effective method of fishing and
there is a strong argument that is should be allowed to continue. There is an
equally strong case that the number and size of fish taken for bait should be
limited so it does not damage fisheries. Note that we are not considering the
ethics of live-baiting in this consultation."

PAC president Tim Kelly said: "Everyone wants the problem of fish theft dealt with. On the face of it they're going about it in a reasonable way by acknowleging the ownership of fish stocks and making an obvious exemption for using fish for live and dead bait.

"I see it as an opportunity for us to go in there and state our case. It's also an opportunity to move forward and look at making certified fish available for use as bait, like triploid trout."

EA fisheries policy manager Adrian Taylor added: “We have some existing local byelaws that limit the removal of coarse fish, but these are inconsistent. We are proposing to introduce new byelaws that will apply across England and Wales to limit fish removal, protecting coarse fish and the fisheries they support.

"With a change to our byelaw-making powers expected in the autumn, we are consulting with the angling world now, so we can introduce the new measures as soon as possible in 2010.
“In developing our proposals, we need to balance the need to protect fish stocks with the rights of fisheries owners and managers to decide how their fisheries should be managed. In particular, we need to consider the differences between river and stillwater fisheries.

“We need the views of the angling community to help us strike the right balance.“

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Click here to read the report on proposed byelaw changes. It includes a section you can print off and post to the EA.

From Monday, June 29, you will be able to take part in the consultation online. Click here for a link to the page where you can do that.

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If you've received this via e-mail, please forward it on to any other pike anglers you're in touch with, to give them the opportunity to respond.

Commercial eel fishing could be banned

Commercial eel fishing looks set to be banned in East Anglia, in a bid to conserve the species.

Environment Agency officials wanted to impose a close season on the region's few remaining eel fishermen.

But regional fisheriy officials want to impose a complete ban on taking eels.

Click here for more.

Pike fishing loses one of the good guys - a tribute to James Holgate

Predator anglers across the UK are mourning James Holgate, editor of Pike and Predators magazine and a lifelong supporter of the Pike Anglers Club, who has passed away in hospital after suffering a brief illness.

Neville Fickling, fellow author and former PAC committee member who like James also did a stint as editor of Pikelines, said: "We were only in Sweden on a trip three weeks ago and he was his usual self, the cutting wit he's always been.

"He was a genuinely decent man, there's no two ways about it. He never did anyone any harm, but it's the same old story, they're always the ones who die first."

James, who lived in Lancaster, did a three year stint as editor of Pikelines in the mid-1980s.

Neville said he was the natural choice as editor, when the monthly Pike and Predators was launched more than 10 years ago.

Many of today's top names owe their first break to James, who nurtured many would-be angling writers into print.

Steve Ormrod, current editor of Pikelines, said: "It's really knocked me sideways and I'm struggling to come to terms with it.

"James was a great friend and such a gent, he was one of the best and I'll miss him a lot.

"He'd had more than his fair share of illness of late but was a strong-willed chap and just shrugged off his ailments with his usual brand of good humour and faith."

PAC secretary Graham Slater said: "Pike fishing's lost one of the nice guys.

"He did a lot to encourage first time writers, many people's first published piece was down to James."

PAC opposes Irish size limit review

Britain's leading predator angling club has added its voice to the groundswell of protest against proposals to raise the legal size limit of pike which may be killed for the table in Ireland.

The Central Fisheries Board is considering asking Irish fishery authorities to increase the size of pike which may be killed from 50 to 75cm.

It claims it is under pressure to do so, after complaints from visiting European anglers. But pike anglers using freedom of information laws have found just two Swiss anglers and seven visiting Germans have complained, along with two individual guides, who say their customers want to be allowed to kill larger fish.

Tim Kelly, president of the Pike Anglers Club, said: "As the representative body for the UK's pike anglers, we are voicing our objection to any move to raise the size limit for pike from 50cm to 75cm.

