March 1978 Newsletter Highlights

 

Brian Tudor is still the secretary and the headquarters is on The Quay in Looe.

 

The newsletter starts with the sad news that the Chairman, John Holt had passed away last November after a short illness.

This was also the first newsletter in the previous 12 months and the reason was that too few members had remitted the additional subscription of £1 requested in the last newsletter. If all had paid their subscriptions, then a second newsletter would have been possible. Members were asked to pay their arrears along with the current year subscriptions.

1977 had been another poor sharking year with only 806 sharks caught. This was due to less anglers sharking and “non-co-operation” from the sharks.

Metric equivalent weights were incorporated in the record lists and the SACGB qualifying weight was now 34kgs

Inflation continued to haunt the club as Brian comments that he regrets in this day and age, March was too early to set the price for the Annual Dinner.

The Holt Awards were also now discontinued.

The Caunter Room had “gone from strength to strength” and the loan commitment had been pruned after only 2.5 years trading.

Brian was pleased to report that Mally Toms, the Vice Chairman had stepped into the breach and taken over the Chairmans duties prior to the Annual Dinner and was now “in command” until the AGM in June when the next election of officers would take place.

The tagging report was unavailable as Dr. John Stevens (as he now was) was at present “stranded” on a beach in the Indian Ocean and was therefore unavailable.

Mr S A V Casey had holidayed in Mousehole and spent time on the Talisman when he personally caught 78 Blues, ten of which were over 100lbs.

Mr Gavin Kingerlee had donated an “extra-mural” award for the non-member skipper fishing out of Looe and annually landing the best shark of the season form their boat. The acting Chairman, Mally Toms had kindly donated £10 to accompany the trophy.

Tony Redknap had also donated a trophy for the best shark annually by a member resident in Oxford.

His final note emphasises the importance of members paying their subscriptions so that at least two newsletters could be provided. He reiterates that for those who had only paid £2 for 1978, that this would be their final correspondence from the club.

 

Treasurers report:

The treasurer stated that the committee had made a wise decision when they had agreed in 1975 to give their blessing to establishing a clubhouse.

The balance sheet was healthy apart from the number of full members who were lagging behind with their subscriptions.

 

Obituary:  A retired Royal Navy Commander, Mr. St. John Holt founded the constituency, E St. John Holt and Associates Ltd., in 1962. A diving specialist he had worked on harbour installations for Crown Agents in Ceylon, Jamaica and East Africa since leaving the Navy in 1960.

As Chairman of the SACGB, Mr. St. John Holt was one of the countrys best known fishermen. He was a British representative of the IGFA and at one time represented the Personal Members section of the National Federation of Sea Anglers.

Mr. St. John Holts wartime service with the Royal Navy included harbour clearance and repairs, mainly in the Far East. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his diving work during the Normandy landings, and he was presented with the Albert Medal (later to be replaced with the George Cross) for his rescue of 30 Chinese seamen during a hurricane in the China Sea.

Records Sub-Committee:

J W Brown began his report by saying that they had not been overworked with World Record claims but did have a number of line class records to process. Limited newsletter space meant he was unable to comment on individual cases but he mused that Joyce Yallops Mako record was destined to stand for some considerable time. He also noted that Jorge Potiers 465lbs Porbeagle was nearly beaten last year but he felt that Jorge would retain his record for some time also.

He noted that a new Blue record would be welcome but also observed that Blues had been scarce for a several seasons.

IGFA Representatives:

Mr. J J Holmes had been elected to represent the IGFA during 1978. This was in addition to the Founder President, Brig. J A L Caunter, C.B.E., M.C. and the President Mr S G Miller.

Mr Holmes had been an angler since the age of 12 and had pursued big game species in the waters of Kenya, Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands. His first visit to the Canary Islands was in 1966 when he assisted IGFA representative, Chris Roncoroni to conduct a survey on behalf of the Spanish Government on the possibilities of big game fishing in the area.

Mr Holmes was a trustee of the SACGB. He held several English game fish records and had skippered two boats which had successfully claimed world record catches in the Canary Islands.

 

Chairmans Report:

The Chairman reflected on an eventful year with Dr. G Hamza and Mr A Jiovanny obtaining World Records which were later superseded by Mr J Potier.

He had attended a meeting of the Confederation of Sea Anglers but on reporting back to the Committee it was decided that the SACGB should continue to be represented by the National Anglers Council.

The Caunter Room received praise, noting that many out-of-Looe and overseas members had commented directly to him on the clubs friendly atmosphere.

This being the Silver Jubilee of Her Majestys succession, is also the Silver Jubilee of the SACGB. The Chairman confirmed it was the Committee intention to make the year a memorable one.