Mike Martin

 This blog post is dedicated to Welsh angler Mike Martin, who has sadly died today. I know Mike had contracted Covid from reading his blog (26 year itch) but it appeared he had recovered from it and he was writing on his blog about his early days in match fishing. However, whilst I do not know the facts first hand it seems his immune system became very low and he passed away from pneumonia. I was very shocked and saddened when I read the sad news on Facebook, and I really didn't want to write a blog at all today. However, I decided to say a few words about Mike as I feel my fellow angler and blogger should at the very least be remembered in my blog.

I first got to know Mike when he returned to match fishing after a long break, I began to see him fishing a few matches on the Bristol Avon, and he got in to our local winter leagues. He was a very decent man, a gentleman, and I liked his dry sense of humour. We often discussed our matches and what we wrote on our respective blogs, Mike especially liked telling me he couldn't bring himself to read my carp match blogs as he was a natural angler at heart and didn't like carp.

I drew next to him a few times and after I had given him a couple of batterings I came up against him in the little field at Newbridge on the Bristol Avon. He was on on peg 5 and I was on 7, at the time peg 7 was the best roach peg on the length but on this day the river was up and coloured. Cut a long story short and Mike had winkled out about 5lb of roach and was well pleased with his efforts until I told him I had 13 bream, and I think I had 50+ of bream and won the match. When he wrote his blog about the match he had me in stitches, as he started it out by saying basically he was in a "home" making baskets and the nice nurse told him he could go home as long as that nasty Timothy Ford would not smash him up off the next peg again. He wrote it much better than that, and it was just so funny to me.  He soon got his own back and beat me off the next peg on a Commercial House on the canal at Darlington, and he was well chuffed. I said it didn't really count as we were in different sections, I can't repeat what he replied to this, lol!

There will be plenty of anglers who can write a lot more about him, such as his team mates of course and his long term buddies at Cardiff Nomads. I will remember him with only good thoughts, of our time on the bank, in the bar and online socialising, and his amazing achievement of winning three Angling Trust Tide Fest competitions on the Thames for which he was quite rightly very proud.

My thoughts go out to his family, especially his dear daughter Fflur who he mentioned frequently.

My day in hospital tomorrow was cancelled after I had my pre-op assessment on Wednesday, I never bothered to ask why it was cancelled, and although they could not tell me a new date would I kindly continue to self isolate. Covid has an awful lot to answer for, but my current inconvenience pales into insignificance when compared to those poor people who are losing loved ones.

RIP Mike, I hope you have found a nice peg on the Wye with a big shoal of big roach (and no pike) to fish on into the sunset forever more....