"We are fundamentally opposed to the promotion of taking pike for food as we believe that the pike is a sport fish to be enjoyed by many as opposed to being consumed by the few.

"UK pike anglers make up the majority of the pike fishing tourists travelling to Eire every year and the lost income from increasingly pike unfriendly policies will surely have a far greater impact than allowing a few anglers from the wider continent to kill larger fish."

Landmark conservation bylaws to protect Ireland's pike were agreed in 2006, after a long battle by anglers on both sides of the irish Sea.

To add your voice and oppose any move to see the size limits increase, e-mail the Central Fisheries Board's director of marketing David Byrne at david.byrne@cfb.ie .

Pike fishing in Ireland - an update

Pike Anglers may be aware from recent coverage in the press that The Pike and Coarse Fish Bye Laws are being enforced in certain waters located in The Republic of Ireland by officers of (in particular) The Shannon Regional Fisheries Board, writes former PAC president Phil Wakeford.

This is likely to be linked to increased pressure from PAC and other pike angling organisations who have been lobbying for action to prevent the excessive and unlawful removal of pike and other coarse fish especially by continental and Eastern European anglers.

Whilst PAC supports wholeheartedly the protection of dwindling pike stocks in the Irish Republic we would like to point out to members and other visiting, conservation minded pike anglers the full extent of the Bye Laws so that they are aware when a potential breach is being committed, either by themselves or others.

. Fishing must be by rod and line only
. A maximum of two rods only to be used
. It is illegal to use live bait
. It is illegal to transfer live roach from one water to another
. The maximum number of coarse fish that can be taken by any angler in one day is 4 and none of these can exceed 25 cm in length
. It is illegal to take more than one pike per angler per day and such pike must not exceed 50 cm in length
. It is illegal for any person to have in their possession more than one whole pike (of less than 50 cm in length) or more than 0.75 kg of pike flesh in total
. It is illegal to have in ones possession more than 12 coarse fish for use as bait. As mentioned above only 4 of these can be caught on the day and the other 8 (maximum) must have been obtained from a authorised retail outlet and proof of purchase/receipt retained for inspection by Fisheries Board officials.

Your attention is drawn to the fact that a number of anglers have been found in breach of these regulation whilst fishing on Lough Derg in recent weeks. A Shannon Regional Fisheries vessel is patrolling the lough on a regular basis and checking for compliance with the Bye Laws. The vessel used to date is a semi-inflatable rib fitted with a high speed 90 HP motor.

Relatively minor breaches of the Bye Laws are attempted to be dealt with by the use of 'on the spot' fines of 90 euro. If the anger concerned will not or cannot pay this fine then the Fisheries Officer is empowered by Irish Law to confiscate/impound the angers tackle/equipment (including boats) pending further investigation. These officers apparently have the same powers as the Garda/Police.

When PAC members are approached they should first ascertain the identity of the Officers involved and enquire as to which of the above Bye Laws it is alleged that they are infringing. Details should be retained for future reference.It is uncertain at the time of writing whether having more than 2 rods in a boat constitutes a breach. Similarly if an angler were pleasure fishing for coarse fish and retained these in a keep net (as practiced by match anglers) whether this constitutes a breach.

There would appear to be a desire by the Fisheries Board to deal with matters via the 'on the spot' fine approach by we feel that if matters were to be dealt with through the courts then a body of hard evidence would be required including the statements of witnesses, photographs, bodies of fish etc. However the threat of reality of confiscation of expensive tackle/equipment would obviously prove very inconvenient and potentially expensive to the angler. It is believed that some foreign nationals using crude/cheap tackle are ready to hand this over as opposed to paying the 90 euro fine.

PAC will monitor these matters with interest and periodically update the blog accordingly.

Meet the new PAC Committee

Months of speculation ended at the PAC' s AGM in Nottingham today, when the committee which will run the club for the next three years was announced.

