A splendid catch of bream landed Joe Eagle in hot water with the Welland and Nene Fishery Board. Taking part in a competition organised by Rushden AC at Stamford's Burghley Park Lake, Joe hauled out 12 fine bream — and a couple of tench helped boost his grand total to 46½lb.
Joe brushed with officialdom when he took his winning bag away for a victory photograph — breaking the six-fish limit and incurring a fine of five shillings. But his pocket was spared when the owner of the fishery, the Marquis of Exeter, stepped in and paid up.
I should perhaps explain that all this excitement occurred on August 8, 1929, when Joe, who kept a tackle shop in Rushden's High Street, was a familiar figure in local contests.
The story was passed on to me by his daughter, now Mrs Bill Poole, who asked how her father's catch compares with the best efforts of current anglers. Well, that's a tricky question to answer definitively.
Another Rushden man, John Davies, took over 100lb of bream to win a match at Oundle two years ago, and has since topped the 60lb mark to score another victory. And Paul Chadwick, Rushden yet again, also weighed in 60lb-plus on the Ouse three years ago.
But Joe's effort a half a century ago is all the more remarkable when one considers how primitive his tackle was compared with today's sophisticated equipment.
He would have used a heavy wooden greenheart pole and reel loaded with thick cotton or silk line, heavily greased and of very dubious breaking strain. With this gear, he would have been lucky if he could cast much more than 15 yards. If he could fish the same swim with the same conditions today, he would catch four times as many fish. Recent catches from the lake prove that there are still big shoals of bream.
An indication of how exceptional Joe's catch was for its time is given by the extensive coverage it received in the Sunday Pictorial. Any angler landing five times that weight today would be lucky to rate a couple of paragraphs in the national press.
Joe's name lives on in the cup match still staged by Rushden, Higham and Irchester AC early each July — the nearest Sunday to Joe's birthday.
