The launch of “Fishing on the Edge”

Welcome to my new-fangled abode on the web “Fishing on the Edge”. My name is Paul Inglis and I reside on a rock in the middle of the Irish Sea known as the Isle of Man. I am an eccentric deafblind angler who is in a constant state of evolution.

My fishing exploits began as a small child nearly 40 years ago when I began catching fish from countless canals, rivers, streams, lochs, lakes and reservoirs throughout the British Isles. In my early teens I got involved in match fishing and became quite successful on the both club and open circuits for many years. In the late eighties I got the specimen bug and sought highly prized species such as Barbel (14lb 4oz), Pike (32lb 8oz), Catfish (26lb 9oz) and Carp (Mirror 35lb 4oz and Common 32lb 8oz).

In the early nineties I became an avid flyfisher fishing numerous lakes, reservoirs and lochs throughout the British Isles. I was a member of the Isle of Man Flyfishers for two years but have taken a sabbatical to concentrate my efforts on my shore fishing forays. I first dabbled in shore fishing in South Wales in 1975 at a tender age of two. I became more serious in sea fishing fourteen years later in 1989 after reading the “Anglers Mail Sea Fishing Book by Chris Clark”.

I’m a self-confessed gearhead who has an undying passion for any kind of fishing related items and have amassed a frightening amount of tackle over the years! I have given most of my freshwater (apart from my fly fishing and spinning gear) and specimen fishing tackle away to my uncle as my eyesight is continuing to deteriorate and trips to England, Wales and Scotland have become fewer and fewer over the last decade.

 

I am however very fortunate to have such great fishing on my doorstep despite the diminutive size of the Island. The fishing scene here is remarkable, with eight contrasting reservoirs, stocked with rainbow and brown trout, which vary from sheltered lowland reservoirs to exposed upland waters in the central hills. There are also twelve stunning rivers providing truly spectacular wild stream fishing for resident brown and rainbow trout as well as migratory; salmon and sea trout. In addition the island’s freshwater fishing the Isle of Man has a 100 miles of prolific wild coastline providing every kind of imaginable fish habitat from foaming storm beaches at the likes of Ballure and Gansey, to towering cliffs at Douglas Head with deep drop-offs, through to rugged rock marks such as Dreswick Point and numerous beautiful Piers and Harbours such as Port St. Mary Breakwater. Each mark has its own attraction containing a multitude of species for the adventurous angler to target all year round.

 

But that’s not all, apart from being an infatuated and preoccupied fisherman I’m also a Musician, Social Media Addict and can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Flickr as well as numerous forums! Twitter is my absolute favourite media and I’m so fanatical that I even tweet on the move, on holiday, in restaurants, everywhere and anywhere. I am an exuberant chatterbox and given the slightest opportunity, I will yak your head off for hours about anything and everything but fishing and music related subjects are bound to arises before long – don’t say you haven’t been warned!

Even though I’m registered legally blind I do have some vision. My eye condition is known as Retinitis Pigmentosa and I suffer complete night blindness and tunnel vision. I do night fish but have to use a very powerful head torch! My fishing companions often complain that it’s so bright it ruins their night vision!! I am also profoundly deaf and even though I wear a pair of hearings aids I can’t really hear speech so rely on my lip reading skills to understand people – totally useless in the dark though! A notepad is used in very noise places, if I haven’t forgotten it, which I often do! I also suffer from severe tinnitus which fluxuates from day-to-day and can become distressing at times.

Disabilities aside I am an extrovert who is occasionally sarcastic, okay, okay I admit it, I’m often sarky but I do have a wicked dry sense of humour and can laugh about myself. I also have moments where I become very nostalgic and sentimental.

I have decided to set up this website and journal so everyone knows what I’m up to today, as yesterday is already a bygone and I’ve moved onto pastures new. It will cover my latest antics, crazes, must have fishing gear as well as plenty about my copious adventures and how they panned out! It’ll be entertaining and provocative with the dilemmas and frustrations chucked in for good measure! As for the pace of the posts we’ll see but you can expect a least one or two postings a week!

As a social media addict I have grown to love the interaction with people online and offline, so if you’ve got something to say then please leave a comment. It can be as long or as short as you like about anything. All I ask is that you keep it friendly and clean. Don’t worry if you disagree with me or if you have a criticism as it helps me to grow. If you’re shy then you can get in touch with me via a contact form on my website.

So you’re now equipped with oodles of useless trivia about me and that’s part for the reason of this website and journal, which is a chronicle of my thoughts and musings with the occasional rant on whatever strikes me at a given time; kind of like an editorial. So come along for the ride!

Ciao!

Paul Inglis