In his first address Tim Kelly, the club's new president, thanked the previous committee for their work on the club's behalf.
"When they came in there was a real buzz, it was obvious there was a new committee and things were happening," he said. "If we can build on that it will be a great thing.
"To go forward, I would like the aim of the committee to be to make things better for pike anglers.
"Some clubs have petty rules and things which get in the way of their fishing. You have fisheries where they have braided line bans and other silly things like that."
Tim said the club would strive to be more inclusive and attract more pike anglers who were not members to join.

Graham Slater, the club's new secretary, said his initial reaction on being approached was to turn down the post.
"But if everybody in the history of the PAC had said no it would have folded years ago," he said.
"I'm a bit disappointed I don't get to dress up as a secretary, but joking aside, there's part of m that's looking forward to it.
"There are going to be times when we might have difficult times and difficult decisions to make but that's what we're here for."

Events organiser Guy Micklewright said he hoped to build on the "great job" done by his predecessor Mark Skinner.
"There's more to events than Menteith and more to events than catching a big fish, great though that is," he said. "I'm hoping to increase events and improve the social side of things.
"We want them to be occasions when people can get together, form friendships and get as much from this as they get from the fishing itself."
Guy said he expected his legal qualifications to be of use to the club over the next three years.
"I'm a practising barrister and I hope there are skills I have which may be helpful in what we do in future."

Membership secretary Chico Winterton said: "I'm your new membership secretary, together with my helper Bryan Ashford.
"Filling John Cahill and Pete Green's shoes is not going to be an easy task, they've both been coaching me for months now so whether I fail miserably will be down to them."
Chico said an increase in membership subs - which had been held for three years by the previous committee - would be confirmed in Pikelines, becoming effective immediately.
"I'm going to be the harbinger of doom now," he said. "Every category is going to be raised by £3, meaning adult membership goes up from £19.50 to £22.50."
He added a new three-year offer gave members willing to commit to the club for three years the chance to save £7.50 over that time.

Advertising manager Ben Thomas paid tribute to the hard work of his predecessor Mike Kelly.
"Attracting advertisers is going to get more difficult, as Mike's explained," he said. "I've already experienced it, having made calls to a couple of advertisers before today.
"members have to let advertisers know when they buy from them that they got their phone number, address or website from the PAC."
Ben, whose role includes taking over organising the PAC Convention, said this September's event would again be held at Stoneleigh.
"There will be new advertisers coming in and taking stands at Stoneleigh," he added. "Next year, we'll have to wait and see but we're going to keep it where everyone can get access to it."

Webmaster Mike Skipper thanked outgoing web supremo Dave Lumb, who set up the PAC website, for his hard work over the years.
"Everyone who looks at our website says it's a very well thought-out and content-rich site and I intend to try and add to it," he said.
He added the club would also be making more use of social networking media like Twitter and Facebook.

Mark Skinner will be remaining on the committee to take over the role of products manager, with help from Gary Hodd.
"Mick's done a great job, I'm going to try and sell the book so those who've not already got one better buy one as we've only got 1,000 left," he said.

Chris Bishop will remain as press officer until after the Convention, when a successor will be appointed.

John Synnuck will remain as treasurer for the first year of the new committee's term.
"I'm very enthused with the group of people I'm going to be working with," he said.

TENPAC leaves strong club as new committee takes the reins, pike anglers' AGM told today

There have been successes and there have been failures. But the Pike Anglers Club has had a higher profile than for many years and remains a force to be reckoned with.
That was the message at the predator fishing club's AGM in Nottingham today, as TENPAC - the tenth committee to have run the club since its formation 32 years ago - handed over to its successor.
Opening the meeting chairman Colin Goodge said: "I've been very satisified with this committee, they've done a marvellous job. We didn't achieve all we'd like to have but they've put the PAC back on the map.
"I've been proud to be a part of it and I'd like to thank them for all their hard work over the last three years."


Outgoing president Phil Wakeford said the club had come a long way and achieved a lot during its 32 year history.
Of the Tenth PAC committee's term, which began in May 2006, he added: "There've been some successes, there've been some failures but the games never over.
"You've got to redouble your efforts and keep chipping away at it and one good thing is there are always people willing to put their hands up to keep this club of ours going."
One ambition of the tenth committee was to grow the PAC's membership beyond the record of 3,000 achieved in the early 1990s. Many of the outgoing regime are disappointed they failed to achieve it.
"The biggest target is regular pike anglers who are not members of the club," Phil said. "How do we get to them..?"
Phil said relations had improved between the PAC and Pike Anglers Alliance for Scotland, while there were also encouraging signs that a new pike conservation group would be set up in the Irish Republic.
"What is the glue that holds us together," he said, closing his final address as president. "Clubs come and go but the PAC is still here. We're still strong and we're still a force to be reckoned with."

Events organiser Mark Skinner said his main aim on taking office had been to increase the number of events open to members.
"As everyone knows, Menteith is the club's main event, but these events are few and far between so other avenues had to be explored," he said.
"I therefore aimed our events more towards the social side of fishing and tried to offer members venues where meeting up, making new friends and rekindling old friendships was another thing to focus on , rather than just fishing a place with the chance of catching big fish."
Mark said one highlight was being on the Menteith event where Newcastle-based Lyn Baker caught the biggest pike ever to be caught by a woman in the British Isles. The capture sparked coverage in national newspapers including The Sun and TV appearences for Lyn, which raised the profile of the PAC and its work.
"I actually mentioned to Lynn how great it would be for a woman to catch a big fish on the event in the Rob Roy the night before," he said. "Needless to say I had a few members asking me to say the same thing to them on the night before our last event on Menteith."
Mark said meeting members and making new contacts had been another highlight of marshalling events.
"You can talk to members via our forum or through e-mail, but nothing bats meeting other members face-to-face out on a day's fishing.
"To finish off, I'd just like to say I've really enjoyed my time in the role and working with everyone on the committee.
"We've had our ups and downs, we've had our disagreements but we've focussed on what's been good for the club."

Products manager Michael Hastings said: "I'm going to keep it short and sweet like Kylie.
"I inherited a good system from Mick Culpan and I don't think I've messed it up too much."
Michael said products revenue had grown to more than £7,000 in 2007/08. He said products were a popular way for members to support the club, with "badges, caps and 'ats" proving more popular than mugs and mousemats, while a stock of PAC30 - the commemorative book published to celebrate the club's 30th anniversary - remained unsold.
"I've enjoyed the last three years and I'm proud to be a member of this club," he said. "This committee has taken the club forward - we've taken over a good club and we've not mucked it up too badly."

In characteristically to the point style, webmaster Dave Lumb said: "We've still got a website, we've got a forum, we've got a webshop, we've got a blog and we've got a gallery like a blog and someone else is going to be doing i from this afternoon."

Advertising manager Mike Kelly said the recession had seen many larger players in the fishing industry slash budgets, while some companies had gone out of business over the last three years.
"We've lost quite a few advertisers, Hengelsport, Harris, Lure Mania, Lureshack and John Roberts," he said. "We've got new advertisers but we've lost income. We've got a lot of small advertisers and we're in a recession."

Secretary Mark Barrett said the club still had a strong regional structure. But he said the future lay in smaller, larger regional groups.
"We don't have the number of speakers and pike anglers attending meetings to make 120-odd regions viable," he said. "It's a bit much to drive a long way and find there's one man and a dog in a pub."

Press officer Chris Bishop said his term had began dealing with negative stories about pike fishing and establishing the club as a port of call for comment and information about predator angling.
He said the club had won some high profile victories, but the landscape and the media were changing fast.
"Having a blog was fairly cutting edge when we launched it, a lot of other angling organisations followed suit," he said. "Now it's old hat and the future's going to be about finding new ways of reaching people."

Treasurer John Synnuck presented the club's accounts and said while they would show a small surplus, this came mainly in the final quarter of the year. John said while newspapers were reporting the first signs the economy was recovering, the recession was likely to impact further on the PAC.
"Whether we like it or not, it's going to have a direct effect on people going fishing and pike anglers," he said. "People will be fishing less regularly and won't be joining clubs like ours.
"If we end up in three years' time with the same number of members we've got now that in itself will be a fantastic feat."

Pikelines production editor Steve Ormrod reported on behalf of himself and co-editor Neville Fickling, who could not attend the AGM.
"At his worst, he's the grumpiest man alive," he said. "At his best, he's the best features editor you could ever wish to work with."
Steve said the incoming committe had asked him to remain in post for the next two issues, to allow them time to review the position of Pikelines manager. He said he would be taking a back seat, non-committee role.
He outlined cost savings, which meant the magazine was cheaper to produce than in 2005/06.
"The magazine won't be changing that much in the short-term," he said. "The new chaps are keen to have an impact, so watch this space and see what happens.
"But be assured Pikelines will always be a quality product. The PAC has a very bright future."

John Synnuck gave a report on behalf of membership secretary John Cahill. He said while membership had not reached the hallowed 3,000 mark, it had grown from 1830 in May 2006, to 2065 today.
"That's a growth of 12.5 per cent so we have had some significant success at growin the numbers," John said. "John's done fantastic job and was one of the heroes on the PAC committee - it's ball-breaking work for very little thanks." John said John Cahill was "ably assisted" by his predecessor Peter Green.

Closing the outgoing committee's final reports, Colin Goodge said: "This has been a very successful committee, they've done everything they've been asked and more. We now finish with a strong PAC thanks to the lads around me."

PAC AGM details announced for May 9

The next PAC committee will be unveiled for the first time at the club's AGM on Saturday, May 9.

PAC chairman Colin Goodge said members were welcome to attend to give the outgoing committee, which has run the club since 2006, a send-off, and to welcome and give their suggestions to the new committee who will be taking over the reins for the next three years.

The meeting is being held at the Holiday Inn, Bostock's Lane, Sandiacre NG10 5NJ - this is off Junct 25 of the M1, between Nottingham and Derby.

Broads flooding plans are abandoned

Almost a year ago to the day, anger erupted after controversial plans to abandon coastal defences and surrender large areas of the Broads to the sea were leaked to the media.

Some of Europe's finest pike fisheries were under threat - including the Upper Thurne, Hickling Broad and Horsey Mere. Just weeks ago, the system produced a 45lbs pike, the largest ever caught from a British river.

Thousands signed a PAC petition on Prime Minister Gordon Brown's website.

Now Natural England has dropped the controversial proposals from its final report.

Click here for full story.

RA31 Presentation Night - 1st April

Region 31's annual Presentation Night takes place on Wednesday 1st of April from 8pm onwards.

This is our last formal meeting of the 2008/2009 season, the evening will be hosted by James Holgate P&P Editor & angling author, the agenda will include:

* Region update & accounts
* Tackle auction
* Buffet
* Certificates of merit
* Trophy presentations
* Prize raffle including:

1. Win a days boat piking with Wezley Ballentine - this is a top prize and a first!
2. Fox Stratos baitrunner style reel
3. Okuma Multiplier
4. Years subscription to P&P

Details for the clubs final outing of the season will be given at the meeting. Entry £3 none region 31 members, £2 to members

Venue upstairs function room Caledonian public house, 154 Bolton Rd (next to Tesco garage), Ashton-in-Makerfield, Nr Wigan WN4 8PF.

Two pike anglers dead, two missing on Loch Awe

Two pike anglers have died and two others are missing after getting into difficulties on Scotland's Loch Awe.

The dead men were last night named as William Carty, 47 and Craig Currie, 30.

Fears are growing for Mr Carty's 42-year-old brother Steven, and his friend Thomas Douglas, 36, who are still missing.

Police, coastguard and an RAF rescue helicopter searched an area of the loch near Kilchurn Castle after the alarm was raised in the early hours of Saturday.

The four men were part of a group of five anglers who had travelled from Glasgow to camp beside the loch and fish. Awe is a popular venue, which draws pike anglers from across Scotland.

Sky reported: "At about 11pm the four had headed towards a hotel on the other side of the loch in a small boat, leaving the fifth man sleeping in one of the tents.

"At 3am the fifth man awoke to discover his friends had still not returned and then heard screams for help and raised the alarm. Firefighters from Oban, Inverary and Dalmally raced to the loch to help.

"On arrival at the scene next to the A819 firefighters could hear calls for help from the loch but could not see anyone because of the fog."

The BBC later said: "The men, who were on a fishing trip, had been camping on the banks of the loch, near Kilchurn Castle, close to Dalmally, and were thought to be from north Glasgow.

"A police spokesman said they had decided to take a small boat across the loch to a hotel and left at about 2300 GMT on Friday, leaving one of the group at the campsite.

"At about 0300 GMT the 38-year-old man discovered his friends had not returned. He then heard them calling for help from the loch and alerted the emergency services but thick fog hampered their rescue efforts."

The bodies of Mr Carty and Mr Currie were recovered from the loch by rescue teams yesterday morning. The search for Steven Carty and Mr Douglas will resume today.

Marie Sommerville, landlady of the Tight Line pub which the men visited before the tragedy on Friday night, told the BBC: "They were just really nice guys. It's just unbelievable."

Her daughter Anna Price said they were "keen pike fishermen" who were regulars on Loch Awe.

She added: "It was just a hobby, but they were anglers, they were really good and very experienced.

"They weren't idiots in a boat. They knew what they were doing. We don't know what could have happened other than the fact that it was so foggy last night."

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue told Scotland on Sunday: "On arrival at the scene, the fire crews could hear calls for assistance from the loch. Unfortunately visibility was down to five metres and they could not see anyone.

"The officer in charge requested the assistance of a rescue boat from Renfrew Fire Station. A helicopter was also sent by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency but was unable to locate the missing persons because of the poor visibility.

"When the rescue boat arrived from Renfrew they rescued two male adults from the water. Both were wearing lifejackets. The two men were unconscious and in a poor condition. Sadly both were declared dead at the scene."

The Sunday Herald said low visibility hampered the search for the men. The Mail on Sunday said there were concerns over the time it took to launch a rescue boat.

Yorkshire Slide Show

Pete Haywood will be giving the Yorkshire region a talk on Friday 27th March.

The show will be held at Redoubt Rugby club on Broadway Wakefield WF2 8AA and start at 7.30 pm.

A charge of £2 on the door and a raffle will be held on the night.

All will be welcome to this the 1st of many Yorkshire regional talks.

Further information can be obtained from Pete Green on 01924782705 or psgreen@blueyonder.co.uk

Scott's thirty tops Menteith event

A 36lbs 10oz pike caught by Scott Davidson topped off today's PAC event on Menteith.

More than 100 jacks, 20 doubles and seven twenties were caught - including a 29lbs fish to Jack Dinnewall, who pens the junior column in Pikelines.

The fish might have been up for it, but the weather was less than pleasant, PAC events organiser Mark Skinner said tonight.

"It was wind and rain all day, people came back drenched," he said. "But everyone enjoyed it, it was a great day."

Wissey fish thieves face legal challenge

LEGAL BID: Tench on a home-made stringer

Court injunctions look set to be served in a bid to step up the campaign against fish thieves, sources have told the Pike Anglers Club.

Two migrant workers caught netting fish and barbecuing them on the banks of Norfolk's River Wissey were prosecuted last September, after an outcry over fish being taken from Fenland drains and rivers.

Tonight sources have told the club that efforts to pursue a private prosection have been abandoned, but legal injunctions are now being sought to ban various parties from fishing the river.

King's Lynn Angling Association officials and PAC members have highlighted the extent of fish being removed for food, from rivers like the Wissey.

There were hopes a private prosecution would follow. But one source tonight said: "We haven't been able to prove a loss but we have been able to put an injunction on